GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
EZRA 8:21-23
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The section before us is the kind of passage that is skipped past by some readers; perhaps many readers. But for a moment Ezra is looking up as if we bumped into him in the hallway and he has something very quiet, very personal to share, before he goes back to his narrative. It’s only two or three verses. Let’s give him his moment.
21 There by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for us and our children, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a company of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against hostiles on our road, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek him, and his wrath is upon all that forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and sought out our God for this, and he answered our prayer.
Ezra pauses to tell us about his inner struggle as they were about to depart. We can’t feel the breeze on his cheek, or hear the constant cry of gulls circling overhead, or the chuckle of the canal as it flowed out to bring life to the fields, the vineyards, and the orchards he was leaving behind. But we can feel the knot in his stomach. Ezra was worried, and he was afraid his worry might be a sin.
He admits that after proclaiming the greatness and the power of God to King Artaxerxes, he had been ashamed, embarrassed, to ask for a military escort. The King might say, “What would such a powerful God need from spearmen and horsemen?” But there were hostiles behind the hills all along the Fertile Crescent, from Mari to Harran to Carchemish to Aleppo to Ebla and then to Damascus– there were dangers all along the way.
So Ezra proclaimed a fast, and he prayed. The fast was for the knot in his stomach. Luther says, “Fasting is bodily training that leads to the breaking [as one breaks a horse] and controlling of the body.” And again: “Strong prayer should be accompanied by strong fasting” (LW 28:15). But fasting isn’t something we do much of anymore, at least not for spiritual reasons. Consider: To fast means to beat down and control my own body, and this might have some benefit for me, but only for me and not for anyone else. But to teach other people, to instruct them, so that they know Christ and grow in their faith and avoid sin, this produces fruit for many people. Luther again says: “If a person reads [Scripture] or preaches, he accomplishes more than if he were to fast” (LW 28:322).
But for Ezra and his people, the fast helped to strengthen their faith even as it made their bodies ache for a little while. And the prayer was the point. The prayer was for God to protect them and bless them on this long and dangerous journey.
When the exiles had been taken on this path (going the opposite direction, of course), there had been the Babylonian armies accompanying them, driving them. Now? This group of hundreds (a little more than a thousand) travelers would have no escort, no weapons, no defenses apart from the hand of the Lord. And so the Lord placed his hand on them.
Do not mistake what an honor and privilege it is to pray. It is our duty, of course. God commands it when he says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (the Second Commandment). Christ compels us to pray (Matthew 7:7), and his Apostles do, too. “Be faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12); “Pray in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20). To call on God’s name is to pray, and nothing else.
Ezra prayed because he was torn between wanting to give God glory for being able to protect his people, including Ezra himself, and wanting to be prudent about the real danger and the need for protection. Where does trusting in the Lord cross over into putting the Lord to the test? God said, “Do not test the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16).
The Lord our God wants us to ask for his help, and to depend on him for everything we need. Since he commands us to pray and invites to pray as well (it is both law and gospel at the same time) he wants us to rely on him, and he wants us to be sure that he will hear us and will give us precisely what we need. As the prophet says, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7).
Whatever is wrong– inner struggle, knot in your stomach, or the shame of a certain sin– the one who has removed the guilt of our sins is the one who watches over us day by day, who loves us, and who will bring us home to his side in heaven. He himself says, “For you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Ezra 8:21-23 Fasting and praying