2012 February

GOD once again stirs the heart of a pagan king to move another wave of his people back to Jerusalem.  Cyrus had initially released all of the Jews (even though only 50,000 left) under the leadership of Sheshbazzar to return and now Artaxerxes opens the door for another group (5,000 who are willing) to head back under the leadership of Ezra.  The group gathers and Ezra notices there are no Levites among the 5,000 poised to leave exile for Jerusalem.  It doesn’t sound like a big deal to us, but this was a real problem for them, because the Levites were imperative for worship.  They were the only ones that could administer sacrifices, they were the only ones that could serve in the temple and more importantly, they were the only ones that could mediate between man and GOD.  Without them there was no forgiveness of sins, no with peace with GOD, no relationship with the Almighty.  Them not having Levites would be like us not having Jesus-there is no connection with GOD without them.  Luckily, 38 willing Levites from Kasiphia, a nearby town, caught word of their predicament, packed their bags, said their goodbyes and left on three days notice to go with the other 5,000 Jews back to Jerusalem.

But, before they set even one foot back on the interstate due west, they fasted and prayed.  It was going to be a 900-mile journey through the desert, in the heat of the summer, in one of the most dangerous parts of the world.  Can you imagine walking to New York from Nashville?  It doesn’t seem like a long distance to us or like it would be that difficult of a journey, but imagine that instead of the roads through Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania being the route you took, imagine the desert sands of Africa.  And on top of that, this was one of the most susceptible places for people to be robbed and murdered.  You were on the open road with no street lights, no police, no hotels, no McDonald’s (which wasn’t a bad thing), no shelter.  The open road was where thieves and criminals made their living by preying on unsuspecting travelers.  And what a wonderful target the people of GOD would be! Carrying literally 30 tons of silver and gold (our equivalent: $5 Billion).  You heard me.  It was an outrageous amount of money.

So here is the picture: 5,000 Jews traveling through enemy territory, in the desert, in the hottest part of the year, carrying $5 Billion.  Do you see why Ezra declared a fast and a time dedicated to prayer?

One more thing deserves our attention before we make the connection between this story and Jesus.  Did you notice that Ezra in verse 22 was ashamed to ask the King for protection for his trip?  He had proclaimed to the pagan King Artaxerxes that GOD’s hand was on his people and yet as he was on the 440 loop fixing to hop on 40 West, he realized what lay ahead of him; the peril that was on the horizon.

Have we ever proclaimed something to others that GOD said and then question, “But, what if GOD doesn’t?”  For example, what if we tell a friend that isn’t a believer that if he/she will give GOD a chance and seek him, he/she will find GOD?  GOD does clearly say this in scripture (James 4:8; Matthew 6:7-8) but do ever have those thoughts, “But what happens if GOD doesn’t show up?”  Or if you have a parent that is going through struggles, whether it be physical or spiritual, in life and you tell them that Jesus can heal them, which he claims to be able to do in Matthew 11, do you ever doubt, “But what if Jesus can’t or doesn’t?”  Sometimes we face these situation in life, these crossroads, where we realize that what we claim to believe and what we actually believe are two different things.  I’m going to make an assumption and say that Christians believe that Jesus can heal, especially when no one you love is sick.  The question is, do you really believe that Jesus can heal EVERY sickness when its your wife, your son, your granddaughter that has leukemia and has been given six weeks to live?  Now don’t hear what I’m not saying, Jesus doesn’t promise to heal every sickness on earth and that’s not the point I’m trying emphasize, what I’m wanting us to see is that the things we often times say that we believe about GOD are so many times different than what we actually believe about GOD.  Ezra, and some of GOD’s people made a bold statement to Artaxerxes, that “The gracious hand of their GOD is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.”  And now they stand a crossroads where they have to choose to either actually believe those words by walking in faith or recant their words, realize their beliefs were nothing more than wishful thinking and ask the King for help.

Their journey is anticlimactic to say the least.  We are given only one detail: they arrived safely with no harm inflicted.  And the recurring phrase, “The hand of our GOD was on us,” shows us why the trip was uneventful.  Throughout our study in Ezra hopefully we’ve gleaned one thing if nothing else-When GOD’s hand is on his people, no enemy, no force, no power can overcome them.  GOD is stronger, GOD is wiser, GOD is able to deliver his people.  Like Ezra, we must learn to beg for the hand of GOD on our lives, believe the things he has promised, notice His presence and make known the graciousness of GOD to others.

Jesus

One great connection in this story to Jesus is Ezra trusting GOD for the good of others, especially for non-believers.  Ezra trusted the character and the heart of GOD when faced with a situation where he could elevate and give credence to GOD’s word and power.  And because of this, GOD was able to display to non-believers his sovereignty.  Jesus faithfully trusted His Father and completely surrendered his will to that of His Father’s and because of that, it turned out for our good.  Jesus emptied himself of everything, lived out the true way of life, redeemed us from sin and will present us to GOD the Father as pure and blameless.  Jesus’ life, his willingness to trust GOD and his commands, turned out for our good.

May we look to Jesus today and worship him with reverence and awe!  His faithfulness was for our good.  And may our faithfulness be his delight.