Learning to Teach from Ezra

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.  Ezra 7:10 (NIV2011)

We learn three lessons from this short verse about Ezra. Teaching is not just about teaching. It is about three things:

• Study
• Observance
• Teaching

Don’t skip these first two steps.

Ezra studied

Great teachers are great students. They love to read. They love to listen to audio books. They love to hang out at Barnes and Noble. The have shelves full of books at home. They love to study. They love to discuss and argue. They love to learn.

Great teachers love words. They love to spelunk their meaning. They will start with an English dictionary, but will rarely end there. They want to know what the underlying Greek or Hebrew says. They care about nuance. The enjoy scanning a thesaurus to find the precise word to use in teaching.

When a great teacher is assigned a teaching on a similar topic to what they have recently taught, they rework their research. They start with a blank page. They don’t just get out their old notes and say the same things again.

Great teachers know that student want to drink from a moving stream. They want to know if the teacher has learned anything lately. Great teachers have.

Great teachers care what other great minds have seen. They do their own research, but they read the writings of the great commentators as well.

Ezra devoted himself to study. The word for devoted in nearly always translated “heart.” The sense of it is, “Ezra set his heart on studying.” It mattered to him more than making a buck or who is winning at football this year.

A.W. Tozer said, “All else being equal it is desirable that Christians, especially ministers of the gospel, should be widely read.

Ezra observed

Ezra was a doer. He practiced what he preached. He set an example for his people to follow. He studied and observed. He obeyed. He never asked people to do what he himself was not willing to do. He said with Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

How different from some I have heard preach who feign humility by saying they don’t want people to follow their example. They cloak this false-humility with God-talk by saying, “Don’t follow me, follow Christ.” That is like saying, “I have not found Christianity to work; I hope you have better luck.”

James revealed a big problem for those who study the Word but do not observe the Word. They deceive themselves. They think they are making progress in godliness because of their deep learning. They are not. Godliness is about obedience. Ezra knew this. He devoted himself—gave his heart to—studying and observing.

By the way, “observe” in this context does not mean to look at. It means to obey, as the Holman makes clear, “Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:10 (HCSB)

There are occasions, mind you, when we have to point to a level of obedience that is above us. None of us will live the Christian life perfectly. Sometimes, a teacher has to admit that an area of teaching is an area of struggle for the teacher. This should be the exception.

E. Stanley Jones wrote concerning teaching that is divorced from doing: “The Word doesn’t take shoes and walk, it takes wings and flies, over their heads. It is transcendental, but not transforming. It is geared into ideas, but not into life. Hence those interested in living pass it by.”

Ezra taught

Only after careful study and heart-felt observance did Ezra seek to teach. We should do the same. Study. Do. Teach.

The word for taught in Hebrew is an interesting one. Seventeen times in the NIV it is translated, “learn” or “learned.” It is a reminder to us that teaching is about causing people to learn. The teacher has not taught until the pupil has learned. Teaching is not just about telling. It is about causing to learn. It is the responsibility of the teacher for the learner to learn. If they are not learning, you are not teaching.

I am not the only one to admire Ezra as a teacher. One writer said:

Ezra was determined to eke out every last meaning of God’s Word. To understand it and apply it to his life. Our study of God’s Word should not feel like a chore. It should be something we crave. It should be as vital to us as the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. It should be our shelter, our clothing, our refuge. Ezra set his heart to seek God’s Word and went on to lift a nation out of the abyss and back to God.