Twelve of the chief of the priests and 10 of their brethren were chosen by Ezra to bear the silver, gold and precious vessels. These ones were chosen because they were holy unto Jehovah; it would never do for the holy vessels to be defiled by man. “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” (Ezra 8:28-29). To each Ezra weighed the same measure, and at the end of the trip, it was weighed again — none were found wanting. I do not believe that this was done because Ezra doubted them; indeed, they were chosen because they were counted faithful. Rather, it was so no one could accuse them of misusing their service to enrich themselves (2 Cor. 8:20-21).
We, too, are holy men in the sight of God, and our walk should reflect that. “As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conduct” (1 Peter 1:14-15). The man of God no longer lives his life according to the lusts of the flesh but to the will of God (1 Peter 4:2). He has committed a gift to our stewardship: “as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Can we join with the Apostle Paul in saying, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful” (1 Tim. 1:12). Will we hear at the end of our earthly pathway, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21)?
Sadly, how quickly man turns the gift of God into a lucrative business. The responsibility of oversight was especially committed to the elders, but towards the end of his life, Peter found it necessary to exhort them: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3). It was not many years afterwards that men were set over parishes, were compensated monetarily, and they began referring to the flock of God as their flock.