Confession
Ezra is a
book with which I admit I do not have too much experience – and as such it is
neat to go from the comfort of Romans into the uncertainty of Ezra. Romans is like a soft and comfortable blanket
that I can snuggle up with and bask in familiarity. Ezra is like the shock of the cold morning
that I experience when I cast off the blankets and look towards a new day
filled with new experiences. I look
forward to seeing what unexpected treasure a new day in God’s Word will bring.
Background
Ezra picks
up just after where we left the Hebrew people when we last studied the Hebrew
Scriptures {Remember 1 & 2 Kings?}. The Hebrew people had been dragged off into
captivity under the Babylonians. Along
come the Persians and conquer the Babylonians.
Through the political change the Persian King Cyrus allows some of the
Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild and restore the city.
You can read books of the Bible like
Ester and Daniel to gain more insight into this. It is because of this decree that Cyrus is
the most famous Gentile to ever receive the title “the Lord’s Anointed.” Note that this the Hebrew Word “Messiah” – See
Isaiah 45:1 as a very famous example of this.
Why Does This Happen?
But let’s
not look too far too fast. The first
verse of Ezra 1 tells us that these things happened so that the Word of the
Lord might be fulfilled. The Lord is
faithful to His promises. The Lord is
faithful to His Word. The Lord is
faithful to His character. The Lord does
not forget. While the ways of the Lord
are mysterious and the Lord is always doing a new thing, the Lord is consistent
in His overarching agenda.
The Value of Consequence and Punishment
We also
see after the decree that the Hebrew people rise up with their
possessions. In fact, Cyrus himself goes
into the royal treasury of the Babylonian kings and digs up the possessions
from the Lord’s Temple that had been removed earlier. The people respond to the Lord’s grace after
having been forced to face their sinfulness.
They had spent their time in judgment and trial. When the Lord comes back to give them hope
they embrace the Lord’s movement with all their heart and soul and possessions.
More Patient than I Am
But there
is more to this movement than the simple movement of the people. The movement is about the patience of the
Lord. How is it that God can stand by
and watch His people being dragged into captivity? How is it that the Lord can watch His Temple
be defaced and destroyed and watch as the Holy items from the Temple are
dragged off? It is because the Lord is
patient and sees with a perspective different than any of us. The Lord sees across the generations. The Lord knows that His people will learn
their lesson in captivity. The Lord
knows that the rebellious must be judged.
The Lord knows that while His Temple furnishings migrate to
Nebuchadnezzar’s treasury that Nebuchadnezzar is only holding them temporarily
on loan. The Lord will bring His people
back and the Lord will bring His possessions back. None of us can wrest anything permanently out
of the hand of the Lord. What is the
Lord’s will always belong to the Lord regardless of whether or not we think we
own it.
This is a
really powerful lesson for us to learn.
This is a lesson all about stewardship.
Creation is the Lord’s; we exist here with it on loan to us from God. Our wealth, possessions, assets, friends,
family, and everything else are the Lord’s before they are ours. Even our life is the Lord’s – given to us out
of His gracious hand.
Another Genealogy
I have yet
to speak about Ezra 2, and that chapter is also on the list of readings for
today. There isn’t a ton of information
that comes out of this chapter as it has much in common with a genealogy. It is basically a list of all the people that
came back to Jerusalem to restore the city.
However,
there is something significant about what this chapter represents. It might seem strange to think about, but
these Hebrew people are risking much by going back to Jerusalem. In the time since the fall of Jerusalem, the
land had turned wild. The city was
desolated and overrun by nomads and the little pockets of Canaanites, Moabites,
and other –ites that the Hebrew people were never able to run off as God
commanded back in the time of Joshua. Since
the time of Nebuchadnezzar, these people had gotten used to not having the
Hebrew people around once again.
The Hebrew
people going back to Jerusalem had to give up the relative safety of the
Persian kingdom and instead risk their life to rebuild their precious
city. They gave up house, job, and
lifestyle to go live in an untamed land.
It was dangerous. But there was a
remnant of about 50,000 Hebrews who were willing to do so. We can learn from them about loyalty to God
and sacrificing life for His will.
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