QT: Too good to be true?
Too good to be true?
https://www.esv.org/Ezra7:12–20
Week 20: 12/05/2023. Fri
Do we, at times, worry about what tomorrow and spiritual revival would look like and sustained. Trust the LORD, who frequently provided in such a way that is beyond what we ask or even imagine when He bestows blessings after His people turn back to Him (as in the days of Ezra).
(1) King Artaxerxes decreed that the option to return to the LORD's temple was open to "anyone" (7:13). This showed that the LORD was sovereign over all powers today, albeit we do not know all the inner workings and details of His plan;
(2) "With all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia" (7:16) is an extremely wide net allowed to Ezra and his contemporaries to obtain resources for God's work.
(3) There is a wide discretion given to Ezra regarding what he could do. "Whatever seems good to you and your brothers" regarding the silver and gold collected could be done, and "according to the will of your God" (7:18). Talk about God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
(4) Artaxerxes commanded that "you may provide it out of the king's treasury" whatever else is required to be funded (7:20). Money no problem.
The book of Ezra, a book in "The Writings" section of the Hebrew Bible, is a book filled with encouragements to cheer up and be lifted up in spirit, because of the LORD that we worship. The abundant life promised by Jesus is not a myth. "Too good to be true" can be true in the LORD. The Ezra text encourages you and I to be true to the LORD.
