Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem
7 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. 6 This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all [a]he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. 7 Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8 He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first of the first month [b]he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to [c]study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra likely had a comfortable life in Babylon, as it seems he had the ear of the king. But that wasn’t enough for Ezra. He was a direct descendant of Aaron, and he knew his place was in Jerusalem teaching the people.
This would not be an easy journey, lasting just over 4 months, but he knew that God would be with him. God doesn’t promise us easy sojourning in this life either. In fact, Jesus promised us there would be trouble, specifically because we choose to serve and follow Him.
But through it all, God promises that He will be with us, making sure we have everything we need to complete the journey. Not necessarily everything we want, but as David wrote so long ago, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” God is our provider, and you can’t do better than to have the King of the Universe, your Father, in charge of your needs.