Ezra 7:10
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. 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.
Ezra ordered his life by first getting his heart ready to search for God's law, then by obeying it, and then by teaching its rules and decisions in Israel, with obedience as the governing purpose of his life. Getting his heart ready meant deliberately yielding mind, will and feelings to God to gain wisdom for doing His will, so that truth would sanctify his life. His searching meant diligent study of Israel's history, prophecies, promises and poetical and prophetic writings to recover lost knowledge and to learn how to bring its principles into daily life. His doing meant thorough conversion to a life ruled by truth and righteousness with steadfast trust in God and hatred of sin. His teaching flowed from what he had learned and lived, so that his words joined to his example revived study of Scripture, honored the law, and moved others to the same firm yet patient and compassionate commitment.
Prepared Heart and Mission
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 sets forth a threefold order for his life: first to seek and understand the law with a prepared heart, then to live by it and obey it, and then to teach its statutes and judgments to Israel. Obedience to the commandments was the rule and purpose of his life, and obedience and teaching flowed from serious study of Scripture. He taught what he had learned and practiced, so that word joined with example carried influence and the saving influence of truth could shape others toward truth that endures eternally.
Preparing the heart was deliberate and earnest, a pursuit of wisdom to do God's will that yielded mind and will and feelings to divine control. In that inward surrender truth sanctifies the life, bringing the principles of true sanctification and fitting a person to become a wise teacher who shapes those who receive instruction. His desire for wisdom to carry out God's will led him to obey the law and to learn it well enough to teach others.
Seeking the law meant diligent study of Israel's sacred history and of God's dealings with His people, including the reasons for Jerusalem's destruction and the captivity. He searched the historical and poetical books and the books of the prophets to grasp the law's meaning and its sacredness. Because knowledge of God's will had been partly lost in captivity, he gathered the copies of the law he could find and shared copies with God's people, and his diligent teaching of the pure Word gave them invaluable knowledge. Seeking also included searching prophecies about to be fulfilled and passages foretelling the Messiah, which brought hope and comfort to sad and weary hearts, and learning how to bring the principles of the Word into practical life.
Doing the law meant thorough conversion through that study, and a life governed by obedience and by truth and righteousness. It joined careful study with steadfast purpose, trust in God, abhorrence of sin, and faith that God could protect and care for His people, a trust he expressed to Artaxerxes. That faith and obedience led to the desire to return to Jerusalem to revive interest in studying God's word and to help restore the holy city. His example of seeking the law and living by it still inspires others across the centuries to make the same commitment.
Teaching flowed from what had been learned and practiced, so his labor produced a revival of Scripture study wherever he worked. Teachers were appointed to instruct the people, the law of the Lord was exalted and made honorable, and copies and pure teaching gave the people knowledge that shaped lives toward enduring truth. In this the teacher must first seek with a prepared heart and put the law into practice, then teach its commands and judgments, upholding God's statutes and inspiring reverence and love for the Scriptures.
His seeking and teaching grew from high and holy motives and deep love for souls. Toward those who had sinned willfully or through ignorance, and knowingly or unknowingly, he joined firmness as a rock where right principles were involved with patience, kindness, compassion, tenderness, sympathy and forbearance. God's servants in like manner are to teach transgressors the life-giving words that ground all right doing by inculcating the principles that are the foundation of all right doing. In this he is an object lesson to all who seek to bring about reforms.
Decree Date and Prophecy
Ezra 7:10 belongs to the account of Ezra, whom God raised up as His servant and to whose work the king's favor was given. The king supplied abundant means for rebuilding the temple and made possible the return of the Jews from the seventy-year captivity in Babylon. This gave God's people another opportunity to serve Him in their own land, showing God's forbearance toward His wayward children.
The chapter contains Artaxerxes' decree to restore and build Jerusalem, which is counted as one action begun by Cyrus, continued by Darius, and completed by Artaxerxes. Ezra 6:1-14 is the support for viewing it as a continuation and completion of Cyrus's decree. This decree is the one that starts the seventy weeks.
The decree went forth in 457 B.C., a date sought as the starting point of prophecy. It was issued late in the year, near its end. That 457 date is used as the beginning for calculating the 2300 years of Daniel 8:14. Subtracting 457 from 2300 first left 1843 as the year in which the prophetic period would close. That close was expected to be the coming of the Lord, and when the year fully passed and the Saviour had not come, the expectation ended in sad disappointment.
Recognizing that the decree was issued near the end of 457 B.C. moves its endpoint from 1843 to the fall of 1844. That autumn of 1844 is therefore understood as the end of the 2300-year period rather than 1843.