Trusting in the Faithful Hand of God

Introduction

I remember when I was delivering home oxygen. I had contacted an individual to come and visit his house. I put the address into the gps unit and drove. The only problem is, i drove straight into a corn field. I called the individual and said, I can’t find you. he said, you’re in a cornfield, aren’t you? When I said yes, he said go to the stop sign and turn, my house is there, down that road. When I got to the house, he said that happens all the time.

I had trusted my gps. We do that with so many things in our lives. When Mary and I went to Lancaster a few weeks ago, I remembered one name, the name of the hotel that we were staying at. Just the name. I assumed that punching in the name would be good enough to get me there.

I assume that Thursday, Mary’s paycheck would be automatically deposited. I assumed the money would be there and would be good. I am going to pay bills tonight and I assume it will be good.

Now, why is it that we can make these assumptions, we can operate our lives on these principles, for we do, but when it comes to God, we can’t live on the assumption, on the basis that he is faithful, that he is going to keep His Word, that He will do what He has promised?

We’ve been let down. I’ve wound up in a cornfield. I’ve traveled and gotten lost. Mary got to work one morning and her coworkers were in an uproar. So she called and said check the account and sure enough, no money. The business was going through some software transition and they got a paper check. (The audacity of having to go to the bank).

Nevertheless, we trust in these institutions, we trust in these things. But, why is it, when it comes to God, we fail to to trust Him? Why is it that we can’t believe that God is working all things for our good and for his glory?

As I have mentioned, I want to use this book to remind you and I that any rebuilding of our country, of our society, of our culture will take place, not through the government, not through the election coming up, but through us, the church. We are the ones who will see the work of God accomplished in and through us. And far too many of us, fail to trust and believe that God is working. WE face opposition, we face persecution, and we think, forget it, it must not be true. Yet, the question, the challenge is this. Will we trust God? Will we believe that God is working for our good and for his glory?

WE have talked about the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The Jews beginning the work, the Jews being persecuted and harassed for their work, and the Jews being reminded by the prophets to continue the work. This is where we left off last week, and this week we pick up this theme.

So notice with me.

I. Darius Verifies the Claims of the Jews. v.1-12

We talked about it last week. The Jews hear the word of God through Haggai and Zechariah about needing to rebuild, and no sooner than they start, and here comes the governor, Tattenai, to see what is going on. They tell him, we’re building, nothing is going to stop us, go and check the records; Cyrus decreed that we can build the Temple.

So, Darius checks. Look at verses 1 and 2.

Ezra 6:1–2 ESV

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record.

Ezra 6:3 ESV

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,

The first thing we notice is that the Jews told Darius through, Tattenai the governor, that the claims were true, and all they needed to do was verify it. Go check it out yourself. We are telling the truth.

It is amazing what happens when truth is on your side. it was Pilate who asked Jesus, what is truth?

John 18:38 ESV

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

I like what John MacArthur says about truth. Here’s a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth. Because the definition of truth flows from God, truth is theological.

Truth is also ontological—which is a fancy way of saying it is the way things really are. Reality is what it is because God declared it so and made it so. Therefore God is the author, source, determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth.

The Jews were able to tell Tattenai to verify their words because their words were grounded in truth.

And look what happens as a result of Darius verifying this claim.

Ezra 6:6–10 ESV

“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

In other words, not only did Darius allow the work to be finished, he gave resources, he provided the funding for building, and the animals for sacrifice. Whatever they need, give it to them!

Granted, his motives were a little self-serving. Verse 10 tells us that he wanted the Jews to pray for him and his sons. So, we take that into consideration, but hey, if the President wants to build us a new church, I’ll pray for him.

Notice, though, the seriousness of this decree.

Ezra 6:11–12 ESV

Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

Darius issues the decree. And then we notice,

II. The Work is Completed. v.13-18

Armed with the decree from Darius re-enforcing the decree of Cyrus, the work continues at a fever pitch.

Ezra 6:13–15 ESV

Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

They built, they prospered, they finished the building by decree of the God of Israel, first and foremost, and then by the decrees of Cyrus and Darius.

Don’t overlook those words. By the decree of the God of Israel. I’ve been reading through Daniel in my devotion time and these words are so amazing.

Daniel 4:34–35 ESV

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Daniel 6:26–27 ESV

I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Those words are from Darius the King, the exact same king that we see here in this book. God is the one who is working and moving, God is the one who is operating according to His plan and purposes.

Psalm 115:3 ESV

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

The temple is done, the dedication takes place, and look what happens in our final point.

III. Worship is Re-instituted. v.19-22

Ezra 6:19–20 ESV

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.

And pay special attention to verse 21.

Ezra 6:21 ESV

It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

Everyone who had joined them, and had separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land.

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 ESV

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

.

And I especially like what verse 22 tells us.

Ezra 6:22 ESV

And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

The Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the King of Assyria, or the heart of King Darius to aid and abet them in the building of the house of God.

IV. Lessons from the Rebuilding of the Temple.

A. Our lives must be grounded in the truth.

The reason the Jews were successful was that they had the truth on their side. Cyrus was the one, prophesied by Isaiah, foretold by Jeremiah, that the temple would be rebuilt. Their basis in this truth gave them the courage, the ability to stand against Tattenai the governor, against Darius the king, and forced him to examine their assertion.

We are in a new reality. A reality where truth is no longer objective, no longer absolute, but now we have your truth, my truth, and they may very well be polar opposites. We live in a day when no one is allowed to have claims on truth.

You want to say you’re different than what you are biologically, then you are. It doesn’t matter what is objective, what is obvious and evident. The worst thing a doctor can do is deliver a baby and say it’s a certain gender. that’s not necessarily true, despite what the doctor sees.

This is what Paul means when he says,

Romans 1:18–19 ESV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

But what do they do? The suppress the truth and exchange the glory of God for images of man and beast. And as a result, God gives them up.

What is truth? We are told that answer in john 17.

John 17:17 ESV

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

B. We must be faithful to what we are called to do.

The reason the temple is built is because the people began to work and were faithful to finish the work. It wasn’t easy. They faltered, they lost heart, but in the end, they proved faithful to the work that God had called him to do.

I was thinking about the times God encourages His people, not to success, not to prosperity, but simply to faithfulness.

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 ESV

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting the so-called "House of Dying," where sick children are cared for in their last days, and the dispensary, where the poor line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa minister to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers face daily. "How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?" he asked. Mother Teresa replied, "My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful."

C. God will triumph in the end.

The work persevered. The work went on. The work was eventually completed, the enemies were defeated, and the work of God prospered in the end. This is the main thing to keep in mind. Every day we fight and press on, we do it knowing the outcome is guaranteed. We’ve read the back of the book and guess what? We will win.

I like

Hebrews 10:32–36 ESV

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Conclusion