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September 18th

The bible reading today is in Ezra 1-3.

By the time of our reading, the first wave of exiles had returned to Judah under the leadership of Ezra.

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

‭‭Ezra‬ ‭1:1-2‬ ‭

The beginning of Ezra gives another illustration of God having the kings of the earth in his hands.

Prov. 21:1...“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”

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“...the Lord stirred up the spirit of king Cyrus...Why?

God, after 70 + years since the destruction of the Temple, was going to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. And He was going to release Judean exiles from Persia and use Persian resources to get the job done.

And what was the first thing God did? He turned the heart and mind of king Cyrus toward His plan.

Just a brief detour...Reading this passage of scripture today encourages me to pray for government leaders with faith. Such as...“O Lord, as You stirred the heart of the Persian king and moved him to bless Your kids there, I'm asking You to move on the government leaders of Kenya to bless Your children there...so build a hedge of protection around the Christians in the country, especially those in Isiolo, protecting them from radical Muslim terrorism and murder. Thanks, Lord.”

God rules in the affairs of men by His stirring the spirits of men, including the works of believers.

Cyrus gave permission to every Jewish exile remaining in Persia to leave and return to Jerusalem in order to help in the rebuilding of the Temple! The same God that raised up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty to the Judeans, raised up their spirits to accept the benefit from Cyrus and join God in the restoration of the Temple.

There would be the temptation for some to remain in the foreign land. For many of the children and grandchildren had never lived in God’s promised land. They were born and raised in Babylon. Their visual/practical roots were in Babylon.

Reminds me of something that Jesus said to his disciples. “But Jesus answered them (Pharisees condemning Jesus for ministering to people on the Sabbath), “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

‭‭John‬ ‭5:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus saw the Father working, therefore Jesus joined him.

All the Judeans in Persia should have seen “God working” to get them home to Judah. They should have seen God working on rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. They should have seen Him at work and hearing Him say...”Come, join me...let’s go home.”

“O Lord help me to connect the dots...and see “Your working” as “Your invitation” to join You.

Before we are through reading these first chapters we’ll see the construction of the altars and the laying of the foundation of the house of God. Both speak to the Messiah Jesus who gave Himself to the altar of the cross for our salvation, making Him the cornerstone and the one and only foundation for our eternal salvation...Awesome!

Have a great day