Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind. He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. [Isaiah 41:2-3 (NLT)]
In 538 BC, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Persia’s King Cyrus issued a proclamation allowing the first group of Judean exiles to return home with the purpose of rebuilding the Temple and inhabiting Jerusalem. In fulfillment of another prophecy, he then did what to any other conqueror would be unthinkable by returning the “plunder of tyrants”: 2,499 gold and silver sacred utensils taken by King Nebuchadnezzar when he ransacked the Temple. Cyrus permitted those who returned to take any wealth they’d accumulated during exile and encouraged those choosing to remain in Babylon to support their returning brethren with gifts, supplies, and food offerings. As a result, a total of 5,400 articles of gold and silver were taken back to Judah with the exiles.
In Cyrus’ proclamation releasing the Jews (found in Ezra 1), he claimed that it was “the Lord, the God of heaven” who gave him his kingdoms and appointed him to build a house for the “God of Israel who lives in Jerusalem.” Although Cyrus acknowledged the existence of Israel’s Yahweh, he limited Yahweh’s domain of power to Judah, just as the lesser gods of other nations (such as Babylon’s Marduk) were limited in power to their territory. Like other lesser gods, Israel’s god was governed by another higher god, “the God of heaven.” It’s likely that Cyrus believed Ahura Mazda, the deity of Persian Zoroastrianism, was the supreme god who ruled the others and gave him his kingdoms.
While Cyrus was right about getting divine direction and assistance from God, he was dead wrong about its source! Rather than a God who ruled over the lesser gods of other nations, there was only one God and, unlike those other gods, He wasn’t an idol, didn’t live in a house, and wasn’t limited to Israel or any other border. This one and only God was all-powerful, omnipresent, and omniscient. While He was the God Israel worshipped, He was the God of the universe!
When we think of the parting of the Red Sea, the flood, Egypt’s plagues, hailstones destroying the Amorite army, or the 3½-year drought followed by rain in Elijah’s time, we see that God sometimes uses nature to accomplish His will. For the most part, however, human beings are the agents through which God does most of His work. Some, like Moses, Isaiah, Samuel, and Elijah knew they’d been called to achieve God’s purposes while others, like Rahab and Joseph’s brothers didn’t. God even used heathen kings and pagan nations to achieve his purposes. It was God who moved the Israelites’ Egyptian neighbors to willingly give them their wealth at the time of the exodus. It was their Egyptian gold, silver, and ornaments that were used to make the sacred objects used in the Tabernacle and Temple! God used Assyria to punish Samaria for their apostasy and later used Babylonia to punish Assyria. Calling King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon “my servant,” God used him to punish Judah for their disobedience and then used both Persia and the armies of Alexander the Great to punish and demolish Babylon! Calling Persia’s Cyrus “God’s anointed one” and “my shepherd,” God used him to free the Jews and rebuild Jerusalem and then used Alexander the Great’s army to punish Persia for their evil!
To achieve His purposes, God will use both the righteous and wicked, those who believe and those who don’t. People don’t have to believe in God to be used by Him because it is not one’s belief in God that gives him power. God is Lord of all nations and all people and His supremacy and magnificence are so great that regardless of who we are or what kind of person we happen to be, we can be used by Him. It is God, and God alone, who controls history!
By the time of Isaiah, the Neo-Assyrian empire was the largest one the world had known. Famed for their incredible military strength, tactics, and ruthlessness, the Assyrians were a thorn in the side of both Israel and Judah and both kingdoms lived in fear of them. Assyria’s defeat of Samaria in 722 meant the end of the northern kingdom of Israel and Assyria remained a threat to Judah in the years that followed.
To the delight of the girls who attended the party, my daughter-in-law hired a Mehndi artist for my grand-daughter’s birthday celebration. Using a red-orange paste made from the dried leaves of the henna plant, the artist adorned the girls’ hands or arms with assorted intricate floral motifs. Since all of the family on her mother’s side is from India, this ancient form of body art is familiar to my grand. Although she’s attended several Mehndi parties, most of her guests have not. A Mehndi party for close friends and family is an important pre-wedding tradition in any Indian wedding. Along with plenty of food and music, there are henna artists. While they take only a few minutes painting designs on the guests, they spend several hours painting intricate geometric shapes and floral and paisley motifs on the bride’s hands, arms and feet. Hidden somewhere among the elaborate patterns on her body is the groom’s name.
In the ancient world, travel was dangerous and the nomadic people of Israel took hospitality seriously. It was the way to transform an unknown person (who might pose a future threat) into a guest and a friend. Hospitality was an integral part to many of the Old Testament’s stories. Both Abraham and Lot welcomed strangers into their home. Rebekah gave water to Abraham’s servant, watered his camels, and then offered food for the animals and rooms for the night. Rahab gave lodging and protection to the Israelite spies, Manoah and his wife fed the stranger who visited them, the widow of Zarephath gave her last morsel of food to Elijah, and the Shunammite woman provided food and a room for the prophet Elisha whenever he passed through Shunem. Abigail generously provided food for David and his band of men and David welcomed Jonathon’s crippled son Mephibosheth at his table as a way of showing God’s kindness.
Today, when someone is called the “salt of the earth,” the speaker probably means he or she is a dependable, unpretentious and honest person—someone of moral integrity. That is well and good as far as it goes, but Jesus meant more than that when He called us to be “the salt of the earth.”
Eighteen years after the kingdom divided and Jeroboam became king of the northern kingdom of Israel, Rehoboam’s son Abijah became king of Judah, the southern kingdom. As Solomon’s grandson and David’s great-grandson, Abijah was part of David’s dynasty; Jeroboam was not. Although 1 Kings called Abijah a sinner, 2 Chronicles recorded the one highpoint of his short reign. War broke out between Israel and Judah and Judah’s warriors were outnumbered two to one. As the two kings squared off, Abijah shouted out to Jeroboam and his army. Referring to the “covenant of salt” between God and David, Abijah called Jeroboam a traitor, his men scoundrels, and charged Israel with rebellion against the Lord’s chosen Davidic dynasty of kings. Their rebellion hadn’t been against Solomon or Rehoboam; they’d rebelled against the kingdom of the Lord! Continuing with his tirade, Abijah charged the northern kingdom with apostasy because of their idolatry and illegitimate priests. After pointing to Judah’s faithful worship, he warned Israel they would not succeed because God was with Judah. Indeed, in spite of overwhelming odds, Scripture tells us “God routed Jeroboam and all Israel” and the Judeans were victorious because they “relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.”
Devotions of the Heart 