Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered. And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. (Ezra 6:8-10)
The above words are a segment of a longer decree penned in 520 BC by the Persian king Darius (pictured in relief above) in response to Israel’s surrounding neighbors who wanted to make things difficult for this post-exilic community as they sought to rebuild the temple upon their return to Jerusalem after their 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Something mind-blowing had just occurred (eighteen years prior in 538 BC): Cyrus, another pagan Persian king issued a decree that is both the concluding words of 2 Chronicles and the opening of the book of Ezra:
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
This would be the equivalent of present day Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab saying he wanted to tear down the dome of the rock and finance the rebuilding of Israel’s temple from his own budget. What’s even more mind-blowing than this truly miraculous historical event is that this occurrence was prophesied by both Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1; Jeremiah 29:10) and Isaiah (Isaiah 44:24…28,45:1-5…13) a hundred and two hundred years (respectively) in advance. Isaiah’s prophecy is truly remarkable, calling Cyrus by name:
“ I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; …Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ‘ I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me…I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city And let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward,” Says the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 44:24…28,45:1-5…13)
After Cyrus decrees the financing and rebuilding of Israel’s destroyed temple, work gets under way. But due to opposition and lack of vision, the building project screeches to a halt and stays unattended to for sixteen years. So God sends the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to call the people back to this work. Haggai’s thematic thrust is to draw attention to the returnees economic woes and to connect the dots that the recession they were experiencing was ordained by God since they had sought to build their own houses but had left God’s house ignored. God’s economic sanctions worked, and the people responded by renewing the rebuilding project and completed it within five years. From the moment the community got their priorities straight and set their faces to finishing the mandate God had given them, the Lord stirs up a second pagan Persian king (Darius) to issue the above decree, underwriting the whole project. When Ezra gets sent 62 years later in 458 BC to beautify the temple and again the community faces opposition, God stirs up Artaxerxes, yet another pagan Persian king to bankroll the work of the Lord (Ezra 7). And fourteen years later, in 444 BC when Nehemiah seeks to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, once again God stirs this same king to open the royal coffers to subsidize the God of Israel’s agenda (Nehemiah 1,2).
God’s dealings with Israel during this period of history illustrate over and over just how true Jesus’ promise in Matthew 6:33 is that if we “seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness” all our needs will be met, how true Paul’s conviction that God’s laborers are worthy of their wages (1 Timothy 5:18) and Malachi’s promise that when we honor God with our finances, He will “open the floodgates of heaven” with more blessing than we can contain (Malachi 3:10).
For the last thirteen years that I have been involved in full-time missionary work (six months of overseas missions, nine years of campus ministry, three and a half years of serving the Lord as an intercessory missionary), I have seen this promise played out without fail. Truly where God guides, He provides.
There are many in our day who like that post-exilic community Haggai addressed, can identify with the following scenario:
“You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:6)
Could it be that we, like them, need to get our priorities straight? Could it be that when we began to set our faces to building God’s global house of prayer, supernatural finances will come in from unusual and unexpected places?
Many in this very hour are sensing that God is calling them to give themselves to the place of worship and prayer as a full time occupation. Perhaps God has woken you to the fact that He is rebuilding the fallen tabernacle of David (Amos 9:11) and raising up a worship and prayer movement all over the earth of historic proportions (Malachi 1:11; Isaiah 42:10-13; Isaiah 62:5,6; Luke 18:1-8; Revelation 5:8; 8:1-5; 22:17) If that is you, you need to know that God will supply your needs, just as He did when Israel gave themselves to establishing the house of prayer in their day.
Out there, there are Cyrus’s, Darius’s and Artaxerxes who will hear the same God that stirred these kings of old, summoning them to partner with you as you seek to build His house, and not just your own.
What stirs me by Darius’ decree is how even this pagan king valued that a company of priests would “offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven” and be praying for him and his sons (Ezra 6:10). May I and all those similarly called to intercession remember to pray faithfully for those who partner with us with their finances. There is a double blessing for such partners. The reward an intercessor (or any Christian worker) receives from God is the reward their financial partners also will receive from God (Matthew 10:40-42). And though the full-time missionary cannot repay them monetarily, they can pray for them with the confidence that Paul had when he prayed for the Philippians assuring that “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).
As the world economy shakes and rumbles let us not cower into fear and assume a hoarding mentality. It is such thinking that very well might have gotten us in such dire circumstances and it is just such thinking that will only make our situation worse. Let us remember the promise in Haggai that it is exactly in the midst of shaking that God releases His bountiful provision to those who will give themselves to building His house:
“For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations,and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Haggai 2:6-9)
God owns everything. Surely He is going to take care of His kids as they seek to make His purposes a priority. I believe right now He is raising up a global priesthood all over the earth that He is both willing and more than able to provide for. He is the God who loves to bankroll those who will give themselves to establishing His kingdom through worship and prayer. He did it for Israel time and time again without fail through the most unlikely of means. Surely, He will do the same for all those who feel so called today.
365 Days of Biblical Prayer 