A Heritage and a Hope

Morning Church. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Ezra.

The book of Ezra, chapter 1, it's on page 362 in your Bibles.

Ezra 1 · chapter mention

Last week, Pastor Nick gave us an overview of Ezra and Nehemiah.

And two books, they were originally one book, most likely.

They still are one book in Hebrew Bibles today.

This book about the people of Israel returning from their exile in Babylon.

So this morning we're going to dig into the first two chapters of the book of Ezra.

And I want to start by reading chapter 1 and the first two verses of chapter 2.

So let's read these verses together.

The book of Ezra.

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled,

the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia,

so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia,

The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth,

and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him,

and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah,

and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.

He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns,

be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts,

besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin,

and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred,

to go out to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.

And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts,

and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.

Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord

that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.

Cyrus, king of Persia, brought these out in the charge of Mithradath,

the treasurer who counted them out to Shesh-bazar, the prince of Judah.

This was the number of them.

Thirty basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver,

twenty-nine censers, thirty bowls of gold, four hundred ten bowls of silver,

and a thousand other vessels.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred.

All these did Shesh-bazar bring up when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity

of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia.

They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

They came with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Zerah, Rileah, Mordecai,

Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigbi, Rehum, and Bono.

Now, what's your family history?

What are your roots?

On the one hand, many people who live in modern cities are increasingly disconnected from their roots.

Many of us live far from parents and grandparents and uncles and aunts and cousins.

Some people move to cities for that purpose, to escape the oppressive patterns

and unwanted constraints of their families of origin.

Other people would prefer to stay where they grew up,

but the educational and career opportunities are lacking,

and so people are drawn to move.

But those opportunities are often temporary,

and they often lead to more travel and more transients,

and it's hard to find a place to settle down and plant roots.

Now, on the other hand, though many of us are disconnected from our roots,

we can also see a growing interest in reconnecting with our roots.

The past couple of years, one of the most popular Christmas presents

has been DNA testing kits from companies like AncestryDNA or 23andMe

that tell you where your ancestors may have come from.

And there are also all kinds of websites and apps.

Some of you are probably more familiar with them than I,

but they can help you build a family tree

and even connect with long-lost relatives.

I know for some of you it's been very meaningful to meet a relative

that you didn't know existed,

or to learn about a part of your family history

that had been forgotten over time.

Why are we drawn to reconnect with our roots?

Even though it can be inconvenient,

even though it can be at times painful

to learn about troubling or broken parts of our family history.

Well, I would suggest this.

As human beings,

we don't flourish by trying to live completely disconnected from the past.

Whether or not we want to admit it,

we wouldn't be here today

apart from those who have come before us.

And part of being human is that

we want to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

Self-actualization,

whatever that is,

doesn't all by itself end up being that fulfilling

in the long term.

We want to be part of a people.

We want to be part of a family.

We want to be part of a legacy

that has roots in the past

and that will live on into the future.

We want a place to belong.

And that's in large part

what these books,

Ezra and Nehemiah,

were willing to provide.

Ezra and Nehemiah

tell the story of

the Israelite exiles

returning to the land.

We've entitled this sermon series

Rebuilding the Ruins.

The story covers over 100 years

from 538 B.C.

at the beginning of Ezra

to about 430 B.C.

at the end of Nehemiah.

Now we don't know exactly

when the book was compiled

or who wrote it.

Some have suggested

that Ezra himself

may have been responsible

for compiling it.

But the author

drew from several

historical sources.

We have quotes

from Persian government

correspondents.

We have census records.

We have other official lists.

And we have personal memoirs

of both Ezra and Nehemiah.

As we'll see

throughout these books,

there are many reasons

to believe that these books

are historically accurate.

But Ezra is about

much more than preserving

historical information

from a bygone era.

What Ezra is doing

is he's connecting

the people's present experiences

with their past history.

These people have been displaced.

Their ancestors were moved

to Babylon unwillingly.

And then they come back.

Their lives have been

sort of in upheaval.

They're rebuilding

a ruined city

and a ruined nation.

But Ezra wants them to know

that they are not

ruthless.

They have a heritage.

They have a history.

And because they have

a heritage

and because they have

a history,

they have a mission

in the present

and they have a hope

for the future.

And for those of us

who are Christians,

if you are a Christian,

this is also part

of your spiritual heritage.

Ezra Nehemiah

is a part of our heritage

that perhaps we may have

neglected or forgotten

or haven't spent,

perhaps we're not as familiar

with it as with some other parts

of our spiritual heritage.

But it points us

to our mission

in the present

and our hope

for the future.

If you're not a Christian,

if you're exploring Christianity,

I hope that as we look

through these books

over the next couple of months

and today,

that they'll introduce you

to the story of the Bible

and to the God of the Bible.

Because if you come to believe

and trust

in the God of the Bible,

then this story

becomes your story too.

It becomes part

of your heritage as well.

This morning we're looking

at the first two chapters

of Ezra

and I want to do two things.

I want to show you

the story that Ezra

was telling his people

and second,

why that story matters

to us today.

So the story Ezra

is telling his people

in these two chapters

is this,

the same God

who brought the children

of Israel

out of slavery in Egypt

has now brought you back

from exile in Babylon.

The same God

who long ago

brought the children

of Israel

out of slavery in Egypt

has now brought you back

home from exile

in Babylon.

If you notice,

Ezra ends,

or sorry,

Ezra begins

with the two verses

that 2 Chronicles,

the page right before Ezra,

end with.

Okay?

If you look back

at that page,

2 Chronicles 36.22

now in the first year

of Cyrus,

King of Persia,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Beginning of Ezra

in the first year

of Cyrus, King of Persia

goes on.

So Ezra is very intentionally

picking up

on an unfinished story.

It's continuing

the story

of Chronicles.

Now,

Chronicles

summarizes

the history

of God's people

from the creation

of the world.

The first

part of Chronicles

begins

with

a genealogy

that goes from

Adam

to Abraham.

It's basically

summarizing

in condensed form

the entirety

of the Old Testament

from Genesis

to the end

of Kings

in one book.

So Chronicles

just sort of

gives you

a compact version

and highlighting

certain things.

Ezra is continuing

that story.

Intentionally

and self-consciously

he's continuing

this story

that has already begun.

And specifically

in chapters 1 and 2

we see three

significant parallels

between what God

did to bring

the children of Israel

out of slavery

Egypt

and what God

did to bring

the children of Israel

back from exile

in Babylon.

So let me show you

these three parallels.

First,

first parallel

one,

God works

through a pagan

king

to deliver

his holy people.

We see this

in verses 1

to 4

of Ezra chapter 1.

Ezra 1 · chapter mention

Now,

if you are familiar

with the story

of the Exodus

we studied

the book of Exodus

last year

but I'll sort of

try to summarize it

for you

if you're not familiar

with it.

It's the story

of God bringing

the people of Israel

out of slavery

in Egypt

teaching them

his law

and then coming

to dwell

among them.

Sort of God

making these people

his own.

And at the beginning

of the book of Exodus

we encounter Pharaoh

the king of Egypt

and he's the enemy

of the Israelites.

He is dead set

against them

from the beginning.

He tries to get rid

of them.

He tries to exterminate

them first quietly

and gradually

and then openly

and he resists

the repeated warnings

of Moses and Aaron

even of his own

court officials.

But what we see

in Exodus

is that at the same

time that Pharaoh

is the sworn enemy

of God's people

he also ends up

being an unwitting

instrument of God's

purposes.

So Exodus chapter 9

Exodus 9:16

verse 16

God says to Pharaoh

for this purpose

I raised you up

to show you

my power

that my name

may be proclaimed

in all the earth.

See Pharaoh

wanted to be

in charge of everything.

And yet

what you see

in the book of Exodus

is that God

was working out

his sovereign purposes

even through Pharaoh

who was dead

to death

against God

and his people.

Exodus even says

in several places

God hardened

Pharaoh's heart.

In other words

God judged Pharaoh

by sort of

giving him over

to his own

stubborn desires

and plans

and then working

his purposes

through them

so that everyone

would ultimately

see that God

and not Pharaoh

was the true

Lord over all.

So in Exodus

God worked

through a hostile

pagan king

in order to deliver

his holy people

and in Ezra

we see that

same pattern.

God works

in the heart

another pagan king

to deliver

his holy people

namely Cyrus.

Now Cyrus

is not

openly hostile

like Pharaoh.

Cyrus

has a much more

friendly

and tolerant

policy.

We know about

Cyrus from

several historical

sources

not only

the biblical text

but from many

other historical

writings.

He defeated

the Babylonians.

He ascended

to power

in 539 BC.

That's the first

year Cyrus

came in Persia

and in contrast

to the Babylonian

and Assyrian

kings who had

preceded him

he took a much

more tolerant

policy towards

conquered people

groups and

their local

religious customs.

So previous

Babylonian emperors

like Nebuchadnezzar

had deported

conquered people

groups and

had destroyed

their temples

and had confiscated

their valuable

artifacts and

brought the images

of their gods

and the vessels

from their temples

to Babylon

to sort of

show off

and say

ha

you see

we conjured

your gods

we conjured

your people

and now

we're going to

show it off

to the world.

But Cyrus

took a different

attack.

Cyrus was

wanting to

build a big

empire

but he thought

better to

use carrots

than sticks

shall we say.

He said

let's make

people happy

let's let

people go

back home

let's let

everybody

worship their

own gods

as they

please

and then

they'll be

happier to

you know

they won't

be as

prone to

rebel.

You know

they'll be

on board

with our

big virgin

empire.

So

archaeologists

have found

a place

still in

or commissioned

by Cyrus

explaining his

policies in

this regard.

Here's what's

called the

Cyrus cylinder

from 539

BC or 538

BC says

Cyrus writes

I returned

the images

of the gods

who had

resided in

Babylon to

their places.

I gathered

all their

inhabitants and

returned to

them their

dwellings.

I settled

in their

habitations the

gods of

Sumer and

Akkad whom

the former

Babylonian

emperor

Nabonidus

had brought

into Babylon.

Then he

says here's

sort of the

religious worldview

behind it.

He says may

all the gods

whom I

settled in

their sacred

centers ask

daily of

Bel and

Nabu that

my days be

long and

may they

intercede for

my welfare.

So he's

basically hoping

that all these

other gods in

sort of these

far-flung

provinces would

pray to the

head gods who

he really

believed in

Bel and

Nabu who

were the

Babylonian

gods.

And he

thought you

know they'll

help out

you.

So that's

sort of

Cyrus'

motivation.

Cyrus was

not a

believer.

He was

not a

believer in

the God

of the

Bible.

He did

not believe

that the

God of

the Bible

was the

one and

only true

God.

And if

you read

verses 2

to 4

they're not

a declaration

of exclusive

loyalty to

the Lord.

Cyrus

sort of

carefully

avoids

making a

declaration of

exclusive loyalty

in those

verses even

though he's

very respectful

to the

Jewish

exiles who

wanted to

rebuild their

own temple.

So Ezra

tells us that

he extended

the policy

that was

inscribed on

that cylinder

to the

Israelites as

well.

He permitted

and even

promoted the

return of the

exiles to

Jerusalem and

the rebuilding

of a temple

to the God

of Israel

there.

So this is

the first

parallel in

Exodus.

God works

through a

hostile pagan

king to

deliver his

people and

Ezra God

works through a

friendly pagan

king to

deliver his

people.

So that's

the first

parallel.

Second

parallel is

in verses 5

to 11 God

provides the

materials for

his people to

build his

house.

Now if you

read Exodus

when the

people of

Israel left

Egypt they

didn't leave

empty handed.

So Exodus

12, 35 and

36 the people

of Israel asked

the Egyptians

for silver and

gold jewelry and

for clothing and

the Lord gave

people favor in

the sight of the

Egyptians so they

let them have

what they asked

thus they

plundered the

Egyptians.

In some ways

it was a

reversal.

For years,

decades the

Egyptians had

been plundering

the Israelites

profiting from

their slave

labor and

now as they

left the

Israelites

finally received

some compensation.

And later on

in Exodus

we see that

those items

were used to

construct the

tabernacle.

The dwelling

place where

God had

promised to

be with his

people.

God provided

exactly what

they needed to

build his

house.

We see the

same thing here

in Ezra.

Verses 5 to

11, God

stirred up the

spirit of Cyrus.

Verse 1, he

stirred up the

spirit of his

people.

Verse 5, and

he supplies them

with all that

they need.

Verses 6 and

7, all who are

about to

aid in them

with vessels

of silver,

gold, goods,

beasts, and

costly wares.

Verse 7 notes

that Cyrus also

brought out the

vessels of the

house of the

Lord that

Nebuchadnezzar,

Babylonian emperor,

70 years ago,

or sorry, 50,

it wasn't 70,

it was 50,

about 50 years

ago, had

carried away from

Jerusalem and

placed in the

house of his

God.

So again,

there's this

reversal.

Right?

What had been

lost in the

exodus to

Babylon was

now being

restored to

its proper

place in

the worship

of God.

And verses

8 to 11

give us an

inventory of

some of those

items.

So there's

second parallel,

God provides

the materials for

his people to

build his house

in Exodus,

and again,

in Ezra.

Third parallel,

God organizes

the people whom

he has

delivered.

And this is

Isaiah 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

Now, when

God brought

the people out

of Egypt,

he organized

them in the

wilderness,

and we see

this especially

in the Old

Testament book

of Numbers.

People were

organized tribe

by tribe,

and each tribe

had its proper

place.

There were

three tribes

on the north

side,

three on the

south side,

three on the

east side,

three on the

west side,

and in the

middle of the

camp was the

tabernacle.

In other

words,

the Israelite

camp was

organized around

the centrality

of the worship

of God.

And the

priests and

Levites were

responsible for

the tabernacle.

They were

assigned specific

duties so that

the community

would function

as a cohesive

whole.

And that's

also what we

see here in

Ezra 2.

God organizes

the people

who he

delivers.

Psalm 68

says,

God sets

the lonely

in families,

he leads

forth the

prisoners with

singing.

And that's

what God

does with

the returning

exiles.

They're not a

nameless,

faceless mass.

They're not

simply an

aggregate number.

No, in the

family of God,

everyone has a

place to belong,

and everyone has

a reason to

rejoice.

Now look down

to chapter 2

for a minute.

We won't

read through

it, but

notice how

it's organized.

First, the

first two

verses, we

see the

leaders of

the community

in verse 2.

Beginning with

Zerubbabel,

who was a

member of the

royal line

descended from

King David,

and Jeshua,

who became

the high

priest.

So those

two will show

up later in

the story.

Nehemiah is

not the Nehemiah

who comes

70 years later.

I was

a common

name at the

time.

I was referring

to someone

else.

Then a list

of other

leaders.

And Nehemiah

7 repeats

the list in

verse 2,

and includes

a 12th name,

Nahamani.

So we have

12 leaders

representing

the 12

tribes.

So first,

the leaders

of the

community.

Then verses

3 to 35,

we see the

men of the

people of

Israel.

Then verses

3 to 20,

lists those

who are

descended from

particular known

families.

21 to 35,

we see those

who belong to

specific places.

Towns like

Bethlehem,

Nebo,

and Jericho.

So the

leaders,

people as a

whole,

verses 36

to 58,

we see the

temple officials

in four groups.

The priests

who had the

highest level

of authority

and responsibility,

the Levites

who served

under the

priests,

and then the

temple servants

and the sons

of Solomon

servants who

carried out

the more

mundane daily

tasks.

Then in

verses 59

to 63,

we have some

people who

could not

prove their

lineage.

So it would

be sort of

like somebody

today who's

lost all

their IDs

and has no

way of

retrieving them.

And so they

couldn't

demonstrate their

family

lineage.

And notice

how these

people were

dealt with.

they were

included with

the returning

exiles.

So they

were not

sent back

to Persia.

Even in the

Old Testament,

foreigners who

were pledging

their loyalty

to the God

of Israel

could join

the people

of Israel.

That was

true throughout

the Old

Testament.

And you

can even

notice some

of the names

in verses

43 to 54

in particular

are non-Israelite

names.

Egyptian names

like Zihab

and Asna,

Sisera,

and others.

So over

time there

were people

from other

nations who

joined the

Old Testament

people of

Israel.

That was

happening

throughout

the history

by people

declaring their

exclusive loyalty

to the God

of Israel,

the males

in the family

being circumcised

as a sign

of that

loyalty

and they

would join

in with

the people

of Israel.

However,

verse 62

says that

those who

could not

prove their

descent

were not

included

in the

priesthood.

God had

specifically

commanded that

the priest

must be

descended from

Aaron and

so in order

to obey that

command they

decided let's

play it safe.

If we can't

prove that

these men

are descended

from Aaron

it's better

to play it

safe and

wait for

more clarity

in time

rather than

risk disobeying

God simply

because of

the present

uncertainty.

And it

seems like

at least

one of

these families

was later

proven to

belong to

the priesthood

because one

of the names

appears later

in Ezra

in the list

of the priests

so it seems

like they

were able

to work

that out

over time.

So finally

verses 64

to 67

we get to

the totals.

Now by the

time we get

to the totals

most of you

are ready

to go on

from chapter

two and

go on to

chapter three

and pick up

the story

and leave

this long

list behind

and you're

thankful that

I didn't

read the

list verbatim.

But some

of you might

be detail

oriented

persons

or perhaps

slightly

obsessive

compulsive

persons

and I can

understand that

I had to

deal with

that and

quite

prove that

but if

you might

notice here

an important

detail

or some

perhaps

troubling

details

if you add

up the

individual

numbers

in all

of the

lists

in chapter

two

they add

up to

29,818

but verse

64 says

the total

is 42,316

also the

list in Ezra

two is

repeated in

Nehemiah

chapter seven

but several

of the numbers

and a few

of the names

in that list

are different

and also

the temple

vessels in

verses nine

and ten

of chapter

one

don't add

up to the

total in

chapter one

verse 11

so some

of you

might be

thinking

what's the

deal with

these

discrepancies

can we

really trust

that the

bible is

true and

reliable and

authoritative

if the authors

don't even

seem to have

their math

facts straight

so before

we move on

let me address

that concern

with three

points

first

briefly

first the

list are

most likely

incomplete

by the

time Ezra

Nehemiah

was written

430 BC

at the

earliest

the first

group of

exiles had

returned over

a hundred

years previously

and particularly

in that time

it's certainly

possible that

some of the

records of

particular

families

might not

have been

preserved

over those

hundred years

so the author

of Ezra Nehemiah

would have

simply recorded

the information

that was

available to

him at the

time

even if

information

about some

family groups

was no longer

available

second the

list in chapter

2 seemed to

list the men

from the tribe

of Judah

and the priests

from the tribe

of Levi

if that's true

the extra 13,000

could be women

children or

members of the

northern tribes

it would not be

surprising

for the

perilous

four month

long journey

from Babylon

to Jerusalem

to attract

a disproportionate

number of

young single

men and a

smaller number

of families

with children

so that's the

second possibility

third it is

possible that

at this point

the original

text of Ezra

Nehemiah was

not copied

precisely over

the centuries

so for centuries

the books of

the bible were

copied by hand

and we have

many copies of

the bible

from many

different periods

of history

so we have

the Dead Sea

Scrolls from

2nd century

3rd, 2nd, 1st

century BC

we have the

Greek versions

a translation

of the Old

Testament from

Hebrew into

Greek that

also is from

sort of pre

New Testament

times

we have the

Old Testament

quotations and

a whole range

of other

historical documents

we have what's

called the

Masoretic text

which is the

Hebrew text of

the Old Testament

from the early

Middle Ages

and so you can

compare all these

copies of the

Old Testament

with each other

and by and large

we can demonstrate

that the bible

has been extremely

well preserved

over time

the overall story

of the bible

has not changed

and many of the

details have been

very carefully

handed out

to us

even the

widest differences

among all the

copies of

biblical manuscripts

do not call

into question

any significant

biblical or

Christian teachings

so even if you

take the copies

of the bible

that are most

different from

each other

you've got the

same story

and you've got

the same basic

Christian doctrines

but when you

compare the

different managers

over time

there are a

couple areas

that do

occasionally diverge

and one of the

areas that seems

most prone to

variation is

long lists of

numbers

have you ever

tried copying

by hand

a long list

of unfamiliar

names

and numbers

and then

have somebody

else do it

and then

have somebody

else do it

so this is

an area

where we

may not be

100% sure

what the

original author

wrote

but having

said that

we can still

trust that

God inspired

the original

author to write

what God

wanted him to

write

that's what

the doctrine

of the

inspiration

of scripture

means

and that

God has

preserved for

us all

that we

need to

know

so even if

we can't

be 100%

sure about

some of

the numbers

and how

they add

up

we can

for all

these other

reasons

be confident

in the

trustworthiness

of the

scriptures

that we

read today

so having

addressed that

concern

let me get

back to the

main point

right

the same

God who

brought the

children from

Israel out

of Egypt

has brought

them back

from exile

and Babylon

right

in those

three parallels

God works

through a

painting to

bring back

his people

God provides

them with all

they need

to build

his house

and God

organizes the

people whom

he has

delivered

so that's

what Ezra

wants the

people to

know

at the

beginning

of the

story

it's the

same God

who's been

working all

along

now you might

say well why

does that story

matter to us

right

and this is the

second half

of the message

why does this

story matter to

us 2500 years

later

here's why it

matters

the same God

who brought

the children of

Israel out of

slavery in

Egypt

the same God

who brought

the exiles

from Babylon

is the God

and father

of our Lord

Jesus Christ

she's through

his life

death and

resurrection

Jesus accomplished

an even

greater

exodus

what did

Jesus accomplish

when he died

on the cross

he rescued us

from slavery

to sin

and Satan

and death

he opened the

way for us

to paradise

once more

Jesus came

to bring us

home to God

out of our

exile

out of our

lostness

out of

and back

into God's

family

with a place

to belong

forever

the apostle

Paul wrote

if you belong

to Jesus

to Christ

to the Messiah

you are

Abraham's

see Abraham's

children

and heirs

according

to the promise

of God

so if you've

entrusted yourself

to Jesus

this story

is also

your story

this God

is also

your God

so when we

read this book

about people

who lived long

ago and far

away

in different

historical

and cultural

contexts

we can still

trace the

fingerprints

of our

faithful

God

and Savior

we can still

see the same

God at work

who is taking

care of us

every day

and who

hears our

Christ

Paul wrote

in Romans 15

whatever was

written in the

former days

was written

for our

instruction

so that

through endurance

and through

encouragement

from the

scriptures

we might

have hope

so I want

to conclude

with three

specific ways

that Ezra

1 and 2

gives us

mission and

hope today

first

God is

still sovereign

over pagan

political leaders

right

in Exodus

God rescued

his people

despite

Pharaoh's evil

designs

in Ezra

God brought

his people

home

through a

friendly decree

of Cyrus

now if

were up

to me

I would

always

vote for

friendly Cyrus

over persecuting

Pharaoh

but in both

cases

God accomplished

his purposes

and God

rescued his

people

now the

New Testament

teaches us

that as

Christians we

have responsibilities

toward our

political leaders

to respect

those in

authority

to honor

the law

of the

land

unless it

conflicts

with the

law of

God

to pray

for those

in authority

whoever they

may be

to seek

justice

and correct

oppression

but the

Bible also

tells us

in Proverbs

21

1

the king's

heart

is a

stream

of water

in the

hand of

the Lord

and God

turns it

wherever he

will

and otherwise

he would say

it like this

no matter

who is in

power on

earth

God is

still on

his throne

in heaven

and that's

something that

we need to

remember

today

we live in

uncertain

times

divided

times

tumultuous

times

American

Christians

today

can be

tempted

to line

up behind

one political

party or

another

to devote

ourselves

to one

candidate

or another

and to

give them

uncritical

and whole

hearted

support

but if

we are

Christians

our whole

hearted

allegiance

belongs

only

to

Jesus

Christ

he

alone

reigns

over

the

nations

in

righteousness

no

other

human

being

comes

anywhere

close

to his

majesty

his

mercy

his

justice

his

faithfulness

and so

knowing

that God

is still

on the

throne

can give

us a

steady

confidence

when the

world

feels

shaky

it can

give us

hopeful

perseverance

when the

world

seems hostile

and dark

and it

can give

us

humble

gratitude

when things

seem to be

going well

so that's the

first thing

that we can

hold on to

and remember

is that God

is still

sovereign

even over

pagan

political

leaders

second thing

that gives us

mission

and hope

is that God

still supplies

all we need

to carry out

all that he

stirs us

up to do

so God

stirred the

hearts of

his people

to return

and to

rebuild

the temple

but he

also supplied

them with

all that they

needed to

carry out

that task

now how

did God

provide

well

provided

through the

gifts of

neighbors

in Persia

some of

whom may

not have

even been

believers

verses

verse 6

all

more about