Theological Commentary: Click Here
Do you know
what faith is? Faith is gathering a great
treasure and walking into a wilderness without any kind of guard. That’s what we see here. Ezra and his volunteer followers gather the
precious metals that they need for worship in the temple and then they walk straight
into a wilderness. They don’t bring a
military escort. They don’t bring
protection. It is by the hand of God
that they get through the journey safely.
I’m
impressed by this show of faith. In
those days, the wildernesses were not safe places. The roads were watched by bandits. Rebel insurgent armies moved through the land
on the run from one form of authority or another. Poor townsmen from local towns would seek any
opportunity to plunder or swindle and passing opportunity. Into these conditions, volunteer priests head
off with a great mass of wealth.
The neat
thing about this story is that the mission succeeds. Their faith does not return to them
empty. Their faith returns to them
fulfilled. These people are protected by
the hand of God. When we humble
ourselves before God and become obedient to Him, He will protect us in our
endeavors.
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