God Over the Nations

The "Cyrus Cylinder" records a declaration of King Cyrus of Persia to release his captives and support their efforts to rebuild their homelands.

OT: Ezra 1-2
NT: Romans 13:1-6

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Ezra 1:1-4 — In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: “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. 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.’”

The prophet Isaiah foresaw it three hundred years before: the Lord would call a pagan king to become His servant and set His people free from captivity (Isa 44:28). And history records that it happened in the year 529 B.C. , when Cyrus, the great king of Persia, conquered Babylon and released the captives of Babylon. He blessed them and asked them to pray to their gods for blessing on Persia. He even funded the resumption of their religious systems. This included the Jews and Jerusalem. YHWH, the sovereign of the universe, chose to use a pagan king who did not believe in the one true god, to carry out His purposes. He works through tyrants and the timid, dictators and presidents, to accomplish His will. Cyrus was one of those leaders.

Romans 13 says that God establishes authorities in every nation and asks His followers to be subject to those authorities. We may bemoan the atrocities of evil men, and rightly so, but we also need to remember that there is a cosmic drama playing out that we often cannot see. God is at work among the nations. He raises some nations and crushes others. He raises kings and presidents and casts them down. The Lord alone is God. And He is at work in this world. Are you type of person who frets over world events, whether they be near or far away? Are you worried about elections, near and national? Don't be. God has never lost control. And He will establish authorities and work through them to accomplish His purposes. Even if those people are on the other side of the aisle. Just as He did with Cyrus, King of Persia.

Be God's.

God of Second Chances

OT: 2 Chronicles 36
NT: Matthew 23:29-39

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2 Chronicles 36: 14-16 — "...all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy."

We often fail to realize that there is only one second chance. Only once does it come along in our lives. What follow are third chances and fourth chances, and so on. Dare I say, most of us are probably on our three hundred thousandth chance! What is a chance? It is a pardon, an oversight, a moment of grace. Thankfully, God does not stop us at one mistake. If He did, we'd all never make it past the diaper stage! No, He is a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love. He is just, no doubt, but also very, very patient.

Throughout the history of the nation of Israel, God gave His chosen people second, third, fourth, etc. chances. He sent prophet after prophet to warn the people of their sin and call them to repentance. However, the people largely rejected the prophets and continued to stray from God. They beat some prophets and killed others. And God's patience to His covenant people was not without end, so He finally pulled the curtain on the rebellious play and sent the king of Babylon to sack Jerusalem and carry away the leaders and aristocrats into captivity. Jerusalem was left in ashes. Thankfully, though, for the believer in Jesus Christ, God's grace and mercy are without end. He has chosen to accept the sacrifice of Jesus and sees you and me as people worthy of unlimited chances. Are there consequences for our sin? Sure there are. But we are not rejected by our Father. He still loves us the same and picks us up off our backsides, dusts us off, and pats us on the back to send us along our way.

Be God's.

Through the Fire

OT: 2 Chronicles 33-35
NT: Acts 9

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2 Chronicles 33:10-13 — The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

Sometimes it takes a brick wall to knock some sense into a person. Sometimes it merely takes a pillow. In either case, many times God will allow a person to endure hardship in order to show them that the path they are on in life is not the correct one. Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah, the best king the nation of Judah ever had. But Manasseh was not like his father. No, Manasseh was wicked and insolent -- a wild king who openly defied the Lord God of Israel by placing a vile statue in the Temple. He was far from the Lord and his wandering ways soon caught up to him.

Manasseh found himself hooked through the nose and carried off into captivity in Assyria. He was a prisoner of the king of Assyria and seemed doomed to die ina strange land. But Manasseh, in his prison cell, remembered something while he was away from home: YHWH was the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Hezekiah. And YHWH had done great things according to the stories of the land. Maybe He would listen. So Manasseh cried out to God and God heard and delivered him. From that day on the king was a changed man. Though his remaining years on the throne were few, his life had been changed. Can you relate to Manasseh's story? Did you have wandering past that concluded with a trial of fire? What did it take to correct your path and turn your heart towards the Lord? Have you thanked Him for that fire lately? Will you now?

Be God's.

Faithful Preparation

Hezekiah's Tunnel in Jerusalem

OT: 2 Chronicles 31-32
NT: Acts 6:1-6

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2 Chronicles 32:1-5 — After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. A large force of men assembled, and they blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.

It's easy to preach faith and lose logistics in churches today. We fail to realize that part of the faith response to God's sovereignty is to use the knowledge and wisdom He has given us to act. God is in charge of all things, no doubt, but that does not mean we do not have a part to play in executing His will on earth. In other words, we have brains so why don't we use them to glorify God? I was in a church once where the response to "What shall we do?" about a situation was, " Pray and then wait for the Holy Spirit to blow us in the right direction." Now, I have nothing against praying over a tough decision, but God calls us to be men and women of action. How can we test the water when we refuse to put our foot in it? We need to become more like the men of old, who by faith acted in seeking the will of God and the defense of his reputation.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Jehoida the priest decided to pray and wait instead of rescuing King Joash from his wicked grandmother? Or if Joash sat on the book of the Law instead of immediately turning his nation back towards obeying its tenants? Hezekiah is another man of faith who took action. When Sennacharib, King of Assyria, came to lay seige to Jerusalem, Hezekiah had a plan and he followed it. He shut off the city's water supply -- the Gihon spring -- from the invading army and built a tunnel from the spring into the city. The tunnel still exists to this day, as does record of Sennacherib's failure to capture Jerusalem. And Hezekiah's plan worked because he was a man of faith who stepped up to take action. He prayed, to be sure, but that was not all he did. He tested the water. And the Lord rewarded him.

Be God's.

The Power of Enouragement

OT: 2 Chronicles 29-30
NT: 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14

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2 Chronicles 30:21-22 — The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests sang to the LORD every day, accompanied by the LORD’s instruments of praise. Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Encouragement can be a powerful thing. It can pick you up off the ground, dust you off, and pat you on the back as you resume your walk. It can wipe your wound and smother your fear, and lift your spirit when you're at the lowest point of your heart. Encouragement is a powerful thing. A lack of it can tear someone down by leading them into feelings of self doubt and worthlessness. They can easily lose heart and give up without knowing how they're doing and what they're worth. Encouragement is a vital characteristic for a leader, and Hezekiah demonstrated it well.

Levi was the tribe from which the priests originated, and when Hezekiah ascended to the throne and decided to rededicate the nation and the temple to the Lord, he needed the priests to help him. But because there was a shortage of priests, the non-priest Levites were called upon to step in and help with the repair and maintenance of the Temple. Hezekiah, knowing that these men were not accustomed to the religious service of their brethren, encouraged them verbally, and the Levites responded by doing as great job. Encouragement is a powerful thing. It motivates like a cool lake on the horizon in the midst of the desert. Are you encouraging one another? Can you do more to notice the efforts of those around you -- perhaps those under your authority?

Be God's.

God's Security Blanket

OT: 2 Chronicles 27-28
NT: 2 Corinthians 1:1-5

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2 Chronicles 28:16-22 — At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. The LORD had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD. Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the princes and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him. In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

Most children have some object that they hold onto when they are scared. For some it is a blanket. My little sister absolutely adored her blanket and when it came time to part ways, one might think she was having a limb cut off! When I was a little boy I also had a blanket but of more value to me was a pillow. I called it my "Security pillow." It went with me on all family road trips and faithfully sat on my bed every day. Whenever I was afraid, all I had to do was squeeze the pillow tight to find comfort. God's security covers us like a blanket and soothes all levels of emotional and spiritual fear. But when we forget to put on His blanket and come to Him in prayer, we can feel awfully isolated and scared.

Ahaz was a wicked king of Judah who totally forgot that the Lord was a security blanket that he could access at any time. When times got tough as a result of his own wickedness and the that of his people, Ahaz did not turn to the Lord for security. In fact, he did everything else -- including consulting the king of a powerful and growing empire, Assyria. Would Assyria come to his rescue? Nope. Problem worse. Now Assyria is interested in having Judah as a prize. One generation later, the king of Assyria would lay siege to Jerusalem in an attempt to take it. No, Ahaz needed to consult the Lord, the God of Israel. But he never did and the nation suffered as a whole. We would be wise to turn the Lord first for security in times of trouble. Don't leave the Lord last on your list of "fixes." Put Him first. He's more than capable of covering you with His blanket and sheltering you through your times of trouble.

Be God's.

Gone to the Head

OT: 2 Chronicles 26
NT: Romans 12:3-13

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2 Chronicles 26:1-2, 15-17 — Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in.

If it is true that when we are weak, we are strong (2 Cor. 13); then it must also be true that when we are strong, we are weak. It is during times of great spiritual highs and perfect contentment in life that temptation often rears its ugly head and we fall prey. I know this is certainly true in my own life. Uzziah was a good king who, like Solomon, went bad in his later years. He was a strong king -- had everything going for him. But good times tend to cause us to forget that we are weak vessels who need the constant grace and strength of the Lord to make it through each day. And times of prosperity tend to cause us to forget the Giver of all good things.

Things were going so well for Uzziah that he forgot that there was a source for all his fortune. He forgot that the Lord had ordained places for the kings and for the priests and those duties were not to cross. It was the priests who ministered at the Temple. It was the priests who burned incense on the altars inside the Most Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Uzziah decided, for whatever reason, to do the incense burning himself, so he marched right in to the Temple's second holiest room, followed quickly by a panicked high preist and 80 of his sort. The king could not offer insence, so the priests stepped in. As the story unfolds, Uzziah was punished by God with leprosy when he entered. The good king had lost his place and his prosperity had gone to his head. Has your good fortune also gone to your head? Have you thanked God for your possessions and your family? Are you living a life of thankfulness and gratitude, or are you forgetting the Giver of all good things?

Be God's.