“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. - Ezra 1-3 NIV
God will use anyone who has a willing heart as a means to advance his kingdom. Such was the case with Cyrus, king of Persi...a heathen king, but one who recognized that it was God who had given him his kingdom. Cyrus gave his blessing to the people of God to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. It turns out that a heathen king was much more aware of the power of the Israelites God than their own priests, the ones who let the former temple be ransacked.
As always, man looks on the outward appearance, but God sees the heart. As the Lord declared through Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah before Israel was taken into captivity:
“I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.” Jer. 17:10
It behooves us to realize that God often works through those that we Christians would consider to be more ungodly than we are. Only God has the ability to search the heart.
2010 Post - Ezra 1-4: Joy Mixed with Sorrow
No comments:
Post a Comment