Chapters 1-7 of Ezra are mostly a collection of letters and records. There are seven different letters, the first one by Cyrus starts in verse 2. They span 80 years and involve three different kings of Babylon. We know about Cyrus' coming to power from Daniel. There was the hand writing on the wall that said Belshazaar and his Chaldean empire were going to end. That night the combined Mede and Persian empires attacked and defeated them. Darius was the king of the Medes and Cyrus the king of the Persians. According to Daniel 6:28 "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." In the beginning of Daniel 6, Daniel was one of three rulers Darius put over his entire empire and soon he was the primary person under Darius. Why is that significant?
Ezra 1:2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
How did Cyrus know of Jehovah, the Jewish name for God, let alone that God had given him the kingdoms of the earth? How did he know God had chosen him to build Him a house in Jerusalem? The Bible records no vision or dream. It sounds like someone read to him from Isaiah 44:28-45-7. Who could have done that? Who would he have listened to and not just dismissed as some pathetic person from a crushed kingdom trying to twist his arm for a very large favor? The Bible does not record Daniel's part in this story but if I was going to put money down on the source, I'd bet Daniel was the tool God used to accomplish His purpose.
As I read this morning flipping back and forth from book to book, puzzling over time lines and records of ancient Middle Eastern kings, I am again in awe of how God is at work in everything. He orchestrated the building up and tearing down of kings and kingdoms. He does not force us to do his bidding but he arranges and plans, he knows the hearts and desires of people both good and bad, and directs the paths so that they are the ones people choose to follow. I am not a robot, humans can program robots. God working for my good and his glory is infinitely more complex than that. It is far greater than simple foreknowledge. It is something incomprehensible to us. My grandfather used to say "you can't make a horse drink but you can salt the oats." God is doing something like that on an enormous scale that spans history and sees all of time at once. Each of us is a vapor, dust, my life is barely a blip on the screen of billions of people and millenniums of time. Yet God has even orchestrated my life, he planned for me before he created the earth. He may not have designed for me to sway the hearts and minds of Kings, but he chose me and loved me just the same. He remembers me, each day he meets me here, each day he directs my paths.
Help me to walk in the paths you have chosen for me. Help me to delight to be part of what you are orchestrating.