Acceptable Sacrifices
by Mark Dewey

This text is familiar to many Christians. What may not be as widely known is that these events were a fulfillment of God's promise. God had promised that the Israelites would plunder the Egyptians—He first made the promise to Abraham more than five hundred years before the event (Gen. 15:13-14), and then to Moses before He sent him to deliver His people (Ex. 3:21-22). Like many of God's promises, the fulfillment came about as a result of obedience to His commandment (Ex. 11:2). These truths are important to note because some have argued that the Israelites may have stolen from the Egyptians, or at least asked to borrow something that they would never return. If either scenario were true the actions of the Israelites would have been sinful and, more importantly, their sin would have been due to the promise and commandment of God. Obviously this could never be, God cannot sin nor does He tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13). No, this is simply a matter of the Lord giving His people favor in the sight of pagans and causing the pagans to freely give up their goods. All things come from the Lord and belong to the Lord, He can distribute them as He desires.

This theme of "plundering the Egyptians" is common in Scripture. After God had caused Judah's enemies to destroy one another He gave His people a tremendous amount of plunder (2 Chr. 20:20-25). Job, in describing the wicked, declared, "Though he piles up silver like dust and prepares garments as plentiful as the clay, he may prepare it, but the just will wear it and the innocent will divide the silver" (Job 27:16—17). Solomon echoes these words in Proverbs 13:22 and Ecclesiastes 2:26. In the book of Ezra we read of Cyrus, King of Persia, proclaiming the end of captivity to God's people in his kingdom (1:1-4). Cyrus made a proclamation that the Jews would not leave empty-handed but would be given silver and gold, goods and cattle and he did this so the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (v. 2). Later, King Darius commanded the full cost of rebuilding the temple "to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay" (6:8). Then King Artaxerxes allowed the Jews under his authority to go back to Jerusalem and promised to give them any and all provisions (7:11-19). Like Cyrus and Darius, Artaxerxes provided for the Jews from the royal treasury (7:20), and, as if he did not want to be outdone by the other kings, Artaxerxes made a law forbidding tax, tribute or toll being imposed on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of this house of God (7:24). These kings plundered themselves and their people in order to give to God's people and the building of His temple. This is absolutely amazing. God moved in the hearts of the Egyptians, and in these kings. He plundered the "Egyptians" and gave their goods to His people.

From the passages in Ezra and Exodus, I will seek to draw out a few truths and make some applications.

In both books we find the people of God in bondage to pagan kings in pagan nations. God's people had been captive in Egypt for 430 years and in Babylon for 70 years. Not long before God would provide deliverance and plunder for His people, things would have looked extremely dire. This should give us great comfort, hope and joy. We live under predominantly pagan rulers in a predominantly pagan nation, but God can bring about a mighty deliverance whenever and wherever He pleases.

Also, the fact that it is God who is responsible for the plundering and who allows His people to be the recipients of it, is a clear indication that deliverance from the pagan world does not mean a life of asceticism. Some of God's people are inclined to believe that because pagans abuse certain things Christians cannot use them. No doubt the Egyptians and Babylonians abused their silver and gold, clothes and cattle, but God was pleased to give these physical things to His people. In a word (and RC will like this), we are not to be Gnostics. However, the reason God gives us this plunder must be kept foremost in our minds.

In both Ezra and Exodus, God's people were delivered from bondage and given plunder for the purpose of worship. Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness'"(Ex. 5:1). God stirred in the spirit of Cyrus so he would provide for the building of the temple (Ezra 1:2—3), and Darius gave everything to the Jews, "that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons" (Ezra 6:10). God "plunders the Egyptians" for the same purpose as He does all things—His own glory and the good of His people. The plunder may enhance our lives, but it does so in order to enhance our ability to declare praise and thanksgiving to God. When we lose sight of this it is easy to be like the pagans and abuse the good gifts of God. There can be little doubt that the golden calf was made with the plunder from the Egyptians.

Finally, and most importantly, these texts point us to the cross. The greatest "plunderer" of all is the Lord Jesus Christ. He overpowered Satan and distributes his plunder (Luke 11:22). God had promised this—He first made the promise four thousand years before the event as He told the woman that her seed would crush the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15), and He continued to make this promise for millennia. In Christ all of God's promises are yes and amen (2 Cor. I :20). In Christ these promises were fulfilled by obedience to God's commandments because Christ obeyed God perfectly, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). In Christ we have been delivered from bondage and given much plunder. Therefore, in Christ, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Rom. 12:1).