The journey was very, very, very dangerous. They were loaded down with great wealth. They were carrying royal treasury. And lots of it. The route was known for bandits and robbers. If that wasn’t enough it was a long journey, 900miles (1448 km) which afforded plenty of opportunity for thieves to hunt them down. If you wanted to make yourself a target to be robbed and killed, this journey would be it.
But Ezra had boasted on the Lord, that he would protect them. So he didn’t ask for a military escort.
“I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and calvary to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “the hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him“” (Ezra 8:22).
Ezra had taken a stand about the Lord’s character. And now it was about to be tested in a severe way. He could have asked for military escort but he didn’t. He put his faith in the Lord.
Therefore after he had gathered all of the peoples, he proclaimed a fast.
“I proclaimed a fast by the Ahavar River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God ans Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions” (Ezra 8:21).
“So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request” (Ezra 8:24).
I’m sure none of the people of the land believed that the band of Israelites would make it safely. In fact, I’m sure they were the butt of jokes and maybe even a few bets as whether or not they would make it. Taking a treasury on a long journey through thug territory would be like filling a caravan of VW bugs with bills of cash and driving from South Chicago to Midtown New York City. Crazy!
But God was with them. And they made it to Jerusalem. It took them four months to make the journey with all their goods. But they made it.
“We were strengthened by our God, and He protected us from the power of the enemy and from ambush along the way” (Ezra 8:31).
All the goods that they brought from Babylon made it and none of it was stolen. That was a miracle on many levels.
Ezra put his trust in the Lord. He humbled himself before the Almighty. It took extraordinary courage but God was with him.
The times we are in will take great courage. Great risk. Great faith.
We need to be reminded of events such as this.
