"The Law of Medes and Persians"

While reading in Ezra recently, I was reminded of my early homeschooling years.  Whenever I tried to renege on a planned outing or change plans for the day, my sons would proclaim, "Law of Medes and Persians.  Law of Medes and Persians!"

The "Law of Medes and Persians" is referred to in several Old Testament books.  This "law" was a policy that forbade all previous laws from being revoked.  In essence, any law or decree written during the Medo Persian Empire became a permanent ordinance.

And a permanent law seems bizarre to our American way of thinking.  In our society, laws and policies change daily depending on who's in office.  But rather than being problematic, the Law of Medes and Persians actually had some advantages.

Stability - Permanent laws meant a sense of stability for the government.  And, the governed people knew what to expect.

Caution - A permanent law would not be written or approved in haste.  It was likely to be thought out, wise, and prudent.   

But the Law of Medes and Persians isn't just a history lesson.  God's character is actually similar to this law, and I think of that every time I read those Old Testament passages.  Consider:

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it?  Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19

Our God keeps His promises; He does what He says He'll do.  He promises to hear our prayers, and indeed He does.

Also God's very name proclaims His eternality, His sameness, that He always is, that He doesn't change, and that He can be counted on:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Exodus 3:14 

But most significantly, the gospel is a truth that cannot be changed:

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.  For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:12-14 

Jesus came to earth at a specific time, at the time of Pontius Pilate, and He sacrificed once and for all.  Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection can't be undone.  It's finished, and it proclaims a salvation that can't change.  That's greater and more precious than any Law of Medes and Persians.