Read Ezra 8:21-36

Change is something which brings anxiety in even the best of us. Whether it is a career change, a relocation, starting a family and moving to one income, a significant commitment or any other adjustment to the life we lead, it is entirely natural to feel uncertainty and fear. Thankfully as believers we have the promise of God that whatever happens, it will ultimately work for our good in whatever way God has ordained.

For Ezra and those returning to Jerusalem, the journey was one of substantial change and danger. They were leaving behind the only places they knew, to go to a land they had never seen. They faced the prospect of banditry and death on the way. They needed the sovereign protection of God. Ezra’s anxiety points us to how we too can step out in faith, despite our fears, and trust God to lead us safely to him.

After Ezra gathered those returning with him to Jerusalem for the religious and political reforms so desperately needed, and convinced the lacking Levites to join the return, we might think the next step was to unpitch the tents and hit the road. But it was not.

Instead, Ezra “proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (v.21).

Ezra and his group were quite understandably nervous. While we do not usually worry about a road trip to another city, the journey ahead of them was quite dangerous. Bandits and thieves were a common reality, even for the humble traveller. 

But this was no poor group of pilgrims. Ezra tells us in verses 25 to 30 of the substantial gold and silver items which they were taking back to Jerusalem. So many, that priestly guards had to be arranged to watch over and account for the sum and value of these items. A plot line for a heist movie, in other words.

And so Ezra and his thousands of supporters fasted and prayed for three days, for God’s protection. They were especially reliant on him, because Ezra felt that they needed to demonstrate God’s superiority to the false gods around, and he had declined troops from the king as a result (v.22). In other words, Ezra had likely proclaimed the truths of Scripture. Now, the rubber was hitting the road and he had to live by his words. Sounds familiar to me.

Thankfully, God “listened to our entreaty” as they fasted and prayed and implored his protective hand, trusting in God’s goodness “on all who seek him” (vv.22-3). An older Ezra, writing his tale, could look back and see God’s goodness displayed.

After their time of fasting, they departed “from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem” (v.31). And how did the journey go? Little we know for certain, except the most important thing. “The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way” (v.31).

They stepped out in faith, and arrived at their destination. “We came to Jerusalem” (v.32). They rested for three days, and then on the fourth day carefully counted out and weighed the gold and silver goods carried back for use in the Temple (vv.33-4). The lack of further note suggests that what left Babylon arrived in Jerusalem.

What then was left, after four months of travel? After the laughter and the fear, the uncertain steps and the safe arrival? What else, but worship! They offered “burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats” (v.35). They were Israel: God’s people, in God’s place, worshiping God. Handing out the king’s commissions to his governors (v.36) was an appendix to the most important thing. Praising God.

Ezra’s example is one we can follow as well as we walk through our own seasons of change. As believers, we know that for all those in Christ God works all things together for our good, just as Ezra could proclaim “the hand of our God is for good on all who seek him”. Same God, same goodness.

Same approach. Turn to God in prayer. Cast your worries on his goodness. Step out trusting God, that the outcome will show God’s goodness, be for your good, and bring God glory.

Walking through change does not take away our worries. But in the journey, God is with us. Walking that path in prayer, trusting in God’s goodness, helps us on the journey. Because through drawing close to God, we feel his presence with us.

One way or another, we will reach the end of that change. Whether it is a stop on the road of this life, or the end of this life and its many changes. And there, in God’s presence, we shall follow Ezra’s example once more. We shall worship God there!

Read Ezra 8:15-20

Whether it is a sports club, a hobby group, a church, or any other sort of organisation, there is always a need for volunteers and helpers. People who do not mind working away at their part of the bigger picture, helping all the cogs turn, and making sure things happen. Take a look around at church this Sunday and note all the different people and the different things they do to make our church and its various outreaches run! It is far more than just the ones with the titles. They are our real unsung heroes.

The Old Testament people of God were no different. There were plenty of important tasks to ensure the proper worship of God which had to be done, and were assigned to the Levites. The Levites were integral in making sure that the Temple and the Priests were doing exactly as they were meant. So for Ezra, the lack of Levites in the initial group of returnees was concerning. But God provided, as God always does. And God provides for the service of his kingdom here today, as he always has.

Ezra was returning to Jerusalem to bring about further reform of the worship and rule of God’s People there. He went as a man appointed by his earthly king, on the command of his Heavenly King. He did not travel alone, but with thousands of other returnees.

A trip of this nature was tough, time consuming, and dangerous. You needed to be prepared, both for the trip and for when you arrived. Food and other provisions, and security were required. Access to a river was important. No doubt that was why Ezra and his travellers gathered near part of the Euphrates River system, at “ the river that runs to Ahava” (v.15). 

There, they camped for three days and Ezra reviewed who had come (v.15). But there was a problem. Ezra lacked Levites! If his reforms were going to take root and bear fruit, then Levites were an integral part. A missing piece of the puzzle.

So Ezra sent for leading men among the Jews, “Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight” (v.16). Ezra was an organiser, but he needed help from men who knew how to influence. So these men were sent to Iddo, a leading man in a now unknown place called Casiphia, to rustle up some Levites to head back to Jerusalem (v.17).

Ezra told them what to say, to encourage these Levites to respond to the holy task which God had appointed their ancestors to (and by descent, them). While Ezra probably could have called on royal troops to press-gang Levites into the party, this was not his approach. Persuasion yes, but ultimately men responding from the heart to the summons.

The persuasion was successful. Eighteen descendents of Mahli, along with 20 descendants of Mehrari, answered the call (vv.18-19). One of these men, Sherebiah, is a particular “man of discretion” (v.18) indicating his great worth to Ezra and his task. Together with these 38 Levites, Ezra’s persuaders found “220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites” (v.20).

All of this was not merely the best efforts of charismatic men and an administrative guru. Rather it was “the good hand of our God on us” (v.18) to grant Ezra that which he needed for the task ahead of him.

Notice that Ezra did not “let go and let God” in solving the lacking Levites problem. Ezra clearly trusted in God to provide all that he would need, but he still used his brain to think through the problem, engage the right people, and provide the right arguments. Trusting in God does not mean that we check our brains at the door, or wait passively for God to provide. We must still use the talents and abilities that God gives us, and others around us, to be instruments of God’s will.

Note also that there were a variety of those gifts given. Ezra was clearly an administrator. A man who liked to organise things. But he was not the best man to persuade a bunch of Levites to leave behind their lives, family members, and way of living for the uncertain future. Others were perfect for that. The church is just the same today. God prides us all with the unique connections and contributions we make to serving God in his kingdom. 

We all have different giftings and abilities, natural and spiritual. We all have a part to play. Some of us may even be the person “of discretion” needed for one particular task!

This all works because God is faithful to his promise. God appointed Levites to special tasks for his glory, and provided Levites for Ezra’s task. God appoints individuals to build his church today, and provides them for Christ’s tasks. Where there are servants lacking, God provides the number he desires for the task by his good hand.

Read Ezra 8:1-14

Oh great, another list. While lists and charts may tickle the fancies of us who like to put ducks in a row and administer things smoothly, it is hardly the most enjoyable reading. In the Bible, it is a tempting target for a bounce to the next section (come on, confess, you all have at least considered it). What does another list have to do with helping me grow to become more like Christ?

The answer is in the details. There are subtle pieces of information that teach us about how God was still working out his plan of salvation. Whether it is family groups, passing references to identities, or the number of families who returned with Ezra, Ezra’s meticulous record keeping and diarising is not just intended for the appendices to the Scriptures but to point us to Christ.

This section of Ezra is written in the first person. It may reflect the personal diary of Ezra the government official, recording what he did and why. As a servant of God, it serves the same purpose. And because it is in the Bible, it was written for our benefit.

In a culture, largely unlike ours, which put huge value on family lineage, the list records “the heads of their fathers’ houses, and … the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king” (v.1). Ezra recorded this because it gave weight to who returned. 

It also showed, when compared to the first returnee list in Ezra 2, that all but one (Joab’s family, v.9) were following after the first pioneers. Families had divided over whether to stay or go. But clearly, lines of communication between the family groups remained open over the decades. The group who returned with Ezra would have learned of the progress and spiritual condition (or lack of it) in Jerusalem. They went to join their family members who had gone before them.

We also note that two priestly families returned. They are listed first, as sons of Phineas and Ithamar (v.2). We do not know why these priestly sons remained in the first place, but perhaps they were serving the Jews who remained in Babylon. Eventually, the call for them to leave and return came to them too.

There is also a son of David, Hattush, who returned (v.2). Whether Hattush sits somewhere in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, which may have skipped generations, is not known. But it does further show God’s favour to the line of David which, despite not having a king on Judah’s throne for more than a century, was still continuing on quietly until Jesus came.

And what of the other names in the list (vv.3-14)? They represent a cross section of the Jewish people. Specifically, twelve families. That is no mistake. Twelve tribes. Twelve disciples. Twelve families. God is sending a message about his people in Ezra’s list. God was still working to preserve his complete people.

And speaking of completeness, the sons of Adonikam “those who came later” also appear in this list (v.13). The phrase quoted can also be translated “the last ones”. While we cannot say for certain, this may refer to the remainder of an entire family line who followed Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem, reunited with their brothers in Judah.

This listing is not an accident. It was placed here on purpose. God is telling us how he is working his salvation plan out, even in the little pieces of migratory movements. He is also reminding us of what is truly important.

Whether or not the number is larger (as in Ezra 2) or smaller (as here), God is working to save and preserve a people for himself. He is calling people from exile to his presence, to serve and worship him.

This list also gives us a cultural check. In our culture, youth is idolised. Everyone wants to look young. Sometimes it feels like everything is catered to children, including the way some churches focus their strategy for evangelism. But the Bible looks at it the reverse. Perhaps we have missed something. 

We should never neglect our children, who are important and valued gifts from God. Nor should we forget it is the home, particularly the Christian home, and the pulpit, that are where our children are properly formed. They cannot be formed if they are not well led by their parents, and especially wherever possible by a husband and father pursuing godliness in his personal life. As one myself, I pray that God would shape me in godliness as a better husband and father every day. This is something all of us can pray for, whatever our circumstances.

We can trust that faithful, patient Christian formation in the home and from the pulpit works because of God’s promises. And we can trust God’s promises, because even in this passage, God kept his promise to bring home exiles, and preserve David’s line. So in time, our Saviour and King Jesus, would come and bring us safely home to God’s presence.

Read Ezra 7:11-28

It is not that often that you get to do something you want to do, and those in authority over you not only are in favour of it but actively encourage it! There is an opportunity not to be missed. 

Ezra was a man who was placed in the blessed position. Ezra wanted to return to Jerusalem to reform worship and life there. Thankfully, he had the Persian king’s bidding and backing in his task. Yet this backing, whatever the human reasoning behind it, was ultimately based on God’s hand. Ezra truly was doing the king’s bidding – that of King Jesus.

From verse 11 of Ezra 7 onwards, we read the Persian king’s letter which authorised him to go about the king’s business in implementing his reforms (v.11). As the chief king, the Persian king authorised Ezra to head to Jerusalem, and any Jews who wanted to go with him to go along with him (vv.12-13).

Ezra was sent by the King and his cabinet of advisors “to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand” (v.14). Persian kings were notable for their attitude towards the deities of their subjects. Basically, they wanted to keep sweet with them all, in case one of them affected their rule. So the Persian king’s interest in Judah’s observance of God’s Law was as much about good rule as it was covering his bases.

To make sure that Ezra succeeded in his reform, the king provided for silver and gold from his own funds, alongside that freely offered by devout Jewish believers (vv.15-16). With this money, Ezra was to buy the bulls and various offerings required for the proper sacrifices at the rebuilt temple (v.17). The rest was to be used at his discretion (v.18).

In addition, the king made sure that all the necessary vessels for sacrifices and washings were provided, either from being given or purchased from the kingdom’s funds (vv.19-20).

Further, the king directed all the treasurers of his domains “Beyond the River” which referred to the area of Judah and Syria, to provide a large amount of gold, silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt which was a necessary part of the sacrificial system (vv.21-23). There would be no repeat of the bureaucratic delays that the temple builders faced.

Finally, the king provided tax relief for the priests, levites, and temple servants (v.24). This would have also served as an incentive to serve in these roles, rather than abandoning them for better-paying jobs elsewhere.

Clearly, the Persian King was concerned that God’s wrath might fall on him and his descendants (v.23). He figured all this could buy God’s favour. While we know it can’t, Ezra was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

But together with reforming the worship, Ezra was sent with a clear mission from the king. He was to reform the rule of law in Judah. He was to “appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God” (v.25). If any did not know these laws, he was to teach them (v.25).

This would not make Ezra popular. So Ezra was also to enforce the king’s weight behind those laws, whether that was confiscation of property, imprisonment, banishment, or death (v.26). Note that these were not what God’s Law required, but were what the Persian king required.

Ezra was much like a new Moses, leading exiles out of bondage with the wealth of the nations. He was also given God’s Law to teach to his people, and would face the same resistance and trouble.

Yet despite this, Ezra was thankful to God for giving the Persian King a mind to allow him to do all this, and the courage he would need for the task ahead (vv.27-8).

The same pragmatic concern of the Persian King is sometimes experienced in our world today. Many (though definitely not all) of our laws reflect God’s Law or its implications. For that, and the enforcement which our governments and judges provide, we should be thankful. While it is not perfect, and does not perfectly reflect God’s Law revealed completely (just as Ezra’s job mixed the Law with the Persian King’s punishments), it is still God’s hand at work in our society today to restrain evil.

Secondly, we should notice how Ezra was a second Moses. Later, another man like Moses would arise, to truly explain and teach God’s Law to his people. He would purify the worship of God, by offering the true sacrifice of himself for the people’s sins. That second Moses was Jesus, the true King of Kings.

Because while the Persian King was authorising Ezra to do his bidding, the Persian King was ultimately doing King Jesus’ bidding. Ezra was not just serving a Persian King, he was serving Jesus, by reforming worship and practice to glorify God and help prepare for King Jesus’ eventual arrival.

Read Ezra 7:1-10

Sometimes the names of some of the Bible’s books can be a little confusing. Why are 1 and 2 Samuel named after Samuel, when he is prominent only in the first part of the first book, and David is the main character of most of the two? Why is Ezra named as it is, when he does not appear in the first six chapters? Good questions for heaven. 

In the meantime, Ezra finally arrives on scene in chapter 7 of Ezra, both literarily and literally. These first ten verses give us an indication of who this man is, why he has come to Jerusalem, and why God has chosen Ezra for his mission. We see a snapshot of Ezra’s credentials, Ezra’s commissioning, and Ezra’s compulsion. In this snapshot, we see a glimpse of Christ’s same mission, and in Ezra’s conduct a pattern for our own out of a thankful desire to please God.

Nearly sixty years pass between the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7. At the end of chapter 6, a group of exiles had returned. They had rebuilt the altar, endured twenty years of oppression and resistance, rebuilt the temple, resumed worship, and celebrated God’s goodness to them. All must now be well, right?

Sadly not. The years rolled on. Praise became pattern. Rejoicing became expectancy, and then complacency. The hard lessons of exile and loss were not passed on. Even God’s deliverance of his people through Esther and Mordecai did not stop the decline. And so, reformation had to come again to Jerusalem. And thus, Ezra arrives on scene.

Ezra was descended from Jews who had stayed in exile, when the first hardy exiles returned. Some of the priests and leaders of the Jews would need to stay, to ensure that the Jews who remained were led and guided in how to worship God in a strange land. Ezra’s grandparents were in that band.

The first five verses of chapter 7 give a genealogical background for Ezra. While for most of us that is yawn inducing, unless we like to dabble in ancestry websites online, for Ezra’s day and culture it was extremely important. It introduced Ezra’s credentials to lead.

Ezra’s credentials were significant. Ezra’s priestly line goes back to Aaron (vv.1-5), through Zadok the priest (who anointed Solomon), Hilkiah who served during Josiah’s reforms (2 Kings 22), and Seraiah who served when Judah fell. While he was not the high priest himself, Ezra’s ancestors hit all the right notes of Israel’s worship. He was not someone to casually dismiss.

Yet why had Ezra come? The answer was that he was commissioned. Ezra “was a scribe” which marks him out as a trusted government official, who was also “skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD… had given” (v.6). It seems that he was sent by the Persian King, perhaps to report on the situation there, by Ezra’s own request. But this was “for the hand of the LORD his God was on him” (v.6). King Artaxerxes may have sent Ezra, but it was God who commissioned and sent Ezra.

Yet the text also indicates that Ezra wanted to go. So what compelled Ezra to leave Babylon’s comforts and return to Jerusalem? It was not an easy trip, taking four months (v.8), along with “some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants” (v.7). Dangers from nature and bandits lay along the way.

The answer is that “the good hand of his God was on him” (v.9), because “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (v.10).

Ezra was a reformer. He had been captured by God’s goodness and grace, and delighted to learn how he could please God, and to pass that on to God’s people in Israel, starting in Jerusalem where God’s temple sat.

Ezra was not in it for the money. Ezra wanted God’s glory. Ezra wanted God’s people to live in ways which honoured God. It compelled him.

In Ezra, we see a picture of Jesus. If Ezra is pictured here as credentialled, commissioned, and compelled for God, how much more is Jesus! Ezra traced his line to Aaron through Zadok. Jesus’ line traces to Adam through David. God sent Ezra through the Persian King, but spoke publicly to commission Jesus as his beloved son in whom he was pleased! And Ezra delighted to learn God’s Law, but Jesus not only embodied it but fulfilled it for us, in his life and his death for our sins on the Cross.

Because of Jesus’ success in his divine mission, we are lovingly restored to God’s presence in his church. Like Ezra, captured by God’s goodness and grace, we have the privilege of learning how to please and thank God by following his commands, and are compelled to faithfully hold Scripture’s truths as a new generation.

Because Jesus, like Ezra before, arrived on scene.

Read Ezra 6:19-22

We are now in December, which means even the most grinch-like among us permit Christmas music and decorations. Christmas and Easter are two of the most important “festivals” associated with Christianity (well, most of us anyway), representing the birth and then the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Jews, their most important festival was the Passover, which commemorated God’s rescue of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.

The returned exiles had finally restored and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, and in March 516 BC celebrated its completion. In April, they celebrated the Passover for the first time in decades. Just as God had brought their ancestors out of slavery in Egypt, now God had brought them out in a new exodus from their exile. So they celebrated the Passover that looked back, and that looked forward to the New Exodus and the New Passover that was yet to come. The one we celebrate at Christmas and Easter each year.

The date was monumental. With the temple rebuilt, the Jews who had returned from exile could celebrate the Passover once again. For decades, the feast had remained unobserved, because it could only be observed in the place where God’s presence dwelt (Deut. 16:1-8). With no temple in Jerusalem, there was nowhere for the sacrifices to be offered. But now, “on the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover” (v.14).

The Passover looked back to the day of God’s divine judgement on Egypt, as Pharaoh refused to let God’s People go. God swept through the land and took the firstborn son of every household in one night, the final terrible plague visited on Egypt. Only the blood of a lamb, sacrificed and painted on the door frames of Israelite houses, caused God to pass over their households and spare their sons from the terrible wrath of God. A lamb in place of a man. Sacrifice of a lamb to avert the wrath of God. Spared, God led them out of Egypt to the wilderness and onward to the Promised Land.

For the returned exiles, their return was a second type of exodus. They had departed from a type of slavery in a foreign land, released by God’s sovereign power through the decree of King Cyrus, to return to the land which God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Passover festival, not just because of its importance and the long gap between observances, held a special significance for them.

And so, the 1,000 or so Priests and Levites purified themselves and the Levites slaughtered the passover lambs for the tens of thousands of returned exiles, thousands of lambs for thousands of households, for the priests, and for themselves (v.20). Just as hundreds of years later, on the day and at the time of the passover, the priests and Levites would cause another lamb to be slain instead of man, so God might pass over.

Once the lambs were slain, and the choicest fatty portions offered to God, the lambs were taken home to households where Exodus 12 was read and a feast was held. And so it happened, that “it was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile” (v.21). But not just them, but also “every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel” (v.21). Even in those days, God’s Israel was more than just ethnic Jews but also those from the nations who turned away from their gods to worship the only true God.

Following this, “they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful” (v.22). After all, why should they not rejoice? Even their ancient enemy, the Kingdom of Assyria, now absorbed into the Kingdom of Persia (he was also King of Assyria by conquest), had “aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel” (v.22).

A new passover for a new exodus. But still looking forward to the exodus and passover to come. For all the greatness of their return, there was another exodus to come. The prophets spoke of it in that way (cf. Isaiah 11:10-16), pointing forward to the greater exodus when God gathers his people to their final salvation in Christ. The decisive defeat of every “king of Assyria”, whatever the title. The gathering of God’s People from every nation to worship Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Because that passover celebrated in 516 BC looked forward to the Passover when Christ hung on a cross as the sacrifice for our sins. The lamb of God slain for men, to satisfy and turn away the wrath of God. To reconcile us to God. To bring us out of the slavery of our sin, in a land that is not our home, to dwell in God’s presence.

A new passover. A new exodus. A people made anew.

Read Ezra 6:16-18

Everyone loves a good celebration. Whether it is celebrating a significant sporting victory or the opening of a new facility, you will always find people happy at the occasion. There will be everyone from notables, to politicians who will turn up to the opening of an envelope, to everyday people there, enjoying the event and hoping to get a glimpse (or a shot in camera).

When the rebuilt temple was completed in 516 BC, the Scriptures also record a celebration. While that celebration was more muted by comparison to the first temple, it was still a time of joy and celebration for God’s People to celebrate God’s goodness and renew themselves to the sacred purpose of serving and worshiping God faithfully. Every Sunday, we have the same privilege of celebrating God’s goodness through the building of his current-day temple, the Church. And likewise we can celebrate God’s goodness to our congregations on special occasions, too.

Since 586 BC when the Babylonians destroyed the first temple, there was no central place of worship for the Jewish people. In exile, the faithful remnant awaited God’s promises coming to fulfilment, when he would once again gather them back to the land and renew his covenant with them. Even as they returned at Cyrus’ command, the Jews faced decades of opposition and resistance from the surrounding nations as they attempted to complete the temple rebuild.

Now, finally, God’s rebuilt temple stood on the site of the old one, destroyed so many years ago. “And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy” (v.16). That day was a day to celebrate! There stood once again the temple, the place where God dwelt with his people, the central place of worship of the true and living God.

Of course, this was not the temple of old. The Ark of the Covenant, and much else, was gone. The elderly among them had wept as the foundations were laid, because they remembered the splendour of the first temple. And God’s people were significantly poorer than Solomon and united Israel at its greatest height.

The sacrifices were lesser too. At the dedication of Solomon’s temple, thousands of animals were sacrificed to God. At this temple’s dedication, “they offered … 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel” (v.17). Yet we must remember that it was the quality of the offering, not the quantity, that was important. Better a smaller amount offered in faith by a disciplined, faithful remnant, than many thousands by faithless and unbelieving masses.

The Jews who returned and, encouraged by Haggai and Zechariah, dedicated this temple to God were faithful. They celebrated because they recognised God’s goodness, and they offered these sacrifices because they were renewing themselves to the sacred call of worshiping God as he commanded. At that time, that was through the administration of the Mosaic Covenant, with its blood sacrifices which pointed forward to the true atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Alongside the sacrifices of animals and the goats as sin offerings for all the 12 tribes of Israel, the Jews demonstrated their commitment to renewing the covenantal relationship with God by reestablishing their worship “as it is written in the Book of Moses” (v.18). They “set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem” (v.18).

This act demonstrated that the Jews were committed to keeping God’s commands, and keeping God’s worship, as God had revealed it in his Word, rather than allowing all sorts of novelties in or adopting practices from the Babylonians and Persians that seemed contemporvant. They sought faithfulness to God, and they sought it by seeking to faithfully adhere to God’s Word in their worship.

Today we do not have a physical temple at a central location, but God’s temple is his church. Wherever his church meets to worship God and give thanks for our salvation in and through Jesus Christ, God is present. Every Sunday, through deeds of salvation in the lives of people and through acts of sanctification in every believer’s life, God’s temple grows anew. 

And so, every Sunday, we have the opportunity to join with the saints of the ages and give thanks to God for his goodness. We thank God for his goodness to us in saving us, in blessing us in many and varied ways, for defeating sin and death and accompanying us as we labour for him in the face of opposition and discouragement.

We can also give thanks on the special occasions of God’s goodness too. When he blesses us with new marriages, new births, new opportunities for his service, new leaders, new congregations, or perhaps even new buildings. All these things are special occasions to praise God for his goodness too.

God is good. It is good to give thanks to the Lord (Psalm 92:1). Celebrate!

Read Ezra 6:1-15

The Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea was started in the late 1980s, but remains unfinished to this day. While symbolising the ambition of North Korea and its authoritarian leaders, its bare interior points to the reality of the country’s lack of economic means (and what it has misdirected at that). For all the leader of North Korea is like a modern-day king and is treated like a deity, he is not able to glorify himself above the King of Kings who has not ordained that the work is completed.

The uncompleted hotel stands in contrast to the rebuild of God’s temple, at his command. God’s presence with his people encouraged them to resume the building task, even though opposition remained. For good reason, God was demonstrating his power over all the decisions of bureaucrats and kings, to proclaim his glory. Despite the devil’s opposition, God ensured that the work of temple building was not only acknowledged and tolerated, but actively encouraged by the Persian king. The result was a rebuilt temple for God to dwell in, pointing forward to the greater reality of God’s presence with us which was to come.

In Ezra 5, we read the contents of the letter sent by the regional governor to the King and his servants enquiring about what to do with the concerning building project in Jerusalem. Despite Tattenai’s suspicions, though, God ordained that construction continued, while confirmation of their bold statement that they were about the king’s business was sought.

When the letter reached King Darius, he decreed that a proper search of the archives occur (v.1). Sure enough, in the summer capital of the Persian Kings, Ecbatana, a copy of King Cyrus’ decree was discovered (v.2). The official records stated a maximum size for the temple (v.3), along with instructions on building materials (v.4). 

The decree also stated that the costs of construction should be met from imperial funds, a fact not mentioned earlier (v.5, see 1:2-4). The decree confirmed that the vessels taken from the first temple by Babylon were to be returned and restored to the house of God (v.5).

Since this decree had been found establishing that the Jews were correct in their statement, the building project would be able to continue. But God went further than that. He moved the heart of King Darius to reinforce the importance of the project by issuing a second decree to support the first.

In that decree, King Darius instructed “Tattenai … Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors” to “keep away” (v.6). They were to “Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site” (v.7).

Not only were they to leave them alone, they were to pay them as well. “The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River” (v.8). Darius also made provision for continuing the temple sacrifices by providing the necessary animals and food to please God “and pray for the life of the king and his sons” (vv.9-10). This decree also imposed a customary curse on any opponents to discourage further opposition (vv.11-12).

The King had decreed, Tattenai and his bureaucrats scrambled to diligently obey (v.13). The elders of the Jews built the temple and prospered as Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them (v.14). “They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes” (v.14). Cyrus and Darius gave decrees commencing and completing the reconstruction, and Artaxerxes saw the city wall completed during his reign. But God’s decree stood over all, to ensure the work was completed in Darius’ reign (v.15).

These final verses reinforce that the decrees of Persian Kings were nothing but for the decree of the King of Kings. God wanted the temple rebuilt, and so he placed it upon them to issue the orders. The efforts of the Jews were successful because God intervened to make it so, through his prophets, and ordained it so by his own unopposable decree.

Just the same today, God can move the hearts of bureaucrats and leaders to complete his will. While that may mean opposition decreed for our spiritual growth, it also can mean hindrances providentially removed at the right time. When we pray for God to allow things, we remember that it is God who institutes and oversees governments.

Even more, God used the Persian Kings to bless his people richly, with all the resources they needed to build and conduct worship. Sometimes God provides from the strangest quarters. We should not reject his blessings.

Ultimately, the completed temple pointed forward to Jesus, God’s presence with us, and the temple of the church, Christ’s body. Like Ezra’s temple, God decreed Christ’s coming for our salvation at the right time, and will ensure that his church building work is completed according to his command.

Read Ezra 5

Ongoing opposition is demoralising, and even the most enthusiastic suffer from discouragement. The exiles who returned to Jerusalem following Cyrus’ decree certainly did. For many years, they left the Temple in ruins and looked to their own lives. They forgot about the importance of God’s Presence with his people, symbolised by his Temple.

Yet while the Temple still remained unbuilt, God had not left his people. God sent prophets to restart the building work, and was present with them as they faced renewed opposition once again. God was also present in directing the Persian Empire’s leadership, and allowing the work to continue. Despite opposition, if we trust in God and show this by obeying him, we will see God’s presence demonstrated in building God’s temple today, the Church.

At the end of Chapter 4, after explaining how the work of building had come to an end in the face of ongoing opposition to the temple rebuild and later the walls of Jerusalem, our text jumps forward sixteen years to the second year of the reign of Darius over Persia (cf 4:24). Sixteen years in which the foundations lay unbuilt upon.

In 520 BC, God sent two prophets to encourage the resumption of his temple, Haggai and Zechariah (v.1). We have much of the contents of their ministry in the Old Testament books of the same name. They rebuked Israel for neglecting God’s house while rebuilding their own, and encouraged them to resume the task they had been called home to complete as part of the grander story of God’s salvation plan.

The result was repentance, with God’s People turning away from their lack of faith in God to sustain through opposition and taking up the task of rebuilding the temple once again, led by Zerubbabel the local governor and Jeshua the high priest (v.2).

At the same time, the regional governor Tattenai, concerned to avoid any uprisings against Darius in his territory as had happened elsewhere, arrived on scene with concern. A huge building project with big stones? Sounds suspicious. So naturally, Tattenai asked by whose authority they were building (v.3), and a list of names of all involved (v.4). But despite this, “the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews” and he providentially hindered Tattenai from calling a halt to the building work, and the Jews from the implied threat of punishment (v.5).

Instead, God moved the Jews to reply that they were following Cyrus’ orders (vv.13-16) in rebuilding the temple destroyed because of their ancestors’ unfaithfulness to the God of heaven and earth whom they served (vv.11-12).

Further, God moved Tattenai to write a letter of inquiry to King Darius instead of sending in the troops (vv.6-7). Tattenai reported he had been to inspect “the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls” (v.8). 

Further, Tattenai reported that God prospered the work of the Jews. “This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands” (v.8).

Further, because of the Jewish response to his questions (vv.4, 9-10, 11-16), Tattenai requested that proof of the decree was sought in the archives (v.17). The Jews did not have a copy of the decree, or no doubt they would have provided a copy like a householder providing their building consent to the council inspector. 

Tattenai could have placed a halt and left it at that, but he did not. He asked if they were complying with the law. He awaited King Darius’ pleasure on whether to intervene or to leave be (v.17). While he did so, building continued.

God’s hand was clearly at work in this situation. God sent prophets to encourage the Jews to take up their God-given task. God caused them to prosper as they laboured. God caused Tattenai to inquire rather than squash the work out of fear it was a pretext for a rebellion. God caused Tattenai to allow and the Jews to want to continue rebuilding while this all played out.

Even in the darkest of moments, when it seems like once again opposition is pressing in, the eyes of God watch over his people. God watched over them. God watches over us too.

Jesus gave the Great Commission to the Apostles, and those who would come after. To make disciples. He did so, announcing he would be present with his people until the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). This work is temple building work – a temple made not with hands but by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Opposition is an ongoing reality. We have been warned. But Jesus is with us. We have been encouraged. The eyes of God watch over us and our labours. We are called to the great task of temple building, just as the Jews were in 520 BC. God will prosper the work of our hands as we labour diligently in this task.

We may face objection and opposition, but God remains present with us despite the opposition.

Read Ezra 4:6-24

If you make the mistake of tuning into or reading a discussion on infrastructure or property development, you quickly learn a bunch of acronyms. There are NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard), YIMBYs (Yes In My Back Yard), and my particular favourite, BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone). In human relationships, there are competing interests, and they play out in differences and ongoing opposition over what should be built. And that’s just a house or a road!

When it comes to things that glorify God, the devil is the ultimate BANANA. No surprise that he stirred up opposition in the form of adversaries to stop the Temple rebuild after Cyrus’ decree. But this opposition was not a one-time event. Ezra 4 jumps forward and back in time to teach an important lesson – we can expect ongoing opposition to that which glorifies God. Like a worldly NIMBY, the devil will use any lever he can pull to oppose us in building God’s Kingdom.

In the early part of chapter 4 we observed the obstruction and opposition which the returning Jews faced from the occupants of the land who had been resettled there by Assyrian and Babylonian kings in the decades before. Their intimidation and opposition brought the rebuilding of the Temple, itself already slightly tainted by the sad reflection of the elders on the glory days of yore. 

This opposition continued during the reign of King Cyrus (to 530 BC) and onwards through Darius the Great’s reign (522-486 BC; v.5).

Lest we get too optimistic, the author immediately jumps fifty years into the future in verse 6 to state “in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” (v.6). Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, reigned from 486-465 BC. Then, in the reign of Artaxerxes (465-424 BC) it continued with “Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates” writing another letter of concern to the Emperor (v.7). These men were not local nobodies hiding behind an incorporated society but were powerful officials.

This letter makes a series of scandalous accusations. They describe Jerusalem as “that rebellious and wicked city” (v.12) and indicate the Jews are rebuilding the walls and city so that they can avoid paying taxes and tribute to the Persian King (v.13), estimated to be in the millions of dollars annually. Since these men “eat the salt of the palace” (are salaried) and want only what’s best for the king, they regretfully wrote to inform him of the problem (v.14) and encouraged him to order a search of records to see Judah’s past behaviour pre-exile (vv.15-16).

The Persians were concerned about the loss of revenue which landed in their vaults, and the threat of a rebellion in an area close to Egypt (always a hotbed of unrest but also wealthy) was sure to get a rise. Sure enough, the king wrote back, after having the records checked, and discovering that Judah’s past days were full of attempts to avoid rule by Assyrians and Babylonians alike (vv.17-20). Never mind that the Jews could not have battled their way out of a paper bag.

The risk to the royal vault was too great (v.22), so “these men [must] be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me” (v.21).

When the letter reached them, “Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates… went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease” (v.23) rebuilding the walls and foundations of Jerusalem (vv.11-12).

Jumping back to the 530s BC, the author tells us work ceased on the Temple until the second year of King Darius (c.520 BC). Whether it was walls and foundations, or a temple, the anti-God BANANAs were constantly at work.

The point of this passage is that the devil is always opposing God’s work. Whether it was in the days of Cain and Abel, Israel in Egypt, or Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, the devil was opposing every venture. Lies, pressure, and intimidation were used to attack God’s salvation plan, and anything that glorifies God. There is no difference in approach today.

For Christians faced with opposition today, in whatever form it takes, this should be comforting. We are not alone or unique. And God has still accomplished great things despite Satan’s NIMBYism. So press on!

As we do so, we must keep our eyes on God. The Jews lost heart, lost hope, and stopped work. Perhaps our day is a day of small things, or of great accomplishments. Either way, God is at work. Do not lose heart!

Trials and opposition are not times to become embittered toward God, but to place our trust more firmly in his goodness and plans. They help us remember that our ultimate destination is not here, but eternity. God promises he is with us through ongoing opposition, even to the end of the age. We’d be bananas to let the devil’s BANANAism win.