in God's word to the book of Ezra and we come to Ezra chapter 8. Ezra chapter 8 and ideally we read the whole chapter but for the sake of time we're going to read from verse 15 Now what I'm leaving out there is a lengthy list of the names of the people, the various families, the groups that came with Ezra on this return to Jerusalem from Babylon. So we have the names given to us in Ezra 8 and verses 1 to 14, as well as the number of people that arrived, ready to go to Jerusalem. So we pick up the reading at Ezra chapter eight and verse 15. And the speaker here is Ezra. And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava, and there abode we in tents three days. And I viewed the people and the priests and found there none of the sons of Levi. Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemiah, and for Nathan, and for Jareb, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshulam, chief men, also for Joyarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding. And I sent them with commandment unto Iddu, the chief, at the place Cassaphia. And I told them what they should say unto Iddu, and to his brethren, the Nethanim, at the place Cepha, and that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding of the sons of Malachi, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherubbiah with his sons and his brethren, 18, and Hashebiah, and with him Jeshiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, 20. Also of the Nethanim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, 220 Nethanim, all of them were expressed by name. 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 entreated of us. Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Cherubiah, Hashebiah, and ten of their brethren with them, 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 counsellors and his lords and all Israel their present had offered. I even weighed Unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels and hundred talents, and of gold and hundred talents. Also twenty basins of gold, of a thousand drams, and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord, the vessels are holy also. and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. Watch ye and keep them until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord. So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem onto the house of our God. Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go onto 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. And we came to Jerusalem and abode there three days. 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 Merimoth, the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas, and with them was Jezebad, the son of Jeshua, and Nehudiah, the son of Benuai, Levites. By number and by weight of every one, and all the weight was written at that time. Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings onto the God of Israel, 12 bullocks for all Israel, 96 rams, 70 and seven lambs, 12 he goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering onto the Lord. And they delivered the King's commissions onto the King's lieutenants and to the governors on this side, the river, and they furthered the people and the house of God. So we end there. at the end of the chapter. May the Lord bless his word to us, even in the reading of it. But let's bow in prayer and just look to the Lord for help. Lord, we ask that thy spirit would be with us, even upon me for the preaching of the word and grant that help would be known by each one to receive the word or write. Give us faith to embrace the things of thee, our God. Give us submissive hearts to hear and to yield our hearts to thee. Speak, O Lord, and undertake for us each one we ask in Christ's name and for Christ's glory. Amen. Chapter seven of this book brought us into a new stage of Israel's return from Babylon. The first half of the book, the first six chapters gave us the account of the return from captivity under Zerubbabel when Israel went back and they managed eventually to get the temple rebuilt. Then coming into chapter 7, you're brought forward about another 60 years from the temple's completion, and you get your first glimpse of Ezra. And now we've got another return from captivity, a second stage of the return from exile. Now, and this time led by Ezra. Now, if the main issue in the first half of the book was to do with the rebuilding of the physical temple, The major focus in these last chapters is to do with the rebuilding, you could say, of God's law. Ezra coming to reestablish, to reemphasize the law of God, and to cultivate the spiritual life of the nation. Ezra seemingly has become aware of the need for God's word to be taught, and so he's gone to Artaxerxes, the Persian emperor. He has asked permission to lead this fresh return from exile, and also to bring resources to the temple And importantly, he has sought permission to establish the things of God, the law of God in Israel. Last week, when we looked at chapter seven, we saw that the hand of God was upon Ezra in all of this. And by God's remarkable intervention, Ezra got everything he could have wished for and more. He sought permission to return to Israel. He got it. He wanted authority to teach and establish the law of God. He got it. And if he asked for resources to make the task possible, well, he got far more than he could have expected. King Artaxerxes commissioned all sorts of gold and silver and precious vessels to be transported to the temple and used there. Clearly, God had been with his people. Ezra had found favor in the eyes of the king. But now that God has opened the door, Now you get to the practicalities. The door is open. There's an opportunity for service now. So it's time for practical obedience. It's time to actually step forward and to get about the work that God has now made possible. That's what's happening in chapter 8. We were given a very brief summary overview of this return from Babylon to Jerusalem back in chapter 7 in verses 7 to 9. They told us just very briefly about the four month journey. They left on the, they set off on the first day of the first month and arrived after four months on the first day of the fifth month. That was the summary. By God's good hand upon them, they made it. Chapter eight is now really giving us more information about that journey or certainly, and certainly focusing on the preparations for the journey and how God again had his hand upon the people as they set forth and as they went to Jerusalem, to Israel, so as to serve God. This chapter is about then the practicalities of the people's endeavor. They are stepping forth. They are having to now get up and to use the opportunity God has given them and they are going to serve the Lord. And as we take in the chapter as a whole, What we want to see are some of the elements of effective service. That's what these people are doing. They're going forth to Jerusalem in service of God, to exalt the name of God. And we see a number of, you could say, qualities, attributes, we'll say elements that are involved here. You know, we ourselves need to serve God in the day that God has given us. So let's think together from this chapter about the elements of effective service. The elements of effective service. The first one is one that you could nearly take for granted but it's worth highlighting it. And that is participation. Participation. The first 14 verses give you one of those sections that doesn't make for overly exciting reading. It's a list of names and some numbers as well. Like the big list of names that was given in chapter two of this book, they're set down in the word of God for good reason. And you could think of it almost like a rule of honor. These are the people who actually participated. They arose, they were willing to leave their lives in Babylon behind. They were willing to step forth into the hardship of a lengthy journey and a dangerous journey and to even enter the unknown of what life might be like in Jerusalem, leaving all that they knew behind in Babylon. They were willing to step forward and serve the Lord. Now, the list begins, not really go into any detail on it, but it begins with two priests, one who's descended from Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. The other is descended from Ithamar, who was Aaron's son. You've also got a man named Hattush mentioned, and he is a descendant of King David, And then after that, you get 12 distinct clan groupings, a bit like the 12 tribes of Israel. And we're told, you know, the person who led each of these 12 clans, and we're told the number of people that came as part of each one. You add up those numbers and you find that it was a much smaller group than went up the generation before under Zerubbabel. On that occasion, it was something like 50,000 people. And it went forth to build the temple. Well, you add these numbers up, And it only comes to about one and a half thousand. Now, it's only mentioning the men here. It's only the men that are being numbered. And undoubtedly there were women and children that went along too. You will see that Ezra prays for God's hand upon the little ones. So there were children here too. There were wives as well that were going up. You could perhaps increase the number then to something like 5,000 or maybe a little more. But certainly in comparison to the first return, this is a very small number. You'd also bear in mind that, again, though we have these people named, there were still many other of the Lord's people, of Jewish people, who were there, who could have joined in, but they didn't. They didn't bother themselves going back to the promised land, just as it was in the days of Zerubbabel. Not everyone returned. So it was here. Not everyone returned. Of course, that's very sad because God had done a great thing through King Artaxerxes, turning the heart of the king, opening up the way. The decree had gone forth saying that whosoever was willing was free to leave Babylon and to return to the promised land, the place of God's blessing. And yet so many don't go. It's particularly notable that one of the tribes of Israel was hardly represented at all. Verse 15 says that Ezra gathered the people together at the river that runneth to Ahava. It's probably somewhere on the outskirts of Babylon. And the people have gathered here. They've camped here for three days while Ezra takes stock and assesses who all is part of the group. And when he views the people, he finds that there were none of the sons of Levi. Now the list did give us two names of priests. They would have been from Levi, just those two priests. But apart from those two, there's no one else of the sons of Levi. No others, out of these 1,500 men and families and so on, no one had come from the tribe of Levi. Ezra had a zeal for God. And thankfully, the people who are named here also had a zeal to go forth and to participate. But many others didn't. There were many others that just weren't there. And I'm sure that could have been disheartening to Ezra. Let's not focus so much on the people who weren't there. Let's take in this list, and we have the number of those who were, and here are people who were willing to wrap up their affairs in Babylon. The opportunity is given to them, and they're going to take it. They're going to be part of this work. They're going to faithfully grasp hold of God's opportunity, and they will step forth in service to God. Now, as you think of that, let me just highlight the very simple and yet major part of serving God, and that is show up. It's as simple as that. Show up, participate. Now, I don't mean obviously just show up in the sense of coming once a week on a service on the Lord's day, going through the motions and then going home and getting on with your life. But I mean, in terms of using your life, show up for God. Participate in the work of God. get involved in the things of God. As you think of the Lord's work going forward, as God calls his people, well, together into local congregations and would have a stand together and serve together, be one of the number, a participant in the life of the church, a participant in the service of God. Now, that's very simple. Show up, participate. You might say, well, what am I really adding to this work? Well, you might pick a name at random off this list. I imagine there was an Israelite there that day and maybe part of the clan of Joab being led by Obadiah. He's one of the 218 people that have come as part of that tribe. And he may well think to himself, what am I really adding to this endeavor? But he was adding to it because he was there. He was participating. He was involved. When many others were sitting back, content in Babylon, wasting their lives, not involving themselves in the exciting things God was doing, here are people who put their hand to the plough, they faithfully served God, even as they turned up and participated. Well, for you and me, especially we who have put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, be someone who shows up for the Lord, who participates. Be someone who puts your hand to the plough and serves. Sometimes there are people who have this at least theoretical desire to know God's blessing and they want their lives to count, but they're not actually being faithful to labor for Christ, to participate in the work that God would call us to. And is it any wonder that their life ends up wasted and they do nothing for God? Here's the basic starting point, show up, participate. And as you think of it, this basic starting point, Let's appreciate, we've got all the motive we should need to participate in the work of God. Every one of us has all the motivation we should need because it's a good job Christ participated when it came to the need of our soul. It's a good job that Christ showed up for us, that when we were dying, when we were hopeless, that Christ did not sit in comfort, but rather he came forth. He came forth to serve, to put his hand to the ply. He came forth to secure our salvation. And in light of all that Christ has done, as he actively engaged in the work that was set before him to be the savior of the world, and you think of all the fruit that it's borne for you who trust him, how much reason we've got to participate and to now serve him who first served us. So are you a participant? Here's the first element of effective service, participation. Then let's notice another element, and that is submission, submission, and specifically submission to the word of God. Whenever Ezra set out for Israel, he was determined to do God's work in God's way. So to point you to, again, verse 15, The camp has been set up at the river. Ezra has assessed the people, taken a roll call, and sadly he's discovered that none of the Levites are present. Now, what's he going to do about that? Does he just shrug his shoulders and get on with the journey or maybe just grumble and complain about the half-hearted Levites? No, he takes action. He knows what to do. He gathers some of the chief men, men of understanding who can be trusted. According to verse 17, he sends them to another man called Iddu, the chief at the place Cacepha. We don't really know much about Iddu or Cacepha, but presumably this man has influence over a number of the Levites. And the basic request was that Iddu would supply them with Levites who could serve on the journey. Thankfully, God blessed the request and turned the hearts of some so that they did join with Ezra. And the result was that you've got a Levite called Cherubiah and another named Hashubiah. And they led a group of 38 Levites and 220 Nethanim to join Israel. The Nethanim, we came across them earlier in the book. You might not be so familiar with that title. It refers to a class of people who were sort of assistants to the Levites. They were temple servants of a sort. So it wasn't a huge response, 38 Levites, that's all, you know, among the thousands of people, 38 Levites and 220 Nephene. It wasn't a huge response, but there were some, some who were willing to join with Israel. Now, why is that important? What does it matter whether the Levites are present or not? Well, partly it matters, I suppose, because well, would it not just be tragic if on this return journey, There's no representation from Levi, from one of the tribes of Israel. Now that would be tragic. That's part of it. But there's something even more significant. If you look at verse 24, you'll see that once these Levites came to him, Sherebiah and Hashabiah particularly, Ezra specifically in verse 24 separated these men, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, 10 of their brethren, these are Levites, weighed onto them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offerings of the house of our God. He gave these things into the hands of the Levites. And he told them in verse 28, I suppose why he was doing it. He, I said onto them, ye are holy onto the Lord. The vessels are holy also. And the silver and the gold are a free will offering onto the Lord God of your fathers. Now, I don't want to get bogged down in Israel's ceremonial law too much, but when God established the tabernacle, the early form of the temple in the days of Moses, the Levites in particular were singled out as the tribe to serve God in connection with the tabernacle. Even when Israel came into the promised land, the other tribes would get their different portions of land throughout Israel. The Levites were different. their portion was the Lord. They were set apart as servants of God. Now, when Israel traveled in the wilderness in those early days, and the tabernacle then had to be packed up, it was the Levites who were given the responsibility of carrying the different parts of the tabernacle. The chief priests would sort of wrap up all the most holy items. And then once that was done, these things could be carried by the Levites to wherever the Lord led the people next. There was one family took some of the vessels, another family took the curtains of the tabernacle, carried those, another family was responsible for the beams and the bars and so on. And all of the holy items, the items that had been set apart for the service of God at the tabernacle, they had to be carried by a holy people, by the Levites, who had been specifically set apart by God for the task. Well, now, Ezra, is actively seeking to follow that principle established by the Lord. The principle is God's things are holy, and they are only to be carried by the people whom God has separated for his service. This is the way it was to be done. And even in days gone by, if Israel ignored these instructions, they could expect disaster to follow. Think of the days when David tried to transport the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. And while the law of God stated that it should be carried by some of the priests, instead he was transporting it upon even a cart. And then the cart rocks on the road. A man called Uzzah puts forth his hand, meaning to steady the ark, and he lays his hand, his unclean hand, on the holy ark of the covenant, and God struck him dead. Now you might say that's very harsh. It certainly reminds us that God is a God to be feared. His word is not to be trifled with. He is a God of love and mercy, but he's also not to be taken lightly. What was the problem there? It all starts when they didn't go about the work in God's way. Well, here's Ezra, and he doesn't want to just go about the work any old way. He doesn't want to just go about it any way of his choosing. He recognizes these things have been given for the use of the temple. Gold and silver have been set apart. They have been sanctified for the use of God at the temple. They are holy things. And so in line with the word of God, they are to be carried by the people that God has set apart for this work. That's why he takes action. That's why it's so important to get some Levites. Now put yourself in his shoes for a moment. He may well have said to himself, you know, these are very unusual circumstances and sure the Levites didn't show up. So nothing much we can do about it. Let's just go about the task any old way or make the best that we can. Hopefully God will understand if I bend his instructions a little in these exceptional circumstances. But no, he rightly appreciates God's work is to be done in God's way. In obedience to the command of God, he puts in the extra effort then to send off men to Iddo and to make sure that there are some Levites on the journey and they can bear these holy treasures. God's work must be done in God's way. It must be done with a spirit of submission to the Lord. We need to take that principle on board and really imbibe it for ourselves. God blesses his work when it is done in his way. Now the temptation that we constantly face, even think of the regular ministry of the church congregation, church family here, the temptation that we face is that because God's work seems harder in the present time, or because perhaps there seems to be less interest in God's word, perhaps because we struggle to make inroads in the community around ourselves, that we really have to change everything. Forget about the emphasis on preaching. Certainly forget about the emphasis on any of the awkward themes of the Bible. Maybe try and lighten things up a little bit more. Speak. speak about the nice themes that people will enjoy hearing and don't deal with anything that would make us uncomfortable. Certainly don't speak about sin or repentance or any of those kind of things. And the temptation is, well, if we just bend things a little bit, well, we can maybe gather a crowd and hopefully we'll get others in to join with us. Be clear on this, God's work needs to be done in God's way. Central to that is the fact that it pleases God. by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. Now, of course, I'm not saying that the way our particular service runs is the only perfect model for how to worship God. But over this past generation, countless churches have been capitulating to this temptation, and they've set the gospel itself to the side because they figure, well, the gospel isn't attracting people. So let's go about things another way. And they end up little more than entertainment venues self-help venues, or just social clubs. If we want to know God's blessing upon the work, it's vital for our service of God, whether it's as a church, or whether it's in your life individually, vital that it's ordered by the word of God, vital that it's conducted in submission to the actual instruction God has given us. You know, at the end of the day, if we aren't actually taking seriously the word of God, can we really claim to be servants of God at all? or have we not just begun to serve ourselves? Think of a king who sends out his representatives and maybe sends them with a very specific message and the representatives say, you know what? The communities won't want to hear this message. I'll tell them something different. They might go out claiming to be acting for the king, but they're not acting for the king at all. They're serving themselves. Can we really say we're servants of God if we don't take seriously the Word of God and submit under it. In the corporate life of the church, in our individual lives, we're to be ordered by the Word of God. Of course, this is how our Savior came forth, and this is how He effectively served His Father and secured our salvation. He came delighting to do the Father's will. He came to adhere to the Word of God, in fact, even to fulfill the Word of God. He didn't come to make up some new some new unspecified way. No, He came to do the Father's will. I delight to do thy will. That was the heart of our Savior. It's to be our heart as well. You know, when God has saved us, it is that we might be holy and walk in His ways and that our lives might be ordered by His Word. That is the path of blessing. We've been seeing that recently in Psalm 119, the blessed way. It is the way ordered by the Word of God. Effective service involves participation. It involves submission, humbly submitting under the word of God. Then in the third place, it involves integrity, integrity. I've been thinking about the gold and the silver and the vessels which were given to Ezra for the house of God. I appreciate that there was a huge amount of wealth put into the hands of the Israelites. Some suggest it was worth millions of dollars if you measured it in our current currency and so on. Verses 24 through 34 emphasize that Ezra was very careful to guard this idea of integrity. He was careful to establish procedures so that throughout the entire journey, all of these treasures would be accounted for. Now, if people today are handling millions of dollars, it would be very easy for them to take a few things for themselves, and surely they'd never be noticed missing. And especially when you bear in mind that these things were happening before modern banking. Today in modern banking, you put the stuff in the bank and there's a very specific number that comes up, and there's a digital record of all the transactions and so on, and a paper record, usually, too, of all the different transactions, and the numbers are there accounted for. This was a time when The stuff has been given into people's hands. It's actual substances, actual maybe coins, actual vessels, and so on. It would be very easy to take a few of these golden and silver items and to hide them away somewhere and to hand the rest over, unsure who's going to miss a few little items in this vast treasure. So Ezra's very careful to establish good procedures that will ensure integrity. You notice, first of all, that he didn't entrust all the goods to just anyone, rather, In verse 24, he separated Sherubbiah and Hashubbiah and 10 others, these 12 men, and together they are going to be accountable. Not just one of them, but all 12 of them together are going to be accountable for handling these goods. They are men chosen because already they are prominent men, chief of the priests, and therefore people who at least should be, I suppose, entrusted with responsibility. But not only that, there are 12 of them to be accountable one to the other. No one man has power over all the stuff. Then if you look at verse 25, you'll see that Ezra weighed onto them the silver and the gold and the vessels. And the weights, the measurements and so on are recorded here. Other items are listed as well. And everything is put on the record as to exactly how much there was. Now remember, this was a time-consuming procedure. They're ready to set off on the journey. But before they get going, Ezra is taking time to go through each and every piece of gold and silver and all these vessels and is carefully tallying it all up and working out exactly how much there is that is being entrusted to these 12 men. It's put on the record. In verse 29, the men are commissioned. Watch ye and keep them until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests. It goes on at Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord. These men are to handle the substance carefully and it's been weighed out to them. It's going to be weighed back in at the temple in Jerusalem. And so it was. The party set off. Eventually they came to Jerusalem. And on the fourth day after they arrived, verse 33 says that the silver, the gold, the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meromoth, the son of Uriah the priest. Again, it was all written down. Everything is recorded in an upright fashion. Now the point in all of that is that Ezra understood that the work of God has to go forward with integrity. He has to be able to give good account for the things that have been entrusted to his care and he has to guard against corruption, against greed. Now maybe some of the Israelites could have been tempted to grumble and complain. Does Ezra not trust us? Is this not a slur upon our character that he thinks he has to weigh out all these pieces of gold and silver and the vessels and all the rest in such a scrupulous fashion? Is it not a bit pedantic, Ezra, to go through all of this, take the time out of our journey even to write down all these different items and to measure it all out and then to measure it all back in at Jerusalem? Is it not a bit too much? But you know, this is how God's work should be done. It's the way God's work should be done when we handle the finances of God's church. It's not even so much about whether or not you trust a particular individual, it's about conducting God's work in a way that is above reproach. We're to conduct ourselves well when it comes to things like financial integrity, so that the work of God is not brought into disrepute. And let's face it, in churches where there's not carefulness over this, there's been plenty of times where the work of God has been brought into disrepute through either real corruption or even through accusations. And there's no easy answer when the money and so on hasn't been handled with care. Now, there are some who think that procedures and the like are unnecessary, they're a hindrance to getting on with God's work, but God's work is to be conducted so that we safeguard our integrity. Now, we ought to apply that principle in our own lives as well. If you're a child of God, you're to live in such a way that as much as is possible, you are above reproach. Now, you'll not be able to avoid every slander that the world might throw at you. Christ himself warned us that all manner of evil things will be said against his people. We can't avoid that. But with regard to our practices, we are to be careful so that as much as is in our power, we are not bringing the name of Christ into scandal. Now that applies when it comes to finances and how we handle finances. It applies with all sorts of other areas too. You could give the example of a husband who may never commit adultery with his wife, but if he's taking care, he's going to be careful not to be alone with maybe another woman for significant periods of time. And if he is putting himself at risk, well, even if he never commits adultery, he's opening himself up to all kinds of speculation and accusations and suspicions. Nevermind the very real temptation of the devil who would seek to use such an eventuality. We're to guard our testimonies. We're to serve God with integrity. Think of how important the glory of God is. Christ came forth into this world so as to save us from sin, so that God might be glorified, so that the majesty of our God's name might be known. What a dreadful thing if we live and conduct ourselves in a careless way, giving opportunity for the world around to attach the name of our God to scandal. Our God is worthy of all praise, all glory and the world ought to see the gloriousness of God through the lives of God's people. Guard your testimony and serve God with integrity. Now we've been thinking about this service of God as a band of people who are faithful and participate. When others neglected the work they stepped forward The journey was conducted in submission to the word of God. Everything ordered according to God's instruction. And these procedures are carefully put in place so that everything is above board. Everything is accounted for. There can be no slander against the name of the Lord. Finally, as we think about these elements of effective service, notice that effective service of the Lord involves trusting dependence. Trusting dependence, that is dependence on God. I'll finish by bringing you back to verses 21 to 23. This is after the Levites have arrived to answer the call, they've joined the party, but it's before Israel actually set off on the journey. What does Ezra do before they leave? Verse 21 says, 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. He calls the people to come together. And again, before they just rush off into the journey, they stop and they're going to fast and they're going to humble themselves before God. They're gonna seek God in prayer for his hand upon them. And we're told the reason in verse 22, It seems that in seeking permission from the Persian emperor, Artaxerxes, Ezra had spoken about the greatness of God and had essentially preached to Artaxerxes, told him that the hand of the Lord was with all those who seek him and against those who forsake him. So Ezra has been emphasizing the greatness of God and God's ability to undertake for his people. And in that context, Ezra had personally felt ashamed to ask the king for soldiers. He's thinking to himself, I have spoken about the greatness of God and how God is for us. God is mighty, the God of all the earth. I can hardly ask him now to give us some soldiers to keep us safe on the journey when I've already expressed my confidence in the keeping power of God. It would undermine my message. That's his thinking. Now, normally an armed guard would have been needed, especially when they're transporting so much wealth to Jerusalem. You'll see from verse This is talking of how the Lord was good and gracious and did deliver them. But it talks in the end of verse 31, God delivered them from the hand of the enemy and of such as lay in wait by the way. Ezra is aware there are real enemies out there. There are people, bandits lying in wait who would leap at the chance to rush in to this big gathering of people, many of them who are women and children, and to take their stuff, to take all these riches from them. Ezra is feeling exposed, but he'd been ashamed to ask for armed soldiers in light of what he'd said concerning the Lord. Now, I think it's fair to say Ezra wouldn't have been in the wrong to ask for soldiers. You find actually in Nehemiah chapter two that when Nehemiah went from King Artaxerxes to Jerusalem, he did have an armed guard with him. There was nothing wrong with taking soldiers. Generally speaking, it is very appropriate for us to use the regular means God has given us, while at the same time we are looking beyond that and trusting in our God. You know, for example, you have medical needs. Pray, seek God that he might undertake for you. Absolutely pray. You need the hand of God upon you as you face medical needs. And God is the God who can heal your body. He can undertake for you. And yet, one of the key ways in which God would work in our lives, even meeting the physical need, is that he's given us practical things. He's given us doctors and medicine and, you know, surgeries and these procedures, and we're to rely on the Lord as we use the regular things God has given. That's quite common. At the same time, while that would be the normal thing, that we trust God while also using the regular means, that's what Nehemiah did, trusting God but also he had an armed guard with him. At the same time, like with Ezra here, there can be occasions where you might feel that it is more important for the glory of God simply to cast yourself into the hand of God, maybe not even knowing how he's going to provide. Ezra felt that this was one such moment. He felt that since he'd spoken so highly of the Lord, of God's power to keep his people, how could he undermine that message now by asking for the armed guard and acting as if there was great fear of attack and that God couldn't uphold this endeavor. Now, whatever you make of Ezra's decision, certainly he and the people did rightly understand God could safeguard his people. And this was a daunting thing they were doing. It would have been interesting to think of the party that's all assembled, all these people with their women, with their children, and all the treasures. And then they realized, wait a minute, There's no one here to protect us. I'm sure there were some with maybe questions and wondering, is this safe? This four month journey exposed to all kinds of bandits, by the way. And yet Ezra calls them together. And in prayer, there was a real trust. God can keep us. The Most High can preserve us. We don't need those armed soldiers. They might make us feel more comfortable, but we don't need them. The hand of God is sufficient for us here. and they could trust the Lord. And so they come and they humble themselves before God. There's no room for pride. Of course, on that day when they're aware of the danger, it squashes pride within the hearts of the Israelites. They know that they're at risk and they can do nothing else other than with trust in the Lord, cast themselves upon him and depend on the mercies of God. So they fast, they humble themselves, they get before their God and they pray, and they pray with intensity. Lord, be merciful. Undertake for us. Lead us in the right way. Protect our little ones with us. Protect the substance that we're responsible for. Lord, undertake for us. Now, as you see Ezra and the people of Israel humbling themselves before God, it should remind us of how desperately we need to do the same as we serve God. They prayed because they're aware of real threats, real enemies. And be sure that you have real enemies. Satan goes forth as a roaring lion. seeking whom he may devour. He'll come at you with temptation. He'll seek to discourage your heart. He'll hinder your walk with God. Left in your own strength, he does pose a real dangerous threat to you. Don't imagine you can go forth serving God either as a congregation or as an individual in your own strength. We've thought about the need to participate. We've thought about the need to even submit to God's word and to go forth with integrity. In all of these things, it's not just about going forth, obeying God's word, and upholding ourselves with integrity, all in our own power. We need the Lord in all of this. God's work must be done by God's power. And notice that the way in which these people were shown to depend on God was the fact that they got before God with prayer, and with urgent prayer at that. They were fasting, they were afflicting themselves, that is, humbling themselves before God. Now, fasting throughout scripture, it's virtually always connected with prayer. It's engaged in not for dietary reasons, but for the purpose of drawing near to God in prayer. I suppose it helps to make you all the more serious in laying hold of God when you've purposely fasted for this task of praying and seeking the Lord. Now, we're not to think of fasting as merely an Old Testament practice. The New Testament does speak a little of fasting, not Not heavily, and certainly fasting isn't the normal everyday practice of a believer. It's not presented that way in scripture, but it is still relevant. There are times where it's appropriate to give yourself to fasting, not just so you don't eat for a while and you feel good about it and try to earn something from God, but that you might lay hold of God. And knowing your desperate need of him that you might Draw near and find the help that you need. Ezra and his people, they recognized their desperate need and they realized if God's hand isn't with us, we're in trouble. So they sought the Lord. The challenge that we're left with is this question, are we a people of prayer? Does this desperate seeking of God mark our lives? Are you aware of your need of God as you live the Christian life? Are you aware of your need of his power for your service to be fruitful? Even our Savior follows this pattern. You think of him in the Garden of Gethsemane and he gives himself to prayer that he might have strength from on high. And even in his human soul, he cries onto his father for strength from on high. Though God, he calls upon his father for strength for the task. He goes forth in the power of God Are you regularly calling upon the Most High? You know, your Christianity began with this trusting, humble dependence on God as you cast yourself upon the mercies of God, looking to Christ for his salvation. That's how it began. That's how Christian service is to continue. Do we want our lives to be used effectively for God? Here are the elements. Starts with simple participation. Put your hand to the ply. Go forth. Then in submission. to God's word, serving God in God's way. Guard your testimony as you do so, with vigilance, have integrity in the work of God. And above all, go forth into today, into tomorrow, into the week ahead, by faith, leaning desperately on your God, whose grace is sufficient for you. God's work, done God's way, by God's power. That'll be effective service for the Lord. May God use his word today for us. Amen. Let's bow together in prayer.