Friday Faithfuls Two: Ezra

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ezra always strikes me as one of the overlooked books of the Old Testament.  I'm not sure I've ever heard a sermon based on Ezra...  But it is an interesting book.  It's written in two parts; the first part being the historical record of the first return of the Jews to  Judea/ Jerusalem, and the second being the account of Ezra and his ministry.  Mr. Scofield tells me in the preface to Ezra that 50 years passed between part 1 and part 2.

Maybe it's because we're in the midst of our own corporate fast, but what caught my attention today was verse 8:21...

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey four us and our children, with all our possessions.

On the brink of departing for Jerusalem (a journey that would take them four months, according to Ezra 7:9), Ezra proclaimed a fast that lasted three days, if I'm reading it right (from 8 :15).  Not only were they traveling with families, including small children, but they also had a small fortune in gold and silver and bronze that they had been given to take back.  It wouldn't do for them to fall into the hands of bandits, or even a local magistrate with a greedy nature.  So they fasted and prayed for safe journeying.

And, Ezra reports in 8:31, "The hand of our God  was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way."  They arrived safely in Jerusalem, with the treasures for the house of God intact.

Now, Ezra *could* have requested an armed escort...but he felt it was important to show that the trust of the people was not in force of arms, but in the arm of God. (8:22-23).  The safe journey was not just a testimony to the king...but also to the people, who needed to know that they could trust God to take care of them.  It gave THEM a testimony to look back on; not just the testimony from the days of the Exodus.  They knew the dangers of their journey and they knew they needed...and received...protection from God.  The three days of fasting and prayer was as probably more to prepare the people to expect God's protection than it was to ask God to provide it.

Am I using the fast to prepare myself to see God move?