Ezra 3 – 5
Bible Passage: Ezra 3 – 5
In chapter 1, we read that God moved King Cyrus to allow the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the fallen temple, but the work did not reach it’s completion due to strong oppositions as we have read in chapter 4.
Oppositions were great but Zerubbabel persisted on with the works, until an official letter from King Artaxerxes (instigated by Rehum) that stopped the whole work of the rebuilding.
So the work stopped for a period of about 16 years, until King Darius who reissued a decree to allow the continuation of the rebuilding works in Jerusalem.
Let us ponder:
Why would the kings of Persia, who were not worshippers of the True God of Heaven, care about the temple in Jerusalem?
Why would they even want to provide for the expenses in the rebuilding of the temple, a place of worship that had nothing to do with any pagan gods?
The answers to these questions would be complicated if the True God of heaven was not in control.
But because there is a Sovereign God, a mighty and living God who cares for His people, and who has complete sovereignty over all things, the answers to these questions become simple and obvious.
Because of the love and care of God, He made all things work out beautifully in their times, and because He wants to give us hope, He caused events, both great and small, to happen and they were recorded so that we can know of His mighty works and realize whom we have believed.
Indeed we must always look to our Lord Jesus every day of our lives, for only in Him then can we find true peace and hope in times of difficulties and trials.
Just as the recordings in these chapters, the enemies of God came to thwart the plan of God in rebuilding the temple, they seemed to have succeeded, but only for awhile; and then God allowed the rebuilding to carry on till its completion
God knows our limitations and our weaknesses, therefore He is always willing to give us a hand in times when we are facing our challenges, but we must also constantly nurture ourselves in the Lord to be strong and faithful towards the Lord.
Diligence is what we need to spiritually nurture ourselves to do the works of the Lord and to face challenges that come our way.
Our Lord Jesus reminds us,
“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
Mark 10: 27
Indeed we have a God who can empathize with our weaknesses, He is love and He is our strong refuge.
So in whatever failures we may have, let us look to Jesus for help. For in Him, all things are possible.
Shalom.
One Comment
Camelinaneedle
God makes all things beautiful in His time.
He is always there, hearing every prayer, so much more faithful and true than any single one of us can ever be.
He waits for the right time to intercede and allows things to fall into place, even though it may take us humans a very long time to recognise the good that He has done.
Sometimes, I wonder why God never really reveals or shows anything to me. But then when I think about it over and over again, I realise that God actually employs many different ways to show His love to the people He loves. Some ways, so insignificant, we simply overlook until something extreme has happened in its place.
And perhaps He knows that deep down inside, I actually don’t really need evidence that He exists and is here with me every step of the way, even if only at a distance.
He just has to make sure that I keep on believing in Him more than anyone and anything else in the world and I’ll be quite alright.