The divine hand is mighty. Deuteronomy 5:15

A. THE DIVINE HAND IS UPON MEN FOR BLESSING.

In my reading of the BIBLE from cover to cover I noticed today that “the hand of the LORD” is mentioned several times in the book of EZRA.

The divine hand is mighty.”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

a.  In Ezra 7:6 it says that “the king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.”

b.  In Ezra 7:9 we read “the gracious hand of his God was on him” on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

c.  In Ezra 7:28 Ezra says, “Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered the leading men from Israel to go up with me.”

d.  Ezra 8:18 tells us that “because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli …”

e.  In Ezra 8:22 Ezra says, “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.'”

B. THE DIVINE HAND IS UPON MEN FOR CHASTISEMENT AND PUNISHMENT

The divine hand was on Ezra for blessing and on Nehemiah as well.