1.9.14 He's Real

1.9.14
"...You are The Lord , You alone; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens; with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all, and the hosts of heaven worship You."  Nehemiah 9:6

When I read this excerpt from Ezra's prayer that this priest who lived 480-440 BC, was a documented historical figure and his writings/prayers are in front of me today, thousands of years later, it caused me to think of several things.

First of all, Ezra was a real person.  Josephus, a first century historian wrote of him.  Hebrew history books contain information about him and his returning from Babylonian exile, and reintroducing the Torah in Jerusalem.   A real historical figure, like George Washington, like Qín Shǐhuáng (259 BC – 210 BC who became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC.)  Like Stalin and Hitler, like Robert Boyle (considered to be the father of chemistry), like Edison, Franklin, and Ford.  Like Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, and like Jesus.

I realize you can't trust everything you read in history books, and just because it's from a so called reliable source, it's not always the entire truth.  However, when looking at the Bible as an historical book which contains historical figures which has withstood the test of time like any other book around, one must at least give an honest look at it's contents.  What parts of history do you choose to not believe because they are too bizarre to have really happened, or you don't think someone is capable of such feats, inventions, atrocities or conquests?  What do we trust and put our confidence (faith) in which we can't necessarily verify is truth, but we believe it anyway?

Why not look at the Bible as a history book, which it is in part. (It's also a book of poetry, law, wisdom, science and other things).

Can we look back and admire the historical people of the Bible for what they did to leave a mark on the history of the world?  We should.

The second thing that I thought of as I read this passage is how Ezra, in his prayer, attributed creation to God, recognized Him as Lord, realized that the earth and all that is ON it and the seas with all that is IN them is preserved/maintained/retained by God, and that there are angels and they worship Him.  All in that one little verse.  9/365