Fast and pray. God REALLY needs to do this.

I personally found this portion of Ezra (latter half of Chapter 8), to be slightly comical. Ezra has proudly told the King that God will protect them on their four-month journey back to Jerusalem, so then he felt ashamed (as in, he felt it would dent his pride!) to ask the King for a guard or security of some sort.

So, Ezra got the people of Israel to fast and pray to God asking him to protect them and keep them safe during their journey. Which God does.

My thoughts only are : Did God use Ezra's shame (and/or pride) to get all the returning exiles to focus on Him and pray to Him? How 'okay' is it to let such pride/shame rule our lives? And, something I've done multiple times in my own life, is it okay to challenge the world at large because we have such an awesome and fantastic God?

I don't have the answers to the above questions. I only think that we should be so comfy and cosy and understanding of God, that we completely bank on Him and say, "So what if the world won't help or show up? My God and me, we can do anything!"

The hand of God in everything

In today's modern world, where we look at every event and phenomenon as a cause and effect, can we really do what Ezra did? There were some actions undertaken by the non-Israelite King Darius, and Ezra saw the hand of God in all this.

Believers need to do this more. Can we, or do we, really truly see the hand of God in all the actions that happen in our day to day lives? Or do we keep attributing it to other things/causes alone? There's something to think about.

And the best part is, when believers start looking at the world around us this way, others get to come along for the ride as well!!! (last bit of the verse above)

Ha ha! Suck it, enemies!!

If you've been following our recent posts, the Israelis had enemies who questioned them on their right to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, and then wrote back to King Darius, requesting him to check the court records to see if King Cyrus had indeed ordered them to rebuild their temple at Jerusalem.

In Chapter 5, we see that the King does so, and finds that the royal decree was also to supply everything required for the rebuilding of the Temple.

Incensed and angered by the ones who wrote to him complaining about the Israelis, King Darius orders the enemies of the Israelis (the regional Governor et al) to provide all material wealth required for the Temple, basically, through the taxes they collect from that region.

It's like the plot twist in audience-popular films and drama - the villain (Israel's enemies) is snubbed and the hero (Israel) gains from the villain.

It is an ever-pleasing trope, and one that makes me wonder if the Bible isn't just moral stories written to 'tell' people to be good. But then I remember the rest of the Bible, and my own life, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that every word written in the Word is so definitely true. If such tropes exist in today's world, it is highly possible that they originated from the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible itself, considering that Christianity spread its wings across all continents, with the help of the far-flung yester-year British empire.

The bottomline is this - if we're doing God's will (as we saw in a previous post), then we can be assured that everything will work out right for us. Even if we are killed in the pursuit of His will by our enemies.

For Jesus, King and Country

What a response, the Israelis give, to their enemies who question them on the rebuilding of the temple - in Ezra 5:11!

In today's modern world, where we (Christian included) try to be politically correct all the time, could we ever think of telling some Government official asking us who we are and why we're doing something, "We're children of the most High God. We're doing what the King of Heaven commanded us to do. And also what has been allowed us under the constitution."

At best, we may leave out the first two sentences in the above dialogue, and put forth only the third sentence. Why?

What makes us so scared of earthly powers and the government? We are not standing against the Government at any point; we are not called to do that. In fact, the Bible recommends that we dutifully pay taxes to the current ruler (or government, in today's world) and abide by the laws of the land (where they do not directly conflict with the ideals of heaven).

It's time for us to wake up. Stop being cowards. We're children of the most High God. We're doing what the greatest King in history has asked us to do. And what has been allowed for us to do, per the Constitution of India.

Jai Hind... Jai Jesus.

Know Thy Enemies

Opposition will always stand in the way of those who are trying to accomplish good; in the way of people trying to do something for God, in the way of those trying to fulfill His will.

Our prayer to His Spirit should be to give us the wisdom to recognize the true nature of opposition when we see it. In Ezra 4, the enemies of the Israelis at first came and offered help to rebuild the temple. That's when the Israeli remnant says that they will do it on their own, as per the orders of King Cyrus.

In life, too, there may be those around us who offer their help - when we're trying to follow orders from an earthly superior, to accomplish the will of the Almighty. Wisdom comes in knowing which is which, and such wisdom only comes from above. Seek such wisdom, and we should find it.

Wealth, or the non-lack of it for the exiled Israelis

Surprising. That less than 43,000 people returning from exile would possess such numbers in wealth - more than 7,000 slaves and more than 8,000 heads of domestic animals (horses, mules, camels and donkeys).

Surprising because we don't expect them to have taken all this with them when they went in to exile. Think about it - conquering king, subduing the Israelis, then asks them to bring all their wealth with them into their new land. Not happening - I don't see it.

The other alternative is, that they made this wealth during their time in exile. Which is pretty stupendous, if you think about it - alien land, they're not having much to begin with, but yet, when they leave, they leave with so much.

One way or the other, it is safe to assume, that the Israelis were never ever poor. Exile or no exile. So, can we draw a conclusion that God's people are never poor? I'm not sure. I think we'd be completely missing the whole point of the Good Book if we focus only on the wealth that these people had, and leave out the fact that the same God who punishes his children, also redeems them, and brings them back home - with plenty of material wealth... to have fun, enjoy and live life to the fullest. (Oh hey! Doesn't that last bit sound familiar?!)

Every Human Being

Imagine this scene. Indira Gandhi (India's first - and only, so far - lady Prime Minister) conquers Pakistan in the 1970s. In the 2010s, Pakistanis have been brought to all parts of India, to work for us. To live amongst us. Basically, in exile from their own lands, which now lie desolate. And sometime in the 2010s, our current Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, goes ahead and declares that all the Pakistanis who want to worship Allah can return to Pakistan, and help rebuild what has been broken down. AND, he also decrees that Indians everywhere should help the Pakistanis who are returning to Pakistan and give them whatever 'stuff' we want to - food, clothing, articles for the journey, and so on and so forth.

You can stop imagining now. The first chapter of Ezra, in the Bible, paints such a picture. Exiled Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, AND their local resident neighbours were asked to help the Jews with material goods for the return from exile. It's unbelievable. Fanatic Christians and believers may nod their heads in approval and call this 'the work of God', but what if this hadn't happened and they were tortured in exile? Would that be also the work of God?

I see a different thought threading this together. Many Christians (or believers) look at non-Christians (or non-believers) as 'heathens', close to how they view Satan himself. The truth is, every human being on this planet is made in the image of God - whether we believe in Him or not, and every human being has the capacity to love, be compassionate, and be awesome. Every single one of us.

Even the rag-tag beggars on the streets. Or the dictators who rule from iron thrones. Or the colleague who tries to undermine our work. Or the jerk that left us holding pieces of a broken heart.

At the end of the day, every human being is a cracked pot. Some more cracked than others, some more used by the Master Gardener than others. Let's remember that as we struggle through our difficult, daily lives.