Rebuilding by Faith
Ezra 5-6[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, October 21st, 2012
Prophets Preach Against Pausing, 5:1-2
1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.
2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
Movement needed. The leaders had paused in the work of rebuilding the temple, and had instead set about building their own houses! It had been a hard 15 years while they weren't working on it. Haggai observed that nothing they had done had prospered! Haggai 1:3-9
the prophet writes, "consider your ways!", and calls them to stop work on their own personal houses to restore the house of God so they could restore worship! But they needed courage to finish the work.
"They had not said, "I will not", but rather, "I will, but not yet." Though submitted to God in choice to obey, they were still un-submitted and unbelieving in the TIMING of their obedience. We are not in control of God's work when we are God's. There was movement needed; and God's men preaching God's word to God's people got the movement jump-started.
Haggai and Zechariah spoke the word of God, were with them, supporting them. (5:1-2)
Elders prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah (6:14). This is a telling statement because they had specifically NOT prospered while not rebuilding.
Folks, it wasn't that God didn't want them to live in houses, or to fix or maintain them. It is that He had called these people to a specific purpose and they had, in fear of local officials, abandoned that work. God was calling them to get back to what they were sent to do! Agriculture, commerce, work, trading, building, marrying, - all these things have to go on. But not at the expense of worshipping God. Remember under their covenant the house of God was central to the worship of God. It is not today; but it was then.
Listen, folks; there is never a good time to pause in your obedience. Summer before last a man told me he and his wife had worked long and hard to serve God, and they were going to take the summer off and travel, take it easy, enjoy their weekends. I haven't seen them since, and I bet no other body of believers has either. Christian preaching should strengthen us against pausing and call us to trust and obey God.
More Opposition from Officials, 5:3-17
3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: "Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?"
4 They also asked them this: "What are the names of the men who are building this building?"
5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.
7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: "To Darius the king, all peace.
8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.
9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: 'Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?'
10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.
11 And this was their reply to us: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.
12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.
13 However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.
14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;
15 and he said to him, "Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site."
16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.'
17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter."
As soon as obedience was renewed, so was the opposition. Ever see that in your life? Ever ask God to help you re-start your devotions, your attention to your marriage or home life, your sharing of your faith, your giving, or your worship attendance - things you had paused in obeying? Often before it gets off the ground some opposition comes; either from your calendar (busyness), your flesh (laziness, discouragement), or your enemy (spiritual attacks, sufferings). These people saw it, and it was the same tactic from the same crowd that had stopped them before. But God's Word strengthened them this time, and they plowed on through it. Being fed a steady diet of God's good words sure gives a person grit to keep going. Athletes know the importance of their diet when for endurance through physical challenges; mature believers know the importance of God's Word for grit to fight through opposition to obedience. Opposition will not cease; but God's strength will only grow through you as you persevere.
More Help from Above, 6:1-12
1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.
2 And in Ecbatana, the capital that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: "A record.
3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,
4 with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.
5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God."
6 "Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away.
7 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.
8 Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. 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.
9 And whatever is needed--bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require--let that be given to them day by day without fail,
10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill.
12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence."
Work kept going, and this time there was a favorable reply from the king of Persia. That was because there had been favor from the King of Kings. Building this temple was God's idea, which He would surely support! God had it torn down by leaders of a foreign nation because of Israel's idolatry and disobedience. God had it rebuilt - and paid for - by leaders of a foreign nation – all to teach His people faithfulness, humility, and obedience. By His good mercy, they were still learning this.
Local officials Rehum, Shimshai and associates had stopped the work before (4:4ff) by intimidating the Jews and lying about them to the king. Here Tattenai and others attempted to stop the work again. But God showed Himself faithful to timid Israel once again, mercifully. As He had moved Cyrus, so He moved Darius to strongly support (and pay for) the rebuilding of the temple. This should help us to see and believe this truth: We have only ONE Government Official to fear; that is the King of Heaven, for we are in His Kingdom now, and His authority is over the entire earth (Matt 28:18). And at the final consideration, we have only one Government Official to obey; especially when doing His work! 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
Acts 17:26 "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,"
God created the earth; God is sovereign over all the earth, people, and nations; and God has given all authority to Jesus. We are His church, called to do His work on earth. We must persevere in that work, beloved! When He desires to give us help from above He will; when He desires to purify us by allowing persecution from authorities He will sustain us and advance His good gospel through that suffering. It is ours to humbly trust and obey.
The Temple Completed, Covenant Worship Restored, 6:13-22
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered.
14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia;
15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 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.
17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 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.
18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover.
20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by 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.
22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Two beautiful phases to this restoration of covenant worship. 1) The re-establishing of regular priesthood work and sacrifices, according to the Law of Moses, and 2) the celebration, first time since Josiah had led Judah to celebrate it 120 years before this (2 Kings 23). This is God's chosen people worshipping God in God's prescribed way consistently for the first time in centuries. This is God's people remembering God's initial salvation, when He delivered them, when He saw the blood and passed over them.
Amazing. Can you imagine the joy, the fulfillment, the peace, and the overwhelming gratitude? "'Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you" (Jer 32:17).
We've rejoiced at prodigals coming home to God and His church. This was a small representation (thousands) of an entire nation coming back to God!
Then they celebrate the Passover. Do you remember when God saved you? Do you recall how desperate, how sinful, how isolated from God you were? We do well to recall how great a salvation He has brought us to, church!
God's chosen people, regularly worshipping God, in God's prescribed way.
God's chosen people, remembering God's initial salvation, as He told them to do.
God's people, putting down their personal pursuits to re-start God's work.
Strengthened by God's men preaching God's Word to God's people.
Courage to finish the work.
Church, what has God called us to? Let's pray.
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
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