He (God) Directed A Pagan Leader (Ezra 7:11-28)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 07/15/2011 10:37 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  He (God) Directed A Pagan Leader

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Ezra 7:11-28

 

            Message of the verses:  “11 Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes to Israel: 12  "Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now 13 I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 "Forasmuch as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God which is in your hand, 15 and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold which you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; 17 with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18 "Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. 19 “Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20 “The rest of the needs for the house of your God, for which you may have occasion to provide, provide for it from the royal treasury. 21 “I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, 22 even up to 100 talents of silver, 100 kors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt as needed. 23 “Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. 24 "We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of this house of God. 25 "You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. 26 “Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment."

 

             “27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, 28  and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.”

 

            I would like to write about verses 7-9 because there was not commentary on these verses in yesterday’s SD and as I follow the outline from Dr. Wiersbe’s book (“Be Heroic”) there is no commentary.  It was mentioned in yesterday’s SD that the phrase “the hand of the Lord my God was upon me” was mentioned six times in chapters 7 & 8 of Ezra, and one of those times is found in verse nine.  In verses 7-9 we see some of those who were going to leave Babylon and go to Jerusalem.  It also shows the time that it took to go on this journey, which took four months as it was 1000 miles to travel and much was desert land.  The journey began in the Julian calendar Mar./April and ended in July/Aug.  One can imagine the heat from this time of the year they had to endure in order to complete this journey, a journey that in today’s time would take only a couple of hours in an air plane. 

 

            Now I want to get into the verses from today’s SD and these verses were originally written in Aramaic, at least verses 12-26 as this was the decree that was given by the king.  In verse eleven there is a mention of a copy of the decree as the original was kept in Babylon.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe breaks this section into four sub-points and that is the way that I will follow it.  This section shows how the God of Heaven dealt with King Artaxerxes, and it was in the same way that He dealt with Cyrus and Darius as He was moving in these kings heart in order to fulfill the covenants that were made with Abraham, and David and also the New Covenant that would be made through Jesus Christ.

 

            The first sub-point is entitled “Authorization” and it covers verses 11-12, and 25-26. 

           

            One can be assured that King Artaxerxes was very impressed with Ezra and he could see that the Lord was upon this priest of God and therefore he gave Ezra the decree to go to Jerusalem and even to set up laws there that if we’re not followed could have the death penalty imposed.  One can surely see that the hand of God was upon Ezra.  In verses 14 and also 25 it speaks of the law of God being in Ezra’s hand and this could refer to the scrolls that Ezra had in his hand that were present when he spoke with the king.

 

            “Liberation” is the second sup-point and it covers verses 13-14.  This would be the second wave of exiles to return to Jerusalem as the first left in 537 with 50,000 people and now this wave of exiles is 1500 men along with women and children, and there task was to work on the walls of Jerusalem.  In 444 Nehemiah would leave Babylon and finish the job which would be a fulfillment of the great prophecy in Daniel nine, as least a fulfillment of that part of the great prophecy.

 

            “Compensation” is the third sub-point and it covers verses 15-26.  I suppose that if one thinks of this in human terms one would not believe how all of this was worked out by the Lord, but I believe that the key in finding out why the king did this is seen in verse 23b and this portion is highlighted in yellow in the verses written above.  In those days there were gods that were attributed to different nations and all but one of them were idols, and so the king must have believed that the God of Israel was powerful and would protect him and his sons from harm and this seems like the logical reason for the king doing this deed.

           

            “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”  The post exile prophet Haggai wrote this and it is found in Hag. 2:8, but the proof of this as far as these exiles are concerned can be seen in verses 15-26 as the king of Persia was bankrolling this project.  Only the Lord could have worked this out.  Even the officers “beyond the river” were ordered to contribute to this cause with things needed for the sacrifices to the Lord.  The mention of 100 talents of silver is about four tons of silver. 

           

            When the first wave of exiles left Babylon they were given articles to be used in the temple, and now there was given to these exiles even more articles that were originally taken from the temple in 586 by the Babylonians who conquered Jerusalem that year. 

           

            One more thing that King Artaxerxes did for these returning exiles was to decree that none of the priest, Levites, or temple singers had to pay taxes. 

 

            The last sub-point is entitled “Celebration” and this is found in verses 27-28.      “27  Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, 28 and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.”  This truly sounds like a celebration to me. 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is the first occurrence of first-person narrative in the book; it continues through 9:15.  Knowing this helps one to understand this book better.  It is fitting after getting to know Ezra better by reading his book that there was no words of bragging how he got this all done, but he gave all the glory to the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have mentioned my study of John 15 in other SD’s but I can see this teaching of Jesus that was given to His disciples on “abiding in the Vine” in order to produce fruit in this section of Ezra.  Here is how I see this and surely want to do in my life too.  In Ezra 7:10 that was part of yesterday’s SD I can see that Ezra had a great desire to study the Law of God in order to practice it in his life and to teach others about this too.  In Jesus’ teaching in John 15 He desires His followers to “abide or remain” in the Vine and this requires study to understand this.  Abiding in the Lord will take effort and time, however just as one can see the “fruit” that the Lord produced through Ezra through his remaining in the Lord, then this can be repeated in my life and the life of other believers who follow this teaching.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Abide in the Vine.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

3.     Give myself to the Lord this day for worship and for service.

4.     Proverbs 3:5-6.

5.     Psalm 139:23-24.

6.     Ephesians 6:10-18.

 

7/15/2011 8:33:22 AM  

           

He raised up a Godly Leader (Ezra 7:1-6, 10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/14/2011 7:55:05 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  He raised up a Godly Leader

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Ezra 7:1-6, 10

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. 6 This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.  “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

 

            Today’s SD begins the third chapter in Dr. Wiersbe commentary on Ezra and it will cover chapters seven and eight of the book of Ezra.  As mentioned before Wiersbe will give a brief statement on how the chapter will unfold and that statement for this chapter is as follows:  “What did God do for the people of Israel during those difficult days after the Babylonian Captivity?”  Now the answer to this question will be given throughout this third chapter by way of the different main points of which we will cover the first one in today’s SD.

           

            While reading some of the notes from John MacArthur’s Study Bible yesterday I came upon an interesting fact that brought some light upon the book of Ester and how that book fits into the history of the exiles.  MacArthur states that the book of Ester took place between the last verse in chapter six of Ezra until the first verse in chapter seven of Ezra and this was a time period of 59 years.  In the first verse of chapter seven the king of Persia is Artaxerxes Longimanus.  Now you won’t find the Longimanus in the first verse as part of the king’s name but that was what he was called.  Longimanus is a Latin word and the Greek equivalent is Marochier.  There is speculation that he was called this perhaps because his “long hand” stretched reached out so far in the kingdom, or perhaps because he was generous to his subjects.  It could be because of both reasons.

           

            The phrase that is highlighted in green is a phrase that is seen six times in chapters seven and eight of Ezra and if one would have to answer why Ezra was successful this along with what is highlighted in yellow could well be the answer.  There is an interesting end note about the phrase “hand of the LORD” that I wish to quote. “Of course, God is spirit and doesn’t possess literal hands such as we do.  The phrase is what theologians call ‘anthropomorphic.’ That is attributing to God something that is true of humans (‘anthrop’ = human; ‘morphos’ = form).  God doesn’t have eyes, but He ‘sees’ what’s going on in the world; He doesn’t have ears, but He ‘hears’ our cries.  Because He’s a Person, God has the ability to act and respond, and the Bible uses human terminology to explain this.  When Isaiah wanted to show the greatness of God, he said that God measured the waters ‘in the hollow of His hand’ (Isa. 40:12); and the psalmist reminds us that all God has to do to feed His creatures is open His hand (Ps. 104:28).  ‘You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing’ (Ps. 145:16 NKJV).”

           

            As mentioned above this chapter takes place nearly sixty years after the completion of the temple and this will help put into prospective the time frame of the post exile period of time, for soon the Word of God will be completed as far as the OT is concerned and the next time that the Lord is heard from will be through the voice of John the Baptist.  I think perhaps this would be a good time to try and explain the different parts of the Scripture as far as what they can be titled.  From Genesis to the book of Ester is the historical portion of Scripture, but certainly not in chronological order for the book of Job is probably the oldest book of the Bible and it is in the next section or the pottery section, followed by the prophets.  Now the prophets are broken up between the major and Minor Prophets and this has nothing to do with their message, but the length of their message.  As far as the chronological part of the prophets there were pre-exile prophets such as Isaiah and then there are post exile prophets like Haggai.

           

            Artaxerxes reigned from 465-424 and as far as this chapter the date is 458 according to Dr. Wiersbe.  It was at this time that God raised up Ezra to lead a second group of refugees from Babylon to Judah in order to bring financial and spiritual support to those who had be doing the work of building the temple and also doing other work at Jerusalem.

           

            It has been stated in an earlier SD that when God wants to accomplish something He brings about good leaders and this can be seen throughout the Scriptures.  Richard Nixon said the following about leaders they “make a difference.”  Ezra was a gifted leader along with Nehemiah and the Lord used both of these men during this difficult time in the history of Israel.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “When God wants to judge a nation, He sends them inferior leaders (Isa.3:1-8); but when He wants to bless them, He sends them men like Ezra. 

           

            There are three different sub-points under this first main point as outlined in “Be Heroic” which is Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Ester.  I will try and get through these three sub-points this morning.  The first one he entitles “His noble ancestry” and this will cover the first five verses of Ezra seven.  I know that when most of us get to the genealogies in Scripture we may begin to yawn or skip over them, but just the same they are put there for a reason and they all have names of people who lived during, in this case, OT times.  Ezra was not like some of the priests that could not confirm their genealogy, for he could trace his all the way back to Aaron the very first priest that God called.  While studying the books of 2Kings and 2Chronicles the godly priest Hilkiah was there and he was the one who reigned during King Josiah’s reign and he found the Book of the Law and read it to the king, which brought about a great revival in Judah.  Zadok was the priest during the reign of King David, actually during some of the most trying times of David’s rule.  There are certainly other very famous men in this genealogy of Ezra that are mentioned in these first five verses of chapter seven.  Ezra did not squander the rich spiritual legacy of those spiritual men that went before him, but he built upon their great foundation.

           

            The next sub-point covers verse six of chapter seven and is entitled “His remarkable audacity.”  I have already mentioned briefly some of the truths found in this verse, but there is one thing in this verse that I have highlighted in red because it is near and dear to my heart, and that is the understanding of the Scriptures, for that has been a passion of mine since shortly after I became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ back in Jan. of 1974.

           

            There is a wonderful verse found in Romans that gives a great reason to study the Word of God:  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  If one wants to increase their faith the best way is to study the Word of God.  Ezra was that kind of a man, as he was not content to be laid back and just study, but went to the king and asked to bring more exiles back to Jerusalem and was successful because the hand of his God was with him. 

           

            The last sub-point is entitled “His exceptional ability,” and this covers verse 7:10.  I would suppose that if I had to search the entire Bible that I would not be able to find a better verse that shows why I began this blog.  I realize that I am no Ezra, and that I am not going to bring these studies to the nation of Israel, but I hope and pray that the Lord will use these studies to encourage others and to also encourage others to begin to dig in and study the greatest Book that has ever been written, and according to Romans 10:17 will have their faith begin to increase.  Now when one’s faith is increased by the study of the Word of God they can begin to act in a similar way that Ezra had acted ant that put into practice what he had learned from the study of God’s Word.  The psalmist wrote “Oh, how I love Your law! My meditation all the day (Ps. 119:97, NKV).  Some believe that Ezra is the one who began the Jewish Synagogues in Babylon, the first place they were found, and this was probably from his desire to study the Word of God and then put it into practice.

           

            Ezra was blessed, not in the reading and studying of the Word, but obeying the Word, but you have to read and study it in order to obey it.  Ezra had the right perspective and that is the perspective to follow, that of understanding the Word of God in order to teach others, and not to know it to be puffed up, but to be humble for the privilege of understanding this wonder Book.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following:  “Each generation needs to discover the precious treasure of the Word of God, but that can’t happen unless previous generations are faithful to learn the Word, guard it, obey it, and teach it.  ‘And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach other’ (2Timothy 2:2, NIV).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I have learned in this lesson today has enforced the things that I have studied before and also reinforced why it is that I want to study God’s Word.  I have a desire to teach others what the Lord is teaching me, and this is why I was convicted to put these on a blog.  However I want my motive to be pure in studying the Word of God, that is to obey it and to bless others with it too.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Continue to study the Word and to put into practice what I have learned.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

7/14/2011 9:25:59 AM

 

Stage Three "The Work Completed" (Ezra 6:13-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/13/2011 7:15:26 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: Stage Three: The Work Completed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezra 6:13-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. 14 And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 This temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. 16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered for the dedication of this temple of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 19 The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 The sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate the Passover. 22 And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

 

            There are two sub-sections in this last main section of chapter two from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Ezra.  The first sub-section is entitled “The joy of dedication and it covers verses 13-18 of Ezra six.

           

            First I want to focus in on verse fourteen and on the words “command of God.”  John MacArthur points out that this word “command” is usually translated “decree,” but in this case is translated command.  He writes, “The message here is powerful.  It was the decree from God, the Sovereign of the universe, which gave administrative authority to rebuild the temple.  The decrees (same word) of 3 of the greatest monarchs in the history of the ancient Near East were only a secondary issue.  God rules the universe and He raises up kings, then pulls them from their thrones when they served His administration.”  I think that this not, and the truth of it, puts things into proper perspective. 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that at this dedication of the temple there was no Ark in the Holy of Holies, and no glory filled the house, the temple was still dedicated. 

           

            During the time when Solomon’s temple was dedicated there were countless numbers of sacrifices offered, but this temple dedication there were only 712 sacrifices, but the Lord accepted them.  They had offered twelve male goats as sin offerings, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

           

            This dedication took place on the twelfth day of the last month of the year 515 BC and so the Passover was to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month, which was only a few weeks away.  Joshua the high priest had also consecrated the priests and the Levites for their ministry in the completed temple.  It was David who had organized the way this should be done, as the priests were organized into twenty-four courses so their ministry would be more effective.  By doing this they did not have to serve all at one time (Luke 1:5, 8).  1Chronicles 24:1-19 speaks of how David divided the priests.  In verse eighteen there is a reference to the Law of Moses and this is reference to the consecration of the priests which can be seen in Lev. 8-9.

           

            The last sub-section is entitled “The Joy of Remembering,” and covers the remaining verses in Ezra 6.  This speaks of the Passover that they celebrated shortly after the dedication of the temple.  It should be noted that all males of Israel were required to go to three feasts that were celebrated in Jerusalem ever year, and the first of these feats was Passover, with the other two being  Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

           

            I wish to point out from verse twenty-one that something could be missed from reading it, and so I will quote a note from John MacArthur:  “the impurity of the nations.  These were proselytes to Judaism, who had confessed their spiritual uncleanness before the Lord, been circumcised, and renounced idolatry to keep the Passover (v-22).”  In the book of Exodus 12:43-49 it is made clear that these proselytes were allowed to take part in the Passover as long as they met those requirements listed in the note.  “  43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44  but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 “A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46 “It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 “All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48 “But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49 “The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.’”

           

            I have recently finished a study of 2Kings and 2Chronicles and in those books both Hezekiah and Josiah celebrated the Passover and this kind of reminds me of their celebration.  When the children of Israel were wondering in the wilderness for forty years they did not celebrate the Passover after the judgment from the Lord came to them that they would be wondering for forty years.  This is made clear when in the book of Joshua all of the males had to be circumcised before they began their battles with the nations who lived in the Promised Land.  They did celebrate the Passover at that time and this is another of the memorable Passovers from the OT.  Of course the greatest Passover celebration was when the Lord Jesus Christ (our Passover Lamb) died on the cross at the time when the lambs were to be killed for the Passover.  Paul speaks of Christ as being our Passover:  “1Co 5:7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”  When John the Baptist saw Jesus before he baptized Him he said “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I find great comfort in knowing that God is the One who is in control of what goes on here on planet earth as can be seen from verse fourteen and explained from MacArthur’s note. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Realize that it is the Lord who is in control of not only the nations but my life as well, and as I go through this difficult time in my life that comforts me.

2.     Continue to learn contentment even though by my continuation of learning contentment seems that I seem to be running into situations that are difficult, but do teach me that God is in control, and this is part of learning contentment.

 

7/13/2011 8:43:18 AM 

PT-3 Stage Two "The Work Resumed" (Ezra 6:1-2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/12/2011 7:13:59 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  PT-3 Stage two: The work resumed                                                                                       (God used Darius)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezra 6:1-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then King Darius issued a decree, and search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2  In Ecbatana in the fortress, which is in the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows: "Memorandum- 3  "In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ’Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; 4 with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 ’Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’ 6 "Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, keep away from there. 7 “Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8  "Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay. 9 “Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, 10 that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11  "And I issued a decree that any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. 12  "May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; let it be carried out with all diligence!’”

 

            I have read through the Bible many times and probably looked over this letter as far as to see how this was something that was so remarkable in how it was written and what it said.  I marvel at how Cyrus was used of the Lord to accomplish what the Lord planned for him to accomplish.  There is little evidence that Cyrus knew the Lord in a saving manner, but I have to remember that Daniel had a large part in the government of both the Babylonians and also the Persians, and Daniel was a great man of God who wanted to see people come to know the One True God.  This can be seen in how Daniel treated Nebuchadnezzar in a way that was leading him to know the Lord.

           

            I want to say at this point that people in the OT were saved in the same way as in the NT, and that is to realize that they are sinners and in need of the Lord to forgive them of their sins, and place their trust in the Lord to accomplish this.  In the case of OT believers they trusted in a coming Messiah to care for their sins and in the NT people look back at the Messiah as One who has accomplished this on the cross of Calvary.  I have been told or perhaps read somewhere that when a person gets to heaven he will have three surprises: who is there, who is not there and the third surprise is that they are there.

           

            We have to look back and see how the leaders of the exiles treated the governor when he approached them, for they could have treated them harshly or been offensive to them, but they were not.   First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2  for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (1Timothy 2:1-4)  God had called the nation of Israel to be a wittiness to the world around them, and for the most part this was not done, however in the case of the exiles when dealing with this situation it was done.  Cyrus wanted the exiles to pray for him and for his son’s as seen in this document and this verse in 1Timothy, although it had not been written yet probably was what the exiles did as all of us who name the name of Christ should do.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must say that I have not been a supporter of the president that is now in office, but I am to pray for him, knowing that God will use him in a way that will bring about what His plans are for him and also for our nation.  It was easier to pray for a President who had the same beliefs as I do, but the verses in 1Timothy make it plain to pray for those who are leading the country that I live in.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Trust the Lord to work out the plans that He has for this country.

2.     Trust the Lord to work out the plans that He has for me.

 

7/12/2011 7:54:55 AM

 

           

                                                                                               

Stage Two "PT-2 The Work Resumed" (Ezra 5:3-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/11/2011 7:47:54 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Stage Two: the work resumed PT-2

                                                                                                            (God used local officials)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezra 5:3-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, "Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?" 4 Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building. 5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a written reply be returned concerning it. 6 This is the copy of the letter which Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent a report to him in which it was written thus: "To Darius the king, all peace. 8 “Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with huge stones, and beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is going on with great care and is succeeding in their hands. 9 “Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, ’Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ 10 “We also asked them their names so as to inform you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head. 11 “Thus they answered us, saying, ’We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 ’But because our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. 13 ’However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14  ’Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 ’He said to him, "Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place." 16 ’Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is not yet completed.’ 17 "Now if it pleases the king, let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, if it be that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter.’”

 

            I think that the first thing one has to realize is that the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem was in the plan of the Lord, and nothing was going to stop the rebuilding of this temple.  God spoke through the prophet Isaiah that Cyrus would let the people go and Cyrus gave the order and also gave to the returning exiles the gold and silver articles needed for worship in the temple.  These articles were in the temple of the gods of Babylon.  The people during this time period when they defeated a country would take the gods and place them in the temple of their gods to show off that their god was stronger than the one they had just conquered.  Another example of this was when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from Israel: “1Sa 5:2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.”  This story continues with the Philistines returning the ark of God to Israel because the Lord had brought much trouble to the Philistines.

           

            Tattenai was a governor over the land that included Jerusalem and when he looked at what the exiles were doing he was rightly concerned about the rebuilding of the temple for the way it is described in the letter one could mistake it for a fortress thinking that these exiles were about to go to war with Persia.  Tattenai asked two questions: who gave the orders to rebuild the temple and what are the names of those doing the rebuilding?  The leaders of Israel were very honest and straightforward in answering Tattenai.  They realized that it was the Lord who was really in charge of this project and their answers gave glory to the Lord, and they also realized their answers looked like they were rebelling against Persia and in particular Tattenai that there would be trouble. 

           

            At this time I would like to list some verses that go along with how these exiles did act towards those who were over them, that is the Persians.

           

            “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. (Col. 4:5)

              “-so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need (1Thes. 4:12)

            “1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good” (Romans 13:1-4a).

            “13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15  For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1Peter 2:13-15).

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following that shows the good sense these leaders of the exiles acted towards their Persian leaders: “Both in their words and their demeanor, they presented a clear witness to this important Persian official, and God used him to certify their right to build and guarantee supplies from the king.”  As I read these words and how all of this worked out I can only say that God is great and greatly to be praised.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the plan that the Lord had for the return of Israel to their land and the building of the temple I must then believe that the Lord has a plan for my life and surely for every believer.  I look at Ephesians 2:10 which speaks of the work that the Lord has planned for His children way back in eternity past I realize that the Lord has a plan for me and work for me to accomplish for His glory.  My part in all of this is to abide or remain in the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ, and by doing this the Lord will produce the works or fruit that He has planned for me to accomplish for His glory.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Abide in Christ.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

3.     Give myself to the Lord this day for worship and for service.

 

7/11/2011 8:41:43 AM