The King Will Fund God's Plan

Ezra 7:6, 11-28

6 This Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given to the people of Israel. He came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and the king gave him everything he asked for, because the gracious hand of the Lord his God was on him.

11 King Artaxerxes had given a copy of the following letter to Ezra, the priest and scribe who studied and taught the commands and decrees of the Lord to Israel:
12 “From Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the teacher of the law of the God of heaven. Greetings.
13 “I decree that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may volunteer to return to Jerusalem with you. 14 I and my council of seven hereby instruct you to conduct an inquiry into the situation in Judah and Jerusalem, based on your God’s law, which is in your hand. 15 We also commission you to take with you silver and gold, which we are freely presenting as an offering to the God of Israel who lives in Jerusalem.
16 “Furthermore, you are to take any silver and gold that you may obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as the voluntary offerings of the people and the priests that are presented for the Temple of their God in Jerusalem. 17 These donations are to be used specifically for the purchase of bulls, rams, male lambs, and the appropriate grain offerings and liquid offerings, all of which will be offered on the altar of the Temple of your God in Jerusalem. 18 Any silver and gold that is left over may be used in whatever way you and your colleagues feel is the will of your God.
19 “But as for the cups we are entrusting to you for the service of the Temple of your God, deliver them all to the God of Jerusalem. 20 If you need anything else for your God’s Temple or for any similar needs, you may take it from the royal treasury.
21 “I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby send this decree to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River: ‘You are to give Ezra, the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven, whatever he requests of you. 22 You are to give him up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. 23 Be careful to provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his Temple, for why should we risk bringing God’s anger against the realm of the king and his sons? 24 I also decree that no priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, Temple servant, or other worker in this Temple of God will be required to pay tribute, customs, or tolls of any kind.’
25 “And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it. 26 Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.”

27 Praise the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who made the king want to beautify the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem! 28 And praise him for demonstrating such unfailing love to me by honoring me before the king, his council, and all his mighty nobles! I felt encouraged because the gracious hand of the Lord my God was on me. And I gathered some of the leaders of Israel to return with me to Jerusalem.

God is so good! I love the way God uses the wealth of the unbelievers to fund the work of His children. This king is not a believer but acknowledges fully where Ezra gets his wisdom and fully funds the work Ezra needs to do in assisting of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

I have some questions. Would the king have given me everything I asked for if I had been in his presence and made my request? If I were in front of a king today would I get what I request? Would I even know what to request?

I would say YES to all of those questions. The surety I have is not in my own power or understanding, but through the wisdom of God and following His Word. God provides the words to say and the plans to make. When God is in control of it there is no doubt that it will work.

Right now my wife and I are in the latter stages of finalizing a business plan for one of our businesses. The man who is assisting us is a business development expert. Even though I resisted this process early on, God has really brought us closer together during this and has deposited in us a vision of where we can go with it. While looking through the financials part of this process I really got excited. How awesome it is to look at what God's plan can do and just how much we can sow into His Kingdom because of it. Having not met the man until recently, he was very skeptical of my abilities to be persuasive. Upon meeting him and discussing this plan with him I think if he had the money to invest with us he would have written out the check that night. I know that when I sit in front of any king that he will be more than willing to help us fund God's plans for our business and through that funding we will be able to accomplish the desires of our hearts to fully fund whole missions trips, send the evangelism teams to anywhere they are led to go and to purchase new vans for the evangelism teams so they can reach more souls. PRAISE GOD!

I love the level of commitment from the king to Ezra. In verse 26 he states, "Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.” That's pretty harsh, but he is acting on the direction of the Lord, even though he does not believe in Him directly, he sees the fruit of Ezra's life and has seen it before. This makes me think of this time period that Ezra lived in. In or around the same time as Ezra was alive Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezekiel and Esther were alive. WOW! God was really moving among His people at that time. That is an aweful lot of wisdom and prophecy that came through those of that generation. We are still waiting for some of the prophecies of Ezekiel to come to pass.

Heavenly Father I thank You and praise You today for Your moving amongst the lives of Ezra and the others so many years ago. I am grateful to look upon the words that they were directed to write down so that I can learn from Your Wisdom today and apply it to my life. I thank You that You are directing my steps with the business plan and when I appear in front of the king I will get what I ask for and even more than I ask will be granted to me so I can fulfill Your plans for increase in Your Kingdom. Continue to guide and direct me and may all the glory, honor and praise go to You to whom it is due. In Jesus name, AMEN!

Published by Erik L. Vakula
Daily Bread From the Word
Copyright © 2009 Erik Vakula, All Rights Reserved