Ezra 8:22

_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._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

21-23 Ezra procured Levites to go with him; but what will that avail, unless he have God with him? Those who seek God, are safe under the shadow of his wings, even in their greatest dangers; but those who forsake him, are always exposed. When entering upon any new state of life, our care should be, to bring none of the guilt of the sins of our former condition into it. When we are in any peril, let us be at peace with God, and then nothing can do us any real hurt. All our concerns about ourselves, our families, and our estates, it is our wisdom and duty, by prayer to commit to God, and to leave the care of them with him. And, on some occasions, we should decline advantages which are within our reach, lest we should cause others to stumble, and so our God be dishonoured. Let us ask wisdom of God, that we may know how to use or to refuse lawful things. We shall be no losers by venturing,...

Verse 22. _I WAS ASHAMED TO REQUIRE - A BAND_] He had represented God, the object of his worship, as supremely powerful, and as having the strongest affection for his true followers: he could not, therefore, consistently with his declarations, ask a band of soldiers from the king to protect them on the way, when they were going expressly to rebuild the temple of Jehovah, and restore his worship. He therefore found it necessary to seek the Lord by _fasting_ and _prayer_, that they might have from _Him_ those succours without which they might become a prey to their enemies; and then the religion which they professed would be considered by the heathen as false and vain. Thus we see that this good man had more anxiety for the glory of God than for his own personal safety....

What “enemy” menaced Ezra, and on what account, is wholly uncertain (compare Ezra 8:31). Perhaps robber-tribes, Arab or Syrian, were his opponents....

EXPOSITION EZRA 8:21 THEN I PROCLAIMED A FAST THERE. The fight of the civil ruler to "proclaim a fast" was unquestioned among the Jews and Israelites. Jezebel proclaimed one in Ahab's name when she wished to impress the Jezreelites with the notion that a great crime had been committed. Jehoshaphat did the same when he was invaded by the Ammonites, Moabites, and Mehunim (2 Chronicles 20:1). A fast was proclaimed in the fifth year of Jehoiakim when the kingdom of Judah was menaced by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 36:9). Ezra therefore assumes that he may command one now, in connection with the perils of the coming journey. That we might afflict

FOR I WAS ASHAMED TO REQUIRE OF THE KINGS BAND OF SOLDIERS AND HORSEMEN,.... Which he might have had, only asking for them; so great was the interest he had in the king's favour: TO HELP US AGAINST THE ENEMY IN THE WAY; the Arabs, Samaritans, and others, that might lie in wait for them, to rob them of their substance: BECAUSE WE HAD SPOKEN UNTO THE KING: of the special favour of God to them, his singular providence in the protection of them: SAYING, THE HAND OF OUR GOD IS UPON ALL THEM FOR GOOD THAT SEEK HIM; that pray unto him, serve and worship him; his hand is open to them to bestow all needful good upon them, temporal and spiritual, and his power and providence are over them, to protect and defend them from all evil: BUT HIS POWER AND HIS WRATH IS AGAINST ALL THEM THAT FORSAKE HIM; his word, his ways and worship; his powerful wrath, or the strength and force of it, is exerted aga...

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. Those who returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:1)_ 2. The gathering at Ahava (Ezra 8:15) 3. The fast proclaimed (Ezra 8:21) 4. The appointment of guardians (Ezra 8:24) 5. The departure and arrival in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:31) Ezra 8:1. The names of those who gathered around Ezra and went up with him are here recorded. In view of the magnificent decree and liberality of Artaxerxes, the company was very small. The majority preferred Babylon, and remained t

THE GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE EXILES AT AHAVA. The narrative is told here in the first person. Ezra 8:15. Ahava: _cf._ Ezra 8:21; Ezra 8:31; this seems to have been a place which gave its name to one of the many canals constructed in Babylonia for irrigation purposes. NONE OF THE SONS OF LEVI: as the main object of the return was the resuscitation of the Temple worship the Levites were, of course, indispensable. Ezra 8:17. Casiphia: the exact locality is unknown; there appears to have been a colony of Levites and Nethinim here. Ezra 8:25

_I was ashamed_ same word as in Ezra 9:6 -I am ashamed", Jeremiah 31:19 -I was ashamed". _to require_ R.V. TO ASK. The simplest rendering for the commonest word. _a band_of soldiers _and horsemen_ Such an escort as Nehemiah had, Nehemiah 2:9, -Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen". _a band_of soldiers] This word is rendered δύναμιν by the LXX. and -auxilium" by the Vulgate. It is the word rendered -army" in the passage just quoted (Nehemiah 2:9) and in Nehemiah 4:2; it is a word of frequent occurr

3. Leave-taking ceremonies were conducted. TEXT, EZRA 8:21-23 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him. 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty. COMMENT _Ezra 8:21_ mentions that they fasted as a mark of their humility, in seeking God's care for their journey. Here we have definite ment