Seeking God In Our Efforts To Restore (8:1-36)
Neal Pollard
Ezra meticulously chronicles his journey with others from Babylon to Jerusalem during King Artaxerxes’ reign. Ezra 8:2-14 lists several households along with the number of males in each household. They were going to be needed to work at accomplishing God’s will once they return to their homeland. Ezra notices that there are no priests in their caravan, so he sends for them (15-20). Just as Nehemiah cannot go very far without praying to God, Ezra cannot go very far before he acknowledges God’s presence, assistance, or will. That is certainly the case in this chapter.
He was concerned for the house of God (17,36). He acknowledged the hand of God (18,22,31). He led the people to humble themselves before God through a proclaimed fast (21). They sought God (23). They prepared their offering to God (28,30,33,35). Ezra knew that he was engaged in and leading others to participate in God’s work. He wanted to do this God’s way, so he constantly sought God’s will.
Please notice that such a mindset is still important and valuable to God. When it comes to building and growing the body of His Son, God wants us to be concerned about it, acknowledge His hand in it, submit our will to Him in it, seek Him in it, and serve and worship Him faithfully in it. Paul reminds Timothy that the church is the house of God, and as such we should focus on how we “ought to conduct [ourselves] in the household of God” (1 Tim. 3:15). Passages like Ezra 8 contain requirements of the Old Testament, but the heart and mentality of Ezra is still the mindset needed for every faithful Christian!
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