Title: The Prayer of Ezra and Israel
Contents
Title: Prayer of Ezra and Israel
Bible: Ezra 8:21-30
Starting Point of the Word>>
This time we would like to share a message with the title of “The Prayer of Ezra and Israel”.
As saints, we pray to seek God when we are faced with a situation and situation that we can no longer do with our own wisdom and effort.
If you look at the Bible, you can see people who seek God and ask for God's help when they are faced with a certain limiting situation.
For example,
When the Israelites approached the Red Sea under the guidance of Moses, they faced a limiting situation.
In front of it was a vast sea that could not be crossed by human power, and behind it Egyptian chariots and horsemen were chasing after them, and on the left and right was surrounded by mountains.
A situation in which it is impossible to go back in the future, a situation in which we can no longer do anything with human power, this is called a limit situation.
When the people of the world fall into this limiting situation, they sit down with desperation, but as saints, we come to realize that such a situation is rather a precious place to meet God.
If you look at today's text,
This is the second scene of the return of the Israelites from the captivity of Ezra and Babylon to Jerusalem.
Leading people who have already been held captive for a long time in another country is no easy task.
As Ezra leads the people, he encounters a limiting situation.
In a situation where he could not do this or that, Ezra was able to walk a smooth path by praying only to God.
Go to Word>>
If so, what difficulties did Ezra face at this time?
First, it was impossible for Ezra to lead the people who were accustomed to Babylonian culture back to Jerusalem.
Today, Israel is to return to Jerusalem after ending 70 years of Babylonian captivity.
Most of the Israelites who had lived in Babylon for a long time did not want to abandon the land they loved and return to the devastated Jerusalem.
This is because, after living in Babylon for 70 years, they ceased to be tainted with the culture and customs without their knowledge.
At that time, Babylon was the center of world civilization.
There was no comparison with Israel in all aspects of politics, economy, education and culture.
Although he was a slave, he thought that living in Babylon was far better than going back to Jerusalem and reclaiming the ruins.
In addition, there were those who, while living in Babylon for 70 years, amassed a lot of wealth through Jewish tactics.
Whether in the past or now, when people say 'Jews', they are considered people with special talents for making money.
Even today, most of the banks of the financiers in Manhattan, New York, USA are owned by Jews.
Also, many of the Jews living in Babylon were married to Babylonian women, and it was not very pleasant to go back to the land of Israel, which they had never been to with their grandfathers and fathers.
However, it is their mission for God's people to leave the world like Babylon and return to Jerusalem, the land of faith.
Just as the ancient Israelites left Egypt and returned to the promised land of Canaan, we have to keep moving from the sinful world to the world of faith.
Therefore, the life of a believer is like the life of a pilgrim without rest.
In any case, the second group of returnees who had left their Babylonian life and moved to Jerusalem were much more difficult to lead than the first returnees who had gone before.
It was a reluctant way to return without faith, prayer, zeal, or goals.
That is why it was a very heavy cross for Ezra to lead them.
Even today, it is very difficult to lead the saints who have lost the life of faith and live according to the world's methods and cultures to God.
We cannot do it in our own strength.
It is only possible with God's help.
Ezra prayed to God in this situation.
In a situation in which they desperately needed God's help, Ezra and the people of Israel prayed to God for a smooth path.
Second, it was also impossible for Ezra to stop the invasion of the Gentiles who prevented the people from returning home.
Ezra's mission was to lead the returnees of Israel who wanted to live in Egypt, on a four-month march covering about 3,200 li.
In addition to that, it was a very difficult mission to carry the many gold and silver treasures that Artaxerxes king of Persia gave as a donation for the construction of the temple on camels and pass through the rough wilderness.
This is because, in the wilderness, foreign invaders tormenting the returnees lay in hiding, while robbers in the wilderness were encamped to rob the treasure.
King Artaxerxes knew this and sent thousands of infantry and horsemen to protect the returnees from Israel.
But Ezra rejected King Artaxerxes' favor.
The reason was that if the Babylonian army escorted them through the wilderness and the hills safely, there was a fear that the unbelieving returnees would depend more on the power of Babylon than on God.
This is the limit of Israel.
Trying to get the protection of the Babylonian army would damage the people's faith, and when they tried to reject the army's escort, they had no ability to defeat the foreign invaders and bandits.
We often wander at such a crossroads in our religious life.
It can be easily solved by human means and methods, but it does not bring glory to God. However, when I try to do it by faith, I am not confident.
It was at this time that Ezra made a religious decision.
It was because they judged that God's will was a better way than man's way.
And Ezra had no desire to build the temple in Jerusalem entirely with the power of King Artaxerxes.
Furthermore, I was convinced that if God's will was done, there would surely be a wonderful miracle.
This is true faith.
Faith is the conviction that God's power will be revealed rather than choosing the human way.
Today, Ezra had this kind of faith and prayed with the people.
In the name of the Lord, I ask that all of us who hear the Word today become believers of faith who pray together according to God's method.
Third, the fasting and prayer of the Ahawa River was the last opportunity for the Israelites, who were in an extreme situation, to have a conversation with God.
If we look at the words of verse 21,
“At that time I proclaimed a fast by the river Ahava, and humbled ourselves before our God, pleading with him for a smooth way, for us and for our little Anni and for all that we have.”
is recorded.
Ezra did not depend on King Artaxerxes, but completely depended on God.
He entrusted himself, his people, his young life, and all that he had to God alone.
In this way, prayer must have the determination of faith.
Praying while entrusting everything to the will of God is true prayer.
We often do our own will and pray that the Father will do it for us.
And it is the problem of our prayer that we simply pray with our lips without practice.
Ezra had the gold and silver jewels given to him by King Artaxerxes to be distributed on the shoulders of the priests.
Looking at verses 24-25 of the text,
“At that time I set aside twelve of the heads of the priesthood, Serebiah, Hasabiah, and ten of his brethren, to them the silver that the king, his counselors, and his princes, and the whole of Israel who were there, offered for the house of our God. and weighed gold and vessels.”
Ezra did not entrust what he received from King Artaxerxes to the Babylonian soldiers, but to the priests.
This was Ezra's confident decision.
It is a decision that comes from the conviction that you can believe and act.
According to Matthew 17:20,
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain to move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
said Jesus.
Ezra and the people of Israel, who made the decision of faith, arrived safely in Jerusalem after praying by the river Ahawa.
At the end of the speech>>
Today, when Ezra was in a limiting situation, he did not choose the way of the world called Babylon, but left everything to God and prayed.
His prayer moved God's heart, and the people returned safely to Jerusalem.
In the face of the decision of faith, neither the culture of the world nor the way of life could stop the people, and the foreign invaders and robbers in the wilderness did not appear.
They were able to return to Jerusalem without harming a single child.
Because God has protected you.
In the name of the Lord, I pray that Ezra's prayer offered by the river Ahawa today will be revealed through your prayers with me.
I pray in the name of the Lord once again that I and all the saints will be able to experience God's help through earnest prayer, believing that praying according to God's will will work together for good.