Humility & Exaltation (Part 2)

Timeline

Text

Ezra 6:13-22

Ezra 6:13–22 CSB

Then Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of God’s house they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, as well as twelve male goats as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe. They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses. The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles. The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

Message

1. Joy In God’s Finished Work - 6:13-18

So after branching off to Haggai to look at the Word God brought to the people, and how it fueled them to continue the work of God,

we just back into our narrative in Ezra 6 to see the people of God finish the work on the temple that God commanded them

Ezra 6:14

“…They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel...”

God’s Word isn’t just a comfort to us in hard times....

God didn’t just give His Word to encourage us emotionally....

Although those things are true, those things are an equipping of us.

Being comforted in hard times or being encouraged in challenging seasons, is in order that you might be equipped to do the work of God

2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So when God, in our passages in Haggai, rebukes the people of God for their selfishness, and teaches them about His being for them and being with them,

He was equipping them to finish the good work He prepared beforehand for them!

And what does that bring the people?

It brings them joy!

Ezra 6:16

Ezra 6:16 CSB

Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

This is not just a “hey this was cool we got this finished”

This is deep emotion, this is a great happiness and pleasure in seeing God follow through on His promises!

This is why, when we looked in Haggai, why our one of our main points was that in a challenging and contentious season that we are in currently,

particularly with the elections, we must fix ourselves and our spiritual and emotional states on the truth that God will build His Kingdom.

He is faithful to continue and finish His works no matter our perspective of the challenges!

So when the people of God were forcibly stopped in their work, and God looks at them and rebukes them,

that was done, so that they might continue the work of God, see the work of God finished, and find the joy that is only from God as a result of Him following through on His promises!

A last little detail we see before we move to our next point,

Notice how we said the Word of God equips us....

But notice also, the Word of God will never equip you in a way that encourages you away from it

Does that makes sense?

Some people will say, “oh I just believe God wants me to [insert something Scripture commands against]”

Notice the people follow the Word of God given to Haggai, and that results in:

Ezra 6:18

Ezra 6:18 CSB

They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses.

The Word of God that equipped them them to finish the work, in order that they would see the joy in the finished work;

Also brought them deeper into obedience of the Word of God

There wasn’t, however, just joy in the God’s finished work they were able to witness and be a part of...

2. Joy In God’s Sovereign Work - 6:19-22

This is talking about the Work that they could not be a part of

We saw the joy in the work they were able to participate in (the rebuilding of the temple of God)

But now we see them rejoice why?

Ezra 6:22

Ezra 6:22 CSB

They observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, having changed the Assyrian king’s attitude toward them, so that he supported them in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

There are these moments, that God steps in and does something that only He can do, and because of our witnessing of that, He produces a joy in us that causes us to worship Him more!

Ezra 6:21

Ezra 6:21 CSB

The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

But here’s the thing, if you are thinking to yourself, that you haven’t or aren’t currently feeling this joy

May I challenge you with the a strong word....

This may be because you have not actually felt the first joy?

We have to see these two points as connected

Because the people weren’t just sitting on their hands AND THEN God did the miraculous and it gave them joy

We are talking about the people of God who were doing His work, forcibly stopped AND THEN God steps in and does the miraculous

It can be hard to see the joy in the second point, in God’s sovereign work,

If you aren’t actually participating in the work that you have been called to

And the reason is, because you have never run in to the wall that is “man’s limit”

If, as a Christian, you aren’t engaged in the Work God has prepare for us, then its going to be hard to see the true joy when God does the miraculous

because you have never attempted the work and run in to the wall realizing you can go no further if God doesn’t do something big

Because in our human pride, we tend to think that it is us who can accomplish anything

So when God does something big, we then tend to go “Well yeah I guess that’s pretty cool” because we think honestly to ourselves we could have made it happen on our own!

Can you change someone’s heart?

Can you direct the heart of a king in a way that seems opposite to what he would actually do?

These are works that God does!

It is God who steers the hearts of kings

It is God who provides for His people

Most importantly, it is God who can take those who are spiritually dead, and bring them to spiritual life

Because resting just behind this text, is the thing that is more miraculous than the rebuilding of a temple in the midst of opposition

Greater than the joy of a finished work or a kings heart being turned

Its found in Ezra 6:20-21

Ezra 6:20–21 CSB

All of the priests and Levites were ceremonially clean, because they had purified themselves. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves, their priestly brothers, and all the exiles. The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles of the land in order to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

What could be greater than finished work or a kings heart being turned?

God making a way for sinful humanity to be made clean and worship Him

We see the people kill the Passover lamb, an act to be done once a year so that they might be made clean but not in a permanent way.

Hebrews 9:1-14

Hebrews 9:1–14 CSB

Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves. Behind the second curtain was a tent called the most holy place. It had the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. The cherubim of glory were above the ark overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now. With these things prepared like this, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry. But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing. This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience. They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of the new order. But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?

So here in Ezra 6 we see this final moment of the priest making their sacrifices, and the high priest, taking in the Passover lamb to make a sacrifice for the people

And this moment, as was every year the Passover lamb was slain, was a thing meant to point to Jesus

Who, by His sacrificial death, burial and resurrection,

Jesus becomes both the High Priest (the one able to enter in) and the Lamb to be slain (to make a way for us)!

Right? This series is “To Be Whole Again” - and we have been saying that God restores people to Himself and then sends them out to accomplish His work

This is that! The wholeness that comes from God is only found in the fact that He has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to Himself!

That He has taken those who are far away and messy, and He has brought them near and made them clean

And we stand here, not in the time of Ezra, we stand in a time after the coming of Jesus, who fulfilled the work of the Passover lamb once for all!