Zerubbabel Resumes Work and Temple is Dedicated
If we can take sometime to observe the things around us, both the natural ones and the man-made ones, we can surely see the fingerprints of our God in all of them.
And it is definitely amazing to read about the mighty works of God in the history of mankind, because there is simply no doubt that no one, not even the devil himself can thwart the ways of God.
The classic example of the mighty works of God is when He brought the 10 plagues upon the land of Egypt when her king refused to free the people of God from their slavery.
In fact, throughout the Old Testament, there are many records of God’s wonderful grace and deliverance that were not as earth shaking as in the miracles of the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, but they are still marvelous.
Today’s Bible reading is one such record of how God moved a pagan king to accomplish His will for the people of Israel.
Bible Passage: Ezra 5 and 6
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.
And then the work was finally completed, and the temple was dedicated with rejoicing and sacrifices to the Lord.
Let us ponder:
Why would the kings of Persia who knew not the True God of Heaven care about the temple in Jerusalem?
Why would they even want to provide for the expenditures 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 God is not in the picture.
But because there is a God, a mighty and living God who cares for His people, and He has the sovereignty over all things, the answers to these questions become simple and obvious.
Paul reminded us,
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Corinthians 10:11
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 be recorded so that we can read 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.
God knows our limitations and our weaknesses, but we must also nurture ourselves in the Lord to be strong and faithful towards the Lord.
Do we want to be His strongest soldiers? Keep our heads up.
Shalom.