In Ezra, chapter seven, verse six, three times, it mentions the hand of the Lord was upon Ezra, as in this verse, verses nine, twenty-eight, chapter eight, verses eighteen, twenty-two, thirty-one, accordingly. Three reasons are here in verse ten: Ezra devoted himself to study God’s Word, to practice it, and to teach it to others. The loyalty to God and His Word will accompany the Lord’s blessing and help. This principle is confirmed in the New Testament and begins with Matthew five, verse six. The other scriptures are John fourteen, verse twenty-one, chapter fifteen, and verses seven through ten. Then Acts ten, verses one through four, followed by Second Corinthians six, verses sixteen through eighteen, then Hebrews eleven, verse six, James one, verses twenty-one through twenty-five, and Revelation three, verses seven to ten.
In chapter eight, verse twenty-two, Ezra adds another occasion in which the Lord’s hand is on His people, particularly God’s favor, comes to those who seek Him wholeheartedly. Any who earnestly seek God and who genuinely manifest loyalty to Him and His Word will experience the favorable hand of the Lord upon them.
Ezra was a ready scribe or “a ready writer,” as in Psalm forty-five, verse one. The professional scribe was known well in Egypt from an early date under David and his successors, “scribes” were attached to the court as the king’s secretaries, as in Second Samuel eight, verse seventeen, Second Samuel twenty, verse twenty-five, and Second Kings twelve, verse ten, respectively. It was scarcely, however, until the time of the captivity that the class to which Ezra belonged arose. The “scribes” of that time were students, interpreters, and copiers of the Law. They carry the knowledge of the old dialect instead of the new one. The emphatic application of the title “the scribe” to Ezra marks the high honor in the office now held today. Its glories eclipsed those of the priesthood.