20250405

the reverser

Ezra 6:1-22

Ezra 6:1 King Darius gave the order, and they searched in the library of Babylon in the archives.
Ezra 6:2 But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found with this record written on it:
Ezra 6:3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its original foundations be retained. Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety feet,
Ezra 6:4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timber. The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.
Ezra 6:5 The gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem, where they belong and put into the house of God.
Ezra 6:6 Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai, governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues, the officials in the area.
Ezra 6:7 Leave the construction of the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.
Ezra 6:8 I issue a decree concerning what you are to do so that the elders of the Jews can rebuild the house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men out of the royal revenues from the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not stop.
Ezra 6:9 Whatever is needed– young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of the sky, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem– let it be given to them every day without fail,
Ezra 6:10 so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the sky and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
Ezra 6:11 I also issue a decree concerning any man who interferes with this directive: Let a beam be torn from his house and raised; he will be impaled on it, and his house will be made into a garbage dump because of this offense.
Ezra 6:12 May the God who caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who dares to harm or interfere with this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out diligently.
Ezra 6:13 Then Tattenai, governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.
Ezra 6:14 So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, son of Iddo. They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.
Ezra 6:15 This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of King Darius’s reign.
Ezra 6:16 Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
Ezra 6:17 For the dedication of God’s house, they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering for all Israel– one for each Israelite tribe.
Ezra 6:18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to serve God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
Ezra 6:19 The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Ezra 6:20 All priests and Levites were ceremonially clean because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles.
Ezra 6:21 The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land to worship Yahveh, the God of Israel.
Ezra 6:22 They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy because Yahveh had made them joyful. He had changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them so that he supported them in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

the reverser

King Darius of the Medo-Persian empire now issues an even stronger edict to ensure that the remnant of Israel is helped and the temple is reconstructed. They celebrated because “Yahveh had made them joyful. He had changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them so that he supported them” (22). Of course, Darius was not king of the old empire of Assyria. He was king over the land that had once been occupied by Assyria. Ezra’s statement demonstrates the irony of the event. The Assyrians had been the first to conquer and exile God’s people. Now, the king from that land is helping them to return. Never underestimate the power of God to change people and reverse impossible situations.

LORD, surprise us again. Turn our impossible situations into declarations of praise.