Tucked away in an often neglected Old Testament book is this brief Scripture. Although this Scripture is brief, it a beautifully stated purpose statement. Ezra was one of the prominent leaders and prophets that God used to lead and guide His people back home to Jerusalem from exile. This was a huge task, and God used this man in profound ways to accomplish His plan and to refocus His people back to His Law and back to Himself. Here in Ezra 7:10, Ezra reveals his purpose statement for his life and ministry.
“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” – Ezra 7:10 (ESV) (emphasis mine)
First, notice the three parts of his purpose and the way he orders them:
Study it. Do it. Teach it.
For Ezra, it was not “teach, study, do,” “do, study teach,” or even “study, teach, do.” The order in this passage was important for Ezra, and it is important for us because our lives and ministries begin to struggle and to lose their foundation when we attempt to operate outside of this order. The call to study God’s Word is the foundation that reveals who God is and what He has called us to do. The call to do God’s Word is then the outcome of studying God’s Word. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” The call to teach God’s Word is then the outcome of the personal study and application of God’s Word. Study it, do it, and teach it.
Second, notice Ezra’s devotion to both God’s Word and God’s People. He was not only a lover of God’s Word. It was not enough for him to simply sit and study it, because he was not content with growing in his knowledge of God’s Word without also applying it and teaching it to others. Also, he was not only a lover of God’s people. It was not enough for him to go out to serve and to help people without that service being based in God’s Word. This echoes what Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Ezra was devoted to God’s Word and to God’s People.
I love Ezra’s purpose statement, and I think we should adopt it for ourselves.
I will Study God’s Word, Do God’s Word, and Teach God’s Word based on my devotion to God’s Word and to God’s People.