Readings for today: 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1-3
It’s so easy to get discouraged these days, especially when it comes to politics. Leaders across the spectrum seem far less interested in serving the people and far more interested in accumulating wealth and power and influence and control. The corruption seems endless. The hypocrisy is blatant. Lies and deceit are the stock-in-trade. This disease is terminal and infects politicians across the ideological spectrum. None are blameless. None are immune. In fact, if you ask me, they all look and sound eerily similar to me which makes things seem even more hopeless. They are two sides to the same rotten coin and it’s hard not to become fatalistic. Adding to my frustration is my firsthand experience in the developing world where the biggest barrier to bringing peace and stability and a chance for greater prosperity is the political leadership of the country. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked into the eyes of someone who is suffering from unnecessary starvation, easily treatable disease, or who has been falsely imprisoned and tortured as a direct result of the corrupt political leadership of their country.
I imagine the ancient Jewish people must have felt much the same. Especially given their condition in exile. But then comes along Cyrus the Great. “Great” not because he’s godly but because he’s the most powerful man in the world. His empire spans continents. His military is unstoppable. He crushes former world powers under his feet. Babylon is merely the latest of his victims. But as powerful as Cyrus may be, he recognizes there is a power much greater than his own. A power not of this world that he must appease. He acknowledges God as the Lord of heaven and earth and he does what he can to right the wrongs of the empires who have come before him. Now there is no indication in the text that Cyrus comes to saving faith. Nothing in the text to suggest that he cares for the Jewish people. He simply wants to honor the gods of the different people groups over which he now holds sway. He wants to win their favor in order to accumulate even more power and wealth and influence. In this way, Cyrus is no different than our leaders today. He sees faith as a means to a selfish end.
Thankfully, God is not limited to perfect vessels as He seeks to bring about His sovereign will. He uses the weak things of this world to confront the strong. He uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He even bends the wills of the pagan kings of this world to accomplish his plans. Listen to how Solomon puts it in the Book of Proverbs, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1 ESV) Friends, God is not done with our world. He is at work in every nation on earth. He is bending the will of even the most corrupt and the most greedy and the most power-hungry to His perfect ends. Yes, it may take much longer than we would always like. Yes, it may not happen in the way we would always prefer. But God is faithful! God never fails! He will bring to completion the good work of redemption He began in this world the moment Adam and Eve fell into sin. He will use all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He will fulfill His promises to us. All He asks is for us to trust Him, believe Him, and humble ourselves before Him. There is coming a day when every wrong will be made right and every hurt will be healed and every injustice will be redressed.
Readings for tomorrow: Ezra 4-6