Ezra 8: Ezra Returns

Ezra 8:22 "I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.""

Here we have a list of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra, as well as an account of what it took to get there. 

Without a temple, without priests, without even Levites, Ezra was sort of on his own. It doesn't say he was a prophet, it did say he was a teacher. He wanted to make sure that this return trip was done according to the LORD. I don't know if I would have done that. I probably would have just hit the road, maybe praying along the way. If I remembered to. But he actually sends for priests to come from however far away Casiphia was. They come and prepare a fast to the LORD for safety on their journey. 

This journey probably wasn't going to be easy. They were going to walk the whole way. I imagine there were a bunch of threats...wild animals, weather, bandits, soldiers, etc. Who knows, so this probably was a great idea. Apparently Artaxerxes would have provided his soldiers as escorts, had Ezra asked. Nicely. But Ezra shows some humility here, as well as someone who isn't afraid to be afraid. There weren't too many lay people who did devotion to God better than Ezra. Even though his faith was very strong, as was his devotion, he kind of laid it all out on the line. He knew God would protect him, but maybe he thought that God would have provided him with protection through Artaxerxes soldiers. But then again, maybe Ezra wanted all glory to God, so that no one could say a man had to protect God's man, which has happened before.

Ezra 7: The Ezra-lites Return

Ezra 7:27 "Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king's heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way..."

Well, seven years have gone by and Artaxerxes has taken over as king of the world. He gives a decree that the rest of Israel can now return home to Israel. The exile is over. A guy named Ezra, the priest and teacher of those remaining in Babylon is given high privilege and basically whatever he wants because the hand of God was upon him. Sounds like someone else...really the only other person we've met who is under the same type of captivity, yet given so much leash is Joseph. 

Chapter seven mainly covers Artaxerxes' letter to Ezra, essentially releasing the Israelites to return home, take whatever they need, and to put Ezra in charge of them.

It sounds like Artaxerxes wants to make sure that Israel is doing ok, and that no one messes with them. He wants to make sure that Israel has everything they need to get back on their feet, and sort of re-establish themselves as a people in Judea. He even wants to make sure that Israel has enough to buy all the necessary sacrificial animals as required by God. It is quite...eyebrow raising...? to see how the kings of these nations: Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes all follow each other and are so charitable in their treatment of Israel. Religious tolerance...probably. Something God used to Israel's advantage. 

It doesn't appear that any of these leaders particularly worshipped God as God alone. Artaxerxes at least "gets" God. He wants to bless Israel, and even explicitly says that he doesn't want to needlessly incur God's wrath. Maybe what God said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 got back to him. But even if it didn't those who messed with Israel and God took a beatdown, at least when Israel was attuned to the will of God.