Ezra starts off with Cyrus, the king of Persia, letting the Jewish people go back home! Through the word of the Lord, he commanded them to rebuild the temple. And so, the people obeyed and started to build the temple.
In Ezra 5, Tattenai, the governor of Shethar-Boznai (across the river from Judah) tries to impede on the building of the temple but cannot do so until there is a report from King Darius. Tattenai thought that once King Darius knew what was going on, he would stop it immediately.
However, King Darius writes a decree not only allowing the temple to be built, but he offers to pay for it to be built! What’s really cool is that neither King Cyrus nor King Darius were children of the Lord- they practiced the pagan religion. However, God is in control over ALL things and He used Cyrus and Darius to fulfill His plan and His promises.
Another really great thing about this situation is that the Jewish people were already building the temple before they knew Darius would pay for it. They probably had no idea how the temple would be paid for, but they wanted to obey God and so they started building. THEN God provided the financing. Sometimes we have to obey FIRST and THEN God will provide. We have to take a step of faith…knowing that He WILL provide, but we may not know how right away. The Jewish people trusted in the Lord, obeyed His commands and in the end, the temple was paid for in full by King Darius.
Today I pray for a measure of faith. With all the quarantines, businesses shutting down, and lay-offs, many of us do not know how we are going to pay our bills. We are like the Jewish people in Ezra, we may not know how God is going to provide for our needs. But, I pray that we place our full trust in the Lord and have faith that He WILL provide. We are His children, and He has promised to take care of us. So, today I pray that we keep our faith in the Lord- let’s not worry or doubt, but simply pray and obey. In Jesus’ name I send this prayer up to our Heavenly Father. Amen.
Living Life with Jesus 