The text before us today is one that lives on in some infamy for our nation. Prior to the Pilgrims’ setting out to sail for the American shore, their pastor, John Robinson, preached from this text. Specifically, he chose as his text the 21st verse which says, “There I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey.”
It was certainly a fitting text for the pilgrim voyagers. Robinson would himself say,
“Now as the people of God in old time were called out of Babylon civil, the place of their bodily bondage, and were to come to Jerusalem, and there to build the Lord’s temple, or tabernacle…so are the people of God now to go out of [the spiritual] Babylon to Jerusalem…and to build themselves as lively stones into a spiritual house, or temple, for the Lord to dwell in.”
That sermon, many say, was perhaps the greatest motivator in the pilgrim’s journey. Some have even said that without it there might not be an America, at least not one as we now know it.
Certainly then, in coming to this text we approach “sacred ground,” as it were. The text is certainly divine being Holy Scripture, but we have all the more reverence for it being that it was so formative for our spiritual and civil forefathers.
But Robinson choose an apt text. His aim was to encourage the people to move forward in faith; to believe God and go forth in that faith to set up that spiritual Jerusalem. And certainly we find that this passage does beckon us to live by faith.
As we look at Ezra and his pilgrim band, we see that this was a journey of faith, and we learn a lot about faith by it. So as we look at this passage, I want us to think about how our faith in Christ ought to be formed. And we can begin by noting faith’s confidence.
I. Faith’s confidence
Look at verse 22. In verse 22 Ezra explains why he did not accept a military escort for their journey. It is interesting that Nehemiah, when he made his return, he did have soldiers accompany him. But Ezra did not. He explains why in verse 22. He says that he had told the king that “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”
Now, let’s not downplay the danger. Remember that they were to travel 900 miles. And the territory would have been perilous due to bandits and marauders looking for plunder. And Ezra’s entourage would have been a good heist. Did you notice the loot they were hauling with them? If you transfer that into today’s unites it would be over 25 tons of silver and 3 tons of gold. Without an armored truck and armed guards, these guys were sitting ducks. They were ripe for the picking by some looters.
But you’ll notice that Ezra has complete confidence in God. He knew that ultimately it wasn’t about swords and artillery. If bandits descended down upon them Ezra knew that they could fend them off with a bag of marshmallows so long as God was with them.
Ezra had confidence because he understood the nature of God. This verse is chock full of good theology. And that’s why he was able to have such confidence in God’s ability to save. Ezra understood who God is. He understood that God is sovereign over the affairs of men, and weapons and skilled fighters were not something God needed. Ezra understood that God’s arm is against those who do not live by faith. The weight and force of his wrath is against those who forsake him. He for good for those who seek him. He knew that God was able to save to the uttermost. He knows that those who seek God are more safe than those who are locked tightly in the deepest bunker. The hand of God is the most impenetrable force that exists in this world.
This is the kind of confidence that we can have too. When it comes to our salvation, we can have the same confidence that Ezra had.
There are a lot of people who struggle with assurance of salvation. There are others who say you can’t have absolute assurance that you will be saved. They would even go so far as to have such assurance is a sign of arrogance.
But when we consider what is said here, we understand that we can have full confidence in God’s ability to save. If we look to him and put our faith in him, we can have the confidence that He will save us and do good to us all our days.
But we recognize that confidence does not entail laziness. It is a faith that will lead you to be diligent, just as it did for Ezra.
II. Faith’s Diligence
You’ll notice that Ezra doesn’t just pack up his backs and run out. He takes a couple days to prepare.
In the verses around verse 22 we see that he declares a time of prayer and fasting. My verse 21 says that they declared a fast, that they may humble themselves.” Literally, it says, that they may “afflict” themselves. (That’s, I think, a good understanding of what fasting is. It is afflicting yourself!)
The idea is that the people brought themselves low. They confessed that they were absolutely dependent upon God (and not upon the sustenance of food or their own strength). They wanted to obtain the Lord’s favor. So they took time to confess their sins and seek the Lord in prayer.
So their confidence didn’t lead them to any kind of easy believism. It led them to be diligent in the means of grace.
I had a friend who once said, “Yeah, I believe in the sovereignty of God and I know he is working all things for my good, but I’m still going to buckle my seatbelt.”
That’s the kind of thing that this is talking about. We could be tempted to be sloppy Christians. We could be tempted to think that God’s governance of the world could means we do not have to do our due diligence in caring for ourselves. But that’s not the way faith works. Faith grabs hold of the promises and reacts with lively activity. Faith expresses itself by responding to the promises.
One of the most interesting stories in the Bible is the story of the Apostle Paul & his trip to Rome. We read in the book of Acts how they encountered a terrible storm; a storm that would eventually tear the boat apart. During that storm it was revealed to Paul that not one crew member would be lost. But what was Paul’s response? Did he have everyone go back to their cabin and turn on Neflix until the ordeal was done? No. They set to work and did everything in their power to preserve their lives. They put ropes around the haul of the ship to hold it together. They battened down the hatches.
The promises that they had gave them confidence of their survival. But their confidence moved them to faithfulness and to act.
This is the way salvation works. We can be confident in Christ’s word, that he will by no means cast out those who come to him. But that confidence does not draw us away from prayer, the sacraments, or His word. It draws us into it. We become diligent to use the means God has appointed for obtaining his favor.
True faith, then, is a diligent faith. But this faith should also demonstrate propriety.
III. Faith’s Propriety
There are two very large sections of our passage; each of which deals with the finances that they were toting. Verses 24-30 tell us that Ezra meticulously counted out every dime and put it in the charge of the priests who were going on the trip. Then, verses 32-34 report that everything was checked in when they got to Jerusalem. So there was not a loss of a single cent along the way.
But I want you to go back to verse 28. Notice Ezra’s emphasis. When speaking with the priests he says, “You are holy and these items are holy.” This is his way of saying, “Don’t you dare try and slip any of this stuff into your own pockets.”
There’s a temptation here; a strong one. Who’s going to miss a few gold or silver coins out of 28 tons? We could easily rationalize it as a shipping and handling fee, right?
Ezra ensures that everything is done in good order and there is no room for taking advantage of God’s kindness.
Maybe you are familiar with the story of Achan. The Israelites went in and captured Jericho and they were not supposed to touch any of the plunder. But Achan came along and said, “It’s just a couple gold bars.” His improprieties ended up costing him his life.
Just recognize that there is never room for sin. We shouldn’t take advantage of God like that. We must maintain the utmost propriety in our conduct.
That’s why we need to emphasize what is said in verse 28; the idea that you are holy. Isn’t it funny that it just talked about them humbling themselves through prayer and fasting. We just said that they had taken time to acknowledge and confess their sins. Now Ezra turns to them and says, “You are holy.”
Luther had expressed the idea simulus justice et peccar (at the same time justified and sinner). We are sinners, but God has made us holy in Christ.
We emphasize quite a bit that we are sinners. We have a time in our services where we confess our sins. We usually have a good amount of time that we devote to that. In our messages we talk about repenting of sin. So we have a heavy emphasis on the depravity of our nature. But here’s what we should be focusing on: the fact that we are holy. That’s our true identity. We may well be sinners, but God regards us as holy, and we should regard ourselves that way too. For when we do, that will influence the way we live. It will instill in us the idea that there is no room for sin, just like it did for these priests.
Now, there’s one other point that our text makes. It is the gratitude that our faith expresses in response to the Lord’s deliverance.
IV. Faith’s Reward
Look at verses 31-32. These two verses cover the whole 900 mile journey. It says, “Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.”
It is interesting that we are not told anything about the journey or the adventures they may have met with on the way. We do not have any details about what happened in between Ahava and Jerusalem.
You know why? It is because it isn’t important. What is important is the end result. They were saved. That’s the word that is used here. The word delivered is the Hebrew word natsal, which means to save.
In the use of this language the Hebrew writer wishes to tell us that this is not about some people who are simply changing their address or going on an adventure. This is a story of salvation. It is about what happens when you trust in the Lord. When you put your faith in Christ, it is not in vain. It is not without any payoff.
Sure, there may be some hardships along the way, as there probably were for these pilgrims. But the endgame is what really matters. Your faith will find its satisfaction when you enter upon the promised land and gain entry into eternal life.
V. Faith’s Gratitude
Verse 35 tell us that after the people returned they entered into a time of worship. It says that they offered burnt offerings and sin offerings. But after mentioning the sin offering, it says that all of it was a burnt offering.
So the emphasis is on the fact that these were burnt offerings. And the burnt offering was a way of expressing that you were wholly God’s. You burned the whole of the animal. Nothing was saved. Every part of it was devoted to God. And that was emblematic of your devotion to the Lord. It was your way of saying you are giving yourself completely to Him.
That’s what true gratitude really is, it is the devoting yourself wholly to God.
And that helps us understand what worship really is. We often think of worship as something we do once a week. It is an hour or two that we put in on Sunday. To be sure we enjoy it. We mean it. We sincerely wish to give homage to God. That is all well and good. That is worship. But that is not the extent of worship. Worship is a time when we renew our devotion to God. It isn't just an hour or two in length. It is to last a lifetime.
Worship is not only offering the songs of your heart and deepest respects. It is a time when, in view of God's saving graces, you genuinely say, “I am yours.”
It was certainly a fitting text for the pilgrim voyagers. Robinson would himself say,
“Now as the people of God in old time were called out of Babylon civil, the place of their bodily bondage, and were to come to Jerusalem, and there to build the Lord’s temple, or tabernacle…so are the people of God now to go out of [the spiritual] Babylon to Jerusalem…and to build themselves as lively stones into a spiritual house, or temple, for the Lord to dwell in.”
That sermon, many say, was perhaps the greatest motivator in the pilgrim’s journey. Some have even said that without it there might not be an America, at least not one as we now know it.
Certainly then, in coming to this text we approach “sacred ground,” as it were. The text is certainly divine being Holy Scripture, but we have all the more reverence for it being that it was so formative for our spiritual and civil forefathers.
But Robinson choose an apt text. His aim was to encourage the people to move forward in faith; to believe God and go forth in that faith to set up that spiritual Jerusalem. And certainly we find that this passage does beckon us to live by faith.
As we look at Ezra and his pilgrim band, we see that this was a journey of faith, and we learn a lot about faith by it. So as we look at this passage, I want us to think about how our faith in Christ ought to be formed. And we can begin by noting faith’s confidence.
I. Faith’s confidence
Look at verse 22. In verse 22 Ezra explains why he did not accept a military escort for their journey. It is interesting that Nehemiah, when he made his return, he did have soldiers accompany him. But Ezra did not. He explains why in verse 22. He says that he had told the king that “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”
Now, let’s not downplay the danger. Remember that they were to travel 900 miles. And the territory would have been perilous due to bandits and marauders looking for plunder. And Ezra’s entourage would have been a good heist. Did you notice the loot they were hauling with them? If you transfer that into today’s unites it would be over 25 tons of silver and 3 tons of gold. Without an armored truck and armed guards, these guys were sitting ducks. They were ripe for the picking by some looters.
But you’ll notice that Ezra has complete confidence in God. He knew that ultimately it wasn’t about swords and artillery. If bandits descended down upon them Ezra knew that they could fend them off with a bag of marshmallows so long as God was with them.
Ezra had confidence because he understood the nature of God. This verse is chock full of good theology. And that’s why he was able to have such confidence in God’s ability to save. Ezra understood who God is. He understood that God is sovereign over the affairs of men, and weapons and skilled fighters were not something God needed. Ezra understood that God’s arm is against those who do not live by faith. The weight and force of his wrath is against those who forsake him. He for good for those who seek him. He knew that God was able to save to the uttermost. He knows that those who seek God are more safe than those who are locked tightly in the deepest bunker. The hand of God is the most impenetrable force that exists in this world.
This is the kind of confidence that we can have too. When it comes to our salvation, we can have the same confidence that Ezra had.
There are a lot of people who struggle with assurance of salvation. There are others who say you can’t have absolute assurance that you will be saved. They would even go so far as to have such assurance is a sign of arrogance.
But when we consider what is said here, we understand that we can have full confidence in God’s ability to save. If we look to him and put our faith in him, we can have the confidence that He will save us and do good to us all our days.
But we recognize that confidence does not entail laziness. It is a faith that will lead you to be diligent, just as it did for Ezra.
II. Faith’s Diligence
You’ll notice that Ezra doesn’t just pack up his backs and run out. He takes a couple days to prepare.
In the verses around verse 22 we see that he declares a time of prayer and fasting. My verse 21 says that they declared a fast, that they may humble themselves.” Literally, it says, that they may “afflict” themselves. (That’s, I think, a good understanding of what fasting is. It is afflicting yourself!)
The idea is that the people brought themselves low. They confessed that they were absolutely dependent upon God (and not upon the sustenance of food or their own strength). They wanted to obtain the Lord’s favor. So they took time to confess their sins and seek the Lord in prayer.
So their confidence didn’t lead them to any kind of easy believism. It led them to be diligent in the means of grace.
I had a friend who once said, “Yeah, I believe in the sovereignty of God and I know he is working all things for my good, but I’m still going to buckle my seatbelt.”
That’s the kind of thing that this is talking about. We could be tempted to be sloppy Christians. We could be tempted to think that God’s governance of the world could means we do not have to do our due diligence in caring for ourselves. But that’s not the way faith works. Faith grabs hold of the promises and reacts with lively activity. Faith expresses itself by responding to the promises.
One of the most interesting stories in the Bible is the story of the Apostle Paul & his trip to Rome. We read in the book of Acts how they encountered a terrible storm; a storm that would eventually tear the boat apart. During that storm it was revealed to Paul that not one crew member would be lost. But what was Paul’s response? Did he have everyone go back to their cabin and turn on Neflix until the ordeal was done? No. They set to work and did everything in their power to preserve their lives. They put ropes around the haul of the ship to hold it together. They battened down the hatches.
The promises that they had gave them confidence of their survival. But their confidence moved them to faithfulness and to act.
This is the way salvation works. We can be confident in Christ’s word, that he will by no means cast out those who come to him. But that confidence does not draw us away from prayer, the sacraments, or His word. It draws us into it. We become diligent to use the means God has appointed for obtaining his favor.
True faith, then, is a diligent faith. But this faith should also demonstrate propriety.
III. Faith’s Propriety
There are two very large sections of our passage; each of which deals with the finances that they were toting. Verses 24-30 tell us that Ezra meticulously counted out every dime and put it in the charge of the priests who were going on the trip. Then, verses 32-34 report that everything was checked in when they got to Jerusalem. So there was not a loss of a single cent along the way.
But I want you to go back to verse 28. Notice Ezra’s emphasis. When speaking with the priests he says, “You are holy and these items are holy.” This is his way of saying, “Don’t you dare try and slip any of this stuff into your own pockets.”
There’s a temptation here; a strong one. Who’s going to miss a few gold or silver coins out of 28 tons? We could easily rationalize it as a shipping and handling fee, right?
Ezra ensures that everything is done in good order and there is no room for taking advantage of God’s kindness.
Maybe you are familiar with the story of Achan. The Israelites went in and captured Jericho and they were not supposed to touch any of the plunder. But Achan came along and said, “It’s just a couple gold bars.” His improprieties ended up costing him his life.
Just recognize that there is never room for sin. We shouldn’t take advantage of God like that. We must maintain the utmost propriety in our conduct.
That’s why we need to emphasize what is said in verse 28; the idea that you are holy. Isn’t it funny that it just talked about them humbling themselves through prayer and fasting. We just said that they had taken time to acknowledge and confess their sins. Now Ezra turns to them and says, “You are holy.”
Luther had expressed the idea simulus justice et peccar (at the same time justified and sinner). We are sinners, but God has made us holy in Christ.
We emphasize quite a bit that we are sinners. We have a time in our services where we confess our sins. We usually have a good amount of time that we devote to that. In our messages we talk about repenting of sin. So we have a heavy emphasis on the depravity of our nature. But here’s what we should be focusing on: the fact that we are holy. That’s our true identity. We may well be sinners, but God regards us as holy, and we should regard ourselves that way too. For when we do, that will influence the way we live. It will instill in us the idea that there is no room for sin, just like it did for these priests.
Now, there’s one other point that our text makes. It is the gratitude that our faith expresses in response to the Lord’s deliverance.
IV. Faith’s Reward
Look at verses 31-32. These two verses cover the whole 900 mile journey. It says, “Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.”
It is interesting that we are not told anything about the journey or the adventures they may have met with on the way. We do not have any details about what happened in between Ahava and Jerusalem.
You know why? It is because it isn’t important. What is important is the end result. They were saved. That’s the word that is used here. The word delivered is the Hebrew word natsal, which means to save.
In the use of this language the Hebrew writer wishes to tell us that this is not about some people who are simply changing their address or going on an adventure. This is a story of salvation. It is about what happens when you trust in the Lord. When you put your faith in Christ, it is not in vain. It is not without any payoff.
Sure, there may be some hardships along the way, as there probably were for these pilgrims. But the endgame is what really matters. Your faith will find its satisfaction when you enter upon the promised land and gain entry into eternal life.
V. Faith’s Gratitude
Verse 35 tell us that after the people returned they entered into a time of worship. It says that they offered burnt offerings and sin offerings. But after mentioning the sin offering, it says that all of it was a burnt offering.
So the emphasis is on the fact that these were burnt offerings. And the burnt offering was a way of expressing that you were wholly God’s. You burned the whole of the animal. Nothing was saved. Every part of it was devoted to God. And that was emblematic of your devotion to the Lord. It was your way of saying you are giving yourself completely to Him.
That’s what true gratitude really is, it is the devoting yourself wholly to God.
And that helps us understand what worship really is. We often think of worship as something we do once a week. It is an hour or two that we put in on Sunday. To be sure we enjoy it. We mean it. We sincerely wish to give homage to God. That is all well and good. That is worship. But that is not the extent of worship. Worship is a time when we renew our devotion to God. It isn't just an hour or two in length. It is to last a lifetime.
Worship is not only offering the songs of your heart and deepest respects. It is a time when, in view of God's saving graces, you genuinely say, “I am yours.”