Tag: Ezra

Steadfast Love

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Thinking about God’s characteristic of Steadfast Love brings hope and assurance to my heart. The concept of having steadfast love is something we as humans cannot attain. As much as we try to love others with steadfastness- a love that shows loyalty, unswerving devotion and commitment, immovable love that is not subject to change- we cannot. It is not in our nature to be able to be able to do this -BUT God is totally capable of loving us with steadfast love. We know from scripture that God does not lie or change his mind. Numbers 23:19 “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” Hebrews 13:8 “ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” We can count on God’s unchanging character to assure that His steadfast love is always true.

God’s steadfast love has some interesting aspects and scripture gives us some insight into this type of love.

Psalm 86:5 “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.” Here we have assurance that God’s steadfast love is available to all who ask for it, and it comes from His great goodness and forgiving nature.

Psalm 117:1-2 “Praise the Lord, all nations!
    Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!” Here we are assured that God’s steadfast love is aimed right at us and given towards us. What a powerful image of His love directed exactly towards us even though we are sinners. I am reminded of the truth of Romans 5:8-9 “ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Psalm 118:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!” The previous verse also touched on the fact that God’s steadfast love is eternal. He is eternal and all his characteristics are also eternal! Psalm 90:1-2 proclaim God’s eternality, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Being eternal we can count on His steadfast love always being available and pointed towards us.

Psalm 107 and Psalm 136 are whole psalms about the steadfast love of God. The rhythm of Psalm 136 always makes me smile. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever; 4 to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;…. You cannot read the entirety of this psalm, or even a portion, without smiling over God’s steadfast love for us!

As I looked farther into God’s steadfast love, I saw examples throughout scripture of evidence of this type of love He promises towards us. Here are a few of the characters I found where God showed His steadfast love as an example for us to reference, learn from and depend upon as they relate to us as humans!

Joseph- Genesis 39:21 “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Joseph had some hard times and God stayed right there with him!

Job – Job 10:12 “You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.” Job suffered mightily for the Lord and was preserved though it all.

David- 2 Samuel 2:5-7 “David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. 6 Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. 7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.” David waited 14 years to be anointed king and did not take Saul’s life even when he had the opportunity but waited for God’s timing. God showed love to David again and again!

Ezra- Ezra 7:27-28 “ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me. God turned the hearts of the pagan king so that Ezra could return with people to Jerusalem. Only with God was this possible!

Man is not capable of the full steadfastness and faithfulness of God, but God grants the idea and desire for us to strive to love others with this kind of godly love. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to think and act this way. 2 Thessalonians 1:2-4 “ We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,” In and through Jesus, we have the hope of Christ and His steadfast love within us towards others! Thank you Jesus.

Later in his letter to Timothy, Paul confides in Timothy the solidness of pursing godly attributes in our lives. 1 Timothy 6:11 “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” James tells us of the great need for this in our character to be able to walk with Jesus and stand the test of the trials that come with faith. James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” I love the fact that James tells us perusing steadfastness of character comes with blessings from God. This is such an encouragement.

I pray that this study of steadfast love helps you to see how even though we are sinners we too through Christ can have steadfast love and character in Him. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can know, experience and live with God’s steadfast love in me. It is His love that shines out to others to draw them to Him!

Linda

Only God Could Do This!

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Do you believe that God has power over nations and governments? Isaiah 44:24-28 gives us proof that God knows who governs by name and can use powers on earth to affect His people for good. These prophesies were given hundreds of years before they occurred in history. When Isaiah wrote them during the reign of Hezekiah and the captivity of the Israelites by Babylon was in the distant future.

Isaiah 44:24-28 This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer and Creator:
“I am the Lord, who made all things.
    I alone stretched out the heavens.
Who was with me
    when I made the earth? God is the Creator.
25 I expose the false prophets as liars
    and make fools of fortune-tellers.
I cause the wise to give bad advice,
    thus proving them to be fools. God exposes false prophets.
26 But I carry out the predictions of my prophets!
    By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’
and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt;
    I will restore all your ruins!’ The prophesies of God’s prophets are always true.
27 When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’
    they will be dry.
28 When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ God will use Cyrus, the future leader of Persia.
    he will certainly do as I say.
He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;
    he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’”. God will cause Cyrus to order the people returned and the temple rebuilt!

Amazing! God was going to use a pagan king, an unbeliever, to restore the Jews to their homeland of Canaan and then have the temple rebuilt. This story is given in Ezra 1:2-4, “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”

A short while later King Cyrus added to this decree of letting the people return to rebuild, Ezra 6:3-5, “In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem. “Let the Temple be rebuilt on the site where Jews used to offer their sacrifices, using the original foundations. Its height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet. 4 Every three layers of specially prepared stones will be topped by a layer of timber. All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Furthermore, the gold and silver cups, which were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, must be returned to Jerusalem and put back where they belong. Let them be taken back to the Temple of God.”

Not only did God provide for the people’s to return to their homeland, but He had neighbors contributing to their expenses. God had all the treasured articles taken from the temple by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon returned with them!

I love this amazing story of God’s provision in the face of total opposition. The Jews were held in captivity for 70 years and then God arranged for their release, money to travel and settle back home and for His temple to be rebuilt. Only God could foretell of this event and then carry it out exactly.

May the power of our God motivate you to cling to Him and His promises today. What He says He will do! God keeps His promises.

Linda

Unchangeable, Promise Keeping God

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And the journey continues….Ezra. Ezra is a history book about the Jewish people’s amazing return to Jerusalem from Babylon. Due to their evil idolatrous ways and forsaking of the worship of the one true God, they were carted away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem was destroyed along with the temple. The precious gold bowls and articles of worship were carried away too. Their exile, which was warned about by a multitude of prophets, was accomplished by the Persian army and many of the Jewish citizens were deported to Babylon. All the prophets had foretold their exile and also their return. No date was given in earlier prophesy’s to their return but God promised to bring them back. As the time for exile approached, God sent a message to the people through Jeremiah that they would be exiled for 70 years and then be brought home to Jerusalem. The events in Ezra tell us how God used a pagan king to accomplish this feat and see to His people’s return 70 years after their deportation.

Daniel, one of the exiled Jews, spoke of how God uses all in His world to accomplish His will in his prayer. Daniel 2:21 He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel knew that God controlled who was in power and determined the future of His people.

The book of Ezra opens 70 years later. Ezra is a Jewish official, a scribe and a priest in the service of King Cyrus of Persia. The regime has changed and Cyrus had a revelation from God and his heart was moved towards the Jewish people living in his realm. Ezra 1:1-4  “In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:

2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:

“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”

There are several amazing things about this occurrence. Their return was foretold by Jeremiah before their exile in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10. Here is 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.” God was very specific on the number of years they would be in exile (70) and that when they returned they would have provisions. Cyrus ordered fellow Jews remaining in Babylon to support them and their efforts to rebuild the temple. He, a pagan king, was used by God in a mighty and miraculous way aid in the return of God’s people. They did return and began rebuilding the city, walls and temple. Ezra stayed, led in the instruction of the people in God’s ways so that they did not sin continue to sin against God. He had to return to Cyrus’ court and Nehemiah was led to go and continue this restoration.

What lessons can we take from this story? Foremost, God keeps His promises. God said they would go, they did. God said they would return, they did. The events were orchestrated by God and not by the Jews who were in exile. God knew the correct time for their return and who was going to be in power. God knew Cyrus would listen to His message and act upon it. One would never have thought that the golden bowls, etc. that were taken as plunder and placed in the Babylonian temple by King Nebuchadnezzar were there for safekeeping. Only God could take away, preserve and then return them to where He wanted them to be. That same God is the God we know today. Hebrews 13:8 tells us “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He is our unchanging all powerful God who watches over all of us. This account gives me hope and assurance that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do, always and forever. It also assures me that God is Sovereign over nations, those in power and events happening in our world. When things look bleak, I need to always remember that God is indeed in control and walk trusting Him for my safekeeping. I know God keeps His promises!

Be encouraged by God today.

Linda