U15.05-6 Opposition overcome
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Introduction
Introduction
We’ve been looking at the book of Ezra for some time now. If you’ve got a Bible with you this is where you’ll find the book of Ezra
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There is, of course, no shame in looking it up in the contents at the front of your Bible if you use a dead-tree Bible. If you use an electronic Bible, it’s a bit easier to find.
We’ve seen so far that, after 70 years in exile in Babylon, God’s people were allowed back to their own land, being sent by King Cyrus along with all the gold taken from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar at the time when they first went into exile.
At first everything went swimmingly as we saw in chapter 2:
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They returned to the land in accordance with prophecies by Jeremiah and Isaiah.
They laid the foundations of the Temple
The cycle of worship resumed on the site of the Temple
There was a great national celebration.
But then, as we saw very briefly last week, the opposition started.
Their enemies tried to have the work stopped, and the opposition, including that to rebuilding the walls of the city, goes on for about 70 years - it’s not a flash in the pan.
We looked a bit at the nature of opposition and saw, from chapter 4, that:
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It arises in the midst of success
False friends
Fear
Discouragement
Frustration of plans
We also considered briefly that we should expect God’s work to be opposed.
None of the great heroes of Scripture, or the heroes of the faith in history met with unqualified success.
Our evangelical idea that, if everything is going well it means that God is blessing us is, therefore, flawed - it might also mean that we aren’t really doing God’s work.
So there has been a progression so far as we see on the slide.
Today we’re going to look at chapters 5 and 6, and what comes next. Because it’s a long passage I won’t read all of it but will read out some sections. I’ll put these on the screen to make it easier.
Read the passages
Read the passages
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?” 4 They also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius.
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?” 4 They also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?”
There is then an exchange of letters between Tattenai the regional governor and king Darius, which results in the following letter coming from Darius:
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:
Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, 4 with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:
Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
Development
Development
So in this passage a number of things happen:
There is further challenge, which is overcome.
Tattenai, the governor of the region under king Darius, comes down to Jerusalem with a colleague, Shethar-Bozenai, and asks them on what aithprity they are proceeding with rebuilding the Temple, and in typical bureaucratic manner, takes their names.
There is then an exchange of letters with the King, and the archives are checked and the people of Israel are vindicated.
Not only are they allowed to continue the rebuilding of the Temple, but the king orders that it’s to be funded from the treasury, and expressly forbids interfering with the rebuilding. It won’t be until much later, in the reign of Artaxerxes that further opposition to hte building happens.
The prophets get involved and drive forward the work.
Haggai and Zchariah come onto the scene and stir the people to get on with the work of rebuilding.
God is revealed as the actor behind all that is happening.
5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
The restoration of the nation of Israel moves on a couple more stages:
the Temple is completed & dedicated
and the Passover is reinstated.
There is also a sense throughout that, although srestoration is happening, things are not quite as it was formerly .
6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
So Haggai, who is one of the prophets speaking into their situation, also speaks into this sense of things not being as they should be.
We saw when we looked at chapter 3 how the older people were disappointed with the Temple when they saw the foundations.
This Temple, unlike the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple, is never filled with the glory of God - they both were at their dedication.
So although we see progression throughout the book of Ezra, we are also left with a sense at the end of the OT narrative that something is lacking, something is missing.
So what do we do with all of this?
Role of the prophets -
Role of the prophets
God coming into foreground as the agent of what has happened.
Restoration of the Passover and completion of the Temple. Place of worship and holiness in Ezra’s narrative.
There is also a sense throughout that, although srestoration is happening, things are not quite as they were previously.
Lessons
Lessons
God behind what happens - we need to find him in it.
Ultimately it is in Jesus that all the Temple worship finds its fulfilment.
God behind what happens - we need to find him in it.
Primacy of worship - priority is given to restoration of worship over restoration of security by building the walls (although that will be opposed very severely later)
Importance of the gathered people of God. It is public worship and the shared festival of Passover that are restored right at the beginning, not private worship.
Role of prophetic - Haggai and Zechariah are sent by God to provoke God’s people to fulfil their calling.
Holy dissatisfaction - sense in this book and in Haggai that, even though they are back in the land and great progress is being made on restoring worship, and later the plave of God’s word and the holiness of God’s people, something is missing.
It is into this hat the prophets speak.
Role of the prophetic