Ezra makes the journey to Jerusalem with many more children of Israel, as well as, more priests and Levites for the service of the House of God. Upon coming to Jerusalem, Ezra is told of the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel with those of the land. The people chose to live with and as the enemy peoples who reside in the lands and the rest of the unredeemed world.
The Journey to the Temple
Ezra 8:15, “I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.”
Canals are artificial water ways or repurposed rivers that provide transportation, shipping, and irrigation. They are used to bring life to distant areas where life may not be able to support itself.
Ahava is Strong’s H163. It means ‘I shall subsist’. I shall acquire the necessities of life and nourish myself. Ezra camped at a place that spoke of the trust and reliance the people were placing in God. They were leaving a system that had cared for them for decades to trust the Lord God alone.
Many in the Church today are being lead to the canal of Ahava. They are being lead to a place of subsistence with the help of none but God. They are being lead to a place where their trust is in God and God alone.
Ezra 8:21-23, “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
Ezra and the people fasted for three days to seek the hand of God upon them. They did not wish to rely on the King and his army for protection, but on God alone.
The Charge of the Priests
Ezra 8:28-30, “‘You are holy to the Lord; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.’ So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.”
Holy is Strong’s H6944 – ko’-desh – apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness. From H6942 – kaw-dash’ – a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally). To consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallow, be holy, be sanctify, be separate.
Only those who are holy to God are trustworthy with those things that are holy to God. God most precious gifts are for those who consecrate themselves to Him. The Church is called “to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:27. God’s Church is the only one who He can trust to show forth His glory in this time. Only God’s rebuilt temple, consecrated unto Him, can contain His full glory on this earth. Unfaithfulness is not an option.
The Unfaithfulness of the Church
Ezra 9:1-2, “When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, ‘The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.’”
Verses one and two give a clear picture of the unfaithfulness of the Christian church today. We have mingled ourselves and our beliefs with the “people” of the land in which we live. Instead of embracing separation from the ways of the world at large, we seek to grip them tightly and make them our own. All of this so that we might gain more followers, and dare I say, more money.
The people of the land in the very beginning of the rebuilding of the temple of God, sought to infiltrate the people of Israel and bring mixture into God’s consecrated people. Satan is infiltrating the true and pure religion with mixture to corrupt it and reduce its power and effectiveness. Remember, the Church is to be holy and separate from the world. See Spiritual Warfare While Rebuilding God’s Temple.
Unfortunately, as was in Ezra’s time, the major purveyors of this unfaithfulness are the leaders and rulers in the church body. They neglect the pure and true Gospel of Jesus Christ in exchange for motivational speeches, emotionally charged concerts, manipulation, and shame.
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