Heralds Digest

  “ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. So I was encouraged, as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me .” Ezra 7 : 27 - 28 NKJV It is important to see the great connection between the heart of king Artaxerxes and the hand of the Lord upon Ezra. Obviously, it shows that the true battles of life are not fought with the fists of human hands; but rather by the lifting up of holy hands. It all started by the acknowledgement of Ezra’s engagement with the Lord: “ For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7 : 10 )”. He knew that it wasn’t in vain that the scriptures say elsewhere that “ The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord...

  “ Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done for the house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? ” Ezra 7 : 23 NKJV Just as reflection on human drive is motivated by the pursuit of excellence, promotional engagement, and business accomplishments, there is no doubt the human hearts desire winsome works. The only problem being the pursuit from wrong places for motivation and rewards of human engagement. If an earthly king of kings Artaxerxes could acknowledge the commandment of the God of Heaven as the main drive for winsome works, what is the reasonable basis for hearts’ willful and wicked engagements in our world. It is always “ whatever is commanded by the God of heaven ” or whatever is motivated by self-centredness, sensuality, or satanic manipulation, even in the most seemingly appropriate work proposition. Thoughtfully, any king Artaxerxes can understand that while the human hearts are capa...

  ” Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. So I was encouraged, as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me. “ ‭‭Ezra‬ ‭7‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The gifts from king Artaxerxes to Ezra made a significant difference in the project of rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord. Prior to this time, many kings and governors have fought vigorously against the project; and repressed every attempt to undertake the same project. Obviously, it is true that when the hands of the Lord are upon any project in life, He uses even our enemies to make significant contributions to the success of the project. Even when it appears the people’s hands are vigorously against the pursuit of God’s purpose in our lives, their actions and ...

“And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. And whatever more may be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king’s treasury.” ‭‭Ezra‬ ‭7:18-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/ezr.7.18-20.nkjv One of the devastating influences of corruption is the destruction of trust and integrity in the affairs of the people of God. Even many diligent people of God will wear extra care and caution when exposed to depend on the integrity of other people of God, especially when dealing with the subject of establishment code (“estacode”). Originally used in former British colonies, estacode now has diverse meanings and subject to the depth of endemic corruption in the system. However in the times of Ezra, extra establishment code...