WHAT WAITS ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE DOOR?

A NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE FROM STEVEN

1:4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5I said, "I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned. 7"We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8"Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.' 10"They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11"O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man " Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

2:1And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.

(Nehemiah 1:4-2:1-New American Standard Bible)

A couple of weeks ago I was preaching through the above passage from Nehemiah 1:4-2:1. I discussed how that Nehemiah was deeply concerned after hearing how that the Jewish population in Jerusalem was being mistreated and how the walls of Jerusalem were torn down offering them no defense. He was so profoundly moved by what was going on that he had decided to spend the next several months praying and fasting over the situation (1:1, 4; 2:1). The painfulness over the circumstances which surrounded his people was so great that he confessed both his and their sins before God (1:6). Nehemiah considered the sinfulness of his people to be a community thing not just a personal issue. The above prayer is just one of many prayers Nehemiah would pray. But I believe this prayer is special because of one thing…I believe this prayer was prayed as he walked the halls of the Susa palace. Why do I believe this? Because he mentions at the end of 1:11 that he was the “…cupbearer to the king.” I believe that there was a literal door standing in between the transition at the end of 1:11 and the beginning of 2:1. As Nehemiah ends his prayer he stands at the door which is the entry way into the king’s court. He is on his way to delivering the tested wine to the king and will be provoked into delivering the will of God before the king. But remember there is a door which is waiting to be opened. That door is what stands between him fulfilling the will of God and him backing down from doing what he is being called to do.

I believe that we are standing at such a door this next year. As always we face it with a certain amount of optimism, pessimism, and anxiety. Regardless we stand at the door and we will be forced to walk through it. Either we walk through it with the attitude of Nehemiah and pray for God’s mercy while seeking to do His will in a hostile world; or we walk through it desiring to do what is right but doing what we always seem to do…nothing. This year is crucial in so many ways. This year we will receive a new President. I will make more comments on this as we near the inauguration. We will also face further and greater violence against the nation of Israel. Israel has been our truest ally in the fight against terrorism. We need to remember this as this fight continues. We face the ever increasing possibilities of homosexual marriages becoming the norm. We face on growing resistance of Christian ethics and morality being upheld in political circles. In fact over the last twelve years we have come to understand that we are more of a play toy for the Republicans and Democrats than an actual moving force. We also face the problem of churches growing smaller and less influential in their communities than before. One more thing we face this year is the political force of the younger evangelicals who are forsaking the call of the right to life for the call of the right to live however we want ( www.recoveringevangelical.com ). Again I will address this issue later and will be in contact with this group throughout the year hoping to set an open dialogue with them.

For us at Ferguson Road Baptist Church, Dallas (FRBC) it means that we are going to have to work all the harder to bring people to church, evangelize the community and follow up on prospects which God brings our way. This year we are going to develop our own Sunday School curriculum, strengthen our children’s and youth ministry as well as continuing to work with our “Young At Heart” group. At FRBC we have a plan which will have the DBA (Dallas Baptist Association) working through us on a project and a possible apartment ministry to start up. And if that is not enough the plans are in the works right now to start POD casting our services where people who are looking for a church home can see what our services are like and hear our pastor as he expounds on the Word of God. And I would like to see our staff get together and do a POD cast at least once every couple of weeks were we take e-mails and calls from people answering questions on various biblical topics.

For Mary and I continuing to work on our marital relationship is preeminence. It is our desire to start a family this year, but as always this is something which rests in the hands for God. For her, it is important that she continue to do well with her carrier while being a witness for Jesus Christ. For me there are several different fronts which I have to battle. First, I must continue to move forward with school. If I continue on I am looking at graduating sometime in 2010, so school is crucial, especially dealing with Greek this next semester. Also, ministry is extremely critical. The two of us want to see FRBC grow and become a lighthouse for those trapped in the darkness of sin in that community. But we want to become more sensitive about the community we live in, the two communities are not the same. I want to preach a little more around the state or around the nation maybe once a month somewhere else. A revival meeting here and some pulpit supply there, just getting out while seeing other churches and how they function in different situations help me to understand dynamics at FRBC. As always I want do a job at my work which is worthy of my being called a Christian. The goal though is to do all that we do for the glory of God.

So, as we enter this new what sets at the other side of the door for you? What has God pointed out to you that He wants you to do? As we enter this year we walk into a new field regard God’s will. Either we will enter the courts of the world, hang our heads low and continue doing what we have always done. Or we will stand up straight, walk in, and when asked what it is we are doing, answer in an affirmative, strong, yet humble fashion, “We are here to do the will of God.”

As one theologian wrote, “It is the cross of Christ we are to declare and the resurrection of Christ we are to explicitly. Always leading others to the kingdom of God in the way we walk, the way we live, and what we say.”

May 2009 be the year we say, “All to the glory of God!”

It’s Beginning To Look Like What?

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 `AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 "A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE." –Matthew 1:18-2:18

Every Christmas since I became a Christian there has been one controversy or another. In fact I didn’t even know that many of these controversies regarding Christmas even existed before I became a Christian. But in Ephesians 2 the apostle Paul makes it clear that before we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior we are dead in our trespasses and sins. As usual this year is not any different then that of the last twenty-five years. This year’s war has been with the state of Washington and its governor. But the reality is that this hostility started much earlier. In recent history this struggle started thirty years ago when the educational intuitions made the decisions to stop having “Esther Break” and started having “Spring Break” a week or two before Esther. This was a subversive way of denying deity through the observation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the battle still goes back further than that. During the late nineteenth century Christians found themselves struggling against a new enemy call “Commercialism.” This was the illegitimate child of the free enterprise system set up by our forefathers. Even then the battle of Christmas goes back further. I could spend pages talking about the different battles Christians’ have fought dealing with Christmas but the truth is that Christmas has never been held as something wonderful by the world. The world loves the idea of a small innocent baby in a cute manager setting. They love the idea of getting gifts full of play things and singing happy songs. They love the sounds and glittering lights and the parties, please don’t forget the parties. The world has done everything from attempting to highjack it to totally doing away with it, but history notes that these actions have occurred from the very start.

In Matthew 1:18-2:18 we read that the original Christmas story is received with less than a glorious thought. At first in Matthew 1:18-25 when Joseph, the future husband to Mary, heard the news of Mary’s pregnancy he was less than enthusiastic. In fact 1:19 brings out that he even thought about having a private divorce and moving on with his life. It wasn’t until he is given a revelation by an angel of the Lord in 1:20-25 that he changed his mind and accepted what was happening as the divine will of God.

On the other hand the news was received with the same lukewarm attitude by King Herod in Matthew 2. When it is revealed to him by the magi what was going on, his handling of the situation was much different. According to chapter 2 verses 4-6 he first verified the information from the religious leaders regarding what Scripture had to say about the matter. Then in 2:7-9 he subversively tells the magi to find the Child so that he can worship Him, even though his plan was to kill the Child. Do not get this story wrong when he sent them out to find the child many scholars believe that Herod had spies in Bethlehem waiting for the magi to arrive in order to kill the Christ child. This is the reason many believe that 2:9b-12 possibly happened at a much later time and some place other than Bethlehem. It is believed and agreed by most commentaries, both old and new, that 2:9b-12 happened around the second year of Jesus’ life possibly in Nazareth. Many of the reasons for this are because of the fact that the star always showed in the east. Nazareth is to the east of Jerusalem while Bethlehem is to the southwest of Jerusalem. Also, the use of the Greek word for “Child” in 2:9b can mean infant to five years of age. Verse 16 in chapter 2 also notes that Herod’s orders included children two years old and under. Regardless of the where and when the magi encounter the Christ child, they leave the country through an alternate route. Because of this Herod becomes indignant (2:16) The word used for “anger” means fits of passion. He was enraged over what had occurred. In line with his history of killing and assassinations he sent a small army, possibly from the fortress Herodion which was only about five miles from Bethlehem. This fortress overlooked Bethlehem and would have taken no time to get to Bethlehem in order to carry out the horrible orders of King Herod. Orders to kill, “…all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.” (2:16) On that night the blood ran like water through the streets of Bethlehem. To the glory of God and by His divine protection Joseph moved his family from wherever they were to Egypt until the danger had passed (2:13-15, 19-23).

So as we can see this war against Christmas has always been going on. It is nothing new. It wasn’t filled with parties, flashing lights, lots of toys, tree trimming, declarations, happy songs, and cool romantic nights by a warm fire place. This conflict has always been going on and it will not end until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Until then the sinful soul of humanity will constantly and consistently deny the virgin birth. If people do not deny the virgin birth, then they cannot deny the vicarious death on the cross. If they do not deny his death on the cross as a substitutionary act then they have to come into agreement with their guilt before God as a result of their own sinful nature. If they do not deny his virgin birth and substitutionary death on the cross they cannot deny His resurrection. If they cannot deny His resurrection they must conclude that God became a man and met humanity in its inhumanity face to face. Now humanity is caught in a dilemma, they must repent and believe or some day face judgment before the very One they deny. The truth is deny it or accept it the Child in the filthy manager who was being hunted by sinful mankind will one day be the Judge Who will condemn all who deny Him as Savior.

Where are you? What stand are you taking? How do you feel about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for all of humanity? The answer to these questions could very easily affect your eternity.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Steven

The Election After Halloween

It was the election after Halloween,

When all through the nation,

Not a soul was concerned,

With the candidates’ convictions.

All they wanted to know was,

Is the economy going to be okay?

After all I need my beer on payday.

No concerns for national defense,

No concerns for character or ethics,

No concerns for anything that matters,

Only that we have someone who make us fatter.

Never mind that much of the economic mess was our fault,

Never mind that we played hard with some else’s money.

Never mind any of that, because we thought it was funny.

We never saved, we never planned,

Never sought permission from God’s great hand.

So now it comes to this night,

We don’t really care about what is right.

One promises this,

While the other promises that.

In the end all we want is to be lazy and fat.

The reality is we don’t care about our kids.

If we did then we would teach them to be moral not misfits.

We don’t really care about character,

If we did we might ask tougher questions.

We don’t really care about truth,

If we did then we might get to the root of associations.

We don’t really care about the future,

If we did then we would plan, live and be concerned with our moral situation.

No, it’s the election after Halloween,

And the scariest thing is not Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, or even Jason.

No, not Freddie (unless it’s Mac), not the Wolf-man, not Bigfoot or even Loch Ness.

No the scariest thing is the attitude of the American people which got us into this mess.

We drive toward the ugliest monster, Socialism and no one cares.

Why? Because we want extra money to have a good time and buy our beer.

Freedom means nothing, unless it has something to do with sex.

Courage means nothing, unless we speak out against the Constitutional text.

Purpose means nothing, unless it’s to get another dime from the government.

Being right means nothing, unless it’s to win an argument.

So as we look at this election after Halloween let’s remember these famous words,

Forget abortion, forget laws destroying the family, forget morals, character, and ethics.

Forget self control, forget standing for what is right, forget the Constitution or Declaration of Independence for which men have died.

Forget our history, in fact muddy it up.

Forget Hitler, forget Musilini, forget Stalin.

Forget the real monsters who killed Jews and Christians for the sake of Marxism.

Forget all of those things, but above all forget God, church and family.

Forget them all! Because in doing may cause us to see the candidates’ philosophical schisms.

So, on this election after Halloween,

All we want is money from the government,

A handout for self satisfying arrangement.

No, no one should care.

All we want is extra money so we can go to the pub, club or bar have a good time,

And buy our beer.

Is John McCain The Best Choice

Last Thursday night after the Vice Presidential debate, a news commentator on Fox News finally said what I have been waiting for someone to point out, John McCain was the Presidential candidate for the Republican Party by default. Why? He was the last man standing among the candidates. Last fall when I heard that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was in the running as a Presidential candidate I was excited about the prospect of a real Arkansasian being in the White House. Of course I did not have to wait with baited breath to see who I was going to support. As time rolled on during the spring the rumors began to surface that John McCain was out and that Giuliani was in and Romney was in trouble. I hedged my political thoughts to the former Arkansas governor thinking in this atmosphere surely he could and would win. I thought that McCain was past his time, Romney was too dry, Thompson came to the party but didn’t participate and Giuliani was too liberal. The problem was that the Christian leadership under whose banner I work did not come to Governor Huckabee’s assistance until extremely late in the campaign, toward the very end. Giuliani made a bad decision to place all of his efforts in Florida, Huckabee badly crippled Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire, while John McCain stole the show from Romney in Michigan. When the dust cleared two men were left standing, one with the full Republican Party support and the other with his down home humor and class. When John McCain finally reached the full 1100 points needed, Huckabee bowed out leaving McCain as the clear winner.

When this happened I began to hear the rumblings of people like Jim Dobson of Focus on the Family and others criticizing the Republican choice. As I listened to the leadership of the Christian faithful I began to become very displeased with the leadership. First of all, I like them, felt very disappointed. The whole scenario reminded me of the 1990’s when Robert Dole (Republican) went up against a very youthful and charismatic Presidential incumbent Bill Clinton. It was the Republican Parties way of acknowledging that Bob Dole’s time had come and would soon pass. It almost felt like they were saying, “Okay we know this is your last chance. Go ahead and make the one last push for the White House with our blessing.” The problem was that Bob Dole had to rely on Elizabeth Dole (his wife) to energize the mainstream right (yes I did put those two thoughts together). Here I feel the same way. An older, well seasoned veteran who had made a couple of strong attempts to be in the running, who is now having to rely on his Vice Presidential running mate to energize the mainstream right. However, my disgruntlement with those who serve in Christian leadership was the fact that they bemoaned John McCain receiving the nomination but waited until the last minute of the last hour on the last day of the last big caucuses and primaries to back Huckabee. Wow! My thought at the time was that they had nothing to complain about, Huckabee should have been a shoe-in and they chose to wait.

Now we are caught with a party which has a young, energetic, charismatic personality up against an older, seasoned veteran who lacks the excitement and appeal he had seven years ago. While I have always admired McCain from a distance I have also had my issues with him. So now to the question; Was John McCain the best choice? Now for the answer. In this atmosphere, probably not. Having said that between the two is he the better choice? Yes! He has the experience, the knowledge, the personal winsomeness, and the record to prove it. The one thing to say about McCain that cannot be said for Obama is the fact that he will shot straight with the American people. Over and over, person after person has come out of the woodworks stating the same thing, that John McCain is who you see. Obama has a problem with honesty, from what I am hearing McCain, while not perfect, has less of one.

OBAMA-ABORTION-“ABOVE MY PAY GRADE”

Recently during our economic crisis John McCain made a bold move and suspended his campaign until the calamity was addressed by lawmakers. In doing so he basically drug Barack Obama to Washington to deal with the emergency. It was an unprecedented move which received criticism from the Obama camp. In fact John McCain wanted to cancel the debate on Friday, September 26^th, until legislation was produced which protected tax payers and stayed the foreseen catastrophe which waited ahead. Again Obama and his camp fired back stating that the President of the United States had to deal with several different things at once. (www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/us/politics/26obama.html)

The problem I have with this is the whole way in which Obama constantly weasels out of one question after another never giving any firm answers but constantly criticizing those who do make firm decisions. Obama himself is guilty of the very action in which he condemns others for, making more that one decision at a time. Senator Obama plays things safe and he is also very prideful and arrogant about the way he conducts himself. He is rich and he disparages the free enterprise system that put him where he is. When he is wrong he can’t find it within himself to say that he made a mistake or that he has missed the mark.

A case in point is the statement he made at Saddleback Church on live television when Pastor Rick Warren directly asked him when the life of a baby begins. He waffled, he skated the issue. He said it depended on whether the discussion was a theological or scientific one. Then he stated that getting others to understanding the abortion issue was, “above my pay grade”. O’ really? I thought the President was supposed to be able to handle more than one thing at once. Allow me to debunk his logic for a moment. First, science and theology are quickly coming to the same conclusion. In the last twenty five years technology has allowed us to peer into the womb of a pregnant mother almost from the moment she realizes she is pregnant and see the development of the baby. We have discovered that many evolutionary stages which doctors and scientist believed took place, in fact, take place in a very different manner than originally thought. (www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/10/2055986.htm) The fetus, which means unborn child, is in fact human. They deserve the rights we all have, they are living.

Second, this issue is not above the pay grade of the President of the United States. If Barak Obama becomes President he will have to address this issue. The American people will demand it, the courts will continue to debate it and Congress will have to deal with it. When we look at the situation we have put to death over forty million people through abortion (www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/facts/abortionstats.htm) which does not include the number of women (50,000 a year) who lose their lives due to abortion (www.pregnantpause.org/safe/deaths.htm) (www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/national/23pill.html).

The reason Mr. Obama does not want to address this issue is because it tells us who he really is, where he will stand on other major issues. In fact to some degree he has weight in on the issue and did it before the Rick Warren “interview” by stating that he would not want to punish his daughters with an unwanted pregnancy (www.topix.com/news/abortion/2008/04/barack-obama-would-back-daughters-abortion-dont-punish-them-with-a-baby). And I thought he wanted people to keep his family out of the campaign and he brings his daughters into the most debated issue in the last 100 years?! Again, it shows his double standard.

Since this ministry is not a non-profit entity I can and will give my opinion. Senator Barak Obama has trouble making decisions, has an arrogance which the book of Proverbs warns us against, and skates the issues. This shows us several things about him one of which concerns me the most. He can be very disingenuous. He doesn’t deal with people straight. It bothers me when after the debate (which John McCain may have debacle) people agreed more with John McCain but were made their decision based on the style of Obama verses the substance of McCain. Are we in the third grade? Did someone take me back to 1982 again where I am getting ready to graduate from high school? Are we on the school yard playground or are we talking about the future, independence, and freedom of America? Come on America wake up!!!! If Obama becomes President we as a nation will be in trouble. Once again the abortion issue shows a candidate’s true inclination.

Steven

Next time: Is John McCain the best choice?

I Haven't Gone Anywhere

I hope and pray that you will forgive me, but I've been very busy this semester learning New Testament Greek. I haven't forgotten about any of this, so keep looking because in the next day or two I will have somethings posted. Just so that you will know the next three or four postings maybe political in nature, I have some real comments to make about both candidates which are good and bad. If you have any questions please feel free and leave a comment or e-mail me at BeDevotedMinistry@att.net.

Lord Bless,

Steven

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH PAGAN STORYLINES-A SECOND EXODUS

DEVOTIONAL 7

EZRA 1:5-2:70

5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Several years ago I meet a man who made a real impression on my life. His name was Dr. E. Harold Henderson. He was possibly one of the best theologians and preachers I had ever heard. His ability to communicate the Scripture and relate it to everyday life was uncanny. Once when talking to him he told me make sure and watch everything around you. Because in doing so you will always find an illustration for you next sermon. Over the years I have attempted to take that advice and have always found it true.

God does the very same thing here in this passage. He uses the mythology of the Babylonian/Persian people to illustrate what I call the second Exodus. When you carefully read Ezra 1:5-2:70 you get the same feel as you do when you read Exodus chapters 1-19, except on a smaller scale. Think about it! In the book of Exodus you have a king (Pharaoh) who has his heart hardened by God and then later hardens his own heart regarding the will of God. In Ezra you have God opening up the heart of a pagan king to do His will. In Exodus you have the people exiting the land of Egypt with the riches of the Egyptians. Egypt was defeated and not one sword was raised to bring them to this demise, it was a total work of God. Here we have somewhat the same thing going on.

In verse 7 it notes that, “…King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods;” When the Babylonians raided and destroyed Jerusalem along with the Temple, they brought all the treasures of the Judean kingdom with them. One of the most valuable treasures that the pagan nations loved to have was the treasures from the temple of the nation they had defeated. Babylon was no different. When they brought them back to their capital the temple artifacts would go into the temple of the god the king worshipped. This was their way of saying that the gods of Babylon, in particular the god the king worshipped, was stronger and greater than the gods of the defeated nation. When Nebuchadnezzar does this he was stating that his god was greater and mightier than Yahwah. In Galatians 6:7 Paul notes, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” It is as true here as anywhere else, God was not to be mocked. Rather than doing what He did to Egypt, here God places another nation with another king over Babylon and simply changes the heart of the king regarding His people and Him being worshiped.

In doing so He uses the mythology of the people to illustrate the defeat of Babylon in light of Greatness. The two people who are mentioned in verse 8 are Mithredath and Sheshbazzar. Both men are officials in Babylon in one capacity or another. Many scholars believe that Sheshbazzar is Zerubabbel’s Persian name since it notes that he is, “…the prince of Judah”. This is very specific. Sheshbazzar is never seen in action after this point. However we do see Zerubabbel later and in chapter 5:16 Sheshbazzar is identified as the one who was the governor when the Temple foundation was laid yet chapter 3:8 says that Zerubbabel was the governor when it happened. Is this a contradiction? Not if Sheshbazzar is Zerubbabel’s official Persian name. The name Mithredath means “one dedicated to the god Mithrus” who was the pagan Sun god for the Babylonians. Sheshbazzar is a name honoring the Babylonian pagan god who in mythology defeats the Sun god. In a way God uses this storyline and His people to show how He has defeated the gods of the Babylonians.

To show this is true God claims back two things that belong to Him. First, through the degree of Cyrus He claims His people back to Himself for His service…the rebuilding of the Temple. Second, through Sheshbazzar He reclaims the Temple utensils. In both situations they belong to Him and by receiving them back He now claims victory over the gods of Assyria/Babylon/Persia.

So what are some things we can take with us from this passage? First, God can use anything in any culture in order to relay His message. While I believe we have to be very careful with this thought, it should not frighten us when He does. C.S. Lewis was a genius at doing this in many of his writings especially in the Chronicles of Narnia. Two hundred years ago God used a new form of technology which we consider unusual if it is not in a church building today. At the time that technology caused all kinds of problems and arguments. That technology is called the piano. Today the argument rises against Contemporary Christian music. Second, God will take what belongs to Him. Paul wrote in 1^st Corinthians 3:21-23, “21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.” Here the apostle is making an argument as to why the local body of Christ should not be divided over personality issues. Why? Because, we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. There is no schisms regarding the person and work of God. In the same way we should view each other as belonging to God through Christ and rejoice in that fact. WE BELONG TO GOD. The apostle Paul also states in Romans 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” So how do we belong to God? How do we get the Spirit of Christ? That is very important because just as He gather His people Israel out of Babylon so one day He will gather His people before the world ends. Again Paul writes in 1^st Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” My question is do you belong to Him? If not just simply repent, or turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ placing your total trust in Him as Savior based on His work on the cross and in His bodily resurrection. Romans 10:9-13 says, “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”

As always your comments are welcomed.

God Bless You,

Steven

Next time Ezra 1:5-11, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH WHAT’S MISSING

Unless otherwise noted all verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version.

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD WORKING THROUGH OPEN HEARTS

DEVOTIONAL 6

EZRA 1:5-2:70

5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

When I was younger I would crawl under the hood of the car with my dad in order to help him. Sometimes my help was a hindrance, other times it wasn’t really helping at all (I just pretended I was helping) and at other times it was genuine. As I grew older the help became more and more genuine. At one point I cut myself pretty bad. I began to bleed verily profusely even though my life was not in danger. I want to stop the bleeding immediately, but my dad understood the situation better than I did. I was covered from head to toe in grease and oil. The one thing that didn’t need to happen was for me to attempt to stop the bleeding and not allow my bodies natural defenses to fight off any infection. I learned something that day some wounds need to bleed before we tend to them.

God works much of the same way. He may allow something to come along which makes no since at all, something which may hurt severely at first, but if it is allowed to bleed great things may be on the way. In verse 5 of this passage it mentions that “…God had stirred…” the Jewish leaders “…to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.” Here again as before God has stirred something up regarding His people and His work. As mentioned in one of the earlier devotionals the term “stirred” has little to do with what we in the twenty-first century think. It has something to do with cutting and laying open. In other words He cut their hearts and opened them up before His will. Verse 1 notes that he did this with Cyrus the king of Persia and now He does it with His people. The interesting thing to see here is that God can and does use pagans to perform His will but He uses His people to perform a specific task. In this case we see it is for the rebuilding of the Temple.

We also see in verse 6 that He opened up the hearts of the communities surrounding the Jews who were preparing to leave. In this we see God’s provision for His people. While they were ordered to give according to verse 4, the text reads with the idea that they did this out of their own volition. First, it states that they did this to encourage, build up, or help out in the effort. Second, the way they gave is seen in the fact that they gave in abundance. The giving was in terms of food, animals (for food and sacrifices), equipment and money. This giving was not just for the sake of the rebuilding itself but for the journey as well. Third, it states that it was a “freewill offering.” While the orders may have gone out to give and support, how, what resources and how much was never mentioned. In other words the decree was sent out that stated, “You will give and support. However, what you give, how you give and how you support it, is up to you.” The community as a whole came out to do and give what they could.

Today we see similar actions occurring. God is in the process of cutting the hearts of his people and opening them up to do His will. While He may use pagans to perform His will generally and on a global scale, He uses His people specifically to carry out the Gospel message. We cannot get past the point of what this book is all about, the re-establishment of a community which calls on God for salvation, hope and help. We need to be that kind of community. We do not need to be like the old story where a man was asked about his prayer life. His response was that he had a very good prayer life because he prayed for himself, his wife, and his two children. He calmly stated, “I pray for us four and no more.” Folks we need to seek God not only to cut and open our hearts to do His will, but we need to be praying for the lost. We need to pray that God will cut and open their hearts to His only way of salvation through the blood soaked cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection. If we want to see things turn around it will not happen through laws and legislation. It will only happen with us being faithful to Him in preaching His gospel and us praying for those around us.

Next time Ezra 1:5-11, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH PAGAN STORYLINES-A SECOND EXODUS

Unless otherwise noted all verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version.

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD WORKING THROUGH RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY WHO ANSWER THE CALL-Part 2

Devotional 5

(EZRA 1:5-2:70)

5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Have you ever heard the old saying, “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians” or “Too many chefs in the kitchen but not enough cooks”? These old American colloquial’s normally mean that too many people view themselves as the boss and not enough people see themselves as workers. However sometimes there can be a benefit to having more than one person involved in working through an issue. This leads to another colloquial, “Two brains are better than one.”

One time an issue came up at a church I was attending. A recommendation had been made which I did not feel comfortable about, but stayed prayerful and silent regarding the proposal. Mary and I prayed about it while discussing the ramifications of the suggestion. Weeks went by while the offer continued to be made and pitched to us as a good thing. Finally, I said something about the one issue which bothered me. While it was not ignored it was moved to the side. Two more weeks past, I did my research, consulted God through His word, received conformation and went to the individual who had made the suggestion. . I opened the scriptures up and gently explained my discomfort as well as what I found in my research about the desired action. When I did he looked at me and tears appeared in his eyes. He said, “This confirms what I was thinking, we should not move forward with this idea.” In this situation calling on God and His authority helped protect His glory in that church.

I am constantly hearing about how we do not need religious authority in our churches today. That the individual is the one who should be able to discern what God’s will is in a situation. I hear how pastors and staff should not interfere when a family is at the boiling point of divorce or if a spouse has gone in the direction of moral failure or if people aren’t coming to church. This is both ridiculous and biblically unsound. God wants there to be some form of authority and organization when it comes to worshiping Him in every area of our lives, including church. This is brought out very clearly in this passage were it is noted that “…the priests and the Levites arose…” meaning they joined this small band of people answering the call of God to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Chapter 2:36-39 give the names of the heads of the fathers households regarding the priests and 2:40-63 give the names of the heads of the Levites.

Both parties are extremely important during and after the rebuilding of the Temple. According to scripture the priest were considered the guardian of the holy place (Numbers 18:5); where to preside over the various sacrifices (Numbers 28-29); sprinkle the blood from the sacrifice on the alter (Leviticus 3:2); pour the drink offerings (Exodus 37:16); consult the Urim and Thummim regarding the will of God in a situation (Numbers 27:21); be consulted regarding possible leprosy (Leviticus 12:30-46; Deuteronomy 24:8); judge the people (Deuteronomy 17:8-9); and teach the law to the people (Leviticus 10:11). While this is a long list of things they were to do, it is by no means an exhaustive list. For a far greater understanding of the role of the priests it would be best for you to read the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. According to 1^st Chronicles 24 King David set 24 families over the priesthood. By the time the writer of Ezra records the heads of the households of priests in 2:26-39 there are only four families mentioned. This shows us two things: First, how disastrous the Babylonian campaign was against Judah in regards to the loss of life and; second, the people were more concerned with the daily wealth of this world and were unwilling to leave what they were doing for the sake of the call of God.

The next group listed was the Levites. Their list was quiet larger from the priest. The reason is because the priestly line came from the Levites according to Leviticus 2:40-42. The Levites were a special tribe from the very beginning: First, they were custodians of the sanctuary of God in both the Tabernacle and Temple (Numbers 1:15; 18:22-24); second they were appointed to be in charge of the worship services (Numbers 8:19; 18:2-6); third, they were did not possess any land because God was to be their inheritance, to own land or have huge sums of money would disqualify them from service (Numbers 18:20; 26:62; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1-2); last they were elders over six cities known as “cities of refuge” where they made judgment over criminal cases (Joshua 21). While this list is not a comprehensive one it does show the extent of involvement the Levites had within the other tribes of Israel.

There are several things to notice about the Levities themselves which are mentioned in the chapter 2:40-58 passage. Notice several things about them which would co-inside with the list above. Singers are mentioned in verse 41. Here we see that they were to lead the people in worship. Gatekeepers are referred to in verse 42. We can see here the guardianship of the temple grounds. Gatekeepers were very important for three reasons: first, they literally guarded the gates to make sure that only those who were allowed to get into particular areas of the Temple got in; second, they helped direct people who needed assistance; third, they kept order. If there were any questionable activities occurring on the Temple grounds they would investigate and move the activity outside the Temple or even arrest those involved. Verse 43 lists “temple servants” and in verse 58 it mentions “the sons of Solomon’s servants” among the Levites. The term “temple servants” means devoted or dedicated ones. Many scholars believe that both of these groups were Gentiles who over the years, mainly during the years of King Solomon, gave themselves to the worship of Yahweh. They also believe that this group had a lot to do with administrative affairs, took care of the mundane task of everyday work in the Temple, handled all of the secular affairs of the Temple upkeep, and watched over the treasury of the Temple.

So how does this all apply? Paul wrote in 1^st Corinthians 12:14, “For the body is not one member, but many.” In verse 25 he states that there is to “be no division in the body” yet in verse 27 he declares, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” The point which Paul is making and Ezra is illustrating is that there are many people which are gifted in different areas. This is not to be done for individual glory, but for corporate worship in glorifying God. There are similarities between what was going on in the days of Ezra and how things should be today in our churches. First, the priests were the key teachers. This translates to us today that there are some among us who are gifted in teaching. Those of us who teach are to be involved in discipleship and helping other mature in Christ to the point that they willingly share the gospel with those who they come in contact. There were the Levites who had in their ranks gatekeepers. These bastion guards of old are nothing more than what we call ushers and greeters today. The primary goal is to guard the glory of God within the churches by keeping order, help direct people where they need to go, and greet people as they enter the time of worship. There were singers. Today we have song leaders, musicians and choirs. They had the devoted ones or “temple servants,” we have people who have the gift of administration. The application is all over the board, the key is involvement. Many people in the churches feel that they have nothing to contribute, but according to Scripture that just simply is not true. The only person who does not have anything to contribute is the person who does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Those who have not come to the cross of Christ and believed in His resurrection have nothing to contribute. They must first repent of their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Other than that, if you are in Christ and Christ is in you then the Holy Spirit has gifted you for the glory of God and the work of the kingdom through His local church.

Let me know your thoughts.

God Bless,

Steven

Next time Ezra 1:5-11, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH OPEN HEARTS

Unless otherwise noted all verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD WORKING THROUGH FATHERS WHO ANSWER THE CALL-Part 1

Devotional 4

(EZRA 1:5-2:70)

5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Leaders I have heard are not born but made. To some degree I agree, in others I do not. I believe there are those whom God has created with a natural ability to lead. While work is needed to hone their skills they are leaders from birth. I believe the difference is made up in the preparation process. Those who are born to lead will lead only as effectively as they are trained to lead. At the same time I also believe there are those who are good, strong and effective leaders who do not have this natural talent. But because of their willingness to learn from their instruction, they become every bit successful as the natural born leader. It’s all in the willingness to place into practice what was taught. This week I would like for us to look at the good hand of God working through those who answer the call, in particular fathers.

The first things we see regarding those who answer God’s call were the “heads of fathers’ households”. The heads of the fathers’ households were any number of male leadership areas but always in regards to family and marriage. The list of these men can be found in Ezra 2:1-35. We will deal with chapter 2:1-2 more in depth later. The three areas this would cover were those who were the heads of clans. Today we would view this as extended family. Mostly the father whose family has grown up and moved on with life would be considered the head of the extended family or clan. Then it covers those who were actual fathers whose children still live at home. The third group it covered was those who were husbands even if there were no children involved. These would be considered the heads of the father’s households. The responsibilities for these men can be found in Deuteronomy 6:4-15 were it states:

4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 " These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 " You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 " You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 " You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 "You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

Notice the areas of responsibilities laid out for these men. First, in verses 4 they were to recognize God’s unity. God is one and He is Lord. Compare this with Egypt where this group came from and with Babylon were the group from Ezra came from. They were what we call polytheistic societies. They believed in more than one god, but Yahweh calls His men to recognize Him alone as God and Lord over all. Second, verse 5 lays out that these men were to love God with their whole being. Their very hearts were to beat with the purpose and passion of Yahweh, God of Heaven and Earth. Third, verses 6-9 details how that the fathers were to be involved with teaching the Word of God to their families, in particular to their children. It was not to be left up to the priest and Levites alone. Dad had to be occupied with this task. Forth, verses 10-12 states that the fathers were to constantly remind their children of all that God had done and of His loving redemption from slavery in Egypt. He would teach them all they had was given to them as a gift and they themselves did nothing to gain it. The New Testament calls this grace. Verse 13 brings out that the fathers were to also communicate the need for a relationship with Yahweh. The word “fear “is used here indicating the need to respect and reverence God at the highest level. They were to worship Him and bind (“swear”) themselves to Him alone. Finally, in verses 14-15 the fathers were to lead their families in following God alone. No other Gods were to be placed before them, they were not to worship them, and they were not to honor or pay homage to them. Their hearts, souls and minds were to belong completely and totally to Yahweh.

This was the responsibility of the “heads of fathers’ households” in the days of Moses. It was also the commission of the people of Israel who were to return to the land in the days of Ezra. As can be seen nothing had changed. In fact because there was no temple this was possibly insinuated even greater. Fathers were to be involved in their family’s lives on every level.

Today, nothing has changed. As we look out across the landscape of our culture we are constantly reminded of the fact that fatherless homes lead to corrupted societies. With the spread of the homosexual community because of lazy or non-existent fathers our culture finds itself falling apart. We are caught in a whirlpool of destructive behaviors and total disregard for what is right. Only as fathers get involved with their families can our civilization be saved. These men must be men who recognize God as Lord; live with a passion and love for God; teach their children through example along with words that God and His word is extremely important (they are engaged with their families); show a loving relationship with a loving Heavenly Father; and worship God alone, not allowing anything into the home which may distract from true service to God as a family. This is what a father does. He does not work all day, come home, set on the couch, demand his dinner in one hand and drink in the other, flip on the television and set there while his family waste away. If you have a problem with what I am saying then you need to take it up with God and the Bible.

So as we approach Father’s Day lets celebrate and be engaged with our families. I believe Father’s Day is not only to honor dad’s, but also serves as a remind to those men who have taken up this responsibility of the grave consequences of what will happen if the father’s chose not to be connected with their families.

Let me know your thoughts.

God Bless,

Steven

Next time Ezra 1:5-11, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY WHO ANSWER THE CALL-Part 2

Unless otherwise noted all verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version.

SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD USE A PAGAN-Part 2

DEVOTIONAL 3

Ezra 1:1-4

¹ Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: ² "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ 'Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ 'Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.' "

I use to have a pastor that I considered a real smart-aleck. There would be times in which things would be going bad and I naturally complained, “I just don’t understand! Why is this happening to me?” With that he would look at me and say, “Why not you?”

Here in this passage we see God using a pagan to carry out His intention. “Why would God do such a thing?” you may ask. I will go back to my philosopher/smart-aleck pastor, “Why not use a pagan?” There are some things in the passage we need to look at regarding how God uses this pagan named Cyrus. First, we may simply state that God uses whom He chooses. In verse 1 it states that God does this when He “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus.” The root word used for “stirred up” means to make bare or to open up in the since of cutting open. It is used here and in verse 5 were God stirred the spirits of the people upon hearing this news to return Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. It is also used in Haggai 1:14 where the prophet states, “So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,”. This means that he laid Cyrus’ heart open to the idea of sending His people back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. It is important to see the parallel between Cyrus and Pharaoh in Exodus. In Exodus Pharaoh hardened his heart and lost his kingdom. Here Cyrus opens his heart and he is given greater strength throughout his kingdom.

This pagan king also places this action in “writing.” The word for “writing” here means it was an official document. Clay jars called “Cyrus’ jars” with similar decrees to other nations were found. The idea of a “proclamation” would have been something were a “town crier” made the announcement but the jars were delivered to heads of state. This was evidence that the “town crier” was not just shouting out his own interpretation of what the king said.

The third thing we can see is that this pagan king recognized a limited sovereignty of the God of Israel. Why do I say limited? Because a careful study of even the English versions of the Bible will note that he is not fully recognizing God’s universal sovereignty but a localized sovereignty. In verse 2 he does say that Yahweh is the “God of heaven” but that can be interpreted as a god of the heavens. He does state that this God “has given me all the kingdoms of the earth” but again a careful look will realize that his idea is that He gave him all of the kingdoms of that region who worshiped Him. Some of the kinsman nations of Israel recognized Yahweh and worshipped Him but in a very limited sense. In order to understand this fully, look at the proclamation a little closer. In verse 3 Cyrus states, “may his God be with him”; he makes no claims of Yahweh being his God, but rather the God of the Jews. Also later in verse 3 he calls God “the God who is in Jerusalem.” Again he is localizing Yahweh. This is proof that Cyrus does not know nor does he really understand Yahweh. This the has similar sounds of Darius king of the Medes in Daniel 6:25-28 were he states, “Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language who were living in all the land: " May your peace abound! 26 "I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. 27 "He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." 28 So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

Last God uses a pagan to supply for the needs of His people. This is God’s good hand of provision at work. In verse 4 Cyrus ordered those who live around the Jewish communities to provide the financing, food, and material for the journey and the venture itself. Because of this Yahweh, the God of the heavens and earth, Creator of all that is, has defeated the gods of Babylon and Persia. There are some other parallels between this and the Exodus. In Exodus God chose Moses, here God chooses Cyrus. There God chose a Jew, here God chooses a pagan. God chose a slave while here God chooses a king. In the Exodus God’s people are brought out of a specific place to a specific place. Here God’s people are called from the four corners of the Earth for a specific task. In both places God uses the treasures of the people in distant lands to fund and finance His people. Exodus 12:25-36 notes, “Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; 36 and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” Later as the children of Israel prepared to enter the Promise Land Yahweh through Moses declares in Deuteronomy 6:10-13, “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.” God provided for His people through what was already built and developed.

There are also some parallels between how God works here and would work in the future regarding His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here God chooses to use a king, with His Son it was a lowly carpenter. Here it was a pagan, later it would be the divine God come as a man. Here God chooses to call His people from the four corners of the Earth for a specific task. Today He chooses to call His people to tell of His Son the Lord Jesus throughout the four corners of the Earth.

Now allow me to draw us to the application. In this passage God chooses to use a pagan to carry out His intentions. He used the political powers of the day in order to carry out His plans. While those who are in power may not totally and completely recognize God in His Sovereignty it does not assuage God from using this mortal man. As a result His people are given the necessary provisions to carry out His work. As we prepare to go through this 2008 political year there are several things to remember. First, while we should be a people who vote our moral convictions and not our pocket book, God will use whoever is in power for His glory. Second, regardless of their theological standing we must be willing to be involved to help guide their thoughts regarding carrying out the will of God. Third, we must hold a very strong view of God’s Sovereignty and understand that God is in the process of fulfilling His word prophetically. He will use the pagans to provide for His people in order to move forward with His work.

Question: What are your concerns with this political season? Does knowing and understanding that God is in control help you to stay the course in terms of conviction and not play “politics” just so your candidate will get in? Are you ready to get involved so that those who come to power will at least have some kind of understanding of who God is and what He is doing in the world around us?

Your comments are welcomed.

God Bless,

Steven

Next time Ezra 1:5-11, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD AT WORK THROUGH THOSE WHO ANSWER THE CALL

Unless otherwise noted all verses quoted are from the New American Standard Version