The Lord is in Charge

God is in charge. That is the first and most pressing theological truth we must believe. If we are to listen, trust Him and obey, there is no other place to start than with His sovereignty. When we reject Him, we suffer, when we listen we live.

God's hand is all over the destruction of Judah. The "he" below is the Lord himself, orchestrating the enemies of Israel into the exile of 70 years.

2 Chronicles 36:17–18 (ESV) Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.

God is in charge. He will use the nations as He wills to accomplish His purpose in His people. This means there is NO season or stage in human history where God is not at work. He may be building His people, chastising them, detaching them from this world and its lusts, or simply directing them out of the foreign ways of the world. God is always working on His people, in good times and bad.

When we come to the end of the narrative of Chonicles a familiar Bible name pops up. 

2 Chronicles 36:20–21 (ESV) He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 

It is this Jeremiah who warned the nation and repeatedly called them to understand God's punishment was coming. The Chronicler mentions him here to remind the returning exiles that if they are to indeed once again prosper in this land, the Word of the Lord that they may not want to hear or obey is the only means by which that might happen. 

2 Chronicles 36:22-23 (ESV) Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’ ”

The second person we are introduced to is Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia. What's important to see is that Cyrus, the pagan is more aware of the power of the Lord to give the kingdoms to whomever He wills than the people of Israel were. Secondly, Cyrus knows the Temple must be built before any other detail of the land. 

How interesting that a gentile is the impetus for Israel's repopulating the land. But this is nothing new. It was the cruelty of Pharaoh that caused them first to cry out for deliverane. Israel is oftentimes led by the activities of pagan kings to possess God's promises and seek out God's priorities. In this light, the sovereignty of God shines even brighter as His people will even be prodded at times by those that reject Him. And this will lead them back to Him.

How does this play out in our lives? If you are a citizen of heaven, God will make sure your heart is aimed there. He will do this even through pagan people, curbing your appetites away from this present wilderness and at times directing your heart toward heaven through the paganism around you. It might be painful at times, but it's beneficial in every way. When sorrow, confusion or pain are apparent, we should hear our Father saying, "Look up child, your heart belongs to me."