Ezra 6-10

God doing the impossible or God just being God?

The account in Ezra is another one of the great stories of God doing what man sees as impossible. When the investigations into the historical records were done, not only did Darius issue a decree to let the people of God continue building the temple, but that the means (materials, resources) to do so should come from the state!  That is how much our God can do for those who have faith in Him!  Help had come from Darius, a non-worshiper of God.  God is not limited in the means He can use to bring about His will!

 By faith, God’s Temple was completed (verse 15) and God’s people celebrated what God had done. With the Temple completed, they were able to start sacrificing the offerings to God such as sin offerings and those required for the Passover. 

And if that wasn’t enough evidence of God working, Darius makes this decree.

“May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”  Ezra 6:12

Ecclesiastes 3, 4 Man & Animal

In times past I have had a hard time with 3:19:

For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same, as one dies so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts for all is vanity. 

So is man's fate really the same as the animals? And does that mesh with the rest of the Bible?

As always we must go to the context for a proper understanding. In this immediate context the "preacher" is making the point that "God will judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time and matter for every work." The main point seems to be that you don't worry about the future, but that man should rejoice in his work now. Enjoy life, because just like the animals, you aren't going to live forever.

As far as what the rest of the Bible says on this matter. From this book alone we see in this book alone (12:7, 3:21) that mankind has an immortal soul while animals do not. No where are we told that with animals to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord (II Cor. 5:8). Likewise, no where does the Bible speak of the resurrection of animals as it does for human beings (John 5, Rev. 20). So yes, while not in the physical realm, there is obviously a huge distinction between the death of man and animal in the spiritual realm.

Let's go back again to the main point, don't let this sidetrack you from the message of the text. You will one day return to dust, don't stress about a legacy or the future or be apprehensive about the next year, take joy and satisfaction in the good gifts God gave you today. 

Psalm 125-127

Unless the Lord builds the house those who built it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city the watchman stays awake in vain. 

This Psalm is attributed to Solomon, and the theme of this basic wisdom Psalm is fairly obvious: Without the Lords blessing all human toil is worthless. You can try as hard as you want, but without God's blessing nothing is going to happen. I have to ask myself how does that apply to my job? How does it apply to my personal goals? How does it apply to "fill in the blank" going on in your life right now. Having this understand brings two things to the forefront for me. Number one, I need to be more thankful. I don't always give credit to where credit is due. And Secondly, I need to pray more. How we pray reveals how we really feel about this.