The Return of God's People (2nd wave)

Let's take our Bible and let's turn to the book of Ezra. We are in Ezra chapter seven, you know that by now because of our scripture reading, and we will be in two chapters. We'll finish up chapter seven and then we will cover all of chapter eight. Now I have said repeatedly this is not a verse by verse study. There's a lot of this in Ezra that would be very laborious to deal with and I'm trying to get more than the high spots but also not take too long with some of these things that might not be relevant. Now last week we learned that chapter seven begins the second division of the book.

If you take your Bible and right there at the end of chapter six in the beginning of chapter seven you write that this is division in the book that's very accurate. And then also this is the second wave of exiles that are returning home. We learned this that this second wave was under the care and the leadership of Ezra. If you pay attention to the way the wording is beginning in chapter seven it will turn into the first person because Ezra is writing and he is speaking about himself.

Chapters one through six Ezra's not on the scene he's still in Babylonian captivity but now we see that the second wave comes under the leadership they're under the leadership of Ezra. He was a skilled scribe. The King James says ready scribe and we will notice that language. In our scripture reading in verses 27 through 28 Ezra is saying I was strengthened the hand of the Lord was on me. So we see him in the middle of this book. Just to pause here for a moment I'll tell you one thing that I have really loved in my study time not just studying to preach but studying for my own self.

I have loved seeing how Ezra was word of God centered and word of God saturated. He was word of God centered and word of God saturated. As we journey through the book we're gonna learn that he brings about a lot of work in the lives of the people and it all hinges on the word of God. We're gonna see some wonderful and sad things take place and it all centers on the word of God. So he is Bible saturated and Bible centered. We as ministers of the gospel must be Bible centered Bible saturated. Does that matter about the new whims and fancies in the life of the church? Does it matter what a lot of other ministers do?

We're gonna be Bible centered and Bible saturated. Those are the men of God who are gonna lead at the Nola Baptist Church. If Brother Keith and I have anything to do with it. Alright last week in last week also in last week's message I gave you some wording that describes the work under Ezra. They were returning coming back we're seeing that we see that here they're returning home they are reforming here in these verses we are we are gonna see that God gives them the tools to reform that's the word of God and then we see reforming and repenting we're gonna see repentance and works of repentance begin to take place and they are still rebuilding.

Now the tipple has been finished but we will see that there are still some rebuilding and we will see evidence of this spiritual reviving as we continue in this chapter. Now if you write these words down you'll begin to remember them in your mind and I'll do that on purpose. This returning reforming this repenting this rebuilding this renewing because these are themes that we see all through this this book. Alright the title of the message tonight is the return of God's people and this is the second wave under Ezra the return of God's people. We're gonna cover the rest of chapter 7 and then we're going to cover chapter 8.

Again I'm not gonna read all of these verses because of time and we're gonna look at two main truths the great provision and then the great return the great provision and the great return. Trust you that you are taking notes if you have difficulty with that we can help you with that every now and then someone will ask me for copies of my notes you're welcome to those but the return of God's people. If you would look at your scriptures and we're gonna start in chapter 7 and again I'm gonna just touch on these verses and come back and refer to these verses and I would advise you to go back and read these verses very carefully.

So we see in verse 11 now this is the copy of the decree which the king that's Artax Arcis gave to Ezra the priest the scribe learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes to Israel Artax Arcis king of kings to Ezra the priest the scribe of the law and of the God of heaven perfect peace and then we go on to see what Artax Arcis says I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel that they may go back to Jerusalem and then we see in verse 15 there is a transition there starting in verse 15 we're gonna see all of the goods all of the treasury that the king makes available to the people so from verse 15 all the way down to verse 44 it's nothing more than provision after provision after provision and we're gonna study that break that down and then we see in verse 25 and you Ezra according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand appoint magistrates judges that they may judge all the people who were in the province of beyond the river this is the authority that the king gives to Ezra as he journeys on the other side of the Euphrates and then we see those verses that we read earlier verses 27 through 28 which really describe what was taking place here God had moved on the heart of Artax Arcis to bless the people of God for this work now verse 1 chapter 8 now these are the heads of the father's households and the generations are the genea genea genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me notice the language me Ezra from Babylon then these first 14 verses are a groups and lists of people who journeyed and then we see verse 15 now I assemble them at the river and what does it say and we kept their three days and we observe the people in the priest so what you have here there is all of these people they have gathered there and they're getting ready to embark on this journey then verse 21 then I proclaim to fast there there at the river we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey and then we see that they embark on that journey and then we see in verse 33 thus we came to Jerusalem and we remain there three days so they made it all the way back remember that's about a thousand miles about four months journey through wilderness from Babylon across the Euphrates to the south and to the west to Israel the homeland and then in verses 33 through the rest of the chapter we see worship so I know that I zoom through those verses but that is a lot of verses for us to read and you get the gist of that now before we get into the main observations the main truths that I want us to see I want to touch on some smaller observations that will give us a a feel for the environment I want you to have a feel for the environment a feel for the setting and not just a feel spiritually but an overall understanding what's what what the environment is in this work notice in verse 13 that the Jews were not commanded to go or stay that's in chapter 7 I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go up to Jerusalem may go with you that's our disarxis and what is he saying he is saying that they can go the king said that those who are willing to go may go this is a very positive thing this is not a command for him by him saying leave my kingdom they're in his kingdom he's saying you may go or you may stay so notice notice how artist irkses is reacting to this situation also notice the respect the king has for Ezra verse 25 notice what it says and you Ezra according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the river artists irksi sees the wisdom of God in Ezra as a man of God so notice that he is reacting positively to Ezra and Ezra as a man of God also notice the recognition of the king's kindness by Ezra in verse 27 bless be the Lord the God of our fathers who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart that's our excerpt sees but notice to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem so we see here we see here that there is kindness this is kindness and blessing from Arctic cirksies which we need to see this gives us an understanding of the the environment this this situation this is not a negative thing this is nothing but positive from the gracious work of God in the situation to the kindness of a pagan king to the provision of a spiritual leader in Ezra and also the material possessions that are provided so this is the environment at in which God is working simplistically you can remember it like this first there was great reverence for God from Arctic cirksies in the Babylonians second there was a great respect for Ezra from Arctic cirksies in the Babylonians and third there was a great readiness to provide for the work of God by the king and the Babylonians so this is just wonderful this is beautiful and again this underscores this highlights for me the fact that God is sovereign God is in control no matter how bleak the picture may seem God is in control and when God began to fulfill his plans and purposes he brought about these circumstances for his people now let's get a little more specific here and I want us to notice the great provision the great provision now it's more than just material goods that we see here that can catch our eye starting in verse 15 we're gonna look at verses 12 through 14 and verses 25 through 28 so here in these verses that make up the second part of chapter 7 we see that there is a wonderful provision now question this one this is one for you to ponder who is making this provision obviously the language reads Arctic cirksies a pagan king I don't believe I have to explain this anymore we see it but we must see that it is a sovereign God who is providing through a pagan king I want you to hear that God can work through pagan people God can work through pagan nations and pagan kings to bring about his work and his plans here on earth and that's exactly what he is doing so this is the great provision now two things out of this first they were sent off under Ezra's care they were sent off under Ezra's care verses 11 and 12 what do we see now this is the copy of the decree which the king gave to Ezra the Pete priest the scribe he was learned in the words of God and the commandments of God and then verse 12 Arctic cirksies king of kings to Ezra the priest the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens perfect peace and now I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and their Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem may go with you so what we see here is the people of God were sent off under Ezra's care if you look at the language you can see that this decree was given by the king and he was given by the king to Ezra with the expectation of Ezra's leadership his leadership was obvious it was expected and it was commanded Arctic cirksies expected Ezra to fulfill this role so they were sent off under Ezra's care now there are several things under Ezra's care that I want us to see notice he was sent to inquire concerning the law of God I've not read this or read this earlier look at the second portion of verse 14 verse 14 the beginning I'll read it as well first much as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God which is in your hand all of the translations use the word inquire now question what matters were he to inquire of what was he to investigate in Judah and Jerusalem does it say he just says go and inquire well what was he supposed to investigate everything Ezra was to investigate and look and he was to deal with everything that he found according to the law of God you get that what is what does the king say you go you inquire of the whole set of circumstances everything that's going on according to the Word of God that is in your hand you see and look I tell you a great New Testament example we learned this in our study at first and second Timothy Paul who was the mentor and Timothy who was the student Paul comes back to Ephesus the church at Ephesus Ephesus and he finds it in shambles he leaves Timothy there and he says you straighten everything out and he goes on to do some things for him he kicked out some false teachers he started that work of reform but what does Paul say now you finish it according to what I've taught you that's exactly what Ezra was to do he was sent to inquire concerning the law and inquire of everything also notice he was to be a governor we see that in verse 25 we also inform you that you are excuse me that's verse 24 verse 25 and you Ezra according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand a point magistrates and judges now question what is the difference between these two titles of these two positions in doing some of the language study this week I found and discovered that both of the words used here they are derived from a root word that means to judge and it is difficult to draw any distinction between them the one translated magistrates is that which gives its title to the book of Judges so what do we have here in these titles these are judges these are people who are to judge the people and judge circumstances in the land but he was a governor because he was to appoint those individuals notice he was to be a teacher we see that in verse 25 Ezra was to do two things in teaching the word I'm gonna go back and read that because I want you to see it and you Ezra according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand that's the word appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all of the people who were in the province beyond the river even all those who know the laws of your God and may teach anyone who is ignorant of them what do we see he was to do two things first he was to make sure that the Jews God's people knew the law of Moses and second he was to teach anyone that did not know the laws of God so there are two things going on here he is to teach God's people and he is to even evangelize those pagans remember those Samaritans that were there so he was to be a teacher and then notice he was to be a judge we see this in verse 26 and whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king let judgment be executed upon him strictly whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or imprisonment Ezra was to be a was to be appointed to a very important position Ezra in entrusted this Ezra was was given the this role of a civil government official over the Jewish people he had the power to find the power to imprison the power to banish even to put to death offenders you see there's a lot that Ezra was to do but notice that first main truth they were sent off under Ezra's care look at the great care that he was to pay attention to then again under this great provision notice second they were sent off with so much material goods so much you could put treasure in your notes we see that starting in verse 15 all the way down to verse 24 if you examine these verses you will find that the Jews were provided an extraordinary amount of prevent perfect possessions and freedoms in their finances really they were just loaded down several things I want us to notice about these material goods notice they were provided by the king and his counselors we see that in the beginning of verse 15 and to bring the silver and the gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered so the text reads that the king himself and the king's royal officials provided the Jews with silver and gold notice that they were provided by all in Babylon look at the beginning of our 16 with all of the silver and gold which you shall find in the whole province of Babylon this reads basically all that you can get the king is saying you can get all you can get from my people and the king was giving them permission to ask his people to help them in this work then notice they were provided by the Jews the second part of verse 16 says that the Jews offered offerings this was an offering from the people of God and the language there in the end of verse 16 says their God and that's dignity that signifies that these were the Jews notice they were provided by the royal treasury verse 20 and the rest of the needs for the house of your God for which you have may have occasion to provide provide for it from the royal treasury this appears to be a blank check but it's really not the case what has been here is this what you like when you get there when you have all your needs assessed what you like come to the Treasury to make up the difference several commentaries that I have studied here indicate that this most likely would have been done under the supervision of Ezra in other words it would have been Ezra who would have stepped up and asked for more assistance from the Treasury notice they were provided by those on the other side of the Euphrates verse 21 in the king artists are easy issue to decree to all of the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the river these were provinces and peoples that were under the authority of Babylon this would have been those on the other side of the Euphrates from Babylon and these would have been ordered to provide in the work as well and then the last thing here notice they were provided by tax exemption verse 24 we also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax tribute or toll on any of the priests Levite singers and doorkeepers and other servants what do we see here it appears that there were certain servants and officials who were serving in the temple and they were given special tax exemption as a part of this provision so notice that the Scriptures tells us tell us with all of this gold all of the silver all of this possessions they were given to the people but notice what all of this was given for go back to verse 28 talking about King Arteserxes he is extended loving kindness to me God before the king God is extended loving kindness to Ezra before the king and his counselors and before all of the kings and mighty princes thus I was strengthened and according to the hand of the Lord my God upon me I gathered leading men to go up for what look back because what does it say that all of these things were done in the heart of the king verse 27 the second part to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem all of this was given to finish decorating the temple so we have two great provisions first and the most important the people and the work were provided a leader in Ezra now question why was this leadership more important we're gonna answer that second the people and the work were provided with an exorbitant amount of Treasury now I want to put this in perspective from you by looking into some first century Jewish history there's a very famous historian his name's Josephus he was a first-century Pharisee and he is a noted and respected historian I have his works and I refer to them at times but during Roman times the Jewish historian Josephus tells us of Treasury being regularly brought back and forth from Jerusalem and in that day they would have had an escort above 20,000 soldiers to provide security that's how much bounty they had now most important thing that God provided was the leadership and the second most important thing that God provided was all of this Treasury now an application an application what does the church need desperately today now I know that none of us are authorities about the work of the church around the world as a matter of fact most of us have a very limited experience and exposure to the work of the church and what I mean is what takes place here in our culture and where we have come from it might not be that way maybe in other places in our country but in our limited amount of experience we can ask that question what does the church need desperately today the church needs leadership godly men to govern the church lead the church show to the work of the church and that's exactly what took place here there was a man of God who went and rallied the leading men of Israel we see in verse 28 to shoulder this work to lead the people and fulfill God's work another question application in our limited amount of experience what is the church done with the provisions without godly men to lead her in the work you see how that helps us understand the importance what's more important we have seen many churches take wonderful provisions and use them for nothing but selfishness we've seen so many churches who have weak leadership at best and they take the provisions of God the monies and the properties and the facilities and it's all about self it's not about reaching other people it's not about ministering the people and reaching the poor and reaching the spiritual orphan it's not about kingdom work first it's about our comfort and our securities see that sheds light on the order and listen we must understand that the most important thing that no libab dish church could have is godly men who are under the leadership and the anointing in the direction of God to lead the church God can take care of the provision I mean God can give us anything he owns it all I mean if these Jews were to swell up with pride and look up to God and say look God look at all the gold and the silver that the King Arctic circuses gave us you know what God would say that's that's no big deal I own it all and I want you to see I really want us to see the great provision here and if we're not careful we'll focus on the passages verses 15 on down to verse 24 and we'll focus on all of the material goods and it's far more important to see that the man of God the men of God are far more important than the goods truth number two I want us to see the great return we see this in chapter 8 the provisions are made Ezra has been appointed a great leader of the people and Ezra has gathered up leading men there at the end of chapter 7 and now we will see this delegation move out to return and all of chapter 8 is about the second wave of exiles returning now just as before in chapter 7 I want to give us a feel for the environment I want to give us a feel for what we're going to look at verses 1 through 14 are a list of individuals who were in this delegation it's a genealogical list of those who came but in verse 15 we see that Ezra had a problem as he moved among those who are returning remember they were camped there by the river he found out that there were no Levites returning so he makes an inquiry of the leaders and he recruits Levites to come and make the journey we see that in verses 18 through 20 now what's the significance of this Levites were central to instituting worship at the temple without the Levites worship could not function properly but also notice something else in verse 15 they were camped for three days at the river although this place geographically is not really known this was a meeting place for them to start their journey this is very important for us to see here because verses 21 and 22 tell us a lot about this environment because we're going to see that Ezra right here was at a tremendous crossroads and we're going to see him have to make some important decisions several things here first Ezra sought protection from God verse 21 then I proclaim the fast there at the river that we might humble ourselves before God to seek him a safe journey for our people our children and the possessions now notice that they were at the river three days and Ezra proclaimed a fast this was for one thing to express dependence on God this was a very dangerous journey the roads leading back were full of bandits and thieves who robbed at will and in that day even messengers who traveled back it was understood that they would travel with groups or caravans for their own safety so they were seeking God for protection now in this verse in this seeking God I want you to notice three things notice they humbled themselves notice they sought protection for their children their people and notice they sought protection for their provisions so that really throws a blanket over everything they sought protection from God for the whole journey for their wives their children their families their older people and they sought protection for all the goods that had been entrusted to them and so they humbled themselves before God but notice something else second Ezra was ashamed asked the king for help this might seem strange notice verse 22 for I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way because I said to the king and he's quoting himself the hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek him but his power and his anger are against all those who forsake him so we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter and he listened to us isn't that seems strange Ezra was ashamed why is that the case before he realized the danger Ezra has had boasted the Arctic's irkses of the power and the protection of God and he expressed a confidence that their God could protect them it's as if when he was before the king he said no sir we don't need your troops we have God now that the danger was before them now that the danger threatened he found himself afraid he found himself afraid and we need in and would have been glad to have an escort exactly like Nehemiah did if you fast forward Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 9 Nehemiah had a royal escort and Ezra would have been glad to have it but after his burst boasting in the Lord he was ashamed to ask for an escort so you see some humanity there with Ezra so first he sought protection from God Ezra was ashamed to ask the king and then third God answered their prayer verse 23 tells us that they were able to come to God with an assurance they were able to come to the circumstances with an assurance that God had heard their prayers and he was under their watch and their care fourth Ezra delegated responsibility verse 24 then I set apart 12 of the leading priests and then if you will go through the language verse 25 I'll wait out verse 26 thus I'll wait out in their hands and then I said in verse 28 you are holy to the Lord and the utensils are holy verse 29 keep watch of them verse 30 so the priests and the Levites accepted it and they weighed out all the silver and the gold and the utensils to bring them up to Jerusalem so Ezra delegated the responsibility the care of all of the treasures here we see that Ezra uses his authority to delegate this responsibility if you take the time to weigh out the goods you will see that there are tons and tons of treasure just one little note here that'll help us in verse 26 it lists 650 talents that would be 25 tons this gives us an idea of what they were carrying fifth notice they were successful in their journey verse 31 through 32 then we journeyed from the river and does it what does it say and then on the first month they went up to Jerusalem and the hand of our God was over us verse 32 we came to Jerusalem and remain there three days so they were successful they had a safe journey they were delivered from the possible enemies and ambushes along the way and then six the last thing they engaged in worship we see this in verse 33 they're engaging in worship after a three-day rest they did the first appropriate thing and they worshiped and they worshiped in two ways first they deposited all of the treasure before God we see that in verse 33 and 34 said that they took the gold the utensils and they weighed them out in the house of God another words they counted and they weighed it to make sure that it was all there and then we see second that all of the people's worship representatives from all of the twelve tribes worship in verse 35 what does it say they had burnt offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all of the twelve of Israel that tells us that they were representatives from all of the twelve tribes so they engaged in worship so here we see a great return this was great in several ways first they depended on God for help and not the king that that journey was nothing more than miraculous and second God came through and they returned safely and then third they they brought such a large amount of treasury to the temple and remember what verse 27 and 28 tells us that the purpose of all of these goods were far finishing and decorating the temple now in application of this great truth this great return we must see that when we embark on kingdom work we must trust God we must see that when we embark on kingdom work we must trust God now pause here and make some observations declarations to be honest with you we live in a time and a day where we enjoy freedom comfort and security we did not risk our lives to drive out here to church there was not an armed guard at the door we do not risk arrest we are not in fear we're not having to worship in secret we're not having to divide up in smaller groups because of safety there are people on the face of the earth that do not worship in safety so to be honest with you we are really at a disadvantage in one way we do not have risk involved in our worship we are blessed in many ways by great material goods and monies and jobs and health and opportunities but I was reminded of that in a small little way when I went to India India is not necessarily as open as our country it's predominantly Hindu as a matter of fact now they are under the control of a Hindu form of government those government officials they want to stamp out Christianity whereas before the government was a little more friendly and open to other religions but I got a little taste to that when we were in hint in India we were in the northern part of the country in the state of Bihar's one of the poorest countries are excuse me one of the poorest states in the country it borders Nepal if you look at the map of India if you just go to the north right about there in the middle you'll see the state of Bihar we had been there with Mukesh at the orphanage and we traveled quite a distance into one of the villages to into into the villages and through villages to a particular village and there was a village of Emmanuel Kisku you'll remember the name Emmanuel we helped him build a church there it's kind of an interesting journey we all gathered up and piled up in an SUV and we went through all these country roads and dangerous roads and through fields and the best way I can describe it it was just miles of deer camp type roads but we were there in his church gathering and we were preaching and teaching and the way it works when you preach the visiting preacher preaches then the the host preacher he stands up and preaches behind you and explains it so it's just layer after layer I had preached and then Luke got up and he explained some things that I had said and and then Mukesh was there he got up and explained some things I said but in the middle of Luke preaching all of a sudden a lot of these men from the village descended on the meeting and they were not Christian men for a little while there I was a little scared because Hindus could be very violent now as it turned out they were they had heard that they were Americans there and they wanted to see us Luke was fearless he was preaching to the church preaching a message to the church when those men came in to the left he turned and he shifted and started preaching the gospel then little little Mukesh stood up and he started preaching the gospel I was sitting in my chair I was afraid I thought oh no but what I'm trying to show you is we don't have to worship and fear and in many ways it can be a disservice now I'm not questioning the provision of God in that area but what we see here is that they took great risk and when we embark on kingdom work we must trust in God to be honest we there are people in my family really didn't want to see me go to India because of the risk and you know a day might come when we might have to worship in risk and a day might come when we might be called to engage in gospel work then involves risk how could we say that we will stay in our comfort and just stay here and never consider risk in kingdom work we must see also that no matter where we go no matter what we do no matter what risks we face God can deliver us safely aren't we learning that God is sovereign overall if it was within God's will and plan for them to be attacked by bandits and thieves they could not have stopped that God is God he can take care of us here there and everywhere and no matter where we go no matter where we are the risks that we incur in doing God work under the leadership of this spirit God can take care of us now as I begin to close as I begin to wrap up this message what do we learn here there's a great provision God provided him a great man of God and men of God Zezra who appointed other leaders it was a great provision with the men of God and all of the treasury that they need all of the treasure they need to finish the temple then there was this great return a great caravan God protected them and they got back home with the the the treasure to do the work of God the men of God the lead in this work so what we see at the end of this result is they get to one place 101 Temple Street you see it all came back to the temple the end of their journey was the temple because the temple was the focal point of their lives it was where the very presence of God resided it was the the focal point of everything in their life it was the focal point of worship they were the people of God under the leadership of God and they were coming home to rebuild the temple so you see where they ended up and see for us today we must see that the center of God's activity today is the church there are a lot of Christian organizations out there there are all kinds of movements out there and look those might be good and fine but when it comes down to it the real work the nitty-gritty work the full work of God is expressed in the New Testament local church I'm reminded of that importance from time to time I'll give you a little example I've referred to this particular individual and some circumstances have brought this back into my life lately I like to study different missionary works I've been studying some different missionary works for some particular purposes that pertain to us but a missionary that I studied about learned about last summer his name was Frank drown Frank drown was a missionary to Ecuador started his journey in the late 40s and he spent 37 years ministering to the largest lowland tribe there in Ecuador Frank drown was connected to Jim Elliott and those other missionaries who died at the hands of the wide Donnie but what I've enjoyed about this missionary story is the fact that it was very successful it was very biblical very biblically sound as a matter of fact I've been doing some more research concerning this missions work I've been making some phone calls to the missions organization that's still in existence that sent Frank and his wife Marie out as a matter of fact Frank drown is still alive I talked with someone this past week that said he battles with dementia but his wife they're both in their 90s she is still doing very well as a matter of fact one of the ladies that I talked to at this missions organization said that she lived next door to them and that she was starting a new Bible study in her home but I want to know more about the work I don't want to just know what went on with Frank drowned I want to know about the health of the church today the health of the work going on now other missionaries I want to get a full picture of the work because I want to learn but this is what really showed me that the work started right as Frank drowned was telling his story he was talking about how he and his wife right after they were married in 1944 they went to missions training school to get ready for the field and this is what he says about his training the focus of the training period was on what a missionaries main task should be I remember reading that when I read that phrase my attention I got a shot right up in my seat he went on to say a missionaries this is part of this training this was more than learning a strange language holding Bible classes more than winning people to Christ a missionary's chief goal should be to establish churches indigenous churches that will be self-governing self-supporting and self-propagating if your work as a missionary does not result in strong native churches that can carry on without you our leader pointed out you will have failed as a missionary and here's where the authority comes from this had been the Apostle Paul's method we realized and with God's help it would be ours now what's the point they understood that the focal point of God's work on earth was the church it wasn't just about Bible classes and schools and medical care and even reaching the lost they were to form churches and listen they were forming churches and we are reforming a church and look we are reforming this work to be Bible centered Bible focused Bible saturated that's exactly what they were doing in Ezra's day it was the Word of God and the work of God that was central to that work and it brought them all the way back to the temple and we're coming all the way back to the church we're about reforming the church and growing the church and rebuilding the church according to the word and any other church work that we would be involved in any missions work that we would be involved in guess what it would focus on the church so you see how similar that work is to today's work so as I close what do we see we see this great return of God's people the second wave God provided greatly and they had a great return it's a beautiful story Lord help us help us to learn Lord this underscores so much from me