Home / Ezra 1:1-11; 3:1-13 Nehemiah 1:1-11; 4:15-23; 8:1-18
“Three times a day he [Daniel] got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” (Daniel 6:10)
In exile, LOVE’s people felt unloved and forgotten. The prophet Jeremiah had told them the exile would only last seventy years and pointed out that LOVE had remained faithful – only brining about exactly what LOVE had promised. Slowly, the exiles’ longing to return to their homeland was matched by a longing to return to LOVE as well.
Daniel took up the exiles’ cause in prayer, whilst seeking to serve and bless his captors. LOVE was listening and prospered Daniel and the exiles even as the Babylonian (also known as Assyrian) Empire around them was crumbling. Empires always fall in the end. And sure enough, the Babylonian Empire gave way to the Persians in 539 B.C. This was all in LOVE’s plan though, because the first king of the Persian Empire, Cyrus, decreed that some Jews could return to rebuild Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and the priest, Jeshua. The first thing they did was to worship and pray.
Encouraged and challenged by the teaching of the so-called “minor prophets” such as Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, work continued to rebuild the temple and re-establish worship and prayer. Under the leadership of Ezra society was transformed through housing and civil works, ensuring justice and prosperity for all. Under Nehemiah’s leadership the walls were rebuilt to provide a basis for ongoing peace and security. As we shall see tomorrow, all this pointed forwards to a time when LOVE’s promises would be fulfilled in Jesus for all people.
Daniel prayed under great persecution. He prayed when it was illegal to do so, was duly arrested for it and sentenced to a grisly death being thrown in to a lion’s den. LOVE protected and delivered him, and rewarded him for his perseverance and faithfulness. Today, let’s pray for the persecuted church. One of the most profoundly moving prayer stations in our prayer room at church is a door, defaced with chains, nails and splattered with red paint, depicting the slavery and bloodshed in nations where our brothers and sisters in Christ pray in the face of great persecution. We must pray for them, asking for their deliverance and protection, as well as for the gospel to prosper in their lands, which often occurs through miraculous signs. We can also ask LOVE that we might know something of their bravery to stand up for faith in Christ.
“’The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house” says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:9)
