Ezra 8:24-30 – Holy to the LORD
As the people prepare to leave on the journey to Jerusalem, Ezra entrusts the offerings for the Temple to the oversight of twelve priests. This is an enormous responsibility as the amount of treasure is immense. The silver, alone, was over 25 (standard US) tons. Exhorting them to guard these treasures well, Ezra reminds the priests, “You are holy to the LORD.” The fact that the priests are set apart for special service to God (which is what “holy” means) should make them all the more careful to watch over the treasures which are consecrated for service in the Temple and to see them delivered safely there.
In I Peter 2:9, the Apostle Peter tells Christians, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession.” From this and related passages, we learn the doctrine of the “priesthood of all believers.” Everyone whose trust in Christ Jesus is a priest under His great High Priesthood. Thus, it is right to say of Christians, “You are holy to the LORD.” Like the priests of Ezra’s day, Christians are set apart from the world for God’s special purposes. Also like them, we have been entrusted with a great treasure. Peter reminds us that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood etc., “That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We have the treasures of Christ and of His glorious Gospel. These are far more valuable than silver or gold. We must guard them, not letting them be stolen or corrupted by human ideas and empty philosophies. We must deliver them, as it were, to their proper place. In other words, we must proclaim the Gospel to the world, that the hearts in which it rests may be gathered into the Temple of the Living God – the Church.
Questions
- What does it mean that the priests are “holy to the LORD”?
- How are Christians holy to the LORD?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we might guard well the treasure of the Gospel.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.