Ashamed to ask

Ezra 8

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Summary

This chapter lists the names of the families who left Babylon with Ezra to travel to Jerusalem. They numbered about 1,500 priests and heads of houses. After all gathered together in tents for a 3 day period by the Ahava river Ezra noticed the absence of Levites. He sent a message to Casiphia to ask that some might join them to minister in the temple and over two hundred did so.

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Ezra proclaimed that they should fast and humble themselves before God to ask for safe keeping in their journey. After this he divided up the silver, gold and valuable vessels between twelve of the chief priests and ten Levites, and after about a four month journey safely arrived in Jerusalem where they handed over and recorded all the valuables and offered burnt offerings to the LORD.

King Artaxerxes' commissions were delivered to his lieutenants and governors in his realm surrounding Jerusalem and support was given to the people and temple of God.

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Thoughts

My attention was caught today by verse 22, which is the reason Ezra gives for why he proclaimed a fast before their journey back:

'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'.

Normally when we speak of shame it is in connection with having done something wrong or badly, but I don't believe it is being used in that sense here. Ezra has been making his 'boast in the LORD' (Psalm 34:2), and speaking of what great things God could do. If he were to ask the King for help to safely get them back to Jerusalem it is suggesting that he doesn't trust or believe that God would be able to keep them safe - that his 'boasts' were empty. Was it that he was 'ashamed' to ask in case it indicated a lack of faith in what his God could do?

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Does this same shame ever hold you back from speaking of the Lord, dear reader? I confess it has crossed my mind before that if I were to declare certain things, what if God didn't do the thing and then people would think, 'where is your God' . The Psalmist speaks of his enemies reproaching (reviling) him saying, 'Where is thy God?' (Psalm 42:10), and isn't the sense of this what Jesus experienced as he suffered on the cross? "Let him save himself IF he be Christ, the chosen of God...IF thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself" (Luke 23: 35, 37).

Well, Ezra did not want to give their enemies opportunity to revile or doubt God's power, and neither was he presumptuous that God would keep them safe. Although ashamed to ask the king for an escort he wasn't ashamed to ask the God of heaven for safekeeping - they were not ashamed to show their complete dependence on and need of the God of heaven's protection for this potentially dangerous journey to Jerusalem .

How it honours God when we confess and demonstrate our need of him, when we humble ourselves before him - the Psalmist writes (31:17), 'Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee'. And Peter writes, 'Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you' (1 Peter 5:6,7). How do we humble ourselves before him? By prayer, fasting and supplication - showing our need of God's help and our submission to his will.

And then we see how they went forward trusting. Although it isn't recorded that God spoke to them in any way, they used their common sense to take precautions, dividing up the valuables amongst the chief priests. Verse 31 says, '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'. My study Bible notes suggests that the collective singular noun being used implies a complete absence of ambush rather than a series of escapes.