Getting a real permit
This week's goodness is on Ezra 4:17-24:
These verses describe the aftermath of a bunch of unbelievers badmouthing God's people. They went to the authorities, who basically did a Google search, found a Wikipedia article saying that the Jews were trouble, and then rescinded their permit. It's very similar to what's going on with the church in persecuted areas like China. People are using trumped up accusations to deny building permits and assembly permits to Christians in the hopes of keeping the church from growing.
At first that sort of thing seems intimidating. I mean, first you're convinced you're following God's path, and then suddenly the door is slammed shut in your face. Even worse, you may have already started building the thing and be forced to tear it down at your own expense. Your calling is called into question. And now you're an outlaw. It's crisis time.
The thing is, God is bigger and more powerful and more crafty than a whole building full of bureaucrats. Mankind's totalitarian rule of law is no match for God's plan. And so we find time and again that these sort of barriers fall apart. Read on through the rest of Ezra to see how God dislodges these bureaucrats from his path. He is powerful and determined.
I think there's something interesting about these kind of setbacks. You could almost call them a teasing warm up to what God has for us. He knows he's going to keep his word. And he knows we're going to enjoy what he is setting up. That twinge of doubt, or the thrill of being an outlaw, or of persecution, only makes the reward in the end more sweet.
Would Ezra's story have been any better if things had gone off without any complications? "God said we should rebuild the temple, so we got permission and then we did it. And now we have a temple. The End." Boring! How much better is the experience when God teases us with the outcome? When we have to press forward through the fog, or wait for the veil to be removed?
If we find a roadblock in the direction we feel God is calling us in, we should remind ourselves that the story isn't over yet. We'd do that if we were watching a movie right? Who thinks the hero is actually going to die halfway through the movie? You're on the edge of your seat, but deep down you know it's going to sort itself out somehow. You just don't know how yet. It's the same way with God's plan. You'll get there, even if you die on the way. God's word is good. His permit trumps all others.
The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
These verses describe the aftermath of a bunch of unbelievers badmouthing God's people. They went to the authorities, who basically did a Google search, found a Wikipedia article saying that the Jews were trouble, and then rescinded their permit. It's very similar to what's going on with the church in persecuted areas like China. People are using trumped up accusations to deny building permits and assembly permits to Christians in the hopes of keeping the church from growing.
At first that sort of thing seems intimidating. I mean, first you're convinced you're following God's path, and then suddenly the door is slammed shut in your face. Even worse, you may have already started building the thing and be forced to tear it down at your own expense. Your calling is called into question. And now you're an outlaw. It's crisis time.
The thing is, God is bigger and more powerful and more crafty than a whole building full of bureaucrats. Mankind's totalitarian rule of law is no match for God's plan. And so we find time and again that these sort of barriers fall apart. Read on through the rest of Ezra to see how God dislodges these bureaucrats from his path. He is powerful and determined.
I think there's something interesting about these kind of setbacks. You could almost call them a teasing warm up to what God has for us. He knows he's going to keep his word. And he knows we're going to enjoy what he is setting up. That twinge of doubt, or the thrill of being an outlaw, or of persecution, only makes the reward in the end more sweet.
Would Ezra's story have been any better if things had gone off without any complications? "God said we should rebuild the temple, so we got permission and then we did it. And now we have a temple. The End." Boring! How much better is the experience when God teases us with the outcome? When we have to press forward through the fog, or wait for the veil to be removed?
If we find a roadblock in the direction we feel God is calling us in, we should remind ourselves that the story isn't over yet. We'd do that if we were watching a movie right? Who thinks the hero is actually going to die halfway through the movie? You're on the edge of your seat, but deep down you know it's going to sort itself out somehow. You just don't know how yet. It's the same way with God's plan. You'll get there, even if you die on the way. God's word is good. His permit trumps all others.
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