Making Good on a Promise
Day 20
CONSIDER
What is too difficult for God?
The immediate answer that most people would give to that question is “nothing.” It’s easy to
believe in principle that nothing is impossible for God; to believe that he can handle any situation when
there isn’t a specific situation immediately in front of us. But it’s another matter when we face a real
situation where every indication suggests that one outcome is inevitable, and we can’t even imagine
how things could turn out differently.
This was the case for the Israelites. They had been driven from the Promised Land in exile, and
had seen the dismantling of both the temple and the Davidic monarchy by the extremely powerful and
godless Babylonian Empire. The prophets were active at this time, telling the Israelites that God would
still accomplish his plan. That may have sounded nice, but every indication pointed in the opposite
direction. Babylon was in complete control, and Babylon had demonstrated that it cared for only one
thing: its own victory via the subjugation of God’s people. Surely it was folly to expect anything different
in the future.
But God rules the future, as well as the present, and what seems
impossible for man is eminently possible for God. Through the prophet Jeremiah
God spoke of the fall of the Babylonian Empire (Jeremiah 25:12-13 & 29:10), which
did take place when Babylon was defeated by the Persians.
And so it was that faithful Jewish exiles like Ezra and Nehemiah found the
events of history bending themselves to accommodate God’s prophetic promises.
God rules the future, as
well as the present, and
what seems impossible
for man is eminently
possible for God.
PART 1 - READ
Begin your time today by reading Ezra 1:1-8 & Nehemiah 1:1 – 2:8
As powerful as the Babylonian Empire had been in its heyday, it didn’t last forever. From the
perspective of the Jews who were sent to Babylon in exile the empire was impossibly strong, and they
were powerless to oppose it. But God was not powerless, and he brought about the defeat of this
empire through the rise of another: Persia.
The Persians, like the Babylonians, were not worshippers of the God of Israel. Even so, the Bible
makes it clear that God is able to orchestrate the events of history to accomplish his ends and keep his
promises, even if that means working with, working through, or working over those who do not
follow him.
The Persian king Cyrus is an example. The book of Ezra opens by describing events that took
place in the first year after Persia conquered Babylon and took over all the lands the Babylonians had
previously ruled. The Persian king Cyrus issued a decree that allowed the Israelites to return to Palestine
and rebuild the temple, essentially reversing the Babylonian policy of forcibly removing God’s people
from the Promised Land.
Whether Cyrus was doing this to curry political favor with his newly-acquired Jewish subjects or
whether he was motivated by other considerations, we don’t know. But the Bible makes one thing
abundantly clear: God was ultimately behind it. A large group of Israelites returned to Jerusalem,
rebuilt the temple, and resumed the worship of God in it. All with the blessing, authority, and financial
backing of a pagan king!
Here, then, was a miracle: a thing that at one time had looked utterly impossible, and which no
one in their right mind could have expected, was happening. The Israelites were moving back toward
the worship of God in the Promised Land, even though powerful pagan forces were still in charge! God
can accomplish what is impossible for man. And the rebuilding of the temple was only the beginning.
Over the next century, additional Israelites returned to Palestine in two more waves. The first,
led by Ezra, saw a rededication of the Israelites to learn and follow God’s word. The second, led by
Nehemiah, focused on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, which had lain in ruins since the Babylonian
conquest.
The account of this third wave is recorded in the book of Nehemiah,
which opens with the Israelite Nehemiah serving in the king’s court in the
capital city of Susa. Knowing that the temple had been rebuilt in Jerusalem
some years earlier, Nehemiah had prayed for God to restore the Israelites to
their place in the Promised Land. So when the king asked Nehemiah what was
troubling him, he took it as a God-given opportunity to make a huge request
of the king: the authority and financial backing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. To the relief and
amazement of Nehemiah (and of anyone who’s been reading the Bible up to this point!) the pagan king
of Persia agrees to both requests.
Mover of Mountains
In all these Biblical accounts of the Israelites returning to Jerusalem, what stands out most
clearly is that God used pagan kings and empires to accomplish his will. This stands in stark contrast
with the pattern we’ve seen up to this point in the Bible, where God’s own people seem to be opposing
him at almost every turn. If the people of God – who saw the miracles of God and had the word of God –
didn’t manage to live in step with the plan of God, then what hope is there when the world is run by
those who don’t worship God?
The Bible’s answer is clear: as long as God’s promise stands, there is more than enough reason
for hope! Because God can work in, with, through, and even in spite of any human authority to
accomplish his will and keep his promises.
MAJOR BIBLICAL THEMES
Faith
The time period in which the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem was bloody and brutal for the
Israelites, leaving absolutely no realistic hope that God’s promise of an eternal Davidic kingship
would come to pass. Yet the promise still stood. In this, the Bible thrusts the question of faith once again
into the central spotlight: will I bank everything on what God said? Or will I trust instead on my own
assessment of what is possible? Books like Ezra and Nehemiah show that less than a century later God’s
people are returning to Jerusalem, and temple worship under the authority of the Law of Moses is
starting up again. In so doing, these books add to the Bible’s consistent and resounding declaration
that those who trust in God’s promises above all else will not be disappointed in the end. Even if a
miracle has to occur.
PART 2 - REFLECT AND CONNECT
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Have you ever seen or experienced God working miraculously, as best you could tell? What did
that experience teach you?
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Is there any impossible-looking situation (such as God bringing good out of a tragedy in your life,
or God bringing a hardened unbeliever you know to faith in Christ) that you need to trust to
him?
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Sometimes we trust God to do seemingly impossible things, but they’re not things he ever
promised to do. How do we know we’re trusting God to keep a promise he’s made vs. trusting
him to do what we want?
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As you close your time today, choose one or more of the following worship responses.
o Nehemiah 1:5-11 records a heartfelt prayer to God. Consider using it as a model for your
own prayer today, inserting the name(s) of people you know.
The pattern:
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o
Praising God for who he is (verse 5)
Agreeing with God about one’s own sins and those of the people (verses 6-7)
Asking God to show the mercy that he’s promised to show to repentant people (verses
8-10)
Consider listening to the hymn ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus by Casting Crowns (suggested
Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcEbGkcHoY )
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."
Chorus
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
I'm so glad I learned to trust Him,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that He is with me,
Will be with me to the end.
Chorus
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more! X2
PART 3 - Respond
Please use the space below to respond to today’s prompt (or use one of your own).
Respond to the following – “Those who trust in God’s promises above all else will not be disappointed in
the end.”
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