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In today's message, we observe that God moved the hand of King Darius to show favor to Israel as they sought to rebuild the temple for worship to their God. In the face of opposition, God provided. What does this reveal to us of God's character, and what does it mean for us today? Join Reverend Daniel as he preaches from Ezra chapter 6, verses 1 to 12.

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Ezra chapter 6, verse 1 to 12 is a part of a larger narrative that began in Eshra chapter 5. Sorry, can I have the slide offers? Yeah, not at this point. Through the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Jeshua arose to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. We read about that in Eshrah chapter 5, verse 1 to 2. So we read that as the work began, Tatani, the governor of the province beyond the river, and Sheita Bozenai and their associates came to inquire on the basis of their authority to rebuild the house of God and the names of those involved in the rebuilding. And that happens in Ezra chapter 5, verses 3 to 4. So crucially and providentially we read in Ezra chapter 5, verse 5. But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius, and then an answer be written by letter concerning it. So last week, Pastor Wei brought us through Ashrah chapter 5, verse 6 to 17, which was a letter that Tatanai, the governor of the province, had sent to Darius. So today what we'll be looking at is the response that came from Darius. So we are brought to terms with the response of Darius in the decree he issued. We read from Eshrah chapter 6, verse 1 to 2. Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the Archives, where the documents were stored. Reading on towards the end of verse 2, when a search was ordered by Darius in the house of the Archives, a scroll was found with a record of the decree of Cyrus, which stated that the house of God in Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, specifying the dimensions of the house of God as well as the costs to be paid from the royal treasury. As previously recorded in Eshra chapter 1, verse 7, the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods were brought back. Eshra chapter 6, verse 5 reads, And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. As important as it was for the rebuilding of the house of God in Jerusalem and all the work that will continue, a greater significance is found according to Ashra chapter 6 verse 5, in the fact that Yahweh, that God Himself has written to His house. And this is reinforced in the abrupt use of the singular in Ashrah 6 verse 5, Part D, the one highlighted in green, each to its place, which represents and emphasizes the individual value of each vessel and the importance of its return to the house of Yahweh, to the house of God. Then Ashra chapter 6, verse 6 to 12 records the decree of Darius to complete the rebuilding of the temple with royal aid and threats for neglecting or changing the decree. So we read as was read before us earlier, Eshra 6, verse 6 to 12 says, Now therefore, Tatanai, governor of the province beyond the river, Shitabo Zanai, and your associates and the governors who are in the province beyond the river, keep away. Let the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its side. Verse 8 Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you should do, what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost to be paid is to be paid to this man in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from beyond the river. And whatever is needed, bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priest at Jerusalem require, let that be given to them day by day, without fear. Verse 10, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his son. Verse 11, and also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made downhill. Towards the end of verse 12, I, Darius, made a decree, let it be done with all diligence. For Darius' generosity towards the various religions in his empire not only continued past Persian policy, but is a smart political move because it undercut possible revolts, right? Allow those in your empire to freely practice their religion. So he was in history an imperial benefactor who supported his subjects' local traditions and acknowledged the power of their deities. But we do not know whether he's a believer of God, but he facilitated that move. So, however, the key thing is this to Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the Jews, Darius' orders were beyond all expectation. It is marvelous, it is totally favorable to the Jews. And we see it in many points in this narrative. Firstly, he ordered Tatanai, the governor of the province beyond the river, uh Shitabozanai and their associates and governors in the province to keep away. In other words, uh David says, Stay away from there, do not disturb the work, let the work of this house of God alone. Right? So this is the first uh first hope beyond all expectation. The fact that he stood with the Jews to ask the people, Tatanai and his associates, to keep away, to let the work continue. Secondly, he gave full rights, full legal rights for the work of the rebuilding to continue. Uh, two times the word decree uh came up. One is in Ezra 6 verse 8. Uh it says, Darius says, Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. Again, in Ezra 6 verse 12 B, I Darius, make a decree, let it be done with all diligence. So, with full legal backing from the Persian uh governor, Persian ruler. So that kind of seals the deal, isn't it? And as if that is not enough, Darius then mentioned provide complete financial assistance and ongoing maintenance for the work of the rebuilding of the house of God, whatever is needed to these people, whether it's sheep, goats, uh, for sacrifices, whether it's finances, give it all to them from the royal treasury. In Ashura 6, verse 8 B says, the cost is to be paid to this man in full and without delay. Give it at once, give it as soon as you are able, from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from beyond the river. As I mentioned uh earlier, ongoing support for the world is further enunciated in Ashrah 6, verse 9 to 10. Whatever is needed, whatever is needed for the Jews, do it. Bulls, ram, sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priest at Jerusalem require, let that be given to them day by day without feel. Let it be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Not only that, if that is not good enough, Darius stopped out with a for benefit. You know, in fact, it's a warning to seal the deal. He says in Eshra 6 verse 11, he threatened those who uh who wanted to change the decree. He says this in uh that Darius made a decree in Eshra 6 verse 11 if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a gang hill. So, in other words, he topped it up finally with a word of warning and judgment, as if to make a double seal to say, do nothing to stop the work of the rebuilding of the house of God. The person who attempted to change Darius' decree will be impaled on a beam. It is a punishment that uh Persian uh uh rulers impose on those who are disobedient to the addict. So we see the favor, the heart of Ashrah 6, 1 to 12 is the favor of God, true and true. Uh the work of the rebuilding of the house, we see favor after favor. God's hand of favor was on them, true and true, from beginning to end. So, what is the lesson we can learn today from Eshra chapter 6, verse 1 to 12? You know, it'll be very much pleasurable if I say, Yeah, that is all to life, right? God's favor again and again on our lives, which I mean, if we read Israel chapter 6, 1 to 12, in isolation from the other narrative earlier of what happened to the Jews. So we need to remember that it was actually in the context of opposition. Uh, in Ashra 4, remember when I shared the word, it was opposition after opposition, conflict after conflict. You know, it's as if you don't have enough bad news that one bad news has to come after the other. Right? Um, so we recall Ashra chapter 3 ended with a note of much joyful shouting and weeping as the laying of the foundation of the temple. But as soon as Ashra 4 began, we see conflict and opposition and every turn. So Ashra 4, verse 1 to 24, we saw uh in the past, in a couple of weeks ago, that there was conflict and opposition from the time of King Cyrus. There was conflict and opposition in the king in the time of King Ahazurus, there was conflict and opposition in the time of King Atazexus I. So three kings, conflict uh persisted time and time again. Opposition came time and time again. So a combination of durative distress in Ashrah chapter 4, verse 4 to 5, as the memory verse reminds us, uh Israel 4 verse 4 to 5 that the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, made them afraid to build, and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. All the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. Not only that, but accusative letters were sent to Persian kings, not only one, but two letters from the people of the land. And this had caused the rebuilding work to stop for 15 years, until we read today, in the time of Darius, that the work was restored. But if we look on hindsight and we reflect on this narrative, do we realize that it was in the context of opposition to the rebuilding of the temple that actually brought Cyrus' orders to light? You know, it was only when things got so bad, and eventually when a search was being made last week, we learned uh from Tatanai uh that he ordered a search, right? So Darius replied, but uh it kind of through this episode of opposition, suddenly Cyrus' orders was brought to light. So it's often in the face of conflict and opposition that we experience as believers overwhelming vindication from God if we do not give up. Let me repeat, let me repeat because this is a key point. It says, I'm saying that it is often in the face of conflict and opposition that we experience an overwhelming vindication from God if we do not give up. Ezra 6, verse 1 to 12 really give up gives us a picture of favor, God's favor through Darius decrease, as we have seen a while ago. And the key verse is this Ezra 5, verse 5. The eye of their God, as I shared at the beginning, was on the elders of the Jews. The eye of God was focused to strengthen the work. And they did not stop them. The opposite those who opposed the work did not stop them until the report should read Darius and an answer be written by a letter concerning it. So the eye of God was over their lives. So for the Jews who were rebuilding the house of God, they had experienced great distress, seen in the conflict and opposition they faced, despite putting their hands to the plow to rebuild the house of God. I bet if many of us were there, if I were was I was living at that time when I left my family and everything to come back and rebuild the house of God, only to face opposition after opposition, I likely will feel discouraged, like many of us. So they make sacrifices, they make the shift, they came up to rebuild the house of God. Yet great distress in Ashra 4, seen in the conflict and opposition. Um, as they put their hands to the plow, one question that came to them perhaps was, God, why? You know, after perhaps obeying, hearing your voice, yes, I should uproot my family and return to Jerusalem. But why? Why all this? It's a very common question that we go through when we face trials and opposition in our lives. Why God, why this great distress? But I'd like to suggest to us that these Jews also experience great favor from God. Great distress, but also great favor. God had raised up Darius for such a time as this to bring favor and success to the rebuilding of the house of God. It's almost like a capstone uh rounding up of what had happened prior to that. So great distress, great favor. I'd like to suggest to our life that to us today that God uses both in the life of believers distress and favor to grow us to become more like Jesus. So it'll be um nice of me if I just share a word on God's favor and just ignore what happened before and just say, yeah, it's God's favor is on you, you know. Whatever you do will prosper. Just trust, you know, that in Christ you are more than conquerors. Yes, that is true. But on hindsight, as we read the narrative as a whole from Ashrah 4 to 6, we know that God uses both distress and favor to grow us, to become more like Jesus. So, a good example of this is how Paul uh explains this, bears out this concept in Philippians 3 verse 10. In the context of speaking of what it means, Paul was talking about Philippians 3, about what it means to really know Jesus Christ as Lord. He said, I have put aside all things, all my credentials and qualifications as a highly educated uh Jew with all the qualifications, I consider them as dung, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, having a righteousness that is not through the zealous uh following of the law, but that is through faith in Christ. Then of course, he says the wonderful words which we have, many of us have committed to memory, that uh I may know Christ, right? Pursuing Christ, I may know Christ. But what we sometimes forget to remember is he says, I will know him, meaning know Christ, in the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, right? Becoming like him in death. So it's not just knowing the power of God's resurrection, Christ's resurrection, but it's also the sharing of his sufferings. That Paul says that I will know Christ in the sharing of his sufferings. So, firstly, to know Christ means to know the victory and power of the resurrection. That's what we do. We sing every Sunday, we gather, we remind ourselves of the hope we have in Christ, the victory, the power of what it means to live an overcoming life of victory, which includes God's favor and blessings seen in answered prayers and vindication from Him. This is likened to what the Jews experienced in the whole chapter of Ezra 6, 1 to 12. The favor of Darius was upon them to continue the work of rebuilding the house of God. But to know Christ also means to share in the sufferings of Christ. Paul elsewhere paints it even more poignantly. If you have your Bibles before you, you'd like to turn to Colossians chapter 1, verse 24. Colossians chapter 1, verse 24. Paul talks about in my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church. In my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. So he saw, not that he's trying to budge himself in to find trouble, you know, but he's saying that all his suffering as an apostle for the sake of the gospel, is building up the church, even as he's sharing in the sufferings of Christ. For Paul, there is a redemptive purpose in suffering. Suffering is not suffering for suffering's sake, but suffering. Suffering with an awareness that is part of what it means to really know Christ, to share in his sufferings. I'm not sure whether we are comfortable with this idea. You know, as I remember uh growing up, of course, many of us lived through the 1970s, the charismatic renewal. During that time, I was just born. Uh I was born in 1978 when it's uh it's the year of the Billy Graham Crusade. That was the year I was born. So I wouldn't be aware what happened. Some of us here, I think you're maybe aware of what happened, what the crusade was like. So all I can see through the crusade was through historical memory or tapes, you know, videos or YouTube uh kind of uh videos that were uploaded. How was it like the altar call, people came down? I think through the crusades and also the charismatic renewal, many years uh brought about a sense of renewal to the church. And it's very much needed. We need the vitalization of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But sometimes our Christian uh culture and our uh uni uh uni, uh we only focus on the fact of the victory and the resurrection. Kind of is an unbalanced approach to knowing Christ. Because knowing Christ historically, you know, if we read, do a bit of reading in the life of the church fathers or um of do a bit of church history, we realize that actually suffering is as much as an important means of knowing Christ, not just the victory. You know, so talking about this is my own experience. So growing up, after a while I kind of got a bit tired of, you know, sometimes in the Christian world, uh things are done, of course, we cannot judge people's motifs. Uh, and everyone that serves and leads worship and uh may be leading with a sense of God's anointing. So we are not uh we shouldn't judge their motive whether it's right or wrong. Or yeah, but my own, this is trying again from my own perspective, but for a while in my Christian life, I was kind of tired about all the hype that sometimes comes in trying to uh make things stir up our emotions maybe a bit more to try to uh be very loud and try to stir up the crowd, you know, the kind of uh uh mongering of uh as if we have to strike to catch God's presence. So that's why I think uh I'm I'm glad to be an Anglican because I find that it's good to be guided by scripture and tradition. So it's good to know that um there is a goodness in being a bit more uh solemn and uh a bit more uh surreal about life, you know, rather than just that that you know hype that comes a lot of times, that comes and go. Right. So I mean this is my own experience. So my own spirituality, why I'm sharing this is because my own journey of spirituality sometimes tells me that suffering is not good. The only good that can come is when I see the resurrection, the victory. And sometimes uh pastors unknowingly share that theology, you know, when all we talk about is uh God's favor, God's victory, uh living as overcomers. That we forget actually there's a strand going on, uh very strong strand in church history and tradition, even in scripture, um, of the fact that to know Christ is also to know his sufferings, you know, to so whatever suffering I go through, as I look to Christ, I can endure. Because Christ Himself also suffered. That's the idea of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, when the believers were discouraged, you know, they were encouraged, you know, in look at the cross, look at the suffering of Christ, look at what he endured, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart in your life. So we need to recognize that distress in the experience of conflict and opposition is not something that we can always pray away, you know, uh, as much as we want God to take away our the those that oppose us and conflict uh that happened to our lives. But rather biblically, um conflict and opposition should lead us to commit ourselves further to God. So 1 Peter 2.19 reminds us. 1 Peter 2.19, if you if you like to take notes, 1 Peter 2.19 is a good verse because Peter says this for this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. Let me repeat again, 1 Peter 2.19. For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering suffering unjustly. So the fact that we know God and His presence with us, we have strength to endure sorrows or so-called distress that come to our life. So for Christian, um the right perspective is yeah, we will go through distress, but we will also experience God's great favor. Vindication will come, right? Otherwise, it's fatalism, right? If we are just kind of in the rut, we swing the other side. I know I talk a lot about suffering, but if just keep talking about suffering alone without any hope in the end of the tunnel, then it's also fatalism, right? Because we are just suffering and suffering, and there's no end to suffering and bad things happening, then why be a Christian, right? But we have the hope, that's why we need both. We need to know that distress will come, but we also need to know God's favor will also come to our lives. And I think one of the greatest comfort for us, uh, as and I'll close with this, is actually uh for me, I think for many of us, when we realize that God is not only the God of all creation, but he is the God of all history. He's the God of the present, he's God of the past, but he is also the God of the future. So I'd like to close with a reading from Isaiah chapter 45, verse 1 to 7. It's a bit long, but I think it's good for us to just go through it. Um Isaiah chapter 45, verse 1 says, Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him, and to lose the belt of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed. God says to Cyrus, his anointed in uh in the first person uh singular, I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hearts in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob and Ishrael, my chosen, I'll call you, I'll call you by name, I name you, though you do not know me, I am the Lord, and there's no other. Besides me, there's no God. I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know that from the rising of the sun and from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there's no other. I form dark light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things. So this passage is a wonderful uh macro perspective, a big picture perspective of who is God? No, he's a God of all creation, that he can even use evil for good. Right? And uh and what I want to bring us to attention is that Cyrus was actually God's instrument to fulfill God's divine purpose. God will give him in verse 3 the treasures of darkness. What's this treasures of darkness? Right, uh, it actually refers to what is hidden away. What is is uh is an idiom for saying that God will give to uh Cyrus what is hidden, he will reveal uh to Cyrus. So it's marvelous because God Himself summoned Cyrus by name, even though Cyrus, being a pagan uh king, does not know him. He says, I call you by name, I name you though you do not know me. And towards the end of verse 5, I equip you though you do not know me. That's wonderful. It tells us that God knew all along his plan of salvation for the Jews. So God summoned by name personally Cyrus to the performance of decreed tasks. As much as Cyrus, this is the point I want to get at, as much as Cyrus decreed that the Jews should return to rebuild the house of God in Eshra 1, it was God who was behind everything. No, it was God who first called Cyrus to the task. So as much as we read in Eshra chapter 1 that uh Cyrus issued a decree to allow all the Jews to return, but it many, many uh centuries before that, the prophet Isaiah prophesies in Isaiah 45 that Cyrus is God's instrument of deliverance for the people of Israel. So all of us can take comfort today that even if we do not fully know or understand what we are going through, especially if we are living in a time of Ezra Fall, you know, where we feel that it's something that comes to us, opposition after opposition, conflict after conflict. The good news today, I think we need to end with the good news, is God's favor is upon us. And we may not fully know or understand what we are going through, but God knows everything, the end from the beginning. He's the Lord of history, he's the God of the past, the present, and the future. The future present because he makes to him the future is present before him. So as I begin in Eshuel chapter 5, verse 5, the I mentioned about the eye of God, you know, was on upon the work. But I'd like to suggest to us that the eye of God was not only on the elders of the Jews, as in Eshra chapter 5, verse 5, but also seen in the calling of Cyrus, way before Cyrus issued a uh decree in Ashra 1. So, with the assurance of God knowing everything, we can trust God that He will give us the strength to overcome what seemingly trials, conflict, or opposition that comes our way. While, and this is important, while looking forward to God's vindication, favor, and deliverance, it will come. Otherwise, why be a Christian, right? If Christ is not raised from the dead, there's no resurrection power in us as Christians. If there's no power to live in strength in the midst of trials, then there's no different. I think we should just pack our backs and go home, right? If there's no resurrection power, there's no favor from God in our lives, then we are as good as anyone else, right? That goes through bad times, comes upon all, right? Trials, affliction, comes upon all. But then the balance is that we have God's favor on us. We have the resurrection power of Christ. And we know we have to look forward to God's vindication, favor, and deliverance. Regardless of what situation we are in now, I want to encourage you to look forward to God's vindication, favor, and deliverance because He is already there, He knows He created us in our mother's womb even before we were born. He knows the number of hairs on our head. Surely, God will save us. Surely, deliverance will come.

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And that is the hope we have as Christians. We pray that you've administered too by the word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Egypt Christian church, please visit our website at ycanglican.com. Have a blessed day.