Short Reflection from Ezra 1-10

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (OVU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[6:34 am, 11/05/2022] S.R: 𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟙:𝟝

“Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.”

v1 and v5 talk about the stirring of the spirit of the king and the people by the Lord. We ought to desire after this that such stirring would be done in our hearts to live for God.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟚:𝟙

"Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city."

They were supposed to live in the promised land but were taken away. The next generation was brought back btw. After all, Babylon is not their destiny. Exceptions are exceptions. A rule is a rule!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟛:𝟙𝟚

"Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,"

It's sad when newer ones aren't good as the older ones. In fact, we expect the newer ones to be better. Not that old is gold in this story, but the glory of God was missing in this new temple.

And when younger ones were so glad even of this new temple, it was appropriate for the older ones to weep. How can you be satisfied with ordinary things when you were given the best thing? You trampled gold for mere iron.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟜:𝟜-𝟝

“Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Don't underestimate what your opposition can do!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟝:𝟛

"At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, "Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?"

We need political leaders like this governor, Tattenai. He seemed fair, logical, and righteous. There was opposition, but he won't be intimidated to stop the work without a genuine cause.

Next time, when you pray for leaders, pray that they will be at least like Tattenai, even should they leap into hell!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟞:𝟙𝟛

"Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent."

This governor is of noble mind, noble works, and well appreciated by the Jews and the king!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟟:𝟚𝟞

'Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment."

Wow! The trust the king had in Ezra! It was a time when the king had authority over the kingdom.

Our present world is full of freedom—and freedom only to sin. The depraved sinner knows nothing except to sin. Even the redeemed saints are not free from sin, that's why we have to battle sin, not easily but as "do or die"

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟠:𝟚𝟙

"Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions."

Ezra would rather depend on God than depend on the king. That sent a message to his people, enemy, and everyone that he believed and practiced what he read and taught!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟡:𝟙𝟘

"Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,"

Ezra was pleading before God, interceding for the people.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕣𝕒 𝟙𝟘:𝟙𝟘-𝟙𝟙

"Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, ‘You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.’"

Admit you are wrong. Stop doing wrong. Start doing right.

In short, Confess and Be Separate unto God.

Bible Reading Reflection from Ezra 1-10

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (DG) as a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟙:𝟙

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing,"

God is sovereign even over non-believers, over kings and rulers, over even wicked and corrupt people. And He will use them for the good of His people. Remember Romans 8:28👍

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟚:𝟞𝟚

"These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood."

Those whose names are not found are excluded. No compromise. No pressure.

They are small in number. They could have compromised the registration and welcomed everyone who wanted to settle along with them. More people are better in this situation. However, they stick to the book.

There will be also a book of life opening on the last day. Whosoever name is missing shall be excluded from the splendour of heaven, and shall be cast into the lake of fire!

And there will be no compromise! To the book!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟛:𝟙𝟚

"Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,"

What a mixture of emotions! Some wept uncontrollably while others shouted in joy. I remember when we came to [my] village for a Christmas, one lady saw us and was sobbing uncontrollably. Christmas is a time when loved and dear ones come together, in her case, her loved and dear ones had a tragic death just before Christmas.

Well, in this case, it is not because these people who wept were missing their friends, but because the new temple was not as glorious as the old temple where God's glory dwelt. At best the new temple was just a replica. And of course, they knew it was their sins that had led them to this situation.

Sin brings only tears!

In this case, it was a mixture of tears again. Tears of repentance and tears of joy in seeing the restoration even if it was not like before!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟜:𝟛

"But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, ‘You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.’"

No common platform with non-Christians in Christian things.

Would you seek help from Muslims to build your Church? Maybe they too will require your help to build their Mosque. However, if it's a common thing like helping build homes, that's understandable.

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟝:𝟚

"Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them."

They were stopped by the enemies from rebuilding the house of God. Anyway, they started the work again with the support of godly leaders. Indeed, who is a man to stop the work of God?

And their philosophy of rebuilding is expressed in v11. Their life is in God. And indeed, God protected them, as is seen in v5. That the officials decided to play fair and neutral!

For better understanding, read here👇

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟞:𝟙𝟜

"And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia."

After their return to Jerusalem, the Jews were progressing their work of rebuilding. The enemies were jealous of them. The enemies opposed and employed a lot of tactics to halt their work. The Jews weren't able to continue. That's what we see in chapter 4:1-5.

[Then, chapter 4:6-23 is a story of later years when the local officials plus the king stopped their work. It's kept here to give an account that there had always been jealousy and opposition towards the Jews by the enemies: The enemies were jealous. They poisoned the mind of local officials and the king. And the king stopped them].

Then chapter 5 resumes the present story which is left off in chapter 4:5. While the people were afraid to rebuild due to the opposition, and because they had started to lose their devotion to building, the prophets encouraged them. The local officials investigated (the complaints of the enemies and the response of the Jews) and reported to the king for further verdicts.

In chapter 6, we see the king's response. The king not only validated the response of the Jews and their work of rebuilding, but also asked the officials to help them, and even warned against any opposition concerning the Jews.

Indeed, who can stop the work of God? What a victory! With God in God's way is victory!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟟:𝟙𝟘

"For Ezra had set his heart 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 the law of the LORD and 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 it, and 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 His statutes and ordinances in Israel. King's Decree on Behalf of Ezra."

In chapter 4 we see King Artaxerxes stopping the works until further decree. In this chapter 7, the king has commissioned the work with a lot of resources and power!

With this occasion, this verse 10 is fitting. Notice the three verbs, and the order of those action words: To study, to practice, to teach.

Before teaching others, he must learn first. So, he studied. Studying is not enough; he must practice what he learned. No wonder he was very brave in the later part of the story because he knew what he was doing!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟠:𝟚𝟚

"For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, ‘The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.’"

This is Ezra’s faith in God. It's risky speaking humanly. They are a company of women, children, and other weak people too, but centuries ago, the Israelites went out of Egypt like that.

However, Nehemiah's situation was different. He was accompanied by the king's army (Neh. 2:9). BTW, when Paul realized he would be assassinated by the Jews, he let the news be reported to the captain. And he was escorted safely. We must be wise in our decision-making!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟡:𝟙𝟜-𝟙𝟝

"Shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this."

Ezra humbles himself before the Lord in confession in contrite spirit. No complaints, no excuses, no debates.

He affirms God ought to punish them, to be angry with them, and whatever He does is righteous!

 

𝔼ℤℝ𝔸 𝟙𝟘:𝟜𝟜

"All these had married foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children."

The book of Ezra ended with a note of displeasure about the sins of Israel— their intermarriage.

Husband and Wife influence each other. And if they want to be devoted to God, they must marry someone who is also devoted to God. Or at least someone who worships Yahweh! It's wrong for a Christian to marry a non-Christian, like the sin of Israel’s intermarriage.