Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Proverbs 21:1 states "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he wills."

This includes pagan kings!

Reading through the book of Ezra it is striking how things changed from chapter 4 where King Artaxerxes orders work to cease on the Temple [in response to "diplomatic cables" which I discussed in an earlier post] to Chapter 6 where King Darius not only allows the rebuilding but pays for it!

Tombs at Persepolis, Iran. Another great photo of the tombs of Darius 1, Artaxerxes 1, and Xerxes 1 is here.