Ezra Chapter 8
“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”
We should recognize these lyrics from the hymn “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder (Hymn 208). A rousing hymn to remind us to make certain our calling, that at the end of our life journey, we have a place in heaven, with our glorious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The key question is … Will I be there? Will my loved ones be there as well together with me? Will there be anyone who should be there but is absent when the roll is called?
As we read Ezra chapter 8, do we share in Ezra’s surprise and disappointment that the sons of Levi at the river of Ahava. This despite a 3 day wait where they encamped, none of the sons of Levi turned up at the campsite Did Ezra only make a headcount at third day, when he discovered that the sons of Levi were not in the campsite, or did he take note of the people as they streamed into the camp since day 1. Whether it is the former of latter, it bears little consequence. What we do know is that the elation and encouragement that Ezra felt in chapter 7 (verses 27 and 28) must have been embittered by the missing group of key people who should embark on a pivotal yet perilous mission to escort the offered gold and silver to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.
“For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”
At first reading, this verse may sound as though Ezra has pride and unwilling to relent or acknowledge the mistake of not asking for military protection. It is like how we land ourselves in a predicament, an unsavory position due to our miscalculation or mistake. But instead of making reassessment of our situation and revisiting other options to redeem the situation, which may require eating humble pie, acknowledge our folly and ask for help. We may adopt a gung-ho, devil may care attitude and say just “chiong” (Hokkien for rush or charge).
God resisted the proud but gives grace to the humble. Hence I would rather say that these are proclamation of Ezra’s faith. He led the people to fast and pray to entreat the Lord for His protection, for which Ezra was fully convicted that God heard their prayers. Even though they are a small band of people, likely to be untrained in warfare, likely to be easy prey for the bandits and mercenaries that they will encounter on their journey to Jerusalem, they safely delivered all the precious articles.
Do we have the same measure of faith as Ezra? To firmly believe in God, to solely rely on Him and to humbly entreat Him despite overwhelming odds. Eido.