– Jerusalem, August 458 BC

(Ezra 7,8; cf. 2:2–60)

A LARGE CONSIGNMENT of gold and silver has safely avoided the attentions of the robber barons during a 4-month, 900-mile-journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The treasure, a gift from King Artaxerxes for the worship of Yahweh, was carried in a human train of more than 1,700 people, the first major migration to Judah for half a century. Many were relatives of people already in the city.

Led by the widely-respected priest and teacher, Ezra, they had refused the king’s offer of an armed guard as they walked across the fertile crescent of northern Mesopotamia.

It was a bold act of faith in Yahweh’s protection, by a devout group which had spent three days in prayer and fasting before setting out in April from the Ahava Canal where they had gathered.

Ezra carried personal letters from Artaxerxes authorising the expedition and ordering Persian officials in Judah to provide wine, oil, wheat, salt and gold and silver for the temple officers, who were also granted tax exemption.

It is said that Ezra has been personally commanded to teach the law of Yahweh and to mete out traditional punishments on people who do not obey it.

– The name Yahweh is mentioned more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament. It appears in every book but does not appear in Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. In English translations of the Bible “Yahweh” is translated to mean LORD