HOMILETICS. Vere. 68-70.-The arrival. After the muster-roll, as desci:i':>ed ~o us in vers. 1-67 of this chapter, the ne~t t_hin&", naturally,_ is the exped1t1on itself. !in the present instance however this 1s disposed of m a couple of syllables. They came." Jn thes; modern 'days-so some one has noticed-;in consequence of the great comparative ease and rapidity of the means of loco~otion, w~ speak rather of arriving at than of travelling to our destination~. There 1s something parallel here. Nothing is related of this journey except that it was duly brought to an end.. It does not follow from this, however, that it is unworthy of note. Often: where litt_le iB said, all the more is implied, How far this is the case in the present mstance will ell. II. 68-70.] 'l'HE BOOK OF EZRA. 25
be our first branch of inquiry. What we ore afterwards told of the doings of these pilgrims immediately on their arrival at Zion will be our second and last. I. BEFORE THE ARRIVAL. 'l'hese travellerB "came." That is all. What does this show as to their method of coming? The route traversed, it must be remembered was by no means a short one. Babylon was always considered a long way fro~ Jerusalem (Isa. xxxi.x. 3). Ezra, afterwards (eh. vii. 9), was four months on the road, a time, in these days, more than sufficient to travel round the whole globe. The road also at that time, viz., during the subsequent reign of Artaxer:xes, was by no means a safe one ( eh. viii. 22 ; see also N eh. ii. 9). On the other hand, such travellers as these were, returning with spoils which had evidently seemed precious even to Nebuchadnezzar in all his pride (Dan i. 2), would be especially liable to atta~k; to say nothing of the fact that their very errand would rouse the hatred of not a few. At the same time, the character of their company, as being a collection of families intending to " settle" again in Palestine, would itself put very great difficulties, in their case, in the way of defence ; as also in regard to progress, and commissariat too. It is not every man who could have conducted even an army in safety so far; much less so large a household, so mixed a multitude, a caravan at once so vulnerable, so feeble, and yet so rich. It is something to be able to say of such that they did arrive at Jerusalem. Perhaps we shall see the significance of this brevity more plainly still in the way of contrast. "When Israel came out of Egypt" and travelled to Canaan before, they had a very much shorter journey before them, and their numbers were so vastly larger that they were able in some measure, even at first, to defend themselves (Exod. xvii. 8-13). Yet how much we are told, and bow copiously, of their difficulties, their dangers, their deliverances, their many murmurings, rebellions, and judgmente, and all the long succession of marvellous vicissitudes that befel them by the way (Num. xx. 14). That first journey of theirs to Canaan is the most adventurous journey on record. Never were any travellers so guided, so fed, so protected, so often so near to destruction and so triumphantly rescued from it. Now here, at any rate, are we told so much of any other journey on earth. The absolute silence of Scripture, therefore, respecting all the incidents of this ~econd joumi,y of the eame people to the same land seems well worthy of note. We can only account for it by supposing that there was nothing notable to be told. But how much this implies, as we said. How much, 1. As to the character of the pilgrims. How unlike the Israelites in the desert, how quietly persevering, how free from "murmurings and disputings" these Israelites must have been. Considering how many occasions for disputing fellow travellers are known to find (Gen. xiv. 24; Mark ix. 33), the fact that in this four months' journey on the part of 50,000 people there was nothing of the kind worth mentioning is not without weight. Do we see in it one wholesome result of the heavy discipline of their long captivity? Like the singular post-captivity freedom of Israel from idolatry, that constant pre-captivity sin (see l's. cxix. 67)? How much, 2. As to God:s rule in tliis world. It was certainly by God's "good hand upon them" (Ezra viii, 31, 32; Ps. cvii. 7; James iv. 13-15) that they had come where they were, just as much so as in the case of those addressed in Josh. x.xiii. 14. How complete, therefore, in both cases, his faithfulness to his promise I How constant and effectual his providence I How all-ruling his power. Yet how exceedingly opposite his modes of operation I In the one case by a succession of miracles which Israel never forgot. In the other case without a single incident that left any trace of its path; unless, indeed, we consider such consummate finish and ease of operation to be a kind of miracle in itself-the standing miracle of his rule (see Col. i. 17; Heh. i. 3: "upholding," &c.). II. AFTER THE ARRIVAL. The journey thus happily accomplished, what was first taken in hand? As far as possible, their first duty. They had come up specially to build the Loan's house. It was necessary, of course, in order to do this, that they should have homes of their own. Before, however, they see to this second point in any way, they do all they can for the first. They cannot yet, whilst themselves homeless and unsettled, actually begin the Loan's house. But they can lay aside of their substance for that purpose, and so show their desire ; they can make their "offerings" (ver. 68) and put them into the" treasury" (ver, 69), adding thus to that which they had already collected in varioll8 ways (see eh. i. 4, &c.) for that end.. TlIE BOOK OF EZRA. [ en. 11. 68-70.