Ezra Character Study Summary

EZRA CHARACTER STUDYHere are my observations and thoughts. Please feel free to continue sharing yours.

The man Ezra
Ezra was a direct descendant of Aaron, through the line of Eleazar and Phineas. While living in exile in Babylon, he took his role as priest very seriously and studied God's word and became "skilled in the law of Moses" (7:6). He lived a life that gained favor with King Artaxerxes (7:21). Artaxerxes trusted Ezra and gave him authority to appoint civil leaders (7:25).

Character Traits
Trustworthy - Artaxerxes transfered a considerable amount of authority to Ezra and trusted him not to use that authority against him.

Passion - Ezra had a passion for God's Word - knowing it, keeping it, teaching it. He states his passion in 7:10, and demonstrates it through his actions in chapters 9-10.

Trust God rather than man - He chose not to ask for troops and horsemen to protect them while they traveled (8:22), rather, he trusted God to provide safety.

Humility - Ezra was totally humbled before God. He gave God the credit for everything (7:27-28), and demonstrated his humility when he tore his garments, pulled out some of his hair, and prostrated himself before the temple (9:3-5). He was focused entirely on God, not what others would think.

Sensitive to sin - Ezra truly mourned the sin of the people even though he himself had not committed the sin and continued to mourn even after the decision to put away the foreign wives had been made (10:6).

Leadership Style
Ezra gathered people around himself to whom he could teach God's law (7:10). He also gathered people to volunteer to return to Jerusalem to establish worship of God there (7:13).

He led the people mostly by example. He led the people to fast and pray when confronted with safety issues (8:22). When he was informed about the sin among the people, he responded to the sin himself (9:3). He didn't tell everyone else how they should respond; he simply acted. The people followed his lead and wept bitterly over their sin (10:1).

When it came time to execute a plan, Ezra relied on the advice of Shecaniah. Shecaniah encouraged Ezra to tell the people what they must do (10:2-4). Ezra took the responsibility to require the men to put away their foreign wives, but when it came time to actually carry that out, he delegated the task to capable leaders (10:16). Ezra was not an administrator, but was wise enough to assign those administrative tasks to trustworthy men so they would still get done.

PERSONAL REFLECTION
This is my own personal reflection. Yours may be different, and you are welcome to share.

Ezra is a kind of leader I can relate to. I, like him, have a passion to study and know God's word, to practice it, and to teach it to others. I tend to gather small groups around me to teach. Although I can do administrative type work, I'd rather not. The more I spend time with God and his word, the more I come to detest sin, but I think I'm more desensitized than Ezra to the sin around me. I have sometimes wept bitterly over my sin, though. I tend to be reserved, so I've thought a lot about Ezra's public display of emotion over the sin of the people. I think his outward example was very valuable to the people, so I wonder if a little more outward expression of my heart would be beneficial to others.

PRAYER
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you are a personal God who is involved in our lives. Thank you for the opportunities to teach others about you and your word. Teach me to see sin more like you see it and not to take it lightly. Keep teaching my heart to conform to you and always point people to Jesus. Amen.