Articles
God Takes Care Of Things
God Takes Care Of Things
God is God. God rules in the kingdoms of men. God is able to accomplish His plans and purposes even when men attempt to thwart such. This is what we see in the book of Ezra. A century before Ezra, God had raised up the Babylonians to punish Israel for their unfaithfulness. God then raised up the Persians to punish Babylon for their evil AND to restore the Jews to their homeland.
With the coming of the new Empire, the Persians kept government records of all that was done. The decree of Cyrus in 538 thus would have been on record when the attempt to derail the building of the temple. In Ezra 6 we read that Darius the king simply made a search of the archives and saw that the Jews were NOT in rebellion to the empire with such building of their temple. God had provided the protection for them BEFORE there was any objection and persecution! 20 years earlier no one would have given much thought about this decree being stored in the archives but NOW it has become the means of protection for God's people.
How often men become distraught over the 'insurmountable situation' they face when in reality God had not only foreseen such but made provisions to overcome. "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor. 10:13); Knowing God made such a promise we can rest assured that God has already been taking care of things before we are faced with the problem!
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. 1 Peter 4:19
Hugh DeLong
