Ezra proves he, like Nehemiah, is a man of prayer. He thanks God for putting it into the heart
of the king to provide for the house of the Lord in Jerusalem and for giving
him, Ezra, favor with the king and making the king kindly disposed to allow
this to happen. As they leave Babylon
they stop and pray for God's protection on the journey and he remembers that
God answered this prayer. Everything he
did was bookended by prayer. Before he
undertook anything he prayed and when it was complete he prayed. His mission was successful and God was with
him and the people the entire way. He
knew he couldn't do anything of importance by himself and that if it was successful
he needed to give thanks. Let us adopt
that same mindset in all we do.
Jesus shows compassion in two ways, He heals the sick among
the multitudes and He then provides their daily bread. He is attempting to get away with the
disciples to a private place and yet the crowds follow Him in hopes of
receiving what only He can offer. We see
this same scene in John 6 and they follow a second day as well but He sends
them away. They were no longer seeking
the same thing that arouses His compassion here, they were looking for a
handout without caring about the sign it provided to His identity. He is the giver of our daily bread, all that
we have comes from Him. He is the healer
as well, no matter what means He chooses to use. We have been given gifts in order to co-labor
in both these things and He has not created a dependency but neither do we work
for those things as ends in themselves.
All things point to Him and His goodness in one way or another.
If we were making a movie of this scene we would likely
costume the seven angels with the seven plagues, the final judgments of God
prior to His coming on the earth, in black.
John, however, sees them in bright, white linen. God's judgments are themselves an aspect of
His holiness. In contrast with these the
sins and sinfulness of men stand. Prior
to the appearance of these seven angels there is an interlude of worship in
heaven where God's judgments are proclaimed as just and true, righteousness. We see the ones who have triumphed over the
beast joining this chorus with harps.
They know how wicked the days have been and in light of that wickedness
they proclaim the justice and righteousness of God. Would we make any argument in opposition,
that the opposite of wickedness or its undoing is anything other than
righteousness? Let us proclaim His
righteousness in Jesus today in order that we have no regrets when this
righteousness is revealed in judgment.
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