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Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
The passage for this week is Ezra 5:1-6:12, which can be found here, acts as a halfway point summary, which is partly how we will treat it - we will begin with an overview of this section of Scripture, then we will knuckle down to see what challenges lie within!
King Cyrus of Persia, in his first year as king decided as prompted by God to make a decree, commanding the Israelites to rebuild the temple, which had laid in ruins for generations. He intentionally put this in writing (Ezra 1:1) and in response the Israelites, led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, stepped up to lead the rebuilding project in Ezra 2. Within a short space of time the altar was completed, and the Israelites were therefore able to begin with the sacrifices, and the foundations of the temple were built, resulting in praise breaking out among the Jewish population in Ezra 3. However, before any real work was started, adversaries rose up and teamed together to influence the new king Darius, who was swayed by their arguments, and commanded an end to the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra 4. Between nine and fifteen years later, Ezra 5 begins with two prophets coming to the fore to challenge the Jews to get back to work; of course, Zerubbabel and Jeshua are the first to respond and building is restarted. A local governor, Tattenai, is clearly not that clued up about what had happened up until this point so asks the Jews who told them to get back to work - their answer results in letters being sent back and forth between Tattenai and Darius the king, and the vaults are checked for previous decrees. Of course, Cyrus' decree of Ezra 1 is found, and Darius releases a second decree commanding the rebuilding of the temple.
Foundations
Ezra 5:1 describes the two prophets approaching the Jews: '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.' We know that the building of the temple in the Old Testament can teach us a great deal about building the church of the New Testament, and it is important to note here the way God prompts the building to restart; Haggai and Zechariah both have Old Testament books with their name as title - I am reminded of Ephesians 2:20, in which we are reminded that the foundations of the church are the apostles and the prophets. We should be those who are willing to respect God-given authority, and be challenged by those who hear from God! In addition it is important to note that these two men represent the two most incredibly important aspects of the Christian life: Scripture and Spirit. The only way we will know we are moving in the right direction as the church is if we ensure we know His will through reading His Word and listening to His Spirit; this is the pattern laid down here, and we should be challenged to do the same!
More adversaries
After reading the last chapter, in which we were shown the kind of adversaries we can expect to face as Christians, it is no surprise to see that more rise up in Ezra 5:3-4. These are slightly different to those in the previous chapter, in that they are genuinely seeking the truth in their adversary, rather than lying and using violence to prevent the worship of Jesus. We should be encouraged by this, that not all our adversaries are out to get us - through programmes like the Alpha Course we can seek to create an open environment in which our adversaries can question us, and end up having their questions answered on the cross of Christ! With this comes the challenge that not all those who seem to be so far against us will always be that way; we should be willing to be used by God to bring them into a relationship with Him! Let's be quick to forgive our adversaries and persevere in bringing them back to Jesus.
God is in control
The true message which is communicated in this passage is surely that God is sovereign! Darius, in Ezra 6:1-12, gives a decree, which not only reissues Cyrus' decree of many years earlier, but blesses the building with his own royal finances, and commands others to help out as well! Although this story does not end here (it is only just beginning!) we are reminded of Romans 8:28, that 'for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.' God can, and does, take the most catastrophic of situations and turns them round to a point where Christians involved in them end up substantially more blessed than they were in the first place! Jesus is bigger than all of our problems, will never push us harder than we can take, and wishes to use these situations to give us an eternal perspective! I recently went through a very difficult time financially, and I really struggled during this time to fully trust that God was our Provider - but I know that in a few short years my time here will be done, and I will be with the angels and the saints in heaven, having a great time with my heavenly riches! Keeping that goal in mind should draw our eyes off ourselves and onto God, who can provide for all of our problems.
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