After reading chapter 1 in Ezra, I decided to go back and read the last chapter of the previous book, II Chronicles, in order to better understand what was happening in Ezra. I know just reading the last chapter of one book and the first chapter of another book can't possible allow me to understand everything that is going on, but it did make me think, pray, and seek God to understand His Word once again. What I have gathered so far is that God did everything to try and get his people to listen to him, to once again put their faith in him and follow his word, but they would not, they just continued on the path of ultimate destruction. You know the path, the one where you don't listen to the leading of the Lord and then everything just falls apart. King after king came and went in Jerusalem, but none stood for God and they all continued to do evil. The Word tells us that The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people,until there was no remedy (II Chronicles 36:15-16). Then came Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus' heart was stirred and he proclaimed that the house of God in Jerusalem would be restored. King Cyrus called upon all the people of God to come and help him fulfill this task of the Lord. His proclamation came directly from God and through it God was able to stir the hearts of others to join Cyrus.
So I have to wonder what time we are in right now. We all know that history repeats itself and I do wonder how close we are to being like those people who wouldn't listen to God. You see, it wasn't everyone who did not listen and believe, but it was the leaders who did not. We know that there were Godly people who seemed to be oppressed until Cyrus came on the scene. How many leaders do we have around the world who are listening to the perfect wisdom of our God? It can be very scary when we think about the answer to that question, but we have to look a little deeper. We have to look within ourselves and ask 'am I doing everything that God has called me to do?' We have to be seeking and receiving wisdom from God ourselves before we can share Godly wisdom with anyone. What if God has called us to be the change in this world? What if it is you? What if it is me? We can 't always just wonder, we have to seek Him with all that we have and if it turns out it is you or I then we will be ready when God asks us to go. Either way, everyday should be a day of preparation for the service of the Lord.
On a side note, I want to congratulate two wonderful friends, Zeb & Lacy, on the birth of their beautiful son, Ezra Ben. I was inspired to read the book of Ezra after meeting this little guy and I am so glad I did. Love you guys and I pray that your lives are filled with all the blessings that can only come from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
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