1 Chronicles 29:1-9 – What Abundance!

Read 1 Chronicles 29:1-9

I couldn’t get over the abundance of wealth spoken of in this passage. I suppose I don’t always picture the Bible times as wealthy times because of cinematic depictions showing open air markets and adobe hut-like homes. But there were also palaces and places of great beauty. Much like present day Haiti where you find the extremes of poverty and wealth.

David’s kingdom and the surrounding areas had clearly been blessed with an abundance of precious stones and metals. From the sounds of it, generosity was also prevalent. That was my big take-away. The people gave willingly and joyfully.

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Ezra 1:5-11 – When God Stirs

Read Ezra 1:5-11

Those returning from exile to rebuild the temple will not be empty-handed. God continues to stir the people into action. Cyrus, the Persian king, was certainly doing his part to help facilitate the good will called for in his proclamation from our last reading. Isn’t it something that God knew Cyrus by name before he was even born when the prophet, Isaiah, spoke of this moment in history?  (See Isaiah 44:28)

God orchestrates this whole process. How does that make you feel? One minute the people are living their normal lives and the next some are packing up to move back to their homeland. When I think about seventy years, that’s a long time to get comfortable in the land of exile. Those being stirred by God in today’s reading have likely never even seen Jerusalem.

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