FINALLY!!!

Ezra FINALLY shows up. Even my Bible titled the first section of chapter 7 "The Arrival of Ezra." haha. 

But most of the chapter was a letter from King Artaxerxes. Ezra had two paragraphs at the end which he wrote—in the personal journal style that I loved about Nehemiah no less! ; )

I was again so impressed by how God worked through the king who was over the Israelite's (Artaxerxes) to provide pretty much all of their needs.

I was thinking, These kings are pagan worshipers, full of themselves, yet they are giving so much and in the name of the God of heaven!

On top of that, there is a certain sense of respect in their words about this.  

They were taking this seriously!

Seeing the pagan kings respond in this way give new meaning to the promise (and I really like how the New Living Translation says it), "The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm" Exodus 14:14.

Artaxerxes allowed anyone who wanted to return to Israel to go with Ezra. (So tomorrow I get to read unfamiliar Bible names again! haha. ; )

However, unlike Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel before him and Nehemiah after him, Ezra wasn't going to do any sort of rebuilding, he was returning to teach the people the Law of God—how they should live their lives. In the king's letter to him, Artaxerxes actually commanded Ezra to teach the law even to those who didn't know it. This may seem like a no-brainer but I was impressed simply because Artaxerxes wasn't just including the Israelite's in that category but also the people who lived within the communities who had tattled on the Israelite's. So basically, Ezra was given a command to evangelize other nations under the command of King Artaxerxes (or at least that's how I understand it).

The King also commanded (and I love this part), "Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently [there's that word again!!] be done for the house of the God of heaven" 7:23a.

Artaxerxes sent Ezra with money and a bit of a budget to buy things needed for the temple. Whatever else was needed, he commanded the regions beyond the river to provide . . . diligently!

What I love about this chapter and the last chapter is the no nonsense seriousness of this king. These were people he ruled! Who were they but his servants? Yet who was he but a creation made by God. Reading these two books (and especially Ezra) shows how God works above and beyond where our reasoning stops. I mean, who would have thought that the king would side with the Israelite's with all their different beliefs and oddities. I certainly didn't.

But perhaps that's the beauty in this story . . . it's learning to see life at God's level where anyone can become a blessing no matter who they are. Even the enemies were blessings because if they hadn't tattled, would the king have ever even looked at the records and discovered that a few kings back from him the Israelite's were given a command to rebuild their temple? Eh, who knows? But through that letter of complaint, God provided the means to rebuild and restore their lives on the right track.

"So I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me . . ." 7:28b. —Ezra