The Promise of Blessing

Ezra 7- 8; Luke 20

“…The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him…Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles entrusted to you for worship in the temple of your God. And anything else needed for the temple of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may provide from the royal treasury.”

Ezra 7:6, 19, 20

Why did God use Persian treasure to restore the worship in the temple in Jerusalem?

God’s promise to Abraham was he would “bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). King Artaxerxes was married to the Jewish Queen Esther. His actions to deliver the Jews from a holocaust had turned favor toward the Jews throughout the Persian Empire. His action to bless Ezra, and the restoration of worship in Jerusalem, moved the hand of God to bless the Persian king and kingdom. 

The prophet Isaiah describes the kings of the earth bringing their treasure to Jerusalem in the last days. Why?

God desires to bless all nations with salvation and his promise to Abraham still stands.

“Lord God, I, too, chose to bless the descendants of Abraham and pray for your blessings of salvation on your people, for your glory.”