I'm impressed with particular details of Atarxerxes' decree
as recorded in Ezra 7. Elements of it
could just as easily have come from a prophet or a modern day leader such as
our President, Pastor Ted Wilson... even Jesus Himself.
1. Thesis on Stewardship
"Now therefore, be careful to buy with this money
bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings,
and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. And whatever
seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the
gold, do it according to the will of your God." Verses 17 & 18.
What an inspired lecture in stewardship. Even after you give
God His due (the tithe and offering today, as typified in this passage by the
bulls, rams, and lambs etc.), be careful to spend "the rest... according
to the will of... God."
2. A Mandate to Teach God's Word
"Set magistrates and judges who may judge all the
people who are in the region beyond the River, all such as know the laws of
your God; and teach those who do not know them." Verse 25.
I hear an echo of the spirit and essence of this passage in
Matthew 28: 19, 20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
The aspect of judgement on those who do not conform to God's
laws is somehow captured in Matt. 24: 14, "And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then
shall the end come." In the end
those who submit to Christ will be saved; those who don't will be damned. All,
as a prerequisite to God executing judgement, will have been taught His law/the
Gospel.
God's Doing
Of note, as spoken by Ezra himself, this was not king
Artaxerxes' doing, it was God's. And may I testify that He's still working in
the affairs of men and in the lives of individuals - not in a pushy way, but
with the steadfastness of a loving parent who wants the best for her/his children.
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