SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD USE A PAGAN-Part 1

DEVOTIONAL 2

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.' "

Philosophy is not one of my major strengths. I don’t like attempting to look at life from an abstract view of “what ifs” and “how does that affect this”. The problem is that while I don’t like doing it I in turn do it. I’m constantly looking at situations and rather I know it or not I am looking at that situation through a series of “what ifs” and “how does that affect this”. One of the major questions of theological philosophers is, “Can God use a pagan or an unbeliever.” To the discredit of many godly, but mislead people God can and does use pagans. Ezra 1:1-4 is a prime example of God using a pagan.

Cyrus became king of Persia somewhere around 559 B.C. and his reign would end somewhere around 530 B.C. During this time he quickly conquered many smaller but effective adversarial kingdoms including Medes, parts of Turkey and finally Babylon. On many occasions he was not opposed by the adversarial forces. His policy was different than that of his predecessors, the Assyrians and Babylonians. His thought was that rather than take the conquered people to his nation and disperse them, he would return them to the place of their birth and to worship the god(s) of their choosing.

Our passage in verse 1 notes that this was done in order to “fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah”. What does that mean? Well Isaiah 44:28-45:7 foretells of Cyrus by name some 300 years before he is even conceived. So in some way Cyrus becoming king of Persia is a fulfillment of prophecy but the passage points specifically to the fulfillment of the word of God from Jeremiah. Remember that both the book of Ezra and the writings of Nehemiah hinge on the words of Jeremiah 25:12 where it states, “‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.’”

In order to understand what Jeremiah is saying and how this relates we must not only look at this from a prophetic view but one of a historical view as well. This must be done by looking back to what I call Solomon’s demise. Solomon was the third king of Israel and the son of David and Bathsheba. He is the wisest man in the Bible, other than Jesus Christ Himself, and was considered the wisest man in the known world at the time. For the most part Solomon expanded the kingdom of Israel without the use of an army, even though he had a very great army. He fortified the cities of Israel, ruled in a very respectful manner, gained much wealth (possibly the wealthiest man in the world at the time), and built the Temple which his father David had designed based on the Tabernacle. However Solomon had one big weakness…women. Solomon had hundreds of wives many of whom were daughters of the kings whose kingdoms surrounded him. He did this in order to keep the peace with those kingdoms. After he built the Temple these pagan wives began to badger him for temples to worship their own gods. He submitted to this and built small shrines. But this was not enough. They began to pester him about coming and worshiping their gods with them. After all he spent time worshiping Yahweh with his Hebrew wives, why not them? Again Solomon caved in and re-introduced pagan worship to the Israelite people. 1^st Kings 11:9-40 tells of the results of Solomon’s actions. In that passage a prophet comes to Jeroboam and tears a new cloak up into twelve pieces. Then he demands Jeroboam to pick up ten of them. When Jeroboam does this the prophet proclaims that he will be the king of ten of the tribes of Israel while Yahweh will allow the thrown over Judah and Benjamin to stay within the family of David. When Solomon hears about this he chases Jeroboam out of the country of Israel until the day Solomon dies.

The second reason they were in this situation is because of what I call Rehoboam’s blunder. Rehoboam was the son of king Solomon. After Solomon died he ascended to the thrown and ruled over Israel for a short time. 1^st Kings 12 tells the story of how the people, lead by Jeroboam, came to king Rehoboam to complain of being over taxed. The Bible states that Rehoboam turned to his father’s advisors for help. They told him that he should relieve the people by lowering the taxes. Then Rehoboam turns to his advisors they demand that a heavier tax be placed on the people to show them who was in charge. He raises the taxes, Jeroboam leads the people in a revolt and the kingdom of Israel is split. There are now two weak kingdoms, one to the north (Israel) and the other to the south (Judah). Because Jeroboam does not totally trust God and continues to lead the other ten tribes in idolatry the southern kingdom was eventually taken over by the Assyrians.

The final historical reason for this situation is because of what I call Hezekiah’s pride. Hezekiah was one of the greatest kings of Judah. It is recorded both in 2^nd Kings 18-20 and 2^nd Chronicles 29-32 that he was a man who desired to do what God wanted. He tore down the shrines built to other gods by Solomon. He re-established Temple worship of Yahweh alone. When the Assyrians invaded Judah after defeating Israel he consulted God for help rather than taking matters into his own hands. According to 2^nd Kings 20 Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. Isaiah the prophet delivers the news of his passing into eternity and leaves. After Isaiah leaves Hezekiah prays and begs God for his life. Before Isaiah has left the courtyard of the king’s home Yahweh tells him to return to the king and report that He is giving him fifteen more years. The sign of his healing and God’s promise would be the turning back of the sun ten degrees. Exactly what that means in terms of time is uncertain, but God did as was requested. 2^nd Kings 20:12-21 then tells the story about how emissaries from Babylon come to king Hezekiah after hearing of his healing for a deadly illness. Some scholars believe these men may have come to see the king because the sun had moved back, after all the Babylonians were known for studying the astronomy. Others believe they came to inquire of Hezekiah’s amazing recovery. Whatever the reason was the purpose of the visit was divine. Here Hezekiah blows it; he has the amazing opportunity to tell what had happened to him and talk to them of the wonderful God he serves. He could have shown them the Temple and had the priest describe the meaning behind the symbols, even though they would not have fully known everything about the symbolism. They could have discussed the Law of God and how that a relationship with God was so necessary. Instead he shows them his riches, his armies, his defenses, and his great kingdom. After they leave Isaiah inquires about what had happened. Hezekiah hides nothing from the prophet who tells him of the impending judgment to come upon his great grandson. 2^nd Kings 20:19 has some of the most horrifying and saddest word in Scripture when Hezekiah states, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?’” In other words, “As long as things are going good during my time what does it matter?” This was a pivotal moment for the nation of Judah and king Hezekiah blew it! God had sent them to be evangelized and they left as instruments of judgment.

Some three hundred years later the nation of Babylon would enter Judah and overrun it. They were meant to be instruments of God’s divine use but exceeded the authority God had given them by abusing His people. Therefore seventy-five years later God would use a pagan named Cyrus as judgment against them and to return His people to their place of service…re-building not just a temple or later a wall, but rebuilding a community instead.

As I conclude lets look at a couple of things from verse 1 and see how all of this applies to us. First, 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles help outline how the people of Israel and Judah came to this place of falling under pagan authority. They were in trouble because they simply did not follow God with a whole heart and take given opportunities handed to them to share the good news of Yahweh. As a result they suffered as a community. Question: Where are you today? How is your church moving forward? With over 80% of the churches in America under 200 members it is no wonder we are in the moral, ethical, financial, family, and spiritual crisis we are in. We are not in trouble as individuals but as communities. One person placed it best, “As goes the family, so goes the church. As goes the church so goes the nation.” This brings us to a third question in this point, “Do you know how you got into this quandary?” Are there moments which you can point to that God gave you and your church the opportunity to evangelize a person or people group and together you chose not too?

The second thing which we can glean from all of this is that the writer of Ezra understood the prophetic timeline in which they lived. Now for the question: Do you understand the prophetic timeline in which you are living? I’m not asking if you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture or a post millennial return of Christ. I’m not talking about eschatology (the end of all things). No, I’m searching for something which Paul stated in Romans 13:11-14, “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” In other words do you and I understand the darkness of the hour and how at any moment someone will step off into eternity without Jesus Christ? In fact you could be that person. Do you know Jesus? Have you seen yourself as a sinner in need of being rescued from your sin? Have you ever turned from you own selfish sinful life and turned to God asking for forgiveness of sin through His Son Jesus Christ? Do you totally believe that Jesus Christ and His death on the cross is the only true way to salvation? If you haven’t all you need to do is pray, confess you sinfulness to God, ask for forgiveness and ask Jesus to be your Savior. Let me know what you think. I want to hear from you.

God Bless,

Steven

Next time Ezra 1:1-4, SEEING THE GOOD HAND OF GOD USE A PAGAN-Part 2

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

Devotionals through Ezra/Nehemiah-Introduction

Ezra 1:1a

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 through out all his kingdom, and also put it in writing…

I’m not normally a very trusting person when I first meet someone. I will always come across as friendly but trust is not something that I exhibit up front unless I really have a good feeling about somebody. Normally it is all based on the openness of the other person. Even though I may show some trust with people initially it doesn’t mean that I always trust them completely. Trust takes time and it becomes stronger over time. What is true in friendships is true in marriages as well as business relationships.

Over the next several months I would like to do a devotional study through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. But before I can start theses devotionals we need to familiarize ourselves with these men, the backgrounds as well as the purposes for these testimonies. In order to trust the word of God and build a greater trust in Him we must understand what these writings are talking about.

When looking at the first chapter there is a realization that we are jumping off into the middle of a story. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are put together in the Jewish Bible, are viewed as one complete work. It is possible that they were written or assimilated by the same person who put 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles together. There are many reasons scholars believe this but one of the biggest is because of the name listings throughout all four books. The other reason would be that 2^nd Chronicles 36 and Ezra 1 read very similar. One of the simularities is that Ezra and Nehemiah were both written from a personal view even though Nehemiah starts off from that view and Ezra does not show a personal view until Ezra 7:27. Other similarities between the two books include the fact that they are both concerned with rebuilding. They also mentioned king Artaxerxes as the one who commissions both men to carry out these acts. There are also three enemies mentioned in both books, even though they are different people in each writings. Both men rely heavily on Jeremiah 25:12 where Jeremiah the prophet foretells of the destruction of Babylon, “‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.’” Anyone who reads Daniel chapter 5 will understand what happened. God used king Cyrus to end the barbaric reign of the Babylonians who God used to bring judgment on His own people. But the Babylonians over extended their calling and began to abuse the people of Judea, because of that God judged them. Both books also have heathen kings paying for the rebuilding projects and both men have a very poor attitude toward the people who had inter-married in the land.

Some of the differences between the two books are that Ezra is concerned with rebuilding the Temple while Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall. Ezra happen over a 30 to 60 year period while Nehemiah’s rebuilding process deals with 30 to 60 days. At the end of Ezra, Ezra demands those who have inter-married to get a divorce, while at the end of Nehemiah, Nehemiah stays silent about what action should be taken by the men.

The date of the writing or gathering of Ezra and Nehemiah is somewhere around 430 B.C. The reason for the books is somewhat difficult to conclude. Some ministers like to go through Nehemiah as opposed to Ezra because they can look at the issue of leadership skills or servant attitude. While admirable this is a misappropriation of the books. It is not a misapplication of the books because those things are there but it is a misappropriation of the books in that this is not the original intent of the writings. Some may study them in regards to the struggle of God’s people in doing God’s will, this too is a misappropriation of the two books, while again not a misapplication. Some look at the manuscripts as a study of rebuilding an individual’s life. While this may sound good it is a misapplication. I will deal with this misapplication in a minute. Some believe that these books are good stories teaching moral lessons. The truth is there are moral lessons in these books but they are also true historical events. In the 1990’s a letter was discovered written to Nehemiah the governor of the region, regarding Joshua the high priest and mentioned Sanballat. This letter is evidence that such people did exist and therefore such events did occur.

Some teach that these books are personal journals discussing personal journeys regarding the rebuilding process. While in part this is true it is not totally accurate because the first six chapters of Ezra do not mention Ezra but give some history building to Ezra’s introduction. Chapters 1-6 of Ezra are almost third party in its tone.

While most of these thoughts have valid reasons to them, I believe we must look at these books in light of the two volumes just proceeding them, 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles. All four books go together. They are separate works but may have been compiled for a specific reason. Both Ezra and Nehemiah tell of false accusations being made against the people of Jerusalem. 1^st Chronicles through Nehemiah would then be a compilation of works put together for the sake of answering those accusations. These selections may have played the same role for the Jewish people as the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament did in regards to Paul’s trials in the first century A.D. If this is true then these books would have been official Persian governmental records making these accounts historical in nature. While this study will approach the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as narratives it will do so in light of their historical accuracies.

This leads us to the theme of Ezra and Nehemiah. It is found in a statement made seven times in these writings; five times in Ezra and twice in Nehemiah. It is found in variation in Ezra 7:6, 9; 8:18, 22, 31 and in Nehemiah 2:8, 18. That theme is the “good hand of God.” Ezra and Nehemiah will constantly remind us that no matter how bad things have been or how hard things are in the present God is always good and He is always at work. The idea is not that of rebuilding an individual’s life, but the re-establishing of the community of faith. As we move through this study it is my hope and prayer that you will begin to view life beyond of yourself. I want you to look and see how God is at work in your community. Many churches today are in trouble. They have placed themselves into this dilemma through inactivity and unwillingness to carefully assess what the needs of the community are surrounding them. They simply refusing to evangelize because they may reach people who were different from them. Regardless, the message of these two books is that God is good and He is at work. The question which remains is what will we as a community of faith do? Continue to allow people to go to Hell, while we curse the darkness? Or, fall on our knees, repent, and ask God to open our eyes to the need of evangelism and do it? Your comments are welcomed.

All Bible verses come from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

THE CULT OF SELFISM AND THE POST-MODERN WORLD-Part 6

This is final series from an essay which I entered into an essay contest. Over the next several days we are going to be looking at the cult of selfism and postmodernism from a historical, philosophical, sociological, and theological angle. Today I wish to look at the theological effect of postmoderism and the cult of selfism took on our culture.

Who Can Make A Difference?

(Theology)

If the religion of Selfism fostered by the philosophy of postmodernism is in fact what is undermining our society the question must be posed, “Is there any hope?” If there is any hope then where does it come from? Who can make a difference which will save lives from certain doom and society from its own prevailing disaster? Well there is an answer and it can be found as close as the person who knows or understands the need and in some situation closer than the corner of the street in most communities. The answer is not found really in a place but in a person. The people who hold the solution to these ills are called Christians and the churches of their Lord.

History is loaded with story after story of how western civilization was on the brink of destruction and how Christians and Christianity came to the forefront and the disaster was averted. I immediately know that postmodernist will speak out against using history but remember facts are facts. I’m not saying that there has always been a perfect outcome to everything, what I am saying is Christianity preserves the good. When Christians stand up for what is right according to the dictates of Scripture then things do turn around. When Christianity meets the philosophy of the moment head on in an intellectual and loving way then the truth can be made known. When the gospel is being shared by every believer to those who have a need for Jesus Christ then a difference can be made one life at a time.

It is not up to the individual Christian alone, the church as a local community must be involved. No longer can the churches live according to cult of Selfism, but they must rise up in each of their respective communities and proclaim the truth. The Christians who belong to these churches must begin to ask questions of each other, local officials and of their neighbors about the needs of the community. This is done as the churches and individual Christians reach out in a sacrificial manner helping those in need of hope. Churches must teach the truth and the Christians must distribute that truth.

The answer is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The teaching of the local church needs to hinge on the fact that humanity without God is no good. God seeing the need came as a man, totally human, totally God. Born of a virgin, lived a sinless/perfect life, never doing any wrong against God and humanity. Suffered on a cross, dying for our sins, was buried and three days later rose from the dead bodily. Now all who come repenting to the cult of Selfism and believing on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for payment for their sins can find eternal life. This is the message of hope. This is the proclamation which needs to be declared from the churches and by the individual Christians. The cult of Selfism and the philosophy of post modernity have failed, only the good news of God’s love has ever succeeded.

THE CULT OF SELFISM AND THE POST-MODERN WORLD-Part 5

This is part 5 of a 6 part series from an essay which I entered into an essay contest. Over the next several days we are going to be looking at the cult of selfism and postmodernism from a historical, philosophical, sociological, and theological angle. I promise not to get to deep into the subject but get ready to start looking at our culture from a totally different viewpoint. Today I wish to look at the psychological effect of postmoderism and the cult of selfism took on our culture.

Why Should There Be Any Concern
(Psychology)

All of this leads to this point, the loss of concern. Since postmodernism is the strongest spawning grounds for the cult of Selfism, then the concerns for any and all community and people are lost. There are three basic areas which I have seen that are lost when the cult of Self is involved: The loss of value, the loss of sense and the loss of morals.

The loss of values is the first place to begin. When people are no longer valued as anything other than machines, tools, or instruments of self pleasure in order to get what I want, for money, sexual satisfaction, fame, or power, then we come to a place of inevitable destruction. Not only does a person’s life fall apart, but their family begins to come unglued. The resulting factor is that eventually the community begins to rupture. As the community ruptures the society begins to redefine itself in order to survive leading to laws that are statutory, telling people exactly what to do then leading to a form for Totalitarianism which dictates how people should live. I see this all of the time in church work as person after person comes through the church doors looking for only what they want and not really what they need. They have abandoned the value of people for the value of self.

The second loss is the loss of sense, or consequences. Again there is no real desire to think about the impact which will follow if a certain action is taken. Several years ago my wife knew a man who was down on his luck employment wise so he went to rob a bank. He robbed the bank, drove off in his car and went straight to his house. Within minutes he was caught. His statement was that he didn’t think they would be able to find him because he wore a mask. No thought of the impact it would bring to his family, the people he robbed, the neighbors he lived around, or to himself was ever taken into account. He simply cared about what he wanted at the time. There was a loss of sense.

Last there is the loss of morals. As a result of people showing no proper value in humanity and losing all sense of consequences there is a loss of morals. What was wrong socially is no longer viewed as wrong anymore. Even if there is a historical reason for it, it doesn’t matter because history was written based on that person’s interpretation of the moment, so if a man wants to live with his girlfriend he can. Never mind that they may not stay together and that she may get pregnant. It doesn’t matter because it’s what he wants. Or maybe the man who has a girlfriend and his wife knows about it and doesn’t care. No longer is that viewed as abnormal and adultery. In this range of thinking if she has a problem with it she can just go find a boyfriend. Before anyone thinks this is out of the norm allow me to say that I have dealt with cases like this. When values are lost and a sense of right and wrong are left behind morals go out the door because the religion of Selfism is being practiced.

Next time we will look at the final aspect of the post-modern/cult of selfism and its impact on Theology.

THE CULT OF SELFISM AND THE POST-MODERN WORLD-Part 4

This is part 4 of a 6 part series from an essay which I entered into an essay contest. Over the next several days we are going to be looking at the cult of selfism and postmodernism from a historical, philosophical, sociological, and theological angle. I promise not to get to deep into the subject but get ready to start looking at our culture from a totally different viewpoint. Today I wish to look at the sociological effect of postmoderism and the cult of selfism took on our culture.

What Has Been The Impact?
(Sociological)
There are three basic areas in which the impact can be seen regarding society. The first can be seen in the strong sense or idea of personal pleasure. The second can be seen because history is ignored. The last thing which is reflective of the impact that the cult of Selfism has made is how that the cultural relevance is brought down to the individual.
While working in churches in the suburban areas in Dallas I have seen the first impact most strongly. Now that I am working in an urban church in Dallas I see the impact of this cult even more. Most people including youth and adults alike have a constant flow of desire for personal pleasure mixed with worship. This is existentialism the idea that experience is more important than fact. Now we see our society and churches moving toward a form of nihilism. No longer are we a society which desires to care for the community for the sake of the community, but we care for the community on the basis of what the community means to me. Selfism becomes the driving force for taking care of the community and we are only in support of it if it takes care of us. What brings pleasure to me is what is important not what is sacrificially good for the community.
This can be seen because of the second thought which is ignoring and a miscommunication of history. History is being redefined and re-crafted so that it no longer shows how events took place or the downfalls from faulty ideas. Rather it is viewed as opinions and other people’s thoughts rather than facts. I first ran into this while working on my degree for history. In 1982 I decided I wanted to have a degree in history which would open me up to all kinds of areas and possibilities in life. The first history professor I had changed my mind about the degree. While in the class he made the statement that history was a series of circumstantial events which come together to form one big mess. If someone is coming from a humanistic view that would be true but from a purely Biblical view that was not true at all. If the facts and timelines were followed correctly along with an understanding of the philosophies which were being propertied at the time we would to see a beautiful tapestry being put together by a force far beyond our understanding. Today history is either ignored or misinterpreted for the sake of the individual. If it does not have a direct impact on me then why should I care?
This leads to the third point which is cultural relevance is brought down to the individual. The do it if it feels good culture of the 1960s and 1970s has now come to the point of everything being about the individual. Working in the ministry allows me to counsel people making me aware of this philosophy. When a couples marriage is in danger and divorce looks to be on the horizon, no longer is the impact of the divorce what matters rather “whatever works for me” is their idea. When singles entangle themselves into sexual lifestyles, the implications are not what matters it is whatever they want for the moment. When drug abuse is involved or suicide is regarded as a way to end the problem or when children massacre their families or friends, when the worker gets tired of dealing with the issues of employment, violence becomes the answer because it is the thing which purports to lead to the greatest self pleasure. There is no concern for the community or the impact on those they love. Post modernity leads to the cult of Selfism.

Next time we will look at the psychological effect regarding post-modernism and the cult of Selfism.