God’s Faithfulness in Rebuilding

Introduction:

Story of the Bible

Last week in the OT

Today we will be looking through Ezra/Nehemiah

Scripture Reading:

Ezra 1:1–7 (CSB)

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. Let every survivor, wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had roused—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. All their neighbors supported them with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.

Rebuilding Jerusalem:

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah cover the story of the Jews who returned to Jerusalem

King Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return

Last week we saw Esther and the story of the Jews that stayed back

But this week we are going to be looking at the Jews who came back to rebuild

So in these books there are 3 leaders that accomplish specific important tasks:

(SLIDES)

Zerubbabel (Planted in Babylon)

Ezra 1-6

Rebuilding the Temple

Ezra (60 years later)

Ezra 7-10

Reinstating the Torah

Nehemiah

Nehemiah

Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem

(SLIDES)

And the stories of each of these leaders follows a pattern

There is a decree from the Persian King to accomplish a task

There is resistance that the leader faces in accomplishing the task

There is a ‘strange anti-climax’ (Bible Project)

Zerubbabel (Ezra 1-6)

King Cyrus allows any who want to return to Jerusalem to return to rebuild

Zerubbabel returns and leads the rebuilding of the Temple

They rebuild the foundation

There is joy and weeping

They face opposition from the people who remained in the land

And eventually it is overcome

But it ends in an anti-climatic way

We would expect all of God’s people to work together

But there is a rejection of those who remained in the land and wanted to help

If we read Leviticus and 1 Kings we expect the rebuilding of the temple to be an epic climax

The fire that comes down in Leviticus

The cloud that fills the temple in 1 Samuel

But none of that happens

Ezra (Ezra 7-10)

This takes place 60 years after the rebuilding of the temple

Ezra was a scribe who studied God’s word and was compelled to return to obey God’s law and teach them to Israel

The king at the time showed favor on Ezra and sent him to Jerusalem with gifts to accomplish this task

But we see lots of problems with the Israelites when he arrives

They have intermarried with the local pagans—and many were being led away in idol worship

So Ezra demands that they divorce and send away the women and children

Ezra leads many in confession and repentance

But it doesn’t result in revival and a renewed devotion to God

The book ends by telling us that some of them divorced and sent away their wives

But others stayed married to foreigners

And it is an abrupt and weird ending...

Nehemiah

He comes shortly after Ezra

Nehemiah was a Jew but he was well-respected in Persia—the king’s cupbearer

And he had heard that Jerusalem’s walls still haven’t been rebuilt

Importance of walls

So he mourns and prays and the king gives him permission and resources to return to rebuild the walls

Nehemiah also faces conflict while trying to rebuild

And the solution was to have armed guards protect them as they built

And the wall was completed—but there was still hostility between the Jews and the locals

Building the wall caused more division between the groups

And in Nehemiah 8-12 there is a spiritual renewal

There is a public reading of Torah for 7 days straight

They are celebrating the Jewish holidays

The confess their sin

and vow to follow their God

But it doesn’t last forever—Nehemiah ends on a bad note

(SLIDES)

He left to continue business with the king, and when he returned he found corruption and compromise

(SLIDES)

The Temple is defiled and Priests are corrupt

They are renting out rooms in the temple

They aren’t providing for the priests—so they are working the fields—not the temple

They are neglecting the temple

In other words, the work of Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple was being undone

(SLIDES)

b. They aren’t observing Torah

They aren’t observing the sabbath

He goes out and sees people treading winepresses, bringing in grain on donkeys, and trading on the sabbath

Nehemiah 13:17–18 (CSB)

I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

He sees that the Jews have continued to marry pagans

Many of their children don’t even speak Hebrew and are worshipping idols

In other words, the work of Ezra to reinstate the Torah was being undone

(SLIDES)

c. The Walls are being used in their rebellion

They were using the walls to set up their merchants on the Sabbath

They were using the walls to participate in disobedience to God (in not observing the Sabbath)

In other works, the work of Nehemiah was undone

And Nehemiah ends with him trying to correct all of these but him being overwhelmed

His last words in the book are “Remember me, my God, with favor”

“I tried”

The Deeper Need:

Reading these books shows us that there is a deeper need than just external reform

Devotion, promises, and determination can only get us so far

I find these books particularly helpful in our Christian lives

You see, when we choose follow Jesus there is a rebuilding of our lives that has to take place

And as we commit to this path—we will face opposition—it is not easy

But as we see in these stories—zeal and determination can only get us so far

How many of you have made the promise to God...

Never again will I do that!

This time I’m serious!

And found yourself breaking that promise shortly after

These books are exposing the deeper need that we have

We don’t necessarily need more willpower and to make more promises to God

(SLIDES)

We need a savior—and we need a new heart

the Law and religious devotion can only get us so far

this is the story of the OT

Moses and the end of the law

A Savior

Left to ourselves—we cannot solve our problems in life

All of the good intentions and commitments will eventually lead us to disappointment

These stories are exposing our deep need for a savior

Our need to be rescued—but only when we are willing to give up doing things on our own

(SLIDES)

Isaiah 30:18 (CSB)

Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,

and is rising up to show you compassion,

for the Lord is a just God.

All who wait patiently for him are happy.

God is willing and waiting to help us—but are we willing to go to him?

Are we still set on fixing our own problems—just wanting God to help our plan?

Or are we fully surrendered and dependent on the Lord?

I don’t know who in here has gotten to this point—the point where you can openly admit—I need help

But as we confess our need—God comes and meets us in our weakness

If you’ve given your life to Jesus, at one point—you were here

I know my shortcomings—my sin—my failures—and I look to the cross to see where Jesus dealt with them once and for all

Like Jesus said—it is finished

But the temptation slowly arises to take our lives back into our own hands

Okay Jesus, now that you’ve saved me—I’m gonna fix up my life

I’m gonna start working on my patience, anxiety, sin, anger, lust, etc.

And slowly—we want to become our own savior—we want to fix our own problems

Paul has this to say to the Galatians:

(SLIDES)

Galatians 3:3 (CSB)

Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?

Look, just as much as we needed Jesus as our savior to become Christian—to come into the family of God

We need him each day to save us

From our sin

From the pain and brokenness of this world

We are needy

Guys, I want you to know that God loves you

He is committed to saving you time and time again

He sees the end product of who you are becoming and he is pleased with you

Just like we read in Isaiah: “the Lord is waiting to show you mercy”

But unfortunately we are so desperate that we need more than a savior to rescue us

God came and saved Israel time and time again in the OT

But time and time again we see them stumble right back into the mess God saved them from

He does not give up on his people

Like the proverb

Proverbs 26:11 (CSB)

As a dog returns to its vomit,

so also a fool repeats his foolishness.

We don’t only need a savior, we need:

A New Heart:

And this is because of the fall

Remember months ago when we were in Genesis

With the rebellion of Adam and Eve—sin entered into the world

Instead of working alongside God—humanity wanted to become like God

So no matter how many times God came down to save his people

They would fall right back into the same problems

And the solution to this is one of the great promises of the prophets: A New Heart

Ezekiel 11:19–20 (CSB)

I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, so that they will follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 (CSB)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.

Jeremiah 31:33 (CSB)

“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

And this is what the Old Testament was pointing to and looking forward to

But this is reality today

That as Christians, we aren’t just people who have been saved by God from hell

We have been given a new life—a new heart

And what is the heart?

My professor always says that it the ‘human control panel’

It includes our emotions—but it’s more than that

It encompasses our will and desires

What I desire, what I long for, what I decide to do—all comes from the heart

We actually desire to please and honor God—not to manipulate him

But in response to what He has done for us

Conclusion

(SLIDE TO CLOSE)

So we see as the OT comes to a close… There is a big and glaring issue

The exile didn’t seem to work

God sent his people into exile to show them the severity of their sin and rebellion

But they came back from it—and it was like nothing happened

The same lack of respect and honor was present

And not only did the exile not work… what about all of the promises of God?

To Abraham?

For a fruitful nation that is a blessing to all?

To his people through the Prophets?

The promises of a day where God’s people will have new hearts?

And God’s people waited 400 years in silence

The temple rebuilt—generations pass

Empires rise and fall

Things get worse—the Romans take over Israel

They are exiles in their own homeland

The must be asking: Where is our God?

And that’s when Jesus enters the scene

Jesus came to fulfill the Scriptures

He came to follow through on God’s promises

Jesus is our savior

He definitively rescued us from sin and Satan

And set us free from the power of death

He purchased us with his blood—to be His people

He rescued us once for all time

Jesus gives us a new heart

By his death, we have received his Holy Spirit

We have a newness of life—desires and all

We are headed on a different trajectory

And God has done all of this—savior & new heart—because He deeply loves you

It’s not that He got roped into making a promise that He is forced to keep

He willingly gave his own life—that we might have His

If there’s one thing I want you to know today:

It’s that God loves you.

I can say this is true from my own life

If you are here and you know that and believe that

Amen! Praise the Lord for this truth!

Never forget his great love for you

But if you’re here and you’ve never considered God’s love towards you

Or you might have at one point in your life—but now you find it hard to believe

I’m here to tell you that God loves you

If you are in need of rescue—you need a savior

God is waiting to show you compassion and mercy

Or if you are so tired of living for yourself—and sick of your sin and selfishness

Jesus gives us a new heart

Give up your clenched fist and ask for the Holy Spirit

Ask for God to change your desires

Only when we come to God in full surrender can we build a life worth living

Again, unlike the Israelites who were fervent with reform and change—that lead to nothing

We have a solid foundation to build our lives on in Jesus Christ