Trusting in the Lord Rather than the King
In church today we covered this neat passage regarding Ezra’s leading people back to Jerusalem:
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
I recognize that historically the State has often used religion to prop itself up, but that’s not an accurate interpretation of the Bible. A major theme of the book, running from start to finish, is that the faithful will look to God for their security, not earthly riches or rulers.
Turns out they had big baths back then – a bath being about 2,200L.
So to summarise the story, Ezra gets given a vast fortune to take to Jerusalem to give to the newly re-built church there and to fund sacrifices. When they get there, lots of the returned exiles take wives from other tribes. This is something of a no-no, since “The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time.”
In order to make amends to God, everyone agrees to send away their irredeemably corrupt foreign wives and children. He seems a bit less forgiving in those days
“A major theme of the book, running from start to finish, is that the faithful will look to God for their security, not earthly riches or rulers.”
Yes, but God is just a Super-King, an all-powerful celestial badass who is going to burn alive and destroy the oppressors (Babylonians, Egyptians, Romans, take your pick) and provide an eternal life for the Jews. Even first Christians, until Augustine essentially, believed that Jesus himself will come back and kill all the [edited for profanity–RPM] and rule like a King with the faithful by his side.
“A major theme of the book, running from start to finish, is that the faithful will look to God for their security, not earthly riches or rulers.”
And yet the good Lord, Himself, recognizes humanity’s need (technically: strongly expressed desire) for a visible government and agrees to give them imperfect (by definition) human rulers, literally divinely sanctioned government.
Indeed, see Romans 13:1