Ezra is afraid that if he requests troops for protection—a military escort, as it were—that Artaxerxes, the court officials, and the people of the Empire are going to conclude that they do not trust God to protect them. In other words, he is afraid of the impression that is going to be made that, when push comes to shove, this God of whom they have said they trust to protect them, is not trusted by them, and so they need a military escort to go with them. And so Ezra would rather put the expedition at risk than to put God's reputation at risk. So are the priorities that he has...[He does not want] anyone to conclude that this religion business is all a farce, and that it is all about invisible things. They really do not mean what they say. They really do not trust in God. He is really not a God who has any power, who can be trusted. Here is the proof of the pie: it is in the eating. When the time came to go and leave, they had to ask the king for an escort. They had to put their trust in swords, spears, shields, and armour rather than put their trust in God. And of course, Ezra knows that it is perfectly legitimate to use means and to have an armed escort. But he is afraid they will not understand that it is a legitimate thing to do. They will see it as some kind of a contradiction. And so he does not ask for that which would be legitimate for him to ask because of the conclusions that might be drawn, because of the impression that might be made.¹

Terry L. Johnson