Understanding God’s Word Matters
(David Mok, Chairperson, Discipleship & Nurture)
READ:
OBSERVE:
Ezra chapter 8 starts with the heads of households, and ‘those registered with them’, returning to Jerusalem with Ezra after the exile. The latter half of the chapter describes the successful journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. What stood out for me was verse 15, where it reads, “I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.”
Ezra then orders a group of learned leaders to go to Kasiphia (north of Jerusalem) to ask for Levites to join them. God was gracious and a group of Levites and temple servants joined them.
What is so special about Levites that Ezra considers them important and necessary as part of the returning party to Jerusalem? From the Bible, we learn that the Levites are Israelites from Levi, one of the twelve tribes. After the exodus from Egypt, this tribe was chosen by God to care for the temple and guide the people in worshiping God. Since then, only Levites are chosen as priests. Priests and the Levites, therefore, represent teachings and the way of the Law. Ezra knows it is impossible to return and rebuild Jerusalem without the Law.
APPLY
Ezra’s journey from Babylon to Jerusalem struck a chord with me. When I was younger, I fell away from our Lord. I was in a spiritual ‘exile’ of sorts. After several years, our Lord was gracious. He drew me back. This is when I started my return journey to ‘Jerusalem’. In my return journey, one of the critical elements that helped me was the teaching of His Word. As was with the need for Levites in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, our Lord’s teaching was necessary for the re-construction of my heart.
My foundation, at that time, was not on solid ground. While I had read many books of the Bible, my application was inch deep. Many a time, I could not relate what I learned from the Bible to my academic studies then, or to the world. For the Bible to mean something to me, I had to compartmentalise God’s Word for use on Sunday and open a different compartment of conventional teachings and logic for the rest of the week.
In my return to the Lord, the exposure to biblical doctrines and apologetics helped. Bit by bit, my deep and entrenched worldly foundations were replaced by scriptural teachings. Now, I can make sense of the world through the lens of our Lord’s teachings. My return to our Lord would not have been possible without good biblical teaching.
DO
I will continue the reconstruction work of my heart by studying God’s Word and reading more Christian literature. I am hoping to read one Christian book a month and study at least one book of the Bible this year.
Our church is encouraging us to be holistic in our disciple-making journey. As such, I will try to balance pursuing head knowledge with serving with my hands and attending to the condition of my heart.
PRAY
Heavenly Father, in your mercy, grant me time to balance my yearning to know you with my family, church and work. Let me be lifted only by your strength and not my own. I ask for your grace as I continue the tough work of replacing worldly sagacity in my soul with your wisdom. All praise and honour be unto you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
