May 3, 2025, Ezra 8:24-36
May 3, 2025, Ezra 8:24-36
24 Then I
set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and
ten of their kinsmen with them. 25 And I weighed
out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the
house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all
Israel there present had offered. 26 I weighed out
into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200
talents, and 100 talents of gold, 27 20 bowls
of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as
precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You
are holy to the Lord,
and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill
offering to the Lord, the God
of your fathers. 29 Guard them and keep them until
you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of
fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house
of the Lord.” 30 So
the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the
gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
31 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. 32 We
came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33 On
the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the
vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of
Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the
Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son
of Binnui. 34 The whole was counted and
weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
35 At that
time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt
offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six
rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this
was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They
also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to
the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and
the house of God.
This narrative presents
Ezra and the exiles in Jerusalem offering gifts for the temple, sacrifices to
God, and delivery of the king's commissions. Rather than relying on military
presence, trust in God was a priority.
What offerings are you presenting to God? Are you trusting and relying on
God rather than taking things into your own hands?
Robin Adams
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