The Mighty Hand of God 1

EZRA 7:6-28; Nehemiah 2

God would use the ordinary men to do extra ordinary things through the hand of God.

I smell another move of God in the horizon.

There have been repeated episodes of how God would work through different individuals to achieve His divine purpose.

For these two men I am about to talk about, they were given different missions with similar tools. Ezra was uniquely called by God to rebuild the spiritual lives of the people by the teaching of the statutes bringing them to the knowledge of God while Nehemiah on the other hand, was involved in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem to make Jerusalem a fortified city.

Ezra and Nehemiah were movers and shakers of their days.

They were successful beyond conventional pace. These two men attributed their success to the HANDS OF GOD upon their lives.

How?

-God moved the hearts of secular rulers (Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes) to allow, encourage and help, the Jewish people to return home.

-God used these unlikely allies to fulfill His promises of restoration for His chosen people. Have you encountered unlikely sources of blessing?

Have you wondered how God can really work all things together for the good of those who are called by His name (Romans 8:28)?

There are four actions described in Ezra 7:10 that can be directly credited with bringing God’s good hand upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

• Prepare – “Ezra had prepared his heart”: • Pursue – “to seek the law of the Lord”:
• Perform – “and to do it”: • Profess – “and to teach …

Keys to seen the hand of God

• Mission-consciousness. They understood divine assignment.
• SEEK the Lord in prayer: Ezra-Nehemiah soaked their ministries in prayer.
• Ezra-Nehemiah worked hard.
• The Word of God must be central to your life: The word provides us with boundaries of operation.