Ezra

Ezra 5: God watches over the builders

Begin in prayer

Before we listen to the prophets and the officials' questions, please turn to the God whose eye was on the elders. Ask Him to teach our family through His Word and to show us His Son.

Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.

Haggai 1:13

Father in heaven, open our eyes to understand Your Word. Show us Your care as the elders build and the officials ask questions. Help us see Jesus, Your Son, and make us more like Him. Please bless our family as we listen to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Haggai and Zechariah prophesy in God's name, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua begin building God's house with the prophets helping them. Officials ask who gave a decree to build, but God's eye is on the elders and they are not made to cease. In the officials' letter to Darius, the elders explain God's wrath against their fathers and Cyrus' decree to rebuild. The letter asks Darius to search for the decree and send his answer.

As you read Ezra 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God sends His word and watches over the elders as they build His house.

God's eye was on the elders, so the officials could ask questions but could not stop the work (verse 5). The officials can question their authority, yet cannot remove them from His care. God uses His spoken word to move the people to build again after the long interruption. His prophets help them in the work they urge them to undertake. The elders also confess that Babylon's conquest came because their fathers provoked God to wrath. They belong to the God of heaven and earth, whose judgment explains their captivity and whose mercy explains their return. The elders answer the officials plainly, and the officials ask the king to search his records (verse 17).

How does Ezra 5 show us that God sends His word and watches over the elders as they build His house?

God's prophets spoke, and the building began again.

The prophets speak in God's name, so their message carries His authority. They also help the builders, joining their words to the work. God renews the people's courage through the word that calls them back to His house.

God watched over the elders while officials asked questions.

The governor's inquiry puts the elders' permission to build under scrutiny. Jesus also keeps His people, and no one can snatch His sheep from His hand (John 10 verse 28). The work continues while the king is asked to search the records.

The elders told of God's judgment and Cyrus' decree.

The elders call themselves servants of the God of heaven and earth. They acknowledge that He handed their fathers over to Babylon because of sin. Their honest confession makes His mercy in Cyrus' decree stand out.

Memorise

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews

Ezra 5:5

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, how am I listening to God's call to trust Jesus?

God sent His prophets, and “the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews.” His care held them while the officials questioned their work. The God who had judged their fathers had also brought His people home.

God's speech through the prophets came at last in His Son (Hebrews 1 verses 1 to 3). Jesus came to cleanse His people from the sin that deserves God's wrath. On the cross He was the substitute for His people, and their sins were laid on Him. Having finished that cleansing, He rose to endless life and took His seat in heaven. His offering is all His people need.

Hear the Son who calls you. Turn from your sins and believe in Him. Christ grants forgiveness to those who seek their salvation in Him. The word that exposes sin also directs needy sinners to this Savior.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God spoke through His prophets and has given His Son, Jesus. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His Word and His care over the elders, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, and each one may speak to Him if they want to.

A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”

Luke 9:35

Father, thank You for speaking through the prophets and watching over the elders in Jerusalem. Help our family hear Your Word and see Your Son. Please turn each of us from sin to trust Jesus, and teach us to depend on Your care as we obey. Amen.