Emboldened By The Word Of God...

Timeline

Before we jump in to this text, let’s first remind ourselves where we just were last week.

For the last 2 weeks we have been looking at this idea of opposition

We first saw opposition where enemies of God attempted to masquerade themselves as friends in order to get in on the work to stop it from happening.

After they are shut down from this, they opposed God’s work of rebuilding and restoration by appeal to a higher human authority

And it is by doing this, that in their minds and from their perspective, they succeeded in stopping the work of rebuilding and restoration that God was working through His people to accomplish.

It is immediately following the forcible stopping of the work by the enemies of God that we look at our text today

Text

Ezra 4:24-5:5

Ezra 4:24–5:5 CSB

Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. But when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah 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, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them. At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers who are constructing this building?” But God was watching over the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

Message

1. God In Our Waiting - 4:24

Let me first begin by asking, how are you with patience?

If you’re anything like me, than in many things you’re probably not too good with patience.

Sure you may say “well with this I’m really patient” but what about with things like this?

What about with something that you know is right, something you know God has called you to, and it is forcibly stopped, not just for days, not just for weeks, but for months!

I think one of the main things that gets us about this text, is we have all been in a generally similar place to this, and I think we could all agree the thing that frustrates us and makes us impatient isn’t necessarily the situation itself

But rather the thing that frustrates us and makes us impatient, is what we perceive as God’s failure to act - God’s failure to right wrongs

How easy would it be for the people of God to respond to this opposition that has caused them to stop the work of rebuilding and restoration, how easy it would be for them to respond like

“God, was it not You who brought us this far? Why would you bring us this far to stop us now? Why would you bring us out of slavery and supply us with everything we need for this work, only to allow enemies to forcibly stop us? And then not answer!”

I think we as people feel this way and think this way because we think that waiting couldn’t possibly be a part of God’s plan.

That if God wanted to begin a work He couldn’t possibly desire for that work to take more time the we view necessary right?

Let me ask you, in this text and in this series....we have been talking about 4 themes. So I want you to take a second to answer this question for yourself

In the themes of rebuilding and restoration......what is the object of those themes? As in what is God rebuilding and what is God restoring?

If your first thought was the city, or the walls, or the temple than that is the primary reason why if you and I were in this situation, if we were amongst the people, that we would be abundantly frustrated.

God is rebuilding and restoring His relationship with His people. People are not inanimate objects. We need time, we need reminders, we even need set backs!

We need those things so that we might remember our end goal and stay the course!

I want to bring up some Scriptures to illustrate this point of God being in the waiting so that when we come upon seasons such as this, we will not despair but rather exercise biblical patience.

Genesis 1-2 - We know this as the Creation Account and we know in our modern day there is much controversy over this as to its accuracy when it comes to our cultures understanding of science and the origin of things.

We hear “7 days?! Are you kidding me?? More like 7 billion years!”

And while this narrative has always been quite scandalous, I don’t think we realize just how scandalous it really is

Because historically speaking, the 7 Days of Creation was just as scandalous to the scientific community but in the exact opposite way.

They thought it foolish because, well He is God! Why on earth did it take Him so long to create? Couldn’t He have just done it instantaneously?

But even here, we miss the patience of God. We miss the “God in the waiting”

Genesis 12 - God waits to speak the covenant to Abram (later Abraham) until Abram is 75 years old!

Genesis 15 - God speaks again to Abraham and tells him that his future offspring will end up as slaves for a period of 400 years!

It isn’t until after the 400 years of slavery (and also silence as there is no Scripture written during this time) that God brings Moses about to begin the Exodus!

Matthew 1 - The biggest one, is that God waits thousands and thousands of years to come in the person of Jesus to bring about salvation!!

Brothers and sisters, God is in the waiting!

2. God Is In His Word - 5:1-2

It is after this period of waiting, teaching the people to rely on Him and wait on His Word, that God is faithful to bring His Word!

I’ve heard it said that one of the most glorious words in all of Scripture is the word ‘but’

And here is one of those reasons why.

The work of rebuilding and restoration was stopped But when the prophets....

And you might say, well that’s not God right? Isn’t that just guys who came along to encourage them?

We must understand the nature of prophets in Scripture and their roles. Prophets were ones who spoke to the people saying “This is what God Almighty says...”

And it wasn’t just as easy as “I’m going to make myself and prophet and ‘speak for God’

Especially here under the Old Covenant, the role or title of prophet came with major consequences no matter what.

Either you were a false prophet, in which case Deuteronomy 13 comes in to play which was a death sentence for one claiming to be a prophet from God when they were in fact not.

OR you were a prophet in which case this typically meant bringing some really hard news to people. Yes prophets brought great news of restoration and hope and future mercies but it also including telling the people that they were in sin and would be judged as a result.

I can’t begin to explain how big of a moment this was for the people of God. To be in this place where they have faced almost constant opposition and now their work has stopped BUT WAIT.

God has just raised up 2 prophets. God isn’t just in our waiting but He is in His Word!!! And that means He cares!!!

Even God’s hard words are proof that He cares!! Every word of God for warning of judgment shows He cares because if He didn’t He would never warn us! He would never call us to repentance He would just smite first and never ask questions!!

And here in this moment, 2 prophets step on scene to proclaim, “I know this is what we are facing, but this is what God says.”

Notice in verse 1 it says Haggai and Zechariah show up and that prophesied “in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.”

Man. What a message! Honestly, did the prophets even really need to say more??

And notice how Ezra creates this dichotomy - the people get a word from the King of Persia, who believes he is over the people and in control and he says stop or else.

But the people then get a word from God who is with the people, and He is over the people and in control and He says keep working. I have your back.

3. God Is In The Work - 5:3-5

Here is the coolest part of all of this, God isn’t just in our waiting and in His Word but He is with us in the actual work!!

The people wait on God, and then they get His Word and they are immediately emboldened by His word! And so they begin to work again

Can I ask you? How do you respond to the Word of God? Because if I may, if I can speak a bit of a hard word....

This often isn’t us. Often times we go to church or we watch church online, we say “that was good” or “that was ehh” or “I didn’t like...”

We sit and we listen and then we leave and we grade the sermon like the Pastor was performing for us or something? Now sure I get it, to some Pastors out there, everything is a performance. And if that’s the case, God will handle that on His terms.

Even if that’s the case, that does not nullify God’s Word and His explicit commands

So in this season, how are you responding to God’s Word? Is all this just a performance catered to you to make you feel warm and fuzzy? Is it just a small part of your day that you have to get through so that you can move on and do whatever you want during the week?

Or does the word of God embolden you to do the work of God?

You might say, well where is that in the text Cody?

Let me read this again and see if this is how you respond to the Word of God

Ezra 5:3-5

Ezra 5:3–5 CSB

At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure?” They also asked them, “What are the names of the workers who are constructing this building?” But God was watching over the Jewish elders. These men wouldn’t stop them until a report was sent to Darius, so that they could receive written instructions about this matter.

These men would not stop the work because they were emboldened by the messages of Haggai and Zechariah. They were emboldened knowing that God was:

Aware of their situation

Spoke to their situation

Empowered them in their situation

So I have to ask a question. And this question is going to be a direct question to you, the person watching this. So if you’re watching this don’t think “oh he is talking about someone else.” No I’m talking about you.

My question is this. If you are a follower of Jesus. What work of God are you doing in this season.

Like if you were asked to write out how you are a part of the work of rebuilding and restoration that God is doing in our communities, could you write out what you’re doing? Could you write out how God is using you?

Trust me I know it is God who ultimately accomplishes the work not use but I think sometimes we can use that as a cop out for laziness.

We use that to say “well God is going to do it one way or another”

Yes God ultimately accomplishes the work but it is God, the Almighty God, who chooses to accomplish that work by calling and equipping and sending out people who know and love Him.

So dear Christian, how are you actually, specifically, and measurably being used by God in this season?

And if you’re watching this and you’re not a Christian....Here what I want you to know.

wholeness is possible. Many people walk through life not knowing their true purpose or why they are in this world.

You are in this world that you might know God, follow God, and tell others to do the same.

So I want to ask you, do you follow Jesus? Like do you actually follow Him. Have you turned away from your life of sin to trust in the blood of Jesus that covers sins to walk in a new life loving and serving Him?

If not, God is calling you to do that, today. Follow Jesus today and find that you might be made whole again.