Ezra 6:1-22

The providence of God for the work that He desires is an astounding thing.  No matter how much opposition there may be, when the people of God persevere in His work; He provides all that is needed and more.  We must never doubt the ability of God to meet our needs.  This is true in times of abundance, but it is also true in times where the resources are scarce and we do not have all that we think we need.  The truth is that, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we always have everything that we need.  If God has seen fit to withhold some blessing or provision it is because He has determined that it is best for His kingdom and our eternal good to allow us to go through this.  We must learn contentment in the God’s providence.

GOD GAVE THE PEOPLE ALL THEY NEEDED TO FINISH THE WORK: When King Darius made a search for the authorization of King Cyrus, he discovered that not only was the work on the temple authorized but that the bill was to be paid by the treasury.  Darius made a decree that Israel was to be allowed to continue the work and that the governor who had questioned the legality of the project was now responsible to provide all that was needed to finish the work.  God has an amazing way of turning things around.  He is able to take difficult circumstances and make them turn out to be great blessings in our lives.  He can turn enemies into allies from one day to the next.  We need to learn to trust Him and not become discouraged when things do not go as we expect them to go.  Instead we must faithfully serve and patiently wait for Him to accomplish His will in His time.

THE PEOPLE GOT BUSY WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH TO DO THE WORK: Once the path was cleared for full construction and the provisions were made for the work, the people were able to complete the work very quickly.  It had been a long and difficult task to get to this point, but God was faithful and the people were faithful and the job was accomplished.  Seventy years had passed since the temple was destroyed by Babylon and the people were taken captive into a strange land.  At the time the plight of Israel seemed hopeless and the promises that God had made to this nation seemed to be forever lost.  However, things were not as they seemed.  God was at work in the nation to show it the consequences of sin and idolatry and now He restored them to the land and allowed them to rebuild the temple.  When we face difficult days it is important to remember that with the Lord there is always hope.  We must learn to faithfully trust Him as well as fervently work to accomplish His will.

ISRAEL GAVE ALL GLORY TO GOD BECAUSE OF THE COMPLETED WORK: Once the temple was built it was only fitting that the people gather for worship.  Hundreds of sacrifices were made and the people gave glory to the Lord for all that had been accomplished.  It was a time of celebration and a time to remember the greatness of God for all that He had done for the nation.  They celebrated the Passover and the other feasts that God had established as they wanted to obey the Lord and give glory to the Lord.  When God allow us to accomplish a task we have the tendency to pat ourselves on the back and take pride in our accomplishments.  We must learn to give glory where glory is due and that is always with God.  Every victory that the Lord grants should become a motive for worship of our Lord.  We must be careful to replace our pride with His praise.