What Ezra's Choice Teaches Us about Faith and Foolishness
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In the 5th Century B.C., the scribe Ezra made a bold choice while leading a group of Israelites back to Jerusalem after a period of exile. He chose not to ask for help from King Artaxerxes, although he was certain that the king would have provided an escort to keep the Israelites safe.
Ezra had total faith in God’s protection, and God rewarded his faith by leading the exiles safely back to Jerusalem. But some of his contemporaries opted to accept help from earthly sources: does this make such men less faithful? Or was Ezra acting like a fool?
Historical Context of This Passage
God placed it on the heart of King Cyrus of Persia to let the people of Israel return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. A writer at The Bible Project summarizes it this way: “It’s with all these hopes in mind that we read the story of Zerubbabel. [...] He represents the generation born in Babylonian captivity, and he leads a wave of people back to Jerusalem [where] they rebuild the altar for offering sacrifices and later the temple itself.”
But this return was not without danger, as Ezra discovered when he brought more exiles home several decades later. He sought to lead them towards “social and spiritual renewal.” By the time Ezra was leading a remnant back to Jerusalem, Artaxerxes was king of a huge empire, of which Israel was but a small part.
The people were traveling across a dangerous expanse of desert; commentators tell us armed bandits often attacked unprotected caravans. It would have been a simple matter of asking the king for help and a military guard would have been sent to keep the people and their goods safe from marauders. Nehemiah, the king’s cup bearer who embarked upon a mission similar to Ezra’s, was escorted by “officers of the infantry and cavalry” provided by King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:9). He did not reject this escort. In both cases, the exiles returned to Jerusalem unharmed.
Ezra Chooses God’s Protection
As far as Ezra was concerned, if he had asked for an armed guard around himself and his companions, this would have been inconsistent with his boasting about the Lord’s power and protection over his people. Alexander MacLaren explained that Ezra “remembered how confidently he has spoken of God’s defense, and he feels that he must be true to his professed creed, even if it deprives him of the king’s guards.” His actions demonstrate confident faith in the Lord’s ability and willingness to protect his people.
Ezra starts his journey, but then reaches a boundary line beyond which he knows that the risks will escalate. He “halts his followers for three days at the last station before the desert, and there, with fasting and prayer, they put themselves in God’s hand” before they “fling themselves into the dangers of the long, dreary, robber-haunted march.” He remembered before the most dangerous stretch to gather his small band of Israelites into humble corporate prayer.
Ezra was being consistent, putting his money where his mouth was. He had declared proudly that his God is more powerful than the kings of Persia.
Should we take from Ezra’s example that if we are in trouble, we should only pray and not ask for support from others; or that we can plunge headlong into danger without asking God for direction, and expect him to rescue us because his angels surround and protect us (Psalm 91:11)? Or that rescue always looks like winning the physical battle against our opponents and oppressors, avoiding bodily discomfort or even trauma?
How do we determine the difference between trusting the Lord when we face potential conflict and foolishly plunging into danger? Was Ezra wise to trust or was he testing the Lord, finding favor in spite of foolishness?
Marks of Faithful Action
One thing that sets Ezra’s actions apart is that he truly trusted the Lord’s power. We can infer this by the fact that Darius acknowledged the man’s relationship with the Lord. Ezra 7:6 notes that “the hand of the Lord was upon him,” and in Ezra 8:18 the writer says “the gracious hand of our God was upon us.”
Something about the way this man lived his life, humble and obedient to the law of Moses, declared to his earthly ruler that God was more powerful than they were. King Darius decreed that “whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons” (Ezra 7:23).
God’s power was historically apparent to the Kings of Persia. The Lord was known for causing Israel to defeat their enemies in spectacular ways, such as the parting of the Red Sea. But Darius and Artaxerxes were also influenced by their predecessor, Cyrus, who was moved “to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom” (Ezra 1:1) that Israel should now be permitted to return and rebuild their great city.
Ezra’s character affirmed what they already knew: even kings of enormous kingdoms were no match for Almighty God. As MacLaren wrote, Ezra did not boast “from behind the skirts of the king, or from the middle of a phalanx of his soldiers. He clearly meant what he said, and believed every word of it as a prose fact, which was solid enough to build conduct on.”
But there was another feature of Ezra’s faith which influenced the outcome of their trek across dangerous territory. After already deciding what he would do, Ezra called everyone to fast and pray. “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21).
Scripture often shows people fasting and praying “to emphasize earnest seeking of divine intervention, guidance, and transformation.” Esther 4, Daniel 9, and Exodus 34 are among the many examples of God’s people showing how badly they need the Lord’s intervention in their time of greatest need or distress. Fasting adds humility and desperation to one’s prayers. Jesus expects us to fast when we are especially troubled in our prayers and our need is great (Matthew 6). Says MacLaren, even though he is sure of God’s goodness and power, Ezra fasts and prays for protection. “He prays because he is sure that he will receive it, and does receive it because he prays and is sure.”
No Harm in Asking
MacLaren asserts that asking for help would have been reasonable, not treasonous towards God. “He would not have been ‘leaning on an arm of flesh’ by availing himself of the royal troops.”
As we see, Nehemiah sought a military escort (Nehemiah 2:9). The text surrounding his actions does not suggest that he was any less faithful. Later in Nehemiah, the men took turns working and guarding their people. Nehemiah wrote that he and his men “never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing” (Neh. 4:23). Under his leadership, Nehemiah and his cohort successfully rebuilt the wall in a shockingly quick period of time.
Taking up arms is not in itself problematic. In Number 1:1-3, God instructed Moses to take a census and prepare his men for military service. In the Book of Joshua, God instructs Israel to destroy their enemy. And Jesus did not court danger unnecessarily. He avoided being stoned to death by his own people after preaching in Nazareth, escaping through the crowd as they pursued him. There are many times in the Bible when the Lord calls his people to defend themselves or to run away from danger. Romans 12:18 instructs “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Going into battle should be the last resort and give the Christian no pleasure. Whenever possible, we are told to ask God for help and avoid a fight.
We also know that self-help is not the answer. God will meet us in our weakness when we ask him. “Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest,” says Matthew 11:28. He has told us that his power “is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We can only witness God’s power when we acknowledge our frailty.
On the other hand, seeking an alliance with other nations was potentially an act of disobedience to the Lord. Isaiah 30 discusses this problem, where God’s people seek help from the nation of Egypt, their former oppressors. The problem, as Isaiah describes it, is twofold: forgetting to ask God for his direction and acting against God’s instructions. “Woe to the rebellious children!” Israel made an alliance “against my will [and] without asking my advice” (Isaiah 30:1-2). They were rebellious and foolish.
When to Ask, and Whom to Ask
Clearly, there are Scripturally sound reasons to put up a fight against our enemies. But there are also times to walk in peace and simply avoid conflict, which can be a form of resistance too. Matthew 4:5-7 helps us here.
When “the devil took [Jesus] to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, [he] said to him, ‘if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, [...]. Jesus said to him, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
We do not put ourselves in gratuitously perilous situations in order to demonstrate that God loves us and is powerful. Entering a dangerous place alone at night with the hope of sharing the gospel could be foolish if you do so because you were taunted - “if your God is so great he will protect you!” If you can do the same work by daylight with a group of friends, why choose the most obviously perilous activity?
The motivation behind our decision to enter conflict should not be that someone goads us into proving our faith or proving that our God is good. We must not let Satan provoke us to test God, but let the Lord direct our steps into whatever he might have for us, including danger.
Jesus declared that we have power, too, which comes from him: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19). But since we know Jesus and his disciples suffered, the power he gives us is not primarily physical, though it might at times take physical shape: this is the power to stand up for others, to stand up for our faith, and to glorify God when the enemy wants to crush our spirit.
An Armed Escort
God’s protection is available and, in fact, always taking place in the spiritual realm, the scene of unseen warfare. Hebrews 1:14 refers to “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” – angels.
We have a guard posted over us all the time, a guard ready to move when we call for help. God fights for us when we call on him, by his own power, in his own holy way, for his glory and our sanctification. We are foolhardy if we ignore or deny the more powerful reality which we cannot see. The fight we engage in is one of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). Faith in ourselves will lead to foolishness, unlike faith in a trustworthy Father. Remaining under the coverage of Christ’s blood is always wise; this cloak is sufficient to protect us against our greatest enemy, which is death itself.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Klaus Vedfelt
