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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Ezra 8:24–30, “Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered: I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents; Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers. Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD. So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.”
In the normal course of events a person who was transporting treasure, like the Jews had with them at that time, would expect to take some kind of commission for doing the job. However, Ezra was dedicated to teaching the Law of the Lord to Israel. He didn’t want to enrich himself by taking any commission so he handed the treasure over to the leading priests before they left so that there would be no question about who the treasure belonged to when they reached the other end. Ezra was an honourable and godly man dedicated to serving the Lord alone.
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