TRANSCRIPT
Let’s continue our study now with Ezra 5, and we’ll go on with verse 6. Let me read from Ezra 5:6, all the way to the end of chapter 6. Ezra 5:6, all the way to Ezra 6:22.
Ezra 5:6-6:22, “The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king: They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.
And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.
Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter. Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:
In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house: And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.
Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail: That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed. Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel”. Amen.
I. Trusting in God’s Providence Will Help Us Be Prudent
We saw last time the constant and determined opposition that these Jews faced as they returned to the land to rebuild. We saw how their adversaries were trying to turn each successive Persian administration against them. We saw how they had been discouraged; the work of the house of God had ceased. But then we saw how, strengthened by God's word, rebuked and encouraged by the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, they had returned to build, and they had responded with wisdom and confidence to the questioning of Tatnai, the governor of that province.
And this response, this confidence came from their trust in God's providence. And this is what we want to focus on, especially as we go through the rest of chapter 5 and chapter 6 as well. We want to learn this lesson of their trust in God's providence, because that is something relevant and important for us. As we trust in the providence of God, that greatly enables us to serve God, to persevere in serving Him, to have wisdom in serving Him, despite opposition, despite difficulties that we may face.
And we can see this trust in God's providence already in their reply to Darius, or rather in their reply to Tatnai. Because Tatnai, the governor appointed by Darius to oversee that province beyond the river, he had come to the Jews, he had asked them the questions, and now in his letter to Darius, he gives a record of their response, the response of the Jews to these questions. We see that here in Ezra 5:9. Tatnai tells the king, that we went there, we saw the house of God being built, and we asked the elders these questions: Who commanded you to build? And we asked them their names also so that they could write to the king.
And Tatnai says, this is the answer that they gave in Ezra 5:11, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up”. This was their answer. When they were challenged: Who gave you permission to build? And what are your names? This was their answer: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth.
Now, I think we should recognise that that is quite a bold move. That's quite a bold thing for them to say in answer to this challenge. Because remember the false accusations that had been spread against Jerusalem, against these Jews who were rebuilding. We saw a sample of that in the letter to Ahasuerus in chapter 4. The kings of Persia had been told that these are a rebellious people, that they don't submit to the king of Persia, they are not loyal to Persia. They, given a chance, will refuse to pay toll and tax, they will rebel. This is the rebellious and bad city (Ezra 4:12-13).
And we might think that the Jews, knowing that these kinds of accusations were being spread about them, would be very quick to try and assure the king of Persia: ‘We are loyal subjects, we submit to you, you are sovereign, you are king.’ But instead, they state plainly that they are servants, not of Persia nor of the king of Persia, but they are servants of God. "We are servants of the God of heaven and earth". They are not trying, they're not falling over themselves to declare their allegiance and their loyalty to Persia, they state plainly: ‘We are servants of God. It is because of Him that we are here. It's His work that we are doing. It is His house that we are building.’
And having established God as ruler of heaven and earth, then they mention the human agents that were involved in their presence there: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and Cyrus, the king of Babylon. Both kings of Babylon, although of course, one is a Chaldean or Babylonian and the other is a Persian, but they both ruled over Babylon the city. They're both called kings of Babylon because in terms of their dealings with the Jews, one took over from the other. But in all this again, the Jews who are responding to this challenge are very bold and very plain to declare their allegiance to the God of heaven.
I think we can recognise this confidence in their response. We can see their trust in God. God had said to them through the prophets, through Haggai, ‘Be strong, for I am with you’ (Haggai 1:13, Haggai 2:4), and they believed that. And because they trusted in God, there's great confidence in their replying. These are not people who are cowed and filled with the fear of man. They are not afraid of the Persian king, they're not falling over themselves to flatter him. Yes, they are not rebels, they have no intention to rebel, but at the same time, they have a higher allegiance, they serve a higher authority, that is God, and they state that plainly. I think there is great wisdom and prudence in this answer; great confidence.
And so, as they give their response to the king, to the governor, they can trust in all the civil processes of the Persian administration. They can trust that when search is made and when all the administrative processes are done, the answer will come out in their favour. They don't need to do anything extra, they don't need to flatter, they don't need to resort to anything underhanded, they can just state plainly who they are and what they are doing, and they can trust in all these administrative processes because they recognise that God is sovereign over these things. They're trusting in God's providence. So, they don't have to do anything special, they just answer plainly and honestly and leave the rest up to God. They are trusting in His providential control.
And this trust in God's providence is vindicated. It is vindicated, first of all, in the discovery of the decree. In Ezra 6:1-3, we see Darius the king made a decree, search was made, and there was found in the palace in the province of Medes, where the decree of Cyrus concerning the house of God at Jerusalem was found. I think again we can recognise the providence of God in the discovery of this decree of Cyrus, because it's not an easy thing to find this sort of thing. Paperwork has a way of getting lost, doesn't it? We all know this.
Even just for myself, my family, three kids, there are five of us – and already, if you ask me for paperwork, it's not easy to find, you have to dig through the cupboards, you have to search through the files, it's very easy for things to get lost, how much more with an entire empire to administrate? Yes, sure, they have their processes, but we all know these things don't always work out. In those days, of course, it wasn't digital, it was all written out by hand, all kept in rolls. And in fact, they found this decree in the province of the Medes, not near Babylon, they found it somewhere else. The fact that they found it at all surely is God's hand of providence at work.
But that's the sovereignty of God, God is sovereign even over these things, God is sovereign over administration, over governments, over all the red tape. We must recognise and trust that our God really is in control of all things, that He rules and reigns. Just as the Jews said, ‘We serve the God of heaven and earth,’ He's ruling and reigning over all things; His hand of providence is at work. The decree was found.
And secondly, we see the details in the decree, and we see how exactly and precisely these details corroborate what the Jews had said. Look at this decree in Ezra 6:3, “the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices”, the dimensions are given, and then in Ezra 6:4, “three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber”, Ezra 6:5, “the golden and silver vessels… which Nebuchadnezzar took… and brought unto Babylon”. All these things are mentioned. And that's precisely what the Jews were talking about. All the same details.
In Ezra 5:6, the letter that Tatnai had sent, in Ezra 5:8, mention is made of great stones and timber. Those were precisely the things that Cyrus, by his decree, had allowed the Jews to do, to build with great stones and timber. That's what they were doing, that's what they were found doing. The details of the decree corroborate exactly.
And then also, the vessels – in Ezra 5:14, this was the answer given by the Jews to Tatnai, they had said, ‘Cyrus made a decree, and Cyrus also gave us the vessels’. Ezra 5:14-15, ‘Those vessels did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto Sheshbazzar, and Cyrus said, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place’. And that's just what the decree that was found said – Ezra 6:5, ‘let the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar took forth be brought again, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God’. All the details matched.
So again, this is God's providence at work. All of this supports the Jews' position, and they didn't have to do anything special; they just had to say honestly who they were and what they were doing – God did the rest.
And then even more wonderfully, we see God's providence at work in the additions that Darius made. Because Darius added to the decree of Cyrus – he didn't just say, ‘Well, Cyrus' decree stands,’ he added to it. Look at this, in Ezra 6:6-7, this is what Darius said to Tatnai, to the governor, “be ye far from thence: Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place”.
And these are Darius’ additions, Ezra 6:8-9, ‘Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do: give them expenses of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river. Whatever they have need of: bullocks, rams, lambs for the burnt offering; wheat, salt, wine, oil, whatever the priests need to offer sacrifices, let them be given, let them have a portion of the tribute from the land beyond the river.’
Now realise what that means. In the first place, the false accusation was made that the Jews are going to withhold the rightful tribute from the king. Instead, now the king is lawfully giving them a part of that tribute. Secondly, that tribute from that province beyond the river comes not just from the Jews but from their adversaries who are also in that province, which means that now the adversaries, by paying tribute to the Persian government, are financing the building of the house of God, which they tried to stop.
Realise again how God works providentially. These adversaries tried to stop the building of the house of God, they made accusations to the government, but all of that backfired, and now they are forced to pay the Jews effectively to support the work of building, which they wanted to hinder, which they wanted to stop. Again, that's the mighty providence of God.
And on top of all that, Darius even says this in Ezra 6:11, “Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this”. So, Darius makes an additional decree that no one is to hinder or stop the work of rebuilding the house of God, rebuilding the temple. You see how wonderfully God works. You can imagine again how the Jews must have felt when they were first challenged.
They had just started to rebuild, and then suddenly people, officials come asking questions – very scary. But with faith and confidence in God, they answered plainly and they wait. Surely, how wonderfully their trust is vindicated. Now they are in an even better position than they were before. They have additional supplies by the authority of the king of Persia, and they have his assurance that no one is allowed to stop them or prevent them or hinder them, otherwise by the authority of the king of Persia, that man will be hanged. Now they're in an even better position than before.
I think this is a wonderful example of God's providential work. How God can work even through the people of the world. God can work through governments, God can work through kings. It's biblical for us to pray for governments. God instituted human government. God is sovereign over human government. God can use human governments to support and to further His work. So, we as Christians, ought to submit to governments as long as we are not required to disobey the law of God. But in all this, we recognise that God is sovereign.
“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Proverbs 21:1), that's what we are reminded of in Proverbs 21. So, our submission to human governments is not a craven submission but a confident one. We recognise that these kings even are in the hand of God, and He can use them for His purpose.
Now, their trust in God's providence, the Jews' trust in God's providence, was vindicated also in their success; in the completion of the temple building, which had been hindered for so long, which had been stopped when they were discouraged by the opposition. But now, rising up faithfully, trusting in God, they continue the work, and they finished it. Ezra 6:13, Tatnai, the governor, did according to the decree of Darius speedily. The elders of the Jews builded, they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, and they builded and finished – they finished the work; they finished the house of God (Ezra 6:14). They were successful because of God's providence watching over them, guiding them, and helping them.
Remember what we saw earlier from Haggai 1 – while they neglected the work of the house of God, they had no success; they toiled in the fields, but they brought back little. They had not enough to eat, not enough to drink, not enough to clothe them and keep them warm; whosoever earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes (Haggai 1:6). There was no success while they were failing to do the work of God.
Once they rose up to do the work, then the prospered – they prospered through the prophesying of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. They built, and they finished (Ezra 6:14). God's hand was at work, helping them through His Word, helping them through His providence, His sovereign control. And so, behind all that they were able to do lies the sovereign decree of God.
This is recognised again here in Ezra 6:14, “they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia”. Of course, Artaxerxes there is not a mistake – simply again, a recognition, looking even forward beyond the time of Zerubbabel, that God was working through all these kings.
In the time of Cyrus, the return under Zerubbabel; in the time of Darius, the temple was finished, completed; in the time of Artaxerxes, Ezra and Nehemiah would return, the walls would be rebuilt and so on – all these kings gave commandments, all these kings gave rules, decrees, permitting the Jews to do whatever they needed to do. But behind the commandments of all these kings was the commandment of God, the God of Israel. His sovereign Word lay behind all these things; He was working sovereignly, providentially, in order to enable the Jews.
And this, I think, is a great encouragement and reminder for us as we serve the Lord today. Because again, times may seem dark and difficult, there are troubles and pressures from without, from within, as we seek to serve the Lord. There are oppositions of various kinds, not just in the church, but even as we seek to serve the Lord in the world, as we seek to bear witness for Christ, as we seek to tell others about the Lord Jesus and share the gospel.
Sometimes there is opposition, people laugh, people mock, people oppose, people try to get rid of us, people make false accusations. Sometimes, because we stand for the truth, because we are plain and clear in our witness to the Lord, and saying that we are Christians, we believe the gospel. But just like the Jews, we have God's Word, we have His promise. Just as through Haggai, the Jews were reminded, ‘I am with you,’ so also we have the Lord's promise, don't we? "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).
I remember reading once about the missionary David Livingston, who did a lot of work in Africa, and he faced a great deal of trouble, many difficulties, and dangers. And I remember reading that this promise was a great encouragement for him because he took God at His Word; he took the Lord at His word. He said, ‘This is the word of a gentleman. Jesus said, I am with you alway, therefore He will be with me alway.’ And this gave him confidence and strength to go and do the work, to face all those dangers without fear. And that's the same for us. Whatever it is the Lord has called us to do, we can go in faith because we have the Word of God, the God who is sovereign over all things.
Remember, the one who said, "I am with you alway" (Matthew 28:20), is the one who said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). That's a great encouragement. It's no great encouragement if I say, ‘I am with you alway’ – who am I? What can I do? I can't even actually be with you all the time. And even if I'm there, I'm nobody. But Jesus said, "I am with you alway”; all power is given unto Him, the One who rules, the One who is King, is with us always. That's a great strength, that's a great encouragement, that gives us confidence.
Behind all the things that happen in our lives is the decree of the One who is the head of the church, the One who said, "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). His decree, His commandment lies behind everything that we encounter. There are no coincidences, no accidents. God is sovereign, and God is working by His providence, if we will only trust Him and step out in faith and do what He has called us to do.
So here, while Darius is occupied with his great empire, the most momentous events in the world are happening in that faraway province, which to Darius is just a backwater beyond the river. ‘Over there? Who cares what happens over there? Let the Jews build their temple, let them pray for the life of the king and his sons.’ To Darius, it didn't mean much – the most important events were taking place there, not in Babylon, not in Persia, but in that province beyond the river. The house of the living God is being built; the God of heaven and earth, His worship is continuing, His witness is continuing, His people are reestablished in the land, the Messianic line is continuing, and the Messiah will be born there – the Lord Jesus, in Bethlehem, the Saviour of the world.
To the Persian king, all these things don't mean anything, but really, those are the important things. And it's the same for us also. Sometimes, we seem to ourselves very small in all the big things that are happening in the world, momentous changes taking place all around us, great things are being debated and discussed. We must never forget what we are doing in serving the Lord is the most important thing of all. We are serving the King of Kings, the Lord of hosts. We are doing His work, accomplishing His will and His purpose.
And we can trust in His sovereign providence. While we are doing the work of God, we can trust in His providence. If we start doing our own things, even if we are kings building great empires, there's nothing to trust in there, because all these things will crumble, all these things will come to naught.
Remember Daniel chapter 2, the great empires of Babylon and Persia, the Greeks and the Romans, all these great empires of the world will crumble and be turned to dust; when the Lord sets up His everlasting kingdom that will last and endure forever, that's the kingdom that we are building. While we are doing that work, we can trust in the sovereign providence of God. And so, really, these things that we see here in Ezra cause us to consider more broadly this view of God's providence that I think will be helpful in guiding and encouraging us in serving the Lord. We can spend some time considering God's providence more broadly.
We recognise that God's providence is tied to God as Creator. It follows and extends God's work in creation because God did not simply make the world and then leave it to run on its own. He continues to uphold all things that He has made. He continues to ensure that they flourish according to His design. And it's not only believers over whom God exercises this sovereign control. He is not just the God of those who consciously desire to submit to His leading and will, but as we see here, even those who do not acknowledge Him as God are still under His control. Even kings, even empires, even inanimate objects are under God's sovereign control.
Remember again in Proverbs 16, "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). He is sovereign over all these things. And so, God's providence is His active government of the world that He has made – His holy, wise, and good ruling and ordering of all things. God, in His providential working, is perfect. There's nothing unjust, nothing unfair. It is an exercise of His sovereign power and authority for God.
And that's a great encouragement for us, to remember that there are no accidents, there is nothing random. Nothing happens just by chance. It is all part of God's providence. He is governing all things. Sometimes, it is that seeming randomness that makes things difficult for us, that discourages us. Things happen, and we don't know why. It seems to come out of nowhere. It seems that it wasn't God who was behind it, that it was just some random thing, random throw of the dice. But we must recognise by faith that God is ruling and reigning. We must trust that God can work even through the evil designs of evil men.
God is at work bringing His will and His purpose to pass. And so, we can trust in all God's prophecies, we can trust in all God's promises because God is sovereign, because He is governing. Those people are responsible for their own actions. They cannot blame God. And yet, God is sovereign. There's a mystery to this, there's a mystery to God's providence, because we act responsibly, we make choices and decisions, and yet it is God's will that is infallibly fulfilled. You see examples of this in Scripture.
If we look at 1 Samuel 2:24, this is God’s word to Eli, “And this shall be a sign unto thee” – Eli was being rebuked because he did not restrain his sons, and they abused the priesthood. “And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them”. And how did this happen? In chapter 5, when the ark of God was taken – we referred to this previously – Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, acted according to their own desires and their own inclinations.
They made their own decisions, they foolishly and wickedly decided to bring the ark of God into battle as if that would guarantee victory. The ark of God was taken, and they were slain. God had said already this would happen. God brought it about by His sovereign providence. And yet, Hophni and Phinehas were not puppets, they were not forced to do things against their will. They acted responsibly. And yet, God's Word was fulfilled.
We look also at 1 Kings 22, another example. Look at 1 Kings 22:28, here we have Ahab, the king of Israel, who is going to battle with the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, and having enquired at the word of God from the prophet Micaiah, and this was the answer in 1 Kings 22:28, “And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you". So, this is the word of God, that Ahab will not return in peace; that in fact, Ahab will be killed. Earlier on in 1 Kings 21:19, "Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine” – that is the prophecy of the death of Ahab.
So, all these things God had said. And here in chapter 22, God said by Micaiah the prophet, ‘You will not return in peace from this battle.’ In other words, you will die in battle. Now, what did Ahab do? 1 Kings 22:30, “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle”. He is trying to avert the prophecy; he's trying to escape what God had said would happen to him. He's trying to use his own cunning to wiggle out of God's providence. So, he says to Jehoshaphat, ‘You wear your kingly robes. I will disguise myself.’
Why Jehoshaphat would agree to that is beyond me. This is the most obvious thing in the world. ‘Why must I wear the kingly robes and make myself a target, and you disguise yourself?’ For whatever reason, Jehoshaphat agreed. So, Ahab thought he would get away with it. ‘I'm disguised. No one knows I'm the king. No one is going to kill me. I'm just an ordinary soldier.’
But did he escape? 1 Kings 22:34-35, “And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot”. 1 Kings 22:37, “the king died, and was brought to Samaria”; 1 Kings 22:38, “And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood… according unto the word of the LORD which he spake”.
So, even by trying to escape, he could not escape. It was precisely the prophecy that caused Ahab to disguise himself. But that, in turn, led to the manner of his death that specifically fulfilled all the details of the prophecy that God had given.
Again, this is the mystery of God's providence. This is what we need to recognise: that God is sovereign, God is working, God is governing, even though people are making decisions, sometimes expressly contradictory to God's revealed will. People are deliberately disobeying God. People are deliberately trying to get around God's Word. And yet, they are only fulfilling God's will. That's the sovereignty of God that is such an encouragement for us, that gives us strength and courage to continue His work, that there is nothing that can thwart God's will. What God says will surely come to pass. We can rely on it absolutely. If God has said it, we believe it. That's the end of the matter. God will surely bring it to pass. His Word cannot fail.
That is why, again, as we were reminded this morning, when we see things in isolation, we cannot tell whether they're good or bad. But when we see things in light of this faith and trust in God's providence, then we can be confident that, yes, all things work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28). We may not see it now. We may not see the whole picture now. But we can trust absolutely what God says is true. One day, we will see much more clearly. One day, I'm sure we will see all the intricate workings of providence behind the scenes that are hidden from us now. One day, we will understand.
II. Trusting in God’s Providence Will Help Us Be Joyful
But we don't need to wait until then to believe because we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). We trust in what God has said, and this gives us not just confidence, but also great joy. It's a good habit for us to learn to do this now. Yes, we may not see everything, but we can certainly see some things. And it's a good habit for us to learn to look back and reflect, and see and trace God's hand of providence; to remember how He has worked in so many marvellous ways, to open doors for us, to make the way smooth for us, to guide us, to lead us, to deal with us so wonderfully.
It's good for us to remember these things so that we can praise God for His providential working, and so that our faith can be strengthened. That when we look to challenges ahead, we can also look back and say, ‘The same God that has led me in the past will surely lead me now.’ Just as David said when he was facing Goliath, "The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:37). David remembered; David's faith was strengthened.
So, for us, it's good for us in our times of devotion to reflect as we come before the Lord in prayer, to remember how has God worked by His providence today. How has He guided, how has He shown His powerful hand at work in my life? Let me praise Him for this. Let me remember His goodness. That will strengthen us and help us as we go on to serve the Lord.
That's what the people did here in Ezra. In Ezra 6:16, they “kept the dedication of this house of God with joy” – with joy, because they remembered how God had been working providentially to enable them to finish. They remembered the obstacles that they faced, and they remembered how God had delivered them and helped them to overcome. Ezra 6:22, they “kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God”. They recognised this. God has been at work. It is God who has turned the king in our favour. It is God who has worked so marvellously that now the king is on our side and supporting us in this work. And that gave them joy. They praised God for this.
They were joyful for this, even though when they kept the dedication of the house of God, they surely recognised that these things were nothing compared to the first temple. When the first temple was dedicated in 1 Kings 8, see how many sacrifices were offered by Solomon. 1 Kings 8:63, this is the dedication of the first temple, “And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep”. So many, that ‘the king had to hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, because there was not room on the altar; the brazen altar was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings’ (1 Kings 8:64).
And here in Ezra 6, when they kept the dedication of the house of God, Ezra 6:17, “an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs”. Twenty-two thousand oxen compared to a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs compared with a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. It's nothing. But they were filled with joy because this is God's enabling. This is God's help. We are doing God's work. It's not the number of the offerings, not the grandeur of the building, but the fact that they were doing everything according as it is written in the law of Moses and God's hand is with them. God has been enabling and helping them. So, the Lord made them joyful as they recognised and acknowledged His good hand of providence.
And surely, there are examples of that in your life. Just the fact that you are here, surely God has worked providentially to enable you to be here. That's something for us to remember. That's something for us to praise and thank the Lord for.
I must praise and thank the Lord for how He enabled me to get the visa, my family to get the necessary approval to come here, how God worked providentially to enable me to settle everything that I needed to settle before coming here, how God kept us safe on the flight, how my children were able to sleep. Not something we can take for granted – all of us as parents know. And how marvellously He has looked after and provided for us through you and in so many other ways. That's something for us to praise and thank God. That strengthens our hands. It helps us to serve.
So here, the Jews, they did not ascribe their success to Darius, to themselves. No, they ascribed it all to God. The Lord had “turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel" (Ezra 6:22). These are important things for us to learn. This gratitude, this thankfulness is part of our strength in serving the Lord. Realise that that posture of gratitude is a posture of strength. Because when we are gratefully acknowledging God's help, we are strengthened to trust in His help in the future.
When we can say with the psalmist, praise and thank God for all His blessings, all His goodness, all His mercies – remember in Psalm 103, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's” (Psalm 103:1-5). When we sing these praises to God, we are strengthening ourselves. It helps us to serve Him.
The hymns that we sing are not just meaningless, not just routine, not things that we go through by rote. We sing with heartfelt gratitude. We sing with real joy. We sing with real feeling and understanding because we are reflecting on God's goodness. We are really praising Him. And as we praise Him, we are strengthened to serve Him. We are strengthened to overcome obstacles and difficulties. We bless and praise and thank God. Again, just as we heard this morning, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) That's the strength of the Christian life. That is what enables us to persevere. That's how we can go on in serving the Lord.
Many times, when we lack joy in serving the Lord, it's because we have forgotten the goodness of God. We have forgotten to praise Him, forgotten to bless His holy name, forgotten to thank Him, forgotten to reflect on His hand of providence at work in our lives. We murmur and complain. We look at the dark clouds, we look at the difficulties, the obstacles. We fail to trust in the promise of God, fail to reflect on how He has led us in the past. Every new difficulty seems like the worst thing that has ever happened to us.
But if only we would remember the goodness of God, you would see that He is able to lead us all the way. The One who has begun a good work in us surely will complete it (Philippians 1:6). We'll be saved to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25) and strengthened and enabled along the way. If we want true joy and true happiness, we must learn to see God's hand of providence at work and thank Him for it constantly.
So, in summary, perhaps we can say these two things: as we serve the Lord, keeping an eye on His providential work, trusting in His providential work, it will help us, on the one hand, to be wise, prudent, confident in serving Him because when God has clearly revealed His will, we can trust that He will bring it to pass, and we don't need to fear. We can be confident. We can be honest. We don't need to try and take matters into our own hands. We can trust that God will work.
And then also, as we serve the Lord with an eye on His providence, we will be joyful. You will be able to serve Him with joy. You will be able to praise Him truly in the worship of God, the observing of the sacraments. All these things that we do in the church will be truly a joyful thing to us when we really see how God has been working every day of our lives. Surely, from Monday to Saturday, if we have been reflecting on God's goodness, we will want to come on Sunday. We will want to praise Him. We will want to worship Him. He's been so good to us all through the week. We won't be reluctant to come into the house of God. We want to praise Him.
He gives us joy to praise Him, a real and genuine joy from the heart because we are worshipping the God who has worked all things for good and will continue to do so according to His promise. May the Lord help us to remember this and to be constantly reflecting on God's good providence in our lives. Let's close with a word of prayer.
Our gracious Father in heaven, we thank You once again for these precious lessons from Your Word. We thank You for Your hand of providence, which we, because of our own folly and shortsightedness, often fail to recognise. But we pray You will open our eyes and help us every day to remember that You have been so good to us, that You have been working in so many ways, that You have been showing Your sovereignty and Your faithfulness. That just as You have promised, so You have been with us, so You have helped us and guided us even when the times were difficult. You have seen us through.
We pray You would help us and strengthen us by this good remembrance, that we may face the challenges ahead with confidence and even with joy because we know that all things work together for good to those that love God and who are the called according to Your purpose. We pray You would work in us by Your Spirit and help us as we meditate and reflect on these things, even this evening. We pray You will strengthen us and establish Your word in our hearts. We commit all this once more into Your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF EZRAMessage 1: Privilege and Promptness in ServiceMessage 1: Privilege and Promptness in ServiceEzra 1:1-11Message 2: Precept and Praise in ServiceMessage 2: Precept and Praise in ServiceEzra 2:1-3:13Message 3: Perseverance and Protection in ServiceMessage 3: Perseverance and Protection in ServiceEzra 4:1-5:5Message 4: Prudence and Providence in ServiceMessage 4: Prudence and Providence in ServiceEzra 5:6-6:22Message 5: Preparation and Perspective in ServiceMessage 5: Preparation and Perspective in ServiceEzra 7:1-28Message 6: Purpose and Prayer in ServiceMessage 6: Purpose and Prayer in ServiceEzra 8:1-36Message 7: Piety and Penitence in ServiceMessage 7: Piety and Penitence in ServiceEzra 9:1-10:44
