1. God uses kings to keep His Word (1-4)
2. God uses His people to keep His Word (5)
3. God uses other people to keep His Word (6)
EZRA 1:1a
There are so many questions in life, aren’t there? For at least 3000 years, philosophers have worked on trying to answer only two questions—what is real and how do I know. As Bible-believing Christians, those questions might seem strange. But we have questions too, don’t we? How does God work in the world? How do I fit in to His plans? What if I am disobedient—will that hamper God’s plans? Can I stop God’s will from being accomplished? Those are hard questions. And to answer hard questions, you have to start with what you know. The question has never been whether God would keep His promise. God is always faithful. Years before—even before the exile, God spoke these words to His prophet Jeremiah recorded in Jeremiah 29:10-14: “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” God is personal and He is faithful. He loves His people. He speaks His Word to them. He makes them promises. And He keeps His promises. This Bible consistently attests to that. The fact that God has given us His Word in the first place speaks of His personality. His faithfulness and love are evident on every page. When the Bible is taken at face value, there is absolutely no questioning the faithfulness of God. Just like we just read in Ezra 1:1—“that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled.” So, the question isn’t whether or not God’s Word will be fulfilled. The question is how. Once again, the pages of Scripture consistently reveal how God chooses to fulfill His Word. With people. If you ever look at any of the writings from other world religions, one thing stands out. Many of those writings focus on mystical things—things that don’t involve people at all. God doesn’t work that way. He chooses to work His will through people. Every page of Scripture concerns His relationship with people. Once again, there is no questioning the fact that God chooses to use people to accomplish His will. He is faithful to fulfill His promises and He is going to use people to do it. That’s the what and the how. That leaves us with one more very important question—who? Who is it that God uses to accomplish His Will? As we already read, Ezra opens with the plain declaration that God speaks His Word and what He speaks will be accomplished. All too many times, we think we have to be obedient to God for His will to be accomplished. Tonight’s passage shows us that is far from the truth. God doesn’t depend on us for anything. Make no mistake about it, God’s sovereign will is going to be accomplished whether we’re obedient or not. So where do we fit in? Even though we can never expedite or stifle God’s plans, our level of obedience will determine our reward. Tonight, I want each of us to be the kind of people who receive the reward that God desires us to receive. In order to do that, we’re going to look at three kinds of people God uses to keep His Word. First, God uses kings to keep His Word. Look at verses 1-4
EZRA 1:1-4
God uses kings to keep His Word. It’s political season again, isn’t it? As a matter of fact, it seems like it’s always political season these days. As soon as one election is over, they start campaigning for the next one. Something very interesting happened in 1976 that would change the face of American politics. Jimmy Carter was elected president. Was that a watershed election because he was a Democrat? No. Was it because he was the governor of a smaller southern state? No. Was it because he was a peanut farmer with a big smile? No. So why would that election change the face of American politics to this day? Because Jimmy Carter was a Southern Baptist and professed to be a born-again believer. Prior to the election, he was a political nobody. People were amazed that he got the Democratic nomination. They were even more amazed that he won the election. It turns out the reason he won the election was because of the votes of evangelical Christians. As soon as the politicians figured that out, they began to pander to us for our votes. They pander to us for our votes and forget about us when they get in office. And it gets worse and worse every election. As soon as the Democrats figured out that President Bush would not have been elected if it were not for the votes of evangelical Christians, their candidates began to speak Christian language. Every time you turn around, one of the candidates is speaking in a church somewhere. Did you know that God is never surprised at the outcome of an election? Whether it was Carter or Reagan or Bush or Clinton or Bush—God was not surprised. And God isn’t going to be glued to the TV exactly one year from today. He’s not going to be wringing His hands hoping the right person gets in office. Romans 13:1 tells us “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” God places whom He will in positions of power. No government has ever existed whose leader was not sovereignly appointed by God. Yes, that includes Bush and Carter and Reagan and Clinton and whoever the next one is. It also includes Pol Pot and Stalin and Mussolini and Hitler. It also includes Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, and Herod, and Caesar, and Nero. And yes, it even includes Cyrus. Cyrus the Great was a Persian who overthrew the Babylonian empire a little over 500 years before Jesus was born. The Medo-Persian Empire that he reigned over was the greatest world empire to date. For all intents and purposes, Cyrus was king of the world. He was very politically correct. He believed that everybody’s religions were basically the same. They just had different names for their gods. So he wanted everybody to worship their gods like they were supposed to. He wanted to treat everybody’s gods nice so the people would support him. He could have been running for office in 2008, couldn’t he? But don’t get the idea that Cyrus was a nice guy. He was ruthless to his enemies. But God placed him in that position. How do we know that? Over a century and a half before Cyrus was even born, God gave this prophesy to Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 44:28: “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” Even though Cyrus was a pagan king of a pagan empire, God used him. He used him just like He uses every other national leader. He uses them for the express purpose of working His will in the world. Even though Cyrus didn’t truly acknowledge or submit to God’s authority, God used him. God used him to fulfill His Word. But because Cyrus didn’t submit to God, God didn’t reward him. God only rewards obedience. God used Cyrus to work His will for Israel. But because of his disobedience, Cyrus missed the blessing. He missed the reward. Instead, he got what was prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25:12-14: “And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.” God uses kings to keep His Word. If those nations are obedient to Him, they receive His blessing and reward. If they are disobedient to Him, they receive His punishment. But either way, God’s will, will be done. God uses kings to keep His Word and He uses His people to keep His Word. Look at verse 5:
EZRA 1:5
God uses His people to keep His Word. Now this is more like it. These are the kinds of people God is supposed to use. Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites. Those represented all the people of Israel. No longer were they recognized as the divided kingdom. No longer were they the people of Israel and the people of Judah—they were simply Jews. God was using the people I think He ought to use. Those people called by His name. His chosen people. Those people who were obedient to Him. It is interesting the order that they’re listed in, isn’t it? Ezra lists the people first and then the priests and the Levites. The church members and then the ministers. And then notice how it all got started. It got started with God. God raised their spirits up. That word “raised up” is the exact same word that the King James translates “stirred up” back in verse 1. God stirred His people up the same way that He stirred Cyrus up. God sovereignly worked in their lives to motivate them to accomplish His will. God initiated the action. He did the stirring. He stirred up the people. And then He stirred up the priests. And then they got busy. Don’t we get things backwards sometimes? Does God do our stirring or does the pastor? Do the people in the pews get stirred up by God and get busy? Or do we wait to be stirred up and begged and cajoled from the pulpit? When I read verse 5, I get the picture of a train with a full head of steam. God has stoked the fire of the J & B train and it’s rolling down the track. And I’m picturing the priests and Levites with two options. Either get on board or get run over. Of course, they got on board. God provided the steam, the people got the train rolling and the priests and Levites got on board and shoveled coal. God used His people to keep His Word and they were obedient. God used Cyrus to keep His Word more or less against his will. And God cursed him. But on the other hand, God used His people to keep His Word and they were obedient. And because of that He blessed them. How? With His presence. Turn with me to Zechariah 2. Zechariah is the second to last book in the Old Testament. So the easiest way to find it is to find Matthew and go back two books. Zechariah and Haggai were both prophets who God sent specifically to these people we’re talking about in Ezra. And in Zechariah 2:10-13, God told the people exactly what their reward was going to be because of their obedience to Him.
ZECHARIAH 2:10-13
Sing and rejoice! What a blessing they were going to receive for their obedience. It’s not that they were somehow “helping God out”. There wasn’t anything they could do to “help out” an all-powerful God. It’s not a picture of God and His people working side-by-side to get the job done. No—God’s will is always going to be accomplished. With or without our obedience. But when we obey, the blessings are unimaginable. But what happens when we are disobedient? We’ve seen what happens to rebellious kings that God uses. What about regular lost people? Does God use them to keep His Word too? Look with me at verse 6:
EZRA 1:6
God not only uses kings and His own people to keep His Word, He uses lost people too. I saw some discipleship training material one time that really bothered me. It was titled, “The Man God Uses.” The idea of the study was a good one. It was all about being the kind of person God wants us to be. Good study—bad title. Because the implication was that God only uses obedient people. All you have to do is open your Bible to see that isn’t the case. Probably the most obvious example is Pharaoh. But Pharaoh was a king and we’ve talked about how God uses kings already. What about regular lost people? Are there any examples in Scripture of God using them? Yes—in nearly every book. Balaam comes to mind. So does Achan. The one you’re probably most familiar with is Judas. But these folks in this verse bring to mind another group of lost folks that God used. Remember back to the Exodus? Remember after God brought the plagues on Egypt? Remember after that first Passover when the death angel passed over the houses of the Israelites? And how he killed the firstborn of every other household in Egypt? Remember how Pharaoh finally decided to let God’s people go? What did the rest of the people do? Exodus 12:35-36 describes it: “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” That word spoiled—it means plundered. Just like a victorious army would plunder a nation they had conquered. Psalm 105:38 says, “Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.” That is the exact same thing that happened here in Ezra 1:6. God used the lost people of Babylon by allowing His people to plunder them without drawing a single sword. And by doing that, He accomplished His Will. Now, does that mean that God will accomplish His will by allowing us to plunder our lost neighbors? No—probably not. But it does mean that He will use the actions of lost people to accomplish His will. His will for the Jews in the first part of Ezra was for them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. To do that, they needed resources. God used lost people to provide them with the resources they needed. They were not God’s people. They didn’t get to participate in the blessing God had for His people. Instead, they were plundered. Not only did they miss out on the blessing of God’s presence, they lost their stuff too. And that wasn’t the worst of it. As that passage we read in Jeremiah 25 said, because of their disobedience, their whole nation would be punished—not just Cyrus. God would make it “perpetual desolations”.
So many times we think that God only uses certain people. You might think that God only uses preachers or deacons or Sunday school teachers. The fact is, God uses everybody to accomplish His will. He has made promises and will keep His promises. He will keep His Word and He will use everybody to do it. The question is not who is He going to use. More specifically, your question shouldn’t be, “Is God going to use me?” He is going to use you whether you want Him to or not. So whether or not He’s going to use you is not the question. The question you have to ask yourself is, “Am I going to be obedient to the way He wants to use me?” You see, it’s not a matter of usefulness. God is your creator—He has every right to use you any way He sees fit. It’s not a matter of usefulness, it’s a matter of willingness. Are you willing for the Lord to use you? Willing to go where He asks. Willing to do what He asks. Willing to serve Him, worship Him, love Him. How far? To the point of discomfort? To the point of inconvenience? To the point of self-sacrifice? To the point of death?
It’s not only a matter of willingness, it’s a matter of preparedness. Are you prepared for the Lord to use you? What kind of preparation does it take? Holiness. Righteousness. Purity. The kind of preparation that only comes from applying the blood of Jesus Christ to your life. The kind of preparation that only comes from taking off your old garment of filthy rags and putting on the new garment of Christ’s righteousness. The kind of preparation that only comes from becoming a new creation in Christ. From old things passing away and all things becoming new.
It’s a matter of willingness, of preparedness and a matter of faithfulness. Are you faithful in the work that the Lord has called you to do? Are you faithful to do the work and leave the results up to Him? He will accomplish His will. He will keep His Word. He will take care of the results. Are you faithful to His call? If you are willing, prepared and faithful, God’s Word will be fulfilled. Even if you are not willing, prepared or faithful, God’s Word will be fulfilled. But Jesus tells of the difference in a parable in Matthew 24:45-51: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
God’s will, will be accomplished. Will you be rejoicing as a ruler when it happens? Or will you be weeping and gnashing your teeth? God’s going to use you—how are you going to be used?
