Precautions to ensure success.
Ezra describes for us the preparations he made for the journey including the listing of the families who chose to accompany him. Although Ezra found he had to recruit Levites who would be of the utmost importance in assisting in worship at the Temple, the majority of those who decided to accompany him were from the royal and priestly families who had relatives in Judah who had returned many years earlier. Apparently he and those who chose to go with him knew the sorry state of affairs among the Jews in Jerusalem. They had abandoned reconstruction of Jerusalem and were lacking in zeal and fervor when it came to worshipping the Lord and walking according to His Law.
The group led by Ezra was aware of the dangers they faced in their trip. They resorted to fasting and prayer in order to obtain the Lord’s protection. They wanted to affirm their faith in Him rather than rely on the King for help. Ezra also took precautions to make sure the safety of expensive temple items. Every item was meticulously recorded in detailed records so as ensure the honesty of those to whom it was entrusted and to protect them from scandal should there be any question about the things that were brought.
Ezra provides us with an example of godly wisdom that should be used in protecting the finances of any local church or congregation. Too often we have heard news of people entrusted with church funds stealing and embezzling them. A system of checks and balances and clear record keeping are fundamental to church financial health. Yet what is more important is the selection of financial officers who are above reproach.
The Lord chooses Ezra.
After 6 chapters and a period of 58 years we finally encounter Ezra, a Jewish priest and scribe living in Babylon. His genealogy reveals a man of importance respected by his fellow Jews as he was descended from Aaron the original High Priest. Apparently he was also held in great esteem by the Persian King Artaxerxes who issued a decree appointing Ezra as the person responsible to him for his affairs among the Jews in Judah. The decree encouraged any Jews who desired to return to their land to do so under Ezra’s leadership. In addition, Artaxerxes' authorized funds and provisions to be given to Ezra to establish religious, judicial and educational systems in Judah in order that he might curry favor with Yahweh.
Ezra was a man of great wisdom, honesty and integrity for he was zealously devoted to the Lord. He knew that the Lord had moved the king to appoint him to lead another group of exiles back to Judah as part of His promise to restore His people to their land. Ezra revealed his personal motivation underlying his decision. He desired to study the Law of God, to apply that teaching to his own life, and then to teach it to others so that they too would know the revealed will of God. Such desires show us the importance of studying scripture. We must learn it so we may practice it in our own lives before we can even begin to think of teaching it to others.
A True Believer?
Once Darius found Cyrus’ former decree regarding the temple at Jerusalem, he issued his own decree that went even further to support the project. He saw it as an opportunity to glorify his own achievements so he gave permission for it to be constructed at government expense and to be larger and more impressive than Solomon’s Temple had been. Some of the words he uses in the decree may lead us to think that Darius was a believer in Yahweh, but more than likely he was a polytheist who wanted to insure the protection of one he perceived as a territorial god.
As we are aware, the life of the Jews was to be centered on the worship of Yahweh. Therefore the completion of the temple and the re-establishment of traditional worship marked a dramatic climax to the restoration of the Jews to their land. Thus it was accompanied by a modest celebration that was tempered by the inclusion of the sin offering. This was an expression of the sorrow of both leaders and people who knew that sin had separated them from the Lord and had resulted in His harsh yet righteous judgment. It serves to remind us that no one may enjoy the fruits of the atonement won by Jesus without repentance. Like Darius there are many who claim to be Christian, to have a relationship with Christ, who speak the right words, but who worship the gods of this world especially self and materialism.
True allegiance to Jesus means confession of sin, sorrow over its consequence of alienation from God, and admission of total reliance upon the Lord for all things primarily salvation.
If you don’t put the Lord first, it’s no wonder you struggle with temptation.
The opening verses mention the prophets Haggai and Zechariah which is a hint that there were other factors involved in the halting of work on the temple in addition to the fact that the Jews were intimidated by their enemies. Cyrus had supported the efforts of the Jews to rebuild it, but one of his later successors, Artaxerxes gave an order to stop the work much later, and not regarding the Temple but the city itself. These prophets indicate that the people had abandoned their commitment to rebuild the temple in favor of constructing comfortable houses for themselves. They may have been discouraged by opposition but not enough to deprive themselves of the comforts they thought they deserved.
We in America tend to get discouraged by cultural and social opposition to our faith as well as the ridicule we are subjected to by those who want to disparage our beliefs and our commitment to a godly and righteous way of living. Often many try to alleviate this persecution by compromise, by adopting the materialism, selfishness, arrogance and cynicism of their detractors. Our excuse is often: “Well I deserve a break. I deserve this car or vacation or trinket or whatever.” Meanwhile we forget that we belong to the Lord and we let the Kingdom work suffer.
The Spiritual growth of a compromised Christian will remain at a standstill. The reason is that such a life dishonors the Lord. A compromised Christian cannot avail himself of the Lord’s power and will always cave into temptation.
Be Careful!
When the Assyrians had destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel and dispersed all her people, they resettled other peoples there. These peoples worshipped other gods alongside of Yahweh who they did not consider the one supreme god but the god of the land in which they lived. These people offered to help Zerubbabel to help the Jews rebuild the temple. Zerubbabel must have known of their idolatry which he knew was dishonoring to the Lord. He was right to reject their help because, as the ensuing events show, their motives were impure and they bore ill will toward the Jews.
The persistent opposition of the enemies of the Jews continued for several years and resulted in the halting of the work on the Temple. The incidents related here regarding Ahasuerus took place many years later but are mentioned here because this later incident shows the persistent and continued antagonism of the Lord’s enemies that lasted for years as well as the faithfulness of God in giving the Jews victory over them.
In our own day, we must be wary of those who seem to support Christianity. Many in the political realm do this to gain support for their personal and often ungodly agenda. They have no intention of giving glory to God. Then too we must be wary of those who blatantly stand opposed to the Christian faith. Though at times their efforts seem to succeed, this is only temporarily. Though Christians are persecuted and killed, the Lord will carry out justice upon all those who oppose His will and hurt His loved ones.
The Central Focus of Worship is God.
One of the first things which the people did when they arrived in Jerusalem was to rebuild the altar of burnt offerings on the very spot where the original once stood. This was to demonstrate the importance of the Lord as the central and primary focus of life. In addition, the people needed to be in right relationship with the Lord. The sacrifices performed on the altar would enable them to do so. The people also had some fear of their neighbors and knew that only Yahweh was the real source of their protection. Many must have learned their lesson in captivity that in order to ensure the Lord would watch over them, they needed to live lives in submission to His law.
The people also began reconstruction of the Temple. When they had completed the foundation, they took time off to celebrate in worship for the blessings the Lord had given them thus far. There was a group of older folks who engaged not in a display of joyful worship, but in mourning and sorrow. This may not have been appropriate for they were mourning the glory and riches they had lost rather than praising God for current blessings. The whole display of worship reminds us that praise in the form of music and singing is not entertainment nor is it a program that people watch. All God’s people regardless of talent or ability are called to participate.
Kingdom Values.
Here we find a record of all the people who responded to Cyrus' decree and returned to Israel. The list is of families and the towns in Babylon they came from. Almost all of these people could demonstrate their Jewish ancestry. As such, this list records those who belonged to the faith community divided into several subgroups: lay people, the regular citizens; priests; Levites who assisted in the Temple function rites; singers; gatekeepers; the Nethinim, which literally means those given, those dedicated to God, servants who assisted the Levites; and finally those who could not demonstrate their ancestry. This last group had to wait until the priests could later identify them properly.
Although the listing may seem dull and pointless because it is just a list of names, there seems to be a very good reason for its inclusion in the scripture. It reminds us of the importance of the purity of the community of faith. Those who say they belong to Jesus become members of His royal household. They must be able, however, to verify that relationship with evidence. What is required is not a genealogy of course, but the evidence of a changed life, one that has renounced the world completely and is marked by tangible acts of love and self-sacrifice.
We Christians are often called on to provide the required proof, usually in the form of a testimony that gives evidence of a changed life. Once we were sinners. Now we are not. Once we valued all the world deems important. Now everything in the world, no matter how grand or glorious, no matter how heroic or noble, lofty or exalted, popular and fashionable, beautiful and talented, pales into insignificance before the love, mercy and righteousness of the Kingdom of God.
In God We Trust.
The book of Daniel tells us of the defeat of Babylon by the Medes and Persians under King Cyrus. One of his first official acts was to restore the Jews to the Promised Land. Cyrus’ statement here makes him sound as if he were a believer in Yahweh, but though he acknowledged the power of Yahweh, there is no evidence that he thought He was the only God. Cyrus was the Lord’s promised deliverer though he was a pagan. He was used by the Lord just as He had promised over a hundred years before. The Lord had warned his people that disobedience would result in exile, but He had also promised that if they repented and returned to Him He would restore them to the Promised Land. This tells us that we can trust that the Lord is always true to His promises. We can rely on Him to take care of us even as we endure tribulation and suffering
The first step in the return was to rebuild the Temple, and this is the reason for the inventory of the vessels that had been taken. Now they would be restored to their rightful place at the true center of Jewish life. But not everyone decided to return to Judah. Many remained in Babylon. These gave donations to the reconstruction project. This would have included some Gentiles as well. The fact that Judah and Benjamin were the only tribes the writer mentions reminds us of God’s justice. They were the only tribes of the 12 that were still intact. For the most part, the northern tribes had been irreparably scattered to the ends of the earth by the Assyrians, years before the destruction of Jerusalem. This was because there was no hope of their returning to the Lord, until, of course, Jesus.
Called out from the world.
As the Chronicler draws his work to a close, he covers the last set of Kings of Judah rapidly. These men were not as strong or godly as Josiah who perished because, contrary to the Lord’s will, he got involved in the conflict between Babylon and Assyria. The rise of Babylon was inevitable and the Judean Kings were unable to stop it. In fact, the Lord allowed Babylon to crush Judah for it was His plan to use that pagan empire to discipline and punish His people for their unfaithfulness and idolatry. He is a God of mercy and love but also of justice and righteousness. Those who disobey Him may be given many opportunities to repent as we have seen in the Chronicles, but those who refuse to acknowledge the Lord will surely come under judgment.
The Chronicler did not end his book with a negative theme. He mentioned the decree of Cyrus which allowed the Israelites to return to the land, not as an independent nation, it is true, but as a province of the Persian Empire. This is surely a sign of God’s favor and blessing for their sufferings and God’s discipline were done. Finally the Chronicler called upon his audience to go up to worship the Lord in response to what they have read. He is indicating that is the responsibility of the believer to come to faith and not trust or rely on his/her heritage or national origin or religious upbringing. As we have seen, those who were called the people of God were not. Now in our day, the Lord has called out children from every tongue and tribe and nation for He desires all human beings to come to repentance.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah: Josiah’s Passover.
The Chronicler goes into great detail about Josiah’s celebration of the Passover. His purpose is, in part, to remind his audience of the importance of the celebration in creating a cohesive and close-knit community. The Passover feast is one which binds all Jews and Israelites together as they recall their common history and covenant with Yahweh. Thus, it is vital that it be carried out faithfully for it has the power to engender hope and encouragement in the hearts of the people in the midst of difficult circumstances. The Chronicler joyfully recalls the details of the event for it was such a magnificent celebration that honored the Lord and one which would never be repeated in this way.
Jews today still celebrate the Passover with similar feasting around the Seder table. But the Passover meal is not just eating; it is a time of fellowship in which Jews gather with family and friends to call to mind their common bonds of faith and nationality. They call to mind and recite the things that the Lord did for their ancestors in the Exodus, for Jews throughout history and what He is doing for them. They were persecuted and they endured. They of course do not know Jesus, and so their commemorations do not bring them the real hope of eternal salvation. Nevertheless the church could learn from them how to come together as a community of believers around the Lord’s Table with a common purpose and heritage, as a family in Christ rather than as a loosely related collection of individuals who believe the same thing. After all we claim to be, as the Apostle’s Creed states, “the communion of saints.”
