More Trouble
Ezra 5
begins similarly to the earlier problems in chapter 4. The local inhabitants rise up and inspire the
local government leaders to make trouble for the Jews who are trying to rebuild
in Jerusalem. Work is no doubt slowed
again, but it won’t officially stop until word is heard from the highest human
authority in the land: the Persian king.
At that
point a letter is sent to Darius the king.
We should note a significant difference in this letter versus the letter
that was sent some years earlier to a prior king. Notice that the focus of the prior letter was
the rebellious nature of Jerusalem, whereas the focus of this letter was the
truth in the claim of a former Persian king.
This is more significant than we think.
The sins
of the fathers – the rebellious people in Judah before they were conquered by
Babylon – plagued their descendants.
Because of the sins of the fathers several decades and even a century or
two prior to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the Hebrew people developed a
reputation. Because of that reputation,
the work of rebuilding the Temple was delayed.
It was of no fault of the current generation that their work was stopped
– it was completely the fault of the reputation that their ancestors earned for
them. We can learn a pretty serious
lesson here about how our sins can impact the people around us – even people we
may never meet or see face-to-face.
However,
notice that in the new letter God will use the righteousness of Cyrus instead
of the rebellious sin of the Hebrew people.
This new letter found in chapter 5 has nothing to do with the
established nature of the Hebrew people; it has everything to do with the
righteousness of Cyrus. The lesson here
is that our righteousness can impact people around us as well – even people we
may never meet.
The Pattern of God’s Hand at Work
Yet, there
an even greater spiritual lesson in this difference between the letters. God is once again reinforcing an
understanding in us about a pattern in His work. God’s pattern is this: the righteousness of
another can save {or at least impact} humanity {or a portion therein}. The righteousness of Noah saved his family
(and in a sense the ability for humanity to continue!). The righteousness of Abraham opened the door
for humanity to know God on a personal level.
The righteousness of Moses helped bring people into a relationship with
God’s ways. The righteousness of Joshua
helped us understand that God can bring His people into the Promised Land. The righteousness of David teaches us all
about the power of forgiveness and contrition.
{I could keep going here but for the sake of space…} Here we see that the righteousness of Cyrus
is the tool that God is going to use through Darius to restore the worship in
God’s Temple.
For the
record, though, this is not the end of the spiritual lesson for us. All of these consistencies in God’s plan are
leading us even further down the road.
They are leading us to understand Christ. The righteousness of Jesus Christ can restore
humanity to the relationship that we were supposed to have with God. How is it that Christ’s righteousness is
effective even though He lived some 2,000 years before us and we haven’t seen
Him face to face? Well, just look to the
examples that came before Him. Just like
God used the righteousness of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Cyrus, and a slew of
other people to impact a host of human beings that had never once met them – so
too God can use the righteousness of Jesus Christ to impact a host of people
who had never met Jesus in the flesh. {Please don’t read this too deeply. Of course all Christians who have the Holy
Spirit have met Christ – at least in the spirit if not more personally than
that. I’m not trying to make that claim,
certainly!}
It is
really cool to see the consistency of God at work. God is a God who uses righteousness to impact
the lives of others. God searches out
for righteousness and when He finds it He lifts it up and uses that person as a
wonderful tool in His hands. That person
is a tool with the power to impact a host of people – far more than they ever
realize.
As we are
reminded from Ezra 4, our own history can destroy our efforts and ruin what we
attempt to do for God. But the
righteousness of someone else – especially Christ! – can redeem our efforts and
bring us into accomplishing things for the Kingdom of God that we would have
never dreamed as possible. Thanks be to
God that we can rely and depend upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ!
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