Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this Friday,
In our journey through God’s “Grand Narrative”, today and this weekend we come to a very exciting point in God’s story. In 539bc shocking, hard to believe news was rapidly spreading among Jewish exiles living in Babylon and elsewhere. What news? The world’s most powerful man, Cyrus, emperor of the vast Persian Empire, had declared that all Jewish exiles, anywhere in his kingdom, were free to return home to Israel! Furthermore King Cyrus urged the exiles to rebuild their city Jerusalem and their Temple for the God of Israel, even though the land of Israel was under Persian rule! That proclamation is recorded in Ezra 1:2-4, and as you see by the map the Persian empire covered a vast area of the Middle East.
It had been 70 years since the first invasion of Jerusalem in 609bc by the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco. Four years later it was King Nebuchadnezzar in 605bc and then three more times over the next several years until finally Jerusalem was destroyed and the great Temple of God burned to the ground in 586bc.
Each invasion resulted in Jerusalem Jews being taken in shackles to foreign lands as captives. For Jews around the world God’s grand idea for a chosen people nation Israel seemed over as the once glorious nation under King Solomon’s reign was first divided and then conquered and devastated. (2 Kings 17 & 2 Chronicles 36) In 539bc Jews were living in captivity in Babylon and much of the Persian Empire. But suddenly they were free with one sweeping proclamation of Emperor Cyrus! (Ezra 1:1-4)
Ezra chapter 2 tells us an initial group of more than 40,000 Jewish exiles returned to the former region of Judah and began resettling what had been their ancestral homeland. But of course foreigners had moved in during those 70 years, thus the conflict for land occupation we see in Israel today, was happening then in 539bc, with just as much vigor and violence.
Very soon after their arrival these Jewish exiles began clearing the rubble on the Temple mount. Ezra reports: “Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD…” (Ezra 3:3) Miraculously the unthinkable had begun… a second Temple for the LORD God was possible, to be built on the same Moriah hilltop as the first, perhaps even on the very same foundation. (Ezra 3:7-13)
I doubt we can imagine the excitement, especially of those older Jews who still had memories of the glorious Temple of Solomon’s day. Have you learned to never give up on God, my friends? Have you learned that with God all things are possible? The Ezra story, in God’s Grand Narrative, proclaims those unchanging truths about our Almighty, Sovereign God!
Ezra 4 reports that opposition arose, of course, from those living in the region who did not want a Jewish temple rebuilt. Does that sound familiar? That opposition gained political momentum as some antagonists sought the help of new leaders in the Persian kingdom who put a temporary stop to all work done on the Temple mount! (Ezra 4:21-24)
So God raised up two courageous prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and their messages, proclaimed over the worksite, recorded in the Bible for us under their names, stirred the Jewish exiles to action, and they resumed their rebuilding work! (Ezra 5:1,2) Ezra reports that God strengthened His courageous exiles: “The eye of God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to King Darius, and his written reply was received.” (Ezra 5:5)
Finally, in 515bc, nearly 25 years after the work had begun, the second Temple of God was completed in Jerusalem on the very same site as the first Temple! The dedication ceremony was held and soon thereafter the returned Jewish exiles celebrated Passover once again in Jerusalem at the newly completed Temple!
While this second Temple was the same dimensions as the first, the exiles did not have nearly the amount of gold and other expensive resources which Solomon had used, thus I presume it was a much less impressive Temple. Yet it was nothing short of miraculous… that Jewish exiles were back in their homeland, rebuilding Jerusalem, with God’s Temple as the centerpiece of their city. (Ezra 6:14-22)
The remainder of Ezra’s book includes the scholar and teacher Ezra finally journeying from exile to Jerusalem to see this rebuilt Temple for himself. Oh, Ezra did not make that long journey alone, for he had been sent by the King and commissioned to take with him other religious Jewish leaders who would teach the people God’s laws and bring a moral and spiritual reorientation, in fact a spiritual revival, to Jerusalem!
Ezra 7 & 8 is the record of Ezra’s remarkable journey to Jerusalem carrying with them a great amount of silver and gold sent by the king and other Jewish exiles for the Temple of God. Ezra reports: “The hand of our God was upon us, and He protected us from enemies and bandits along the way, so we arrived in Jerusalem…” (Ezra 8:31)
Sadly, Ezra found in Jerusalem a great deal of moral unfaithfulness and his difficult work of bringing Biblical justice and spiritual revival to the people was a great challenge which Ezra described in Ezra 9&10.
These chapters challenge me to consider the cities in which you and I live and I wonder friends, what work God wants to do in our cities to bring moral renewal and spiritual revival? Could it be these last three weeks of December God has some very special things HE’s planning for change, as took place in Jerusalem with Ezra? Are we ready?
As we close today, may I urge you to find the little two chapter book of Haggai near the end of the Old Testament and spend some time reading this powerful message God sent through Haggai which motivated those Jewish exiles to complete the Temple project even though they faced daily, great opposition? It’s a powerful message very applicable to facing our challenges today in completing the work God has called you and me to accomplish!
Some helpful “Lessons Learned” notes are at the “Grand Narrative” link below. And I found a worship song calling us with Job’s words to stand in awe of the unmatched majesty of God. Let’s join in the joy of these exiles celebrating God’s miraculous accomplishment… a second Temple was completed on the Temple Mount!
What great things is God doing in your life today that motivates you to lift your heart to praise Him?
Today’s Scripture: Ezra 1-6 & Haggai.
Choose below to read or listen.
Ezra 1-6
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Ezra 2
Ezra 3
Ezra 4Ezra 5
Ezra 6
Haggai 1-2
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Haggai 2
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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