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Ezra 6 Devotional

Made Joyful by the LORD

“For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.”Ezra 6:22 (BSB)

The search Tattenai asked for ends in a surprise. A scroll is found recording Cyrus's decree (6:1-5), and Darius not only tells the officials to leave the work alone but orders it paid for from the royal treasury, with daily supplies for the sacrifices (6:6-10). An inquiry that might have stopped the temple ends up funding it. The house is completed and dedicated with joy (6:15-16), with a sin offering of twelve goats, one for each tribe of Israel (6:17).

Then they keep the Passover, and the table includes those who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the surrounding peoples to seek the LORD (6:21). The chapter closes by naming the source of it all. The LORD made them joyful and turned the king's heart toward them, strengthening their hands for the work (6:22). Proverbs says the king's heart is like a channel of water that the LORD directs wherever he pleases (Proverbs 21:1). That joy was God's gift, and it is still his to give.

To think about: Where have you seen God turn a situation you feared into a reason for joy, and how could you thank him for it today?

About Ezra 6: The Temple Completed and Dedicated

Darius finds Cyrus’s decree, orders the officials to leave the builders alone, and pays for the work and the sacrifices. The temple is finished and dedicated with joy and offerings for all twelve tribes, and the people keep the Passover, rejoicing that God turned a king’s favor toward them.

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