In reflecting on the book of Ezra recently, I recognized a similarity to a passage in Exodus.
In Ezra 5:1-5, two prophets of God named Haggai and Zechariah come to the Israelites to encourage and support their rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. When the builders are questioned by local authorities, they don’t stop as they did last time they were questioned. In verse 5, we’re told God’s eye was watching them, and they were able to continue building while they waited for an answer from Darius, the Persian king.
Eventually in Ezra 6, word arrives from King Darius blessing their rebuilding project. Why? Because Darius found King Cyrus’ original decree in writing from Ezra 1:1, where God first moved the heart of a Persian king to let His temple be rebuilt.
In summary, the rebuilders were questioned, but God let them keep building and eventually moved the secular leadership to affirm the rebuilding effort.
As I reflected on this, I remembered a story that has a similar feel: Exodus 14:14. The Israelites are hemmed in between Pharaoh’s troops and the sea. It looks like they are being stopped. But Moses assures the people God will take care of the situation. They just need to trust Him and stand their ground.
If you’ve read the story of the Exodus, you know what happens next: God does take care of the situation. He parts the Red Sea, the Egyptian troops are stopped, and the Israelites are delivered from their season of captivity.
Interesting that the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra also follows a season of captivity. Although the behavior of the foreign rulers is different between the Ezra and Exodus stories, both situations have God in the driver’s seat above the earthly rulers.
In the Exodus story, the people are told to stand still. In the Ezra story, the people are told to keep building. But the lesson is the same: Stand in faith and trust God to take care of it. In both stories, God does, in fact, take care of it and shows He is greater than any earthly power.
In both stories, the role of the people is to stand in the faith of knowing God is in charge. In Exodus, standing in faith looks like holding still and letting God move. In Ezra, standing in faith looks like continuing to rebuild while God handles the bureaucracy. Both stories are calls to stand in faith and trust God to move. God definitely moves in power to achieve His plan and deliver His people.
Let’s apply that forward to Jesus: the ultimate move of God to deliver His people, to achieve His redemption plan, to defeat sin and death forever. Jesus took that lesson a step further to show us that when we stand in faith, mountains will move (Matthew 17:20, Mark 11:23).
I love how the Old Testament shows us previews of that ultimate move of God in the New Testament. All these stories reveal His power, His redemption plan, and His love that drives all of it. Where is God asking you to stand in faith today and trust Him?
Here’s an earlier article, Just Stand, that further explores the message of standing in faith.
