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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder how many times you’ve found yourself in a situation where you desperately wanted the TRUTH to be known. Were you confident that if the truth prevailed in your difficult situation, all would work out well?
Join me again, back in chaotic Jerusalem, about 2500 years ago. We’ve been following the remarkable story of thousands of Jewish exiles who’ve returned from their captivity in Babylon, to destroyed Jerusalem. For several years they focused primarily on clearing rubble and rebuilding their homes and businesses.
But recently, with the encouragement of two prophets of God, Haggai and Zechariah, these exiles had enthusiastically begun clearing rubble on the Temple mount and starting to rebuild the Temple of God!
Yesterday we saw that opposition arose as regional officials came demanding proof that these exiles were authorized to rebuild this Temple. The officials wrote an inflammatory letter and sent it to King Darius in Babylon, requesting that a search be made in the royal archives to see if, as the exiles claimed, King Cyrus had actually commissioned them to rebuild this temple? (Ezra 5:6-17)
I find it fascinating that when faced with intimidating questioning by these officials, the exiles responded by saying: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, by a great king of Israel.” (Ezra 5:11) I wonder what phrase you most often use to identify yourself? Do you consider yourself a ‘servant of the God of heaven and earth’? What would change in how you live your life, if that was the identity of yourself, that you valued most?
So, the letter was sent by courier and received in Babylon by King Darius. Upon its reading, King Darius responded responsibly: “King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury in Babylon. A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media…” (Ezra 6:1,2) Evidently after extensive searching in the royal archives in the city of Babylon, nothing was found.
But the edict had been issued by King Cyrus in 538bc, perhaps while he was in the great city of Ecbatana, which was about 300 miles northeast of Babylon, in an area that is modern-day western Iran. Cyrus the Great had captured that major city 12 years before, in 550bc and Cyrus had made Ecbatana one of the great regional capitals in his vast Medo-Persian empire. A search in Ecbatana discovered a scroll which in great detail confirmed King Cyrus’ edict that the Jewish exiles should return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple.
Ezra 6:3-5 quotes the exact words from the discovered scroll. “In the first year of King Cyrus the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices…the costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.” King Darius was elated at this discovery and so he dictated a response to those opposing officials who had attempted to intimidate the Jewish exiles and stop progress on the Temple. The truth had been found, and the truth was prevailing!
Ezra records for us what King Darius wrote in his response to the accusatory letter: “Now then Tattenai, governor of the Trans-Euphrates…and you other officials of that province, stay away from there! Do NOT interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be paid in full out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of the Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop.” (Ezra 6:6-8) Can you believe that my friends!?
Not only was King Darius fully supportive of the work the exiles were undertaking to rebuild their Temple, but Darius wanted to be sure no shortage of resources, ANY needed resources, would restrain the construction process! And to assure that, these officials who had come to stop the work were now instructed by the King to supply whatever resources were needed to assure continuation of the work, all the way to completion! Oh my, what a total reversal of the situation, because the truth prevailed and God’s watchful eye was upon the situation! God’s purposes were not to be thwarted. God wanted that Temple rebuilt!
But not only was the Temple to be rebuilt, the daily sacrifices and the ongoing spiritual work of the Temple was also to be supplied by these opposing officials, by order of King Darius. What supplies and WHY? Darius’ letter declared: “Whatever is needed…as requested by the priests in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.” (Ezra 6:9,10)
Oh my, it’s very clear isn’t it my friends. King Darius rejected the accusation and demanded the accusers pay restitution by supplying BOTH building supplies and supplies needed for the religious function of the Temple even though neither the accusers nor King Darius had any interest in knowing the God of Israel. Rather, the king was seeking the blessing and protection of EVERY god, worshipped by any people in the empire, including the Jews!
Have you noticed my friends that God often uses resources and even people who don’t know God to accomplish God’s purposes!?
God had done it with the Egyptian Pharaoh in the days of Moses as the Egyptians supplied the fleeing Hebrews slaves with great bounty which later was used to build the Tabernacle at Mount Sinai! (Exodus 12:35,36; Ex. 35:29; 36:2-7)
And God had brought great resources from surrounding nations so King Solomon could build the first great Temple. (1 Kings 5)
And God had moved Persian King Cyrus to release thousands of Jewish captives and send them back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. (Ezra 1)
And now King Darius was resourcing the rebuild of the Jewish Temple from the treasury of the Trans-Euphrates region of the great Medo-Persian empire! (Ezra 6:8.9)
I think we need to pause right here my friends, in celebration of how God has access to ALL resources in the world because they all belong to Him! And God will not allow anything to prevent Him from accomplishing His purposes in our world (Is. 46:9-13)
So how do those great truths, and this story of King Darius affect YOUR life and mine today my friends? Let’s worship our great God with this song, confident of God’s provision, and I’ll see you here again tomorrow!
Today’s Scripture: Ezra 6:1-10.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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