Evangelicia

Alicia's Bible Blog

 

 

Ezra 7:14 "For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand".

 

This is a line in King Artaxerxes' letter to Ezra, allowing Ezra and any Jew who chooses to go with him to return to Jerusalem. Ezra is to "make inquiries ... according to the law of your God, which is in your hand".

 

What does it mean that the law of Ezra's God is in his hand, and that Artaxerxes recognizes that? One hint is in the salutation where Artaxerxes refers to Ezra as "a scribe of the law of the God of heaven. " (Ezra 7:12). Artaxerxes is not Jewish, Ezra's God is not his God (well, actually, He is, but Artaxerxes does not know it). Artaxerxes says "the law of your God, which is in your hand" because he knows Ezra is a wise and learned man in the laws of the Jewish faith. He knows, therefore, that Ezra is a good choice to lead other Jews back to Jerusalem and make sure what happens there is in accordance with their faith. 

 

I said that the God of Israel is Artaxerxes' God, too, Artaxerxes just doesn't know it (yet). But there is a small hint that maybe he does in the salutation. There Artaxerxes refers to Ezra's God as "the God of heaven." There is no qualification of "your" God, he seems to be referring to the one God. So maybe Artaxerxes knew, or came to know, God. I think one good thing that came out of the exile was that foreign peoples came to see and know the Jews in a way they never would have had the Jews not been dispersed. By knowing the Jews, others could then come to know the Jewish God, the God who is their God as well.

 

Cartoonist, commentator, and former agnostic Scott Adams passed away yesterday. One of the last things he did was record a video in which he professes his desire to convert to Christianity. He says he came to this because his Christian friends were always asking him to convert, and he respected that even when he wasn't ready to do so. The Christian God is Scott Adams God, and always was. Scott recognized it at the end because of Christians being true to their faith. That is how evangelization works. I like to hope that Artaerxes had a similar conversion before his death. If he did, it was in large part due to the influence of Jews like Ezra.