The Return

Introduction

ILLUST - G-pop Hallman - two speaking engagements - one north, one south - Bible roulette

2 Kings 2:23 (AV)

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

We must be careful in Bible study not to make a one-to-one correlation with everything.

Return to the Place of God (1:1-2:64)

Ezra 1:1–4 (ESV)

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

22 Chron 36:2-23 almost verbatim.

Mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled

Jeremiah 25:12–13 (ESV)

12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.

Jeremiah 29:10 (ESV)

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

Cyrus

Cyrus the Great founded the Persian Empire in 539 BC after he defeated Nabonidus who co-reigned over Babylon with Belshazzar.

We learn alot about the beginning of the reign of Cyrus from the Cyrus Cylinder - 9 inches clay cylinder inscribed with 1,000 words found in late 19th Century.

Describes how Cyrus came to power, how he planned to rule (diplomatically verses dictatorially).

Also states how he had released captive people by reversing the deportation policy of the Babylonians

He is returning the images of their gods to their sanctuaries

Isaiah 44:28 (ESV)

28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;

saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’

and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

Isaiah 45:1 (ESV)

1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him

and to loose the belts of kings,

to open doors before him

that gates may not be closed:

Isaiah 45:13 (ESV)

13 I have stirred him up in righteousness,

and I will make all his ways level;

he shall build my city

and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,”

says the Lord of hosts.

This was written 200 years before Cyrus and the Persian Empire ever existed!

*Every authority over you is also under God.

God will move kings and kingdoms for His glory and your good.

God moves authorities in your life for His glory and your good.

Not necessarily for your comfort or ease but for your good.

Jeremiah 29:11

In other words: God has placed and can replace, He can move or remove any authority in your life for His glory and your good.

Boss, president.

God is the ultimate authority.

Ezra 1:5–7(ESV)

5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.

Ezra 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

Ezra 2:64 (ESV)

64 The whole assembly together was 42,360,

Been in captivity for 70 years now home under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua the priest.

Notice the first thing they did. . .

Restore True Worship (3:1-6)

Ezra 3:1–6 (ESV)

1 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, 5 and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord.

First thing they did is restore TRUE worship.

They were sent into exile because they were not worshipping rightly.

Here it is described that they are trying to keep the worship just as God commanded them through Moses.

They had had 70 years away from the place of worship to think about what really mattered in worship.

(same for us today — being forced away from the extras of worship we are left asking, “What is essential in worship?”

That is because:

*Worship is primary in your life.

Notice I did not say that worship should be. The fact is — worship IS primary.

6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.

This seems to be where we are as a church right now — we’ve been able to resume some worship, but the ministry structure isn’t in place yet, and we are not sure what that even looks like.

Haggai 1:1–5 (ESV)

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

As we gather again, we cannot become comfortable with where we are — we must prepare for what God has for us.

*Don’t waste the pandemic!

It is easy to fall back into old habits.

Rebuild the Ministry (3:7-13)

Haggai 1:12–15 (ESV)

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”

(God did not leave His covenant people when they were in Babylon, and when they left, they didn’t leave God in Babylon — God is always with His people!)

14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

To do the work God gave them:

His word (through Haggai)

His presence

His power

Sidenote — we have the same for the ministry God is calling us to as we rebuild!

Ezra 3:7–13 (ESV)

7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests . . .

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Maybe you can relate?

Church isn’t like it used to be — used to be bigger, better, bolder.

*Weeping for past glories will rob you of future joys.*

You will never move forward by looking backward!!

If God no longer exists, then weep!

If God has stopped working in the world, then weep!

If God no longer loves you, then weep!

If God is suddenly powerless, then weep!

BUT - if God never changes, then wait for the JOY!

Haggai 2:1–9 (ESV)

1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ”

Eschatological

* Your work for God lays the foundation for God’s work in the world.

Remember Zerubbabel? Remember God’s call to, “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, [even on that little foundation] for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”

Remember the promise that the work would lead to God’s glory throughout the world, it would be greater than God’s former glory in the temple, it will be the treasure of ALL nations, and it will bring peace (shalom)?

Jesus’ genealogy:

Matthew 1:12 (ESV)

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel was Jesus’ (9) great-grandfather!

What would have happened if Zerubbabel had been too discouraged by his “smaller” ministry and given up?

What would have happened if the opposition he faced made him angry and lose faith?

* Little did Zerubbabel know that laying the foundation of the temple was laying the very stones on which his grandson, Jesus, would stand on to teach, and Zerubbabel’s faithfulness to the work God had given him laid the foundation for God’s peace to be available to the whole world through the gospel

* Your work for God lays the foundation for God’s work in the world.

You don’t know how your faithfulness will lead to Jesus!

Greg Laurie:

Edward Kimball was an ordinary man who taught Sunday school at his church. He sensed God's leading to share the gospel with a shoe salesman.

After nervously pacing outside the store several times, he found this young man in the storage room. Kimball shared God's love and the salesman received Christ.

The year was 1858 and the salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in human history. But the story doesn't stop there.

Several years later, when Moody was preaching, a pastor named Frederick B. Meyer was deeply stirred by Moody's preaching. As a result, he started a nationwide preaching ministry.

A college student named J. Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ after listening to one of Meyer's sermons. Chapman became a pastor and started holding evangelistic outreaches.

One of the assistants he hired was Billy Sunday, a former baseball player. Sunday went on to become a powerful evangelist, reaching thousands and thousands of people with the gospel in the early 20th-century.

One of Billy Sunday's evangelistic crusades was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Afterward, a group of enthusiastic businessmen wanted to do more outreach in the area and asked another evangelist named Mordecai Ham to come and preach.

During Ham's revival meetings, a young farm boy known to neighbors as Billy Frank made his way down the "Sawdust Trail" and gave his life to Christ. Today, we know Billy Frank by his given name, Billy Graham.

So look at this chain of events, starting with this unsung hero. Kimball reached Moody, who touched Meyer, who reached Chapman, who helped Sunday, who reached businessmen in Charlotte, causing them to invite Ham, who reached Graham!

(Greg Laurie - https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/a-new-beginning/read/articles/from-one-to-many-13986.html)

* Your work for God lays the foundation for God’s work in the world.

*PRAY*

Do you need to Return to God, Restore Worship, or Rebuild Ministry for this season?