882. Ezra's Journey to Jerusalem — Ezra 8:15-36

882.

Ezra's Journey to Jerusalem   

1. 

Today's Passage: Ezra 8:15-36


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Or, for your convenience I have typed the verses below from the
New Living Testament (NLT).

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2.

Thank You for meeting me, LORD.
I welcome you into this place.
Please prepare my heart Jehovah.
Thank you for insight.
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15th strategy.
Imagine

• Prepare your heart - that means ask Him to open you to be able to listen well.
• Ask Jesus to bring you into the very presence of God Himself as you read instructions
• Imagine the characters in this passage.
• Are they facing a large enemy? or a challenge? 
• Have they followed God? or have they fled from His guidance?
• Are they trusting God?
• Are they experiencing pain, or loss?
• Imagine them as friends.
• What would you do if you were there beside them?
• Would you be willing to encourage them?
• What would you do if you were experiencing their story?
• Who would you turn to for guidance? God? A mentor? Satan?
• Ask God to show you how to lean on Him in times of attack, or challenge.
• Thank God for His presence with you right now.

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15. I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along.
16. So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment.
17. I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem.

18. Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel.
19. They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers,
20. and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites — a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name.

21. And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled.
22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, "Our God's hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him."
23. So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.

24. I appointed twelve leaders of the priests — Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten other priests --
25. to be in charge of transporting the silver, the gold, the gold bowls, and the other items that the king, his council, his officials, and all the people of Israel had presented for the Temple of God.
26. I weighed the treasure as I gave it to them and found the totals to be as follows:

         24 tons of silver,
         7,500 pounds of silver articles,
         7,500 pounds of gold,
27. 20 gold bowls, equal in value to 1,000 gold coins,
        2 fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.

28. And I said to these priests, "You and these treasures have been set apart as holy to the LORD. This silver and gold is a voluntary offering to the LORD, the God of our ancestors.
29. Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel, who will weigh them at the storerooms of the LORD'S Temple in Jerusalem."
30. So the priests and the Levites accepted the task of transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.

31. We broke camp at the Ahava Canal on April 19 and started off to Jerusalem. And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. 
32. So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days.

33. On the fourth day after our arrival, the silver, gold, and other valuables were weighed at the Temple of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest and to Eleazar son of Phinehas, along with Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui — both of whom were Levites.
34. Everything was acccounted for by number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded.

35. Then the exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They resented twelve bulls for all the people of Israel, as well as ninety-six rams and seventy-seven male lambs. They also offered twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was given as a burnt offering to the LORD.
36. The king's decrees were delivered to his highest officers and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God.
Ezra 8:15-36 NLT

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4.

Thank you for coming today.
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And remember,
I pray for you every day.
And I will be back here tomorrow,
I hope I will see you here too.
~Robyn

Robyn & Biff Cox
RR&BC, LLC ©2016
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