Ezra 6

“I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted.” (Ezra 6:8, NLT)

Sometimes help comes from unlikely sources. Sometimes the thing we dread becomes the thing in which we delight. We don’t control these things. We can only control ourselves.

Prior to returning to the construction of the temple, the Jews were putting their money into a purse with holes; they sowed much but reaped little (Haggai 1:6). But when they responded to the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah and returned to the building project, then God began to bless. When they were interrogated by Tattenai the governor, they probably thought that they would be shut down again. On the contrary, God was going to use the report of Tattenai and his recommendation to search through the royal archives to turn the heart of King Darius.

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1, NKJV)

The search was made and King Cyrus' original decree was discovered. So King Darius issued a decree that commanded three things:

First, the Persians must keep out. He told Tattenai and the other Persians to stay far away from Jerusalem. The construction of the temple was to continue without any hinderance.

Second, the Persians must help out. Darius commanded them to take from their own tax revenues to give the builders whatever they needed—sacrificial animals, wheat, salt, wine and oil. This was to be daily supplied without fail.

Third, King Darius would stomp out any further opposition against the Jews. Anyone who interfered with the construction would have a timber removed from his own house on which he would be impaled! Any questions?

Why did the king do this? Well, God obviously moved upon His heart to do His will. I think we are actually surprised when God does change the hearts of secular leaders. This reveals our lack of faith. But also King Darius revealed what was in his heart.

“Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the welfare of the king and his sons.” (Ezra 6:10, NLT)

This is the service we are commanded to perform for all our leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. The purpose is that we may all live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. The church needs the government to keep the peace, and the government needs the church to pray for the peace.

Let’s take time to pray today in faith for every leader who comes to mind—especially for those we consider are furthest away from God! We might be shocked if God takes hold of their hearts!