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

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