So, So Ezra's got all these friends with him and he's got the blessing of the king

He's got a note so that's good. He's got a sheet of paper here in Ezra chapter 8

From King Arteserxes and that's gonna carry some weight with people who might want to harm him and his buddies

along the way but to the hardened criminal types I just don't think they're going to

care about the letter they've already sort of crossed the moral Rubicon of

marauding and raiding and stealing from people. I don't think they really

care very much what the king says. And so Ezra reveals that they're not

going to have an armed escort for their journey from Babylon to

Jerusalem which is I probably should look this up but it's a long long ways and

it's going to take months and months and it's hundreds and

hundreds of miles that they're going to have to travel. He's just

revealed to his party, hey we're not going to have an armed escort. The

King gave us a lot of money, but I told him that this was probably going to work out and that

God is going to protect us on the trip despite not having any actual prophetic word from God that that is the case.

I'm just looking big picture at this says

Ezra. Everything seems to be falling into place and I believe that this is going to

fall into place as well and that God's just not gonna let harm befall us. And they all pray about that and

they fast about that and they're like okay and where we left off yesterday was in

verse 23 of Esther 8 with this prayer and this fasting happening on the front end of this big

dangerous trip and says and he answered our prayer got answered our prayer so let's

find out what this prayer answering business is all about so Ezra takes matters into his own hands. Here in Ezra 824, it looks

like he starts dividing up these riches, this mountain of wealth that Arteserxes is heaped upon him,

...