How to live responsibly under the rule of a sovereign God

In reading Ezra and Nehemiah in our two-year Bible reading plan, I have been struck by a difference between these two great men in terms of how they chose to live responsibly under the rule of their sovereign God.

Here’s what I mean.

In Ezra 8.21-23, Ezra describes his preparation for the big trip he is leading from Babylonia to Jerusalem. Ezra fasts and prays like crazy for a safe journey because this large group of travelers won’t have the benefit of an armed guard. Why? Because Ezra doesn’t want to ask the king for a guard. Why? Because he has already told the king that the Israelites’ God is powerful and he will protect his people. For Ezra, the logic seems to be: God is protecting us, therefore we don’t need a guard. Here’s the passage:

21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

When I read this passage, I really wrestled with it. What is Ezra thinking?? Isn’t this the same logic by which some cults refuse the intervention of modern medicine? ‘God can heal me, therefore I don’t need surgery.’ My response to that would be: ‘Maybe God will use the surgery to heal you!! What I wanted to say to Ezra was: ‘Maybe God will use the armed guard to protect you!’

Let me show you Nehemiah’s different response to the sovereign control of God.

In Nehemiah 4, Nehemiah and his fellow workers are encountering opposition to their project of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. An armed attack seems likely. Here is Nehemiah’s response: ‘And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night’ (Nehemiah 4.9). This is very different from what Ezra does! Nehemiah prays for protection and then sets a guard. Evidently, he thinks that God’s protection is not mutually exclusively with a human guard. Perhaps God will use the guard as a means of protection.

So, back to Ezra. What do we do with Ezra 8.21-23? Here are three thoughts on this passage:

First, Ezra’s situation is unique. He has just spoken of God’s greatness to the king of Babylon and he feels a special urge to defend and uphold rather than undermine the glory of his God. He sees this best accomplished by making the trip without a guard. Perhaps there are other factors the passage doesn’t tell us about. Perhaps God gives Ezra a special assurance that he will directly protect the travelers. Perhaps God gives Ezra a special gift of faith to believe in this direct intervention. We’re not told. But I certainly believe there are times when God wants us to trust him to act directly, and he can make those times known to us. In this case, Ezra’s faith was rewarded (Ezra 8.31).

Second, Ezra’s response challenges me by probing what I really mean when I say I trust God to work through normal means. My instinct is to pray ‘God, please protect me’ and then to take along a guard. I would say in that case that I am trusting God to protect me through the guard, but is that true? Or am I at least sometimes inclining to trust the guard instead of my God? It is certainly much easier to say you trust God when a bunch of burly, armed men on horseback are riding on every side of you. But in that situation, it is easy to slip from trusting God to trusting the means he provides. Ezra’s example reminds me that sometimes I should trust God to act directly. And that when God uses human means to help me, I must be sure that my trust is in God, not in the means.

Third, Nehemiah’s response in Nehemiah 4.9 clearly shows that it is not sinful to trust God to work through means. It is not sinful to trust God to heal through the hands of a skilled surgeon. In fact, in most cases it is the path of wisdom. It is important to see that Ezra himself doesn’t become a passive, inactive individual because of his trust in a sovereign God. Yes, he decides not to take along an armed guard. But he provides strong organization and leadership to the group of returning exiles and evidently believes that God will work through this leadership he is offering.

So, my conclusion is: trust God. Don’t trust the armed guard. If you think you’re beginning to trust the armed guard, God may call you to be rid of them for a while. Or he may call you to keep them, but to repent and re-focus on himself as the one protecting you through his means of grace.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Oct 5, 10:37 AM