Thoughts from Ezra...

In my quiet time, I started Ezra. In Chapter 1, I read this:



2 "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. 3 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. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' "
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.



6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.



7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.



This doesn't seem like much, but what I have learned is that when God forgives and when God restores, He does it right. With the Old Testament, I used to read it like it was laid out in order. But really, it's not at all.



Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned in Daniel, so my few times through the Old Testament I had a big question mark, or I did not care about the timing, but today I did. Persia did not exist until after the Babylonian Empire was defeated. Nebuchadnezzar had sacked God's temple, but here what we see in this verse, is God restoring the temple.



God is a restorer. He can take something that seems lost and make it new. When Babylon took over, all hope seemed lost. It is amazing that when we see this picture, that we see His faithfulness transcend kingdoms, time and even eternity.

When man fell, all seemed lost, but God sent a Savior, His Son Jesus, to be redemption for us. He is coming again you know? He will make all things new! In a world that seems to crumble more and more each day, our God who restores will never leave or forsake us and He is better and stronger than anything we could possibly face.



God bless,

Dave