Uncategorized 
No Comments Artaxerxes
Kings come and kings go. We celebrate when a good king rules. Such was the case for Ezra. After Cyrus and Darius had facilitated the Jewish people’s return to their homeland and the rebuilding of their temple, Artaxerxes became the power behind Jewish existence. It was acceptable to be Jewish.
Nebuchadnezzar, after witnessing the power of God, issued a decree (Daniel 3:29) that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after his sort.
King Darius (Daniel 6:26, I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:29) And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
God accomplishes his will through us; we are his workmen but we have to contend with the kings in power. We pray for our leaders not only to be saved but to enforce the will of God and his purpose on earth. For civil society to continue the penalty for sinful men must be severe. Kings exert their power to move men to live by the law. In both these cases, men were punished for not obeying God.
Today is no different. Our leaders are not perfect but they are kings and have power over us. We are crumbling into chaos and ruin because men do not obey the laws of God. The very basic laws against theft and murder are being ignored and encouraged by leaders who abandon civility for personal power.
Belshazzar was a king much like most kings, arrogant and overly consumed with his self-righteous power. He ignored the deterioration of his kingdom and was unaware of his imminent fall. He saw the writing on the wall but didn’t understand it. Our current batch of politicians worldwide are falling into that same trap. Belshazzar could have noticed the bands of soldiers surrounding his fortress, he could have noticed the river drying up but eat, drink and be merry was the rant of the day.
We shake our collective fist in the face of God and declare our independence from him. Our current President Biden is following in Belshazzar’s footsteps. Drunken on power and wine Belshazzar became a fool; Joe Biden is drunk on the same power but on the wine of dementia.
Joe refers to God as “you know, that thing”. President Trump said that the only one we bow a knee to is God. Two rather different thoughts, one not knowing if there is a thing called God and the other saying you’d better bow. Bowing is humbling. The kings Daniel dealt with were humbled either willingly or by God.
Donald Trump has been persecuted and only by the hand of God has survived every assault. The lawlessness in our country must be dealt with and it can’t be squelched without swift, harsh action. Brutal men now roam our streets thanks to the lawlessness of the Democrat Party.
Bringing our country back to civility will be by decree, it won’t differ much from the words of these kings of 2500 years ago.