Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our possessions. For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.” So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he granted our request.
Parallel Translations
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Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our possessions.
For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”
So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he granted our request.
-
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
Show all 3 translations
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Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying: 'The hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him, for good; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him.'
So we fasted and besought our God for this; and He was entreated of us.
Cross-references (64)
- 1 Peter 3:12 (v22) For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Psalms 33:18-19 (v22) Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness, to deliver their soul from death, to keep them…
- 2 Chronicles 16:9 (v22) For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward…
- Psalms 34:15-16 (v22) Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory…
- Lamentations 3:25 (v22) Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Show all 62 cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 (v22) and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if…
- Psalms 34:22 (v22) Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
- Romans 8:28 (v22) We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 (v22) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all…
- Hebrews 10:38 (v22) But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Ezra 7:6 (v22) this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king…
- Ezra 7:28 (v22) and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened…
- Isaiah 3:10-11 (v22) Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his…
- Joshua 23:16 (v22) when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them.…
- Psalms 21:8-9 (v22) Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a fiery furnace in the…
- Zephaniah 1:2-6 (v22) I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the…
- Ezra 7:9 (v22) For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem,…
- 2 Corinthians 7:14 (v22) For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our…
- 2 Chronicles 20:3 (v21) Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to Yahweh. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
- Psalms 90:11 (v22) Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
- Jeremiah 29:12-13 (v23) You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me…
- 1 Corinthians 9:15 (v22) But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that…
- Joel 1:14 (v21) Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry…
- 1 Samuel 7:6 (v21) They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said there, “We have sinned…
- Isaiah 30:21 (v21) and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk…
- Matthew 7:7-8 (v23) “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks…
- Ezra 8:31 (vv21, 23) Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he…
- 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (v23) When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
- Jonah 3:5 (v21) The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
- Leviticus 16:29 (v21) “It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no…
- Leviticus 23:29 (v21) For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people.
- Psalms 107:2-8 (v21) Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, And gathered out of the lands, from the east and…
- Psalms 143:8-10 (v21) Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my…
- Deuteronomy 4:29 (v23) But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Psalms 5:8 (v21) Lead me, Yahweh, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.
- Proverbs 3:6 (v21) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Isaiah 42:16 (v21) I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before…
- Joel 2:12-18 (v21) “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart, and…
- 1 Chronicles 5:20 (v23) They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to God in the…
- Ezra 8:15 (v21) I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days: and I looked around at the people and the…
- Esther 4:16 (v23) “Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my…
- Isaiah 49:10 (v21) They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide…
- Isaiah 58:3 (v21) ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast…
- Jeremiah 10:23 (v21) Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
- Jeremiah 31:8-9 (v21) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame,…
- Mark 10:13-16 (v21) They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them. But when…
- Acts 2:39 (v21) For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
- Jeremiah 50:4-5 (vv21, 23) “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
- Leviticus 16:31 (v21) It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
- Judges 20:26 (v21) Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day…
- Isaiah 19:22 (v23) Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated by them, and will heal them.
- Isaiah 58:5 (v21) Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth…
- Daniel 9:3 (v23) I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
- Numbers 14:3 (v21) Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be…
- Numbers 14:31 (v21) But I will bring your little ones that you said should be captured or killed in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.
- Nehemiah 9:1 (v23) Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, with sackcloth, and dirt on them.
- Psalms 8:2 (v21) From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the…
- Psalms 66:18-20 (v23) If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened. But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.…
- Jeremiah 33:3 (v23) ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
- Luke 2:37 (v23) and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and…
- Isaiah 35:8 (v21) A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called “The Holy Way”. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who…
- Acts 10:30 (v23) Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before…
62 distinct cross-references across this passage (64 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21–22 He showeth that the end of fasting, is to…
He showeth that the end of fasting, is to humble the body to the spirit, which must proceed of the heart lively touched, or else it is but hypocrisy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv21–23 Ezr 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at…
Ezr 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
Ver. 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there] A day of restraint from food, fine clothes, and other delights of life. There is a threefold fast, saith one, from meat, from mirth, and from sin; this last crowns all. Unless God sees turning, he sees no work in a fast, saith another, explaining that text, Jon 3:10, "God saw their works, that they turned." Of a fast, See Trapp on "Joe 2:12".
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That we might afflict ourselves before our God] Not outwardly only (that is but the shell, Isa 58:3), but inwardly also, for that is the kernel of this exercise, Jer 16:19, which else is but bodily, and profiteth little; something it may, as it did Ahab; but if rightly performed, though it weakeneth the body, yet it strengtheneth the spirit, making it vigorous and victorious.
To seek of him a right way for us] To edge our prayers and give wings to them; for fasting inflameth prayer, and prayer sanctifieth fasting; hence they go coupled for the most part, Luk 2:37 Mat 17:21 1Co 7:5. And surely, if with fasting and prayer we can seek of God direction and protection, as here, we shall speed of both.
And for our little ones] These should be a main part of our care, to lay up prayers for them, to commend them to God’s safe keeping, forasmuch as puerilitas est periculorum pelagus, Little ones are liable to a thousand deaths and dangers.
And for all our substance] Our stock and our store, all the goods that we have got and gathered together. Our English word Riches answereth to the Hebrew Recush.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv21, 23 A right way, i.e. a safe and prosperous journey;…
A right way, i.e. a safe and prosperous journey; or such a way and course as might be best for us.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v21 Ezra has procured Levites to go along with him;…
Ezra has procured Levites to go along with him; but what will that avail, unless he have God with him? That is therefore his chief care. In all our ways we must acknowledge God, and in those particularly wherein we are endeavouring to serve the interest of his kingdom among men. Ezra does so here. Observe,
I. The stedfast confidence he had in God and in his gracious protection. He told the king (Ezr 8:22) what principles he went upon, that those who seek God are safe under the shadow of his wings, even in their greats dangers, but that those who forsake him are continually exposed, even when they are most secure. God's servants have his power engaged for them; his enemies have it engaged against them. This Ezra believed with his heart, and with his mouth made confession of it before the king; and therefore he was ashamed to ask of the king a convoy, lest thereby he should give occasion to the king, and those about him, to suspect either God's power to help his people or Ezra's confidence in that power. Those that trust in God, and triumph in him, will be ashamed of seeking to the creature for protection, especially of using any sorry shifts for their own safety, because thereby they contradict themselves and their own confidence. Not but that those who depend upon God must use proper means for their preservation, and they need not be ashamed to do so; but, when the honour of God is concerned, one would rather expose one's-self than do any thing to the prejudice of that, which ought to be dearer to us than our lives.
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II. The solemn application he made to God in that confidence: He proclaimed a fast, Ezr 8:21. No doubt he had himself begged of God direction in this affair from the first time he had it in his thoughts; but for public mercies public prayers must be made, that all who are to share in the comfort of them may join in the request for them. Their fasting was, 1. To express their humiliation. This he declares to be the intent and meaning of it. "that we might afflict ourselves before our God for our sins, and so be qualified for the pardon of them." When we are entering upon any new condition of life our care should be to bring none of the guilt of the sins of our former condition into it. When we are in any imminent peril let us be sure to make our peace with God, and then we are safe: nothing can do us any real hurt. 2. To excite their supplications. Prayer was always joined with religious fasting. Their errand to the throne of grace was to seek of God the right way, that is, to commit themselves to the guidance of the divine Providence, to put themselves under the divine protection, and to beg of God to guide and keep them in their journey and bring them safely to their journey's end. They were strangers in the road, were to march through their enemies' countries, and had not a pillar of cloud and fire to lead them, as their fathers had; but they believed that the power and favour of God, and the ministration of his angels, would be to them instead of that, and hoped by prayer to obtain divine assistance. Note, All our concerns about ourselves, our families, and our estates, it is our wisdom and duty by prayer to commit to God, and leave the care of with him, Phi 4:6.
III. The good success of their doing so (Ezr 8:23): We besought our God by joint-prayer, and he was entreated of us. They had some comfortable assurance in their own minds that their prayers were answered, and the event declared it; for never any that sought God in earnest sought him in vain.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv21–23 For I was ashamed to require of the kings…
For I was ashamed to require of the kings band of soldiers and horsemen,.... Which he might have had, only asking for them; so great was the interest he had in the king's favour:
to help us against the enemy in the way; the Arabs, Samaritans, and others, that might lie in wait for them, to rob them of their substance:
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because we had spoken unto the king: of the special favour of God to them, his singular providence in the protection of them:
saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; that pray unto him, serve and worship him; his hand is open to them to bestow all needful good upon them, temporal and spiritual, and his power and providence are over them, to protect and defend them from all evil:
but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him; his word, his ways and worship; his powerful wrath, or the strength and force of it, is exerted against them and they are sure to feel the weight and dreadful effects of it: and now all this being said to the king, after this, to desire a guard to protect them, it would look as if they had not that favour in the sight of God, and did not believe what they had said, but distrusted his power and providence towards them; therefore, rather than reflect any dishonour on God, they chose to expose themselves to danger, seeking his face and favour, and relying on his goodness and power.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv21, 23 A fast - For public mercies. Publick prayers must…
A fast - For public mercies. Publick prayers must be made, that all who are to share in the comfort, may share in the requests for it. Afflict ourselves - For our sins; and so be qualified for the pardon of them. When we are entering on any new condition of life, our care should be to bring into it none of the guilt of the sins of our former condition. When we are in any imminent danger, let us make our peace with God, and then nothing can hurt us. Right way - A safe and prosperous journey; such a way and course as might be best for us.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v22 Verse 22. I was ashamed to require - a…
Verse 22. I was ashamed to require - a band] He had represented God, the object of his worship, as supremely powerful, and as having the strongest affection for his true followers: he could not, therefore, consistently with his declarations, ask a band of soldiers from the king to protect them on the way, when they were going expressly to rebuild the temple of Jehovah, and restore his worship. He therefore found it necessary to seek the Lord by fasting and prayer, that they might have from Him those succours without which they might become a prey to their enemies; and then the religion which they professed would be considered by the heathen as false and vain. Thus we see that this good man had more anxiety for the glory of God than for his own personal safety.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv21–23 Ezr 8:21. Then I proclaimed a fast there —…
Ezr 8:21. Then I proclaimed a fast there — Ezra had procured Levites to go along with him, but what would that avail unless he had God with him? this is therefore his chief care. No doubt he had himself begged of God direction in this affair, from the first time he had it in his thoughts: but for public mercies, public prayers must be made, that all who are to share in the comfort of them, may join in requests for them. Thus, in all our ways we must acknowledge God, and in those particularly wherein we are endeavouring to serve the interests of his kingdom among men. That we might afflict ourselves before our God — For our sins, and so be qualified for the pardon of them. When we are entering on any new condition of life, our care should be to bring none of the guilt of the sins of our former condition into it. When we are in any imminent peril, let us be sure to make our peace with God, and then we are safe; nothing can do us any real hurt. To seek of him a right way for us — A safe and prosperous journey; such a way and course as might be best for us. And for our little ones, and for all our substance — They had the greater reason to fast and pray, because they carried with them their little children, treasures of gold and silver, and divers vessels, and other things, of very considerable value, and were apprehensive of enemies, who would waylay them to plunder them of their substance; namely, the Arabs, Samaritans, and others, against whom they peculiarly needed the divine protection and aid.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v22 What “enemy” menaced Ezra, and on what account, is…
What “enemy” menaced Ezra, and on what account, is wholly uncertain (compare Ezr 8:31). Perhaps robber-tribes, Arab or Syrian, were his opponents.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Fast it seems for eight days, so that they…
Fast it seems for eight days, so that they departed on the 12th, ver. 31. (Menochius) --- It will not suffice to leave sin, we must also do works of satisfaction. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v21 A FAST PROCLAIMED. (Ezra 8:21-36)
A FAST PROCLAIMED. (Ezra 8:21-36)
Then I proclaimed a fast there--The dangers to travelling caravans from the Bedouin Arabs that prowl through the desert were in ancient times as great as they still are; and it seems that travellers usually sought the protection of a military escort. But Ezra had spoken so much to the king of the sufficiency of the divine care of His people that he would have blushed to apply for a guard of soldiers. Therefore he resolved that his followers should, by a solemn act of fasting and prayer, commit themselves to the Keeper of Israel. Their faith, considering the many and constant perils of a journey across the Bedouin regions, must have been great, and it was rewarded by the enjoyment of perfect safety during the whole way.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv21–22 21. Proclaimed a fast — That by proper humiliation…
21. Proclaimed a fast — That by proper humiliation before God they might secure his blessing upon their journey.
Afflict ourselves — By abstinence and personal humiliation. Compare marginal references.
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A right way for us — A course of righteousness and safety. Great and pressing dangers beset this expedition of Ezra. There was danger that transgressors might appear among these exiles to covet the treasures that had been given for the temple, and so, like Achan, be a curse to the whole camp. They were also in danger of robbers and perils by the way.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–23 21–36. The Events of the Journey
21–36. The Events of the Journey
21–30. Preparations for the journey. (a) 21–23. The rendezvous and solemn fast at Ahava
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21. I proclaimed a fast] For “fasting” see also on Ezr_9:3, Ezr_10:6. Here however the fast is not proclaimed in connexion with any special commission of sin. Ezra appoints the fast (a) as the symbol of submission before God’s will and of repentance from sin, (b) as the means of intensifying religious fervour in prayer through the restraint laid upon physical appetite, (c) as the testimony that ‘man lives not by bread alone’.
Viewed in this aspect, the public fast proclaimed by Ezra was a spiritual exercise; from which the pagan notion of propitiating God’s favour by voluntary human suffering was altogether absent. Cf. 2Ch_20:3.
Compare the fast of Judas Maccabeus and his companions (1Ma_3:47) before they addressed themselves to the conflict with the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes.
that we might afflict ourselves] R.V. that we might humble ourselves. A moral not a physical discipline. The self-affliction or humiliation is expressed by a verb which gave rise to the regular word in later Hebrew for fasting, “Taanith”.
a right way] R.V. a straight way. Both a direct road, that they might not have to turn aside on account of attacks and dangers from robbers or enemies, and a level road without obstacles and inequalities. Cf. Isa_40:3, ‘make straight (or level) in the desert a high way for our God’; where the same word occurs.
our substance] same word as is rendered ‘goods’ in ch. Ezr_1:6 (see note).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–22 (21) To seek of him a right way for…
(21) To seek of him a right way for us.—The wilderness was now before them, and an enemy, indefinitely referred to, was in the way: probably desert tribes, always lying in wait for unprotected caravans.
Our little ones.—An intimation that whole households went up.
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Our substance.—Chiefly the treasures for the Temple, though the term signifies cattle and other goods, with an undertone of abundance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Then I proclaimed a fast there. The fight of…
CHAPTER 8:21-36
Then I proclaimed a fast there. The fight of the civil ruler to "proclaim a fast" was unquestioned among the Jews and Israelites. Jezebel proclaimed one in Ahab"s name when she wished to impress the Jezreelites with the notion that a great crime had been committed. Jehoshaphat did the same when he was invaded by the Ammonites, Moabites, and Mehunim. (2Ch_20:1-3) A fast was proclaimed in the fifth year of Jehoiakim when the kingdom of Judah was menaced by Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer_36:9) Ezra therefore assumes that he may command one now, in connection with the perils of the coming journey. That we might afflict ourselves. The Jews were commanded to "afflict themselves" on the great day of atonement, (Lev_16:29) and understood that the affliction was to be mainly by fasting and abstaining from the bath. To ask of him a right way. Or "a direct road," i.e. a prosperous and unimpeded journey to Jerusalem. For us and our little ones. The colonists went up attended by their families.
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Vers. 21-30.
Before starting.
Ezra"s body of travellers now duly assembled and organised, what else was required? On the one hand, they were in a condition of much danger. Without being very numerous, they were numerous enough to be worth attacking while prosecuting their journey. On the other hand, they were in a position of much responsibility, being intrusted with the care of many treasures for God"s house. These were the two things Ezra had to see to before they actually moved. The plans he adopted in doing so are very characteristic and instructive, and may be employed to exhibit to us, in the first place, an example of courage, and in the second a model of caution.
I EZRA"S COURAGE. As we have partially noted already, the danger was great. The travellers were possessed of some "substance" (ver. 21). They were carrying trust-treasures as well. They were also bound on a route where persons so circumstanced were exceedingly likely to be attacked. At the same time, as a company, they were by no means organised for defence, being little more, in fact, than a large family party, with many women and "little ones" (ver. 21) among them. Almost like Luk_10:3. How natural, in such circumstances, to think of military protection! How readily obtainable, also, such protection in this case! Ezra seems to feel (naturally enough under the terms of his commission, (Ezr_7:12-26) that he had only to ask for this to obtain it. Instead, however, of going out of his way at all to obtain it, he rather goes out of his way to avoid it. He turns from the king to Jehovah. Refusing to ask at all in the one case, he asks with all his heart in the other, and prepares to go forward armed with nothing whatever but promise and prayer. How conspicuously great, therefore, his courage; more so even than that of David in 1Sa_17:39, 1Sa_17:40, 1Sa_17:45; still more so than that of Jacob, (Ge 32) and almost a contrast to Nehemiah. (Neh_2:9) The secret of this was to be found
(1) in his confidence in God"s power. Whatever the king could do for him in the way of protection, God could do more (comp. Rom_8:31; Psa_20:7; Psa_46:1-3, Psa_46:7, Psa_46:11)
(2) In his confidence in God"s faithfulness. Here was just one of those cases in which God might be expected to exert his great power. His well-known promise. (see 2Ch_16:9) to defend all those who sought him in truth had been openly referred to before the king (see end of ver. 22). If Ezra, in such circumstances, had now asked for an escort, he would have unsaid what he had said already, and put an open reproach on God"s truth. On the other hand, if God, when thus appealed to, had not granted his protection, may we not almost say that he would have brought a reproach on himself? It was Ezra"s conviction of this being an impossibility which gave him his great courage at this time. But chiefly, perhaps, that courage was due
(3) to his confidence in God"s mercy. God"s protection was ready for those who sought it. Sought it on what terms? Sought it
(a) with becoming earnestness, as shown by their "fasting" or turning aside from ordinary pleasures and occupations in order to be wholly occupied in this seeking (comp. Isa_58:3; Act_13:2) Sought it
(b) with proper humility, as shown by their "afflicting" themselves on account of their sins, and not asking this great favour as though they in any way deserved it. Sought it
(c) with a profound sense of his goodness, as being One concerned much for the "little ones" (ver. 21; comp. Gen_32:11; Jon_4:11) of his people, and far from unconcerned also even as to their "substance" or temporal welfare at large (comp. Psa_35:27; Mat_6:25, Mat_6:26, Mat_6:32; Luk_12:7) These were the kind of thoughts which made these companions of Ezra as we find them pictured to us here in ver. 23, viz., with Babylon left behind them, a perilous journey before them, yet all the defence they sought for found in fasting and prayer. (see Psa_36:7)
II EZRA"S CAUTION As we have already intimated, he was in a position now of great trust. The mere money value of the trust was exceedingly large, amounting in silver alone, if we take the talents as Hebrew talents, worth each, to 375 + 100 375. It was also valuable as being contributed by many of the chief personages of Persia (the "king," etc., etc.), and by all the elite of Israel in those parts ("all Israel there present"). And it was especially precious as being intended for the most sacred, as then known, of all purposes, "the house of the Lord." It was truly requisite, therefore, for such a steward not only to be "faithful," but to be "found" so (1Co_4:2; 2Co_8:20, 2Co_8:21) Accordingly, Ezra took care, first, to transfer the safe-keeping of thin precious trust to other hands than his own, thus avoiding all ground for mistrust or possibility of scandal in one important direction. Next he selected for this purpose, out of the two classes most suitable by office for such a trust, a company of no fewer (apparently) than twenty-four men (ver. 24), taking especial care to have among them two of those last-comers whose coming had been looked upon as so great a gain to them all. Further, all that was intrusted to them he duly and carefully weighed (we are told of this twice) in their presence, and then placed in their hands, evidently accompanied by a correct catalogue of the whole. And, finally, in handing it over, he sought to impress upon them a similar feeling of responsibility to that entertained by himself. "Watch ye and keep" (ver. 29) these treasures. Do so
(1) as a matter of principle. Ye yourselves are "holy," persons separated by your own office and by my choice for this work. The treasures, also, are "holy;" the vessels made for God"s house, the money a "freewill offering," i.e. something deliberately separated for his service whom we have worshipped so long. Nothing, therefore, can be plainer, nothing more solemn, than this trust. Do so
(2) as a matter of prudence. You will be asked for an account of this stewardship; a very exact account ("by weight"), a very public account ("before the chief of the priests," etc., etc.), a very solemn account, viz., in God"s own city, in God"s own house. Thus anxiously and scrupulously do we see him seeking to avoid any injury, or any occasion of blame, either to others or to himself, in connection with this trust.
From the whole we learn
1. To avoid some common mistakes. Courage is not imprudence. Caution is not cowardice. It was brave conduct on Ezra"s part to be afraid of the reproach of unfaithfulness or of bringing shame on God"s cause. It was prudent conduct on Ezra"s part to neglect human defence for Divine.
1. To make an important distinction. Precaution, in trusting God, is always weakness, generally folly, and sometimes sin. Precaution, in trusting men, even men of God, is none of the three. In such a case it is not unadvisable to associate men in companies so as to be checks and supports to one another; (Luk_10:1) and to appeal to comparatively low motives, such as prudence and the fear of detection, and not only to high ones. (Luk_12:1, Luk_12:2)
2. To recognise the spiritual unity of the Bible. In Ezra we find a man so identified with the "Law" that he has been called a second Moses. Yet the gospel itself could not teach us more than we have learnt here of the freeness of God"s mercy. (So comp. Exo_20:6, in the very heart of the Decalogue, with the Master"s own words in Joh_14:15)
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD. Vers. 21-23.
The fast at the Ahava.
The halt on the banks of the Ahava lasted three days. Ezra lost no time. He viewed his company, and finding no Levites, organised a mission to induce some of them to join him. To the credit of the sons of Levi, strong as was their attachment to the silver of Casiphia, they promptly forsook it in favour of Zion. On the third day the caravan was made up; but before the journey was undertaken Ezra proclaimed a fast. Consider
I THE OBJECT. It was to obtain the Divine guidance and protection.
1. The adults needed this for themselves.
(1) The weight of responsibility rested with them. Duties are claimed from adults which are not required from children: religious, civil. Excuses may be pleaded for infants which would not avail for adults.
(2) Where responsibilities are onerous, the greater the need of prayer and fasting. This is not sufficiently considered. Hence the serious blunders, the disasters.
2. They needed it on behalf of their little ones.
(1) Any army encumbered with women and children would be at an immense disadvantage in the face of a foe. The claims of natural affection would so distract as to destroy presence of mind, and expose to a more easy prey the very objects of solicitude.
(2) This would be so in the highest degree in an army of civilians. How helpless are we in the face of our spiritual adversaries! What need have we for the hand of God upon us for good I
3. They needed it for the safety of the treasure in their custody.
(1) It was vast in its value (vers. 24-27). The plate alone is estimated at Then there was the private property, "all the substance," of the whole caravan.
(2) It was therefore tempting to the cupidity and rapacity of marauders. These were known to exist. "The enemy in the way." We have to guard our Christian honour, which is of priceless value, against the rapacity of the "enemy in the way." So have we need of fasting and prayer.
II THE MOTIVE.
1. He was jealous for the honour of God.
(1) He might have had an escort from the king. He had influence enough at court to have procured this. The safety of the treasure, to which the king himself and his counsellors and princes had so handsomely contributed, would have been a sufficient reason to influence him.
(2) But then he had proclaimed to him great principles, viz.
(a) That "the hand of God is upon all them for good that seek him." The king might say, "Why then do you not seek him and trust in him?" May we not say this to ourselves when we are tempted to lean upon an arm of flesh?
(b) That "his power and his wrath are against all them that forsake him." The king might reply, "Why then do you not confide your defence to him from those wicked persons who would molest you?
(3) What a testimony to Artaxerxes of their faith in their principles, and of the jealousy of God for his honour, that Ezra did not ask for a military escort, and yet was prospered in his way!
2. He was jealous for the honour of his people.
(1) The great principles enunciated might be true, and yet the way of the people might be disastrous. In that case it would argue that they did not "seek God," and that, "forsaking" him, they made him their adversary.
(2) To prevent this the fast was proclaimed. The "afflicting of the soul" was to express repentance for departures from God, that his wrath might be averted and his favour conciliated. Do we not need this?
(3) Prayer was then added to the fasting (ver. 23). Fasting and prayer are naturally associated. (see Neh_1:4; Dan_9:3; Mat_17:21)
III THE ISSUE.
1. The Lord was entreated of them.
(1) Some favourable sign may have been given them. On another occasion God anthenticated his servant Ezra by sending heavy rain to show his anger. (Ezr_10:9) Their faith in God would have carried its own evidence. True faith is of Divine inspiration. (Col_2:12) Therefore it is the subsistence of things hoped for, i.e. things hoped for are to genuine faith as certain as though they subsisted.
2. The success of their journey proved it.
(1) They were "delivered from the hand of the enemy." The enemy was there, but he was restrained by the hand of God upon his people. The lurking foes as well as the avowed enemies were restrained (see ver. 31).
(2) They "came to Jerusalem" in safety (ver. 32). Our safe arrival in heaven will be the most glorious proof of the good hand of God upon us. But it would be folly to remain unassured of that good hand upon us until this proof may or may not be given. Until a present assurance be given we should not cease to pray; and if prayer without fasting does not secure it, then let fasting be added unto prayer. J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL Vers. 21-23.
The spiritual and secular aids of life.
I THE SPIRITUAL NEEDING THE AID OF THE SECULAR. "To require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way" (ver. 22). Ezra was about to conduct his comrades on a perilous journey to Jerusalem; hence he felt the need of a military guard as well as of the good hand of God upon him. The spiritual, as a rule, requires the aid of the secular.
1. Divine truth needs secular aid. As the companions of Ezra would be in danger during this march, so the word of God is often in peril in the world; infidels assail it, and secular aids are necessary to defend it.
2. The Church of God needs secular aid. It is exposed to many enemies on its journey to Jerusalem, and requires the defence of secular agencies legislative, intellectual, and social.
3. The life interests of the good need secular aid. The good man needs the aid of the physician; his property must be protected, his ships must be insured. True, God loves his own book, his own enterprise, his own people, but it is his method to aid them in the use of means. As a general rule Ezra must employ both horsemen and prayer; prayer and precaution must go together.
4. The moral needs the aid of the secular:
(1) Because God has ordained that the spiritual shall move in the sphere of the secular. The sacred vessels of the sanctuary journey in the desert under the care of man; piety is subject to physical law.
(2) Because the spiritual is in danger through the natural antagonism of the sinful heart. Ezra and his companions were endangered by men who wished to frustrate their mission; the carnal hates the spiritual, hence the need of horsemen.
(3) Because God has intrusted the spiritual to men as a discipline. The truth of God is put within the power of men that they may be cultured into a right attitude toward it; that they may become "fellow-helpers of the truth.
II THE SPIRITUAL ACTING WITHOUT THE AID OF THE SECULAR. "For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers.
1. Why did Ezra act without the aid of the secular?
(1) Because he feared lest he should manifest greater dependence upon the aid of a heathen king than in the God of heaven. Ezra did not wish Artaxerxes to take the place in his enterprise which belonged to God; he had more confidence in his God than he had in his king. There are times in religious life and in moral service when it would be wrong to put any trust in man, when Divine aid may alone be sought. Ezra wanted to show that God was the object of his supreme confidence; that he was indeed conducting the sacred vessels to Jerusalem.
(2) Because he feared lest he should deprive God of the glory of his own operation. Had Ezra obtained the band of soldiers, they would have concealed the operation of God; Christian workers must not give the glory of the Divine activity and achievement to another, much less to the soldiers of a heathen monarch.
(3) Because he feared lest he should seem to compromise Divine truth in the view of the king. Ezra had said to Artaxerxes that "the hand of our God was upon all them for good that seek him;" he feared even in appearance to compromise this statement.
(4) Because he feared lest he should substitute a carnal expedient for a spiritual preparation. Secular aids do not often avail in the absence of moral fitness. Soldiers cannot give safety to disobedience.
2. How did Ezra act without the aid of the secular? He was not indifferent to the danger to which he might be exposed in marching without the band of soldiers; he did not superstitiously seek to avert it; he did not frantically rush into it; he religiously braved it.
(1) Humility. He humbled himself before God in view of his perilous journey.
(2) Supplication. He sought the Divine aid. Thus must we act when we are called upon to reject the secular aids of life.
1. When did Ezra act without the aid of the secular? Ezra travelled without the soldiers n an important crisis; it is but seldom that we are called upon to divorce prayer and precaution.
2. What moral qualities did Ezra exhibit in thus acting without the aid of the spiritual? It is evident that he was zealous for the honour of God; courageous in sacred toil; devout in daily life; and could act alone when necessary. God answered his confidence by leading him safely to Jerusalem. E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Then I proclaimed a fast there.
Ezr_8:21
Then I proclaimed a fast there.
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Prayer and fasting
(preached on the occasion of a public fast):--
I. That the best means to procure success upon our counsels and endeavours is to seek God for his blessing.
1. This results from the first principles on which all religion is built.
(1) That there is a God of infinite power who governs the world and can dispose all things in it to such ends as are agreeable to His will.
(2) That human policy and strength are of no moment when they come in opposition to His providence: There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.
(3) That He has a particular ears of those who serve Him faithfully.
2. In giving His assistance God does not always act in so palpable a manner as that whereby we see second causes producing their effects. But that it is the most rational and most religious way to begin at Heaven in all His consultations and designs will appear by reflecting--
(1) That it is impossible for a creature to be independent.
(2) That God can no more cease to govern the world than He can cease to be God.
(3) That He cannot govern His creatures if He does not influence them.
(4) That those who depend upon their own policy and strength, without any regard to His will, affront His majesty, reject His government, and justly provoke Him to punish and disappoint them (Pro_3:6-7).
II. That solemn fasting is a proper method to be used in such addresses to God. We have but two ways to express our thoughts and the inclinations of our minds, either by words or by such actions as naturally flow from them, and both of these are equally proper and therefore such as become our devotions. For God is the author of decency and order, and His service is then most decent and orderly when it is unaffected and agreeable to nature; and therefore such gestures or actions are proper in His worship which do naturally flow from or by custom are used to accompany such a disposition of mind as we ought to be in when we make our approaches to Him. Thus kneeling becomes us at our prayers, because it is the usual posture of supplicants; singing of hymns is decent in thanksgiving, because songs and music are fit attendants on praise and joy; and fasting is extremely proper for a solemn humiliation before God, for the begging pardon of our sins, and assistance in our difficulties, because it is a natural expression of sorrow, and is productive of humble thoughts in ourselves and devout ones towards God. And therefore we find that it has been the practice not only of the Churches of God, but even of the heathens themselves, to use solemn fasts upon extraordinary applications to Heaven, so that fasting is a part of worship prescribed by nature and by common sense of men. Public fasting should be attended with public demonstrations of seriousness, such as gravity in our discourse and behaviour, a ceasing from the business of our particular callings, abstaining from ornaments, recreations, and places of civil concourse, and spending the day in the public devotions of the Church and in the retirements of our closets. For though It private Christian may fast (as he may pray) without any of this pomp, and discharge the duty in his own breast, yet to make it public there is no other way but an outward solemnity; and a community cannot hold a fast but by such an appearance. In this the minds of men are more apt to be grave and serious when there is no appearance of jollity to divert them, they are drawn off from thoughts of worldly business and fixed on pious meditations, when they see their neighbours thronging to the temple, when there is no commerce in the shops nor hurry in the streets. Such a face of things shows that men are about the more serious business of another world. (William Hayley, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v22 Ezr 8:22 - Ezr 8:23, Ezr 8:31 - Ezr…
Ezra
HEROIC FAITH
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Ezr 8:22 - Ezr 8:23, Ezr 8:31 - Ezr 8:32.
The memory of Ezra the scribe has scarcely had fairplay among Bible-reading people. True, neither his character nor the incidents of his life reach the height of interest or of grandeur belonging to the earlier men and their times. He is no hero, or prophet; only a scribe; and there is a certain narrowness as well as a prosaic turn about his mind, and altogether one feels that he is a smaller man than the Elijahs and Davids of the older days. But the homely garb of the scribe covered a very brave devout heart, and the story of his life deserves to be more familiar to us than it is.
This scrap from the account of his preparations for the march from Babylon to Jerusalem gives us a glimpse of a high-toned faith, and a noble strain of feeling. He and his company had a long weary journey of four months before them. They had had little experience of arms and warfare, or of hardships and desert marches, in their Babylonian homes. Their caravan was made unwieldy and feeble by the presence of a large proportion of women and children. They had much valuable property with them. The stony desert, which stretches unbroken from the Euphrates to the uplands on the east of Jordan, was infested then as now by wild bands of marauders, who might easily swoop down on the encumbered march of Ezra and his men, and make a clean sweep of all which they had. And he knew that he had but to ask and have an escort from the king that would ensure their safety till they saw Jerusalem. Artaxerxes’ surname, ‘the long-handed,’ may have described a physical peculiarity, but it also expressed the reach of his power; his arm could reach these wandering plunderers, and if Ezra and his troop were visibly under his protection, they could march secure. So it was not a small exercise of trust in a higher Hand that is told us here so simply. It took some strength of principle to abstain from asking what it would have been so natural to ask, so easy to get, so comfortable to have. But, as he says, he remembered how confidently he has spoken of God’s defence, and he feels that he must be true to his professed creed, even if it deprives him of the king’s guards. He halts his followers for three days at the last station before the desert, and there, with fasting and prayer, they put themselves in God’s hand; and then the band, with their wives and little ones, and their substance,-a heavily-loaded and feeble caravan,-fling themselves into the dangers of the long, dreary, robber-haunted march. Did not the scribe’s robe cover as brave a heart as ever beat beneath a breastplate?
That symbolic phrase, ‘the hand of our God,’ as expressive of the divine protection, occurs with remarkable frequency in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and though not peculiar to them, is yet strikingly characteristic of them. It has a certain beauty and force of its own. The hand is of course the seat of active power. It is on or over a man like some great shield held aloft above him, below which there is safe hiding. So that great Hand bends itself over us, and we are secure beneath its hollow. As a child sometimes carries a tender-winged butterfly in the globe of its two hands that the bloom on the wings may not be ruffled by fluttering, so He carries our feeble, unarmoured souls enclosed in the covert of His Almighty hand. ‘Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand?’ ‘Who hath gathered the wind in His fists?’ In that curved palm where all the seas lie as a very little thing, we are held; the grasp that keeps back the tempests from their wild rush, keeps us, too, from being smitten by their blast. As a father may lay his own large muscular hand on his child’s tiny fingers to help him, or as ‘Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands,’ that the contact might strengthen him to shoot the ‘arrow of the Lord’s deliverance,’ so the hand of our God is upon us to impart power as well as protection; and our ‘bow abides in strength,’ when ‘the arms of our hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.’ That was Ezra’s faith, and that should be ours.
Note Ezra’s sensitive shrinking from anything like inconsistency between his creed and his practice. It was easy to talk about God’s protection when he was safe behind the walls of Babylon; but now the pinch had come. There was a real danger before him and his unwarlike followers. No doubt, too, there were plenty of people who would have been delighted to catch him tripping; and he felt that his cheeks would have tingled with shame if they had been able to say, ‘Ah! that is what all his fine professions come to, is it? He wants a convoy, does he? We thought as much. It is always so with these people who talk in that style. They are just like the rest of us when the pinch comes.’ So, with a high and keen sense of what was required by his avowed principles, he will have no guards for the road. There was a man whose religion was at any rate not a fair-weather religion. It did not go off in fine speeches about trusting to the protection of God, spoken from behind the skirts of the king, or from the middle of a phalanx of his soldiers. He clearly meant what he said, and believed every word of it as a prose fact, which was solid enough to build conduct on.
I am afraid a great many of us would rather have tried to reconcile our asking for a band of horsemen with our professed trust in God’s hand; and there would have been plenty of excuses very ready about using means as well as exercising faith, and not being called upon to abandon advantages, and not pushing a good principle to Quixotic lengths, and so on, and so on. But whatever truth there is in such considerations, at any rate we may well learn the lesson of this story-to be true to our professed principles; to beware of making our religion a matter of words; to live, when the time for putting them into practice comes, by the maxims which we have been forward to proclaim when there was no risk in applying them; and to try sometimes to look at our lives with the eyes of people who do not share our faith, that we may bring our actions up to the mark of what they expect of us. If ‘the Church’ would oftener think of what ‘the world’ looks for from it, it would seldomer have cause to be ashamed of the terrible gap between its words and its deeds.
Especially in regard to this matter of trust in an unseen Hand, and reliance on visible helps, we all need to be very rigid in our self-inspection. Faith in the good hand of God upon us for good should often lead to the abandonment, and always to the subordination, of material aids. It is a question of detail, which each man must settle for himself as each occasion arises, whether in any given case abandonment or subordination is our duty. This is not the place to enter on so large and difficult a question. But, at all events, let us remember, and try to work into our own lives, that principle which the easy-going Christianity of this day has honeycombed with so many exceptions, that it scarcely has any whole surface left at all; that the absolute surrender and forsaking of external helps and goods is sometimes essential to the preservation and due expression of reliance on God.
There is very little fear of any of us pushing that principle to Quixotic lengths. The danger is all the other way. So it is worth while to notice that we have here an instance of a man’s being carried by a certain lofty enthusiasm further than the mere law of duty would take him. There would have been no harm in Ezra’s asking an escort, seeing that his whole enterprise was made possible by the king’s support. He would not have been ‘leaning on an arm of flesh’ by availing himself of the royal troops, any more than when he used the royal firman. But a true man often feels that he cannot do the things which he might without sin do. ‘All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient,’ said Paul. The same Apostle eagerly contended that he had a perfect right to money support from the Gentile Churches; and then, in the next breath, flamed up into, ‘I have used none of these things, for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.’ A sensitive spirit, or one profoundly stirred by religious emotion, will, like the apostle whose feet were moved by love, far outrun the slower soul, whose steps are only impelled by the thought of duty. Better that the cup should run over than that it should not be full. Where we delight to do His will, there will often be more than a scrupulously regulated enough; and where there is not sometimes that ‘more,’ there will never be enough.
‘Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely calculated less or more.’
What shall we say of people who profess that God is their portion, and are as eager in the scramble for money as anybody? What kind of a commentary will sharp-sighted, sharp-tongued observers have a right to make on us, whose creed is so unlike theirs, while our lives are identical? Do you believe, friends! that ‘the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him’? Then, do you not think that racing after the prizes of this world, with flushed cheeks and labouring breath, or longing, with a gnawing hunger of heart, for any earthly good, or lamenting over the removal of creatural defences and joys, as if heaven were empty because some one’s place here is, or as if God were dead because dear ones die, may well be a shame to us, and a taunt on the lips of our enemies? Let us learn again the lesson from this old story,-that if our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands and will produce, the abandonment sometimes and the subordination always, of external helps and material good.
Notice, too, Ezra’s preparation for receiving the divine help. There, by the river Ahava, he halts his company like a prudent leader, to repair omissions, and put the last touches to their organisation before facing the wilderness. But he has another purpose also. ‘I proclaimed a fast there, to seek of God a right way for us.’ There was no foolhardiness in his courage; he was well aware of all the possible dangers on the road; and whilst he is confident of the divine protection, he knows that, in his own quiet, matter-of-fact words, it is given ‘to all them that seek Him.’ So his faith not only impels him to the renunciation of the Babylonian guard, but to earnest supplication for the defence in which he is so confident. He is sure it will be given-so sure, that he will have no other shield; and yet he fasts and prays that he and his company may receive it. He prays because he is sure that he will receive it, and does receive it because he prays and is sure.
So for us, the condition and preparation on and by which we are sheltered by that great Hand, is the faith that asks, and the asking of faith. We must forsake the earthly props, but we must also believingly desire to be upheld by the heavenly arms. We make God responsible for our safety when we abandon other defence, and commit ourselves to Him. With eyes open to our dangers, and full consciousness of our own unarmed and unwarlike weakness, let us solemnly commend ourselves to Him, rolling all our burden on His strong arms, knowing that He is able to keep that which we have committed to Him. He will accept the trust, and set His guards about us. As the song of the returning exiles, which may have been sung by the river Ahava, has it: ‘My help cometh from the Lord. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.’
So our story ends with the triumphant vindication of this Quixotic faith. A flash of joyful feeling breaks through the simple narrative, as it tells how the words spoken before the king came true in the experience of the weaponless pilgrims: ‘The hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way; and we came to Jerusalem.’ It was no rash venture that we made. He was all that we hoped and asked. Through all the weary march He led us. From the wild, desert-born robbers, that watched us from afar, ready to come down on us, from ambushes and hidden perils, He kept us, because we had none other help, and all our hope was in Him. The ventures of faith are ever rewarded. We cannot set our expectations from God too high. What we dare scarcely hope now we shall one day remember. When we come to tell the completed story of our lives, we shall have to record the fulfilment of all God’s promises, and the accomplishment of all our prayers that were built on these. Here let us cry, ‘Be Thy hand upon us.’ Here let us trust, Thy hand will be upon us. Then we shall have to say, ‘The hand of our God was upon us,’ and as we look from the watch-towers of the city, on the desert that stretches to its very walls, and remember all the way by which He led us, we shall rejoice over His vindication of our poor faith, and praise Him that ‘not one thing hath failed of all the things which the Lord our God spake concerning us.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v21 The Priests Entrusted With The Lord’s Treasures
The Priests Entrusted With The Lord’s Treasures
v. 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there, in preparation for the journey, its purpose being to implore from God safety amidst the many and various dangers of the desert, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance, both safe and easy to travel, that they might not be forced to abandon the best route.
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v. 22. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, against the bands of Bedouins which infested the deserts and lived largely on robbery and plunder, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him, but Him power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. They had declared that they were traveling under the protection of the true God, and they did not want to lower the respect which Artaxerxes had for their religion at that time by applying for an armed escort.
v. 23. So we fasted and besought our God for this; and He was intreated of us. He rewarded their faith in Him by permitting them to enjoy perfect safety during the entire journey.
v. 24. Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, apparently twelve, each, of priests and of Levites,
v. 25. and weighed unto them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his lords, and all Israel there present had offered, Ezr 7:15-16.
v. 26. I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver and silver vessels an hundred talents and of gold an hundred talents;
v. 27. also twenty basins of gold, covered cups for pouring out drink-offerings,of a thousand drains, literally, "darics," Persian money; and two vessels of fine copper, of excellent polish, precious as gold. The value of all these treasures has been estimated at about two and one half million dollars.
v. 28. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord, set apart for the special service of Jehovah; the vessels are holy also, intended for use in divine worship only, set apart for this purpose; and the silver and the gold are a free-will offering unto the Lord God of your fathers, voluntarily contributed by both the Jews of Babylon and by their heathen neighbors, together with the king and his counselors.
v. 29. Watch ye and keep them, as consecrated custodians, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites and chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord, where all these treasures were to be delivered intact.
v. 30. So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem, unto the house of our God, they accepted the commission with the same solemnity with which it was tendered.
v. 31. Then we departed from the river of Ahava, from the region on the Euphrates known by that name, on the twelfth day of the first month, some time having elapsed during which the Levites who were summoned joined the caravan, to go unto Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way, both the organized and the unorganized desert robbers. "To accomplish a journey so long and so arduous in perfect safety is one of the most astonishing events recorded in history. Nothing but the vigilant care of a superintending Providence could have brought them securely to their destination. "
v. 32. And we came to Jerusalem, after a journey of about four months, and abode there three days, resting from the effects of their journey.
v. 33. Now, on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Xeremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest, apparently in charge of the Lord’s treasures; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, Levites, all these witnesses being present to see that everything was done decently and in order;
v. 34. by number and by weight of every one; and all the weight was written at that time, everything noted down carefully in an official document, so that the correct preservation might be confirmed.
v. 35. Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, those who had returned in this caravan, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering. Cf Ezr 6:17; Leviticus 4. All this was a burnt offering unto the Lord.
v. 36. And they delivered the king’s commissions unto the king’s lieutenants and to the governors on this side the river, both to the satraps, as civil officers, and to the chief military officers in the satrapy between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean; and they, these Persian magnates, furthered the people and the house of God, they brought their influence to bear in favor of the Jews. Even as the Jews of that time took care of the outward treasures of their worship, so the Christians must be the guardians of the spiritual treasures entrusted to them, the Gospel and the Sacraments.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v21 the Ahava Canal
the Ahava Canal
This is the name of the canal that flows to the place called Ahava. See how you translated Ahava and canal in Esra 8:15. (See: How to Translate Names)
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to seek a straight path from him for us, our little ones, and all our possessions
The word "seek" represents asking God to do something for them. Here a "straight path" represents safety while they travel. AT: "to ask God to give us, our little ones, and all our possessions safety while we travel" or "to ask God to protect us, our little ones, and all our possessions while we travel" (See: Metaphor)
The hand of our God is on all who seek him
The hand of God being on people is a metonym for God helping people. Seeking God is a metaphor for serving him. AT: "God helps all who serve him" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
but his might and wrath are on all who forget him
God's might and wrath being on people is a metonym for him punishing people. Forgetting God is a metaphor for refusing to serve him. AT: "but he punishes all who refuse to serve him" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
So we fasted and sought God about this
Here seeking God is a metaphor for asking God to do something for them. AT: "So we fasted and asked God to help us" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
preach
fast
humble
possess
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21–23 8:21 fast and humble ourselves: Ezra recognized the need…
8:21 fast and humble ourselves: Ezra recognized the need to look to God for the protection, safety, and health of 5,000 people going 800 miles on foot. Robbers might be hiding in the hills, there was danger in crossing rivers, and people could get sick.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.