Ezra 5
Notes
Transcript
Return to Building
Return to Building
1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the 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.
2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
Zechariah (He was really the son of Berechiah, and the grandson of Iddo, but it is possibly Berechiah had died and he was identified as the “grand”son of Iddo)
The rebuilding of the temple continues again with prompting by the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. Why did it take prompting by the prophets? The stop work order had been given by King Artaxerxes and had left the returned Jews discouraged and disheartened. As a result, they walked away from the rebuilding project. But, these words were spoken directly to Zerubbabel and Joshua, as the leaders, who had also stagnated.
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.
6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying,
2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers.
3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.
5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’ ”
16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.
As Haggai encouraged the returned Jewish exiles to rebuild the temple, Zechariah encouraged them to repent and renew their covenant with God (roughly over an 18 month period).
Haggai - August - December 520 while delivering these messages
Zechariah - October to February 519
Through the years between their return, the rebuilding, the opposition, the cessation of building, and now the people had turned away from God, forgetting His commandments and charge to rebuild the temple. Instead, they were focused on worldly things - their own housing, food, clothing, cropping, and earning $$$. The people needed to repent, turn back to God, and then (as Zechariah told them) the Lord would return to them.
When the prophets preached God’s word and encouragement, Zerubbabel and Joshua again roused the people to restart their construction. While they worked, the two prophets encouraged them to renew their relationship and commitment to God.
The same thing happens today, it seems like when we get momentum built - whether it be in our families, work, or at church, when we meet challenges we can certainly get discouraged and it is easy to throw up your hands and quit. But the purpose behind what we do is really the part that should encourage us on to see projects through. Sometimes that takes others to give us encouragement, support, even sometimes a swift kick in the pants to get us re-motivated. But, God gives us the chance to start over, to find our motivation, to have a new beginning and a fresh start. When we turn back to Him, He will turn to us, and give us the strength we need to be committed.
God Protects His Church and Believers
God Protects His Church and Believers
3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”
4 They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?”
5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.
7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace.
8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.
9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’
10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.
11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.
12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.
13 However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.
14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;
15 and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.”
16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’
17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”
As soon as construction on the temple resumed, an official investigation was initiated by the regional governor himself to find out what was going on. Most likely this was not a threatening investigation but a normal procedure followed to protect the welfare of the Persian Empire, as was his job to do - protect the interests of King Darius. Throughout the entire Persian Empire there were only 20 regional governors, which meant that they were powerful men holding high royal positions in the empire. This particular royal governor named Tattenai ruled over the large province of Trans-Euphrates, which included Syria, Palestine, and all other territory west of the Euphrates River (Tattenai - governor of country west of the Euphrates, where Zerubbabel was governor of Judah only). Scripture gives a detailed account of the investigation.
Notice the difference between this letter that Tattenai sent compared to the letter of Chapter 4. This was not a letter of opposition or dissension, but one of confirmation. Notice the response from the Israelites - they didn’t respond as if it was a threat, but answered the questions. They had nothing to hide, because God was behind the rebuilding.
Behind the scenes, the LORD was moving the heart of the governor to allow the construction to continue until he could check with King Darius (v. 5). The eye of God was watching over His people, protecting both them and their service for the LORD. The people had made a renewed commitment to the LORD and to the rebuilding of the temple. In response, the LORD had accepted their recommitment and was now moving world events so that they could continue their renewed service to Him.
b. The actual report sent by the governor to King Darius is recorded in the remaining verses of this chapter (vv. 6–17). To add weight to the report, the governor included the names of the other officials as being part of the investigative committee. The report can be more easily grasped by being divided into six parts.
1) First, the governor greeted the king (v. 6). Greetings were coming from him and from all the other regional officials.
2) Second, the governor informed the king that the temple of the great God was being rebuilt in the district of Judah (v. 8). Large stones and timbers were being used in the construction of the walls. By mentioning this fact, the governor seems to have had some concern that the temple might be used as a fortress. He also mentioned that rapid progress was being made in the construction.
3) Third, the governor mentioned that he had made two demands of the Jewish returnees (vv. 9–10). To begin with, they needed to provide the name of the person(s) who authorized the project. Next, they needed to provide a list of the leaders so the information could be passed on to the king.
4) Fourth, the governor shared the answer that the Jews had given to his inquiries (vv. 11–13). Note that the returnees made four claims that gave them the right to continue rebuilding their temple:
⇒ They claimed the religious right to rebuild (v. 11). Courageously, they gave a strong testimony for the LORD by claiming that they were servants of the God of heaven and earth. This title means that God created the heavens and that He rules over the universe from heaven (see outline and note 1:1–4, pt. 3a for more discussion).
⇒ They also claimed citizens’ rights to rebuild their ancient temple. As citizens of the empire, they had the right to build a temple for worship. In their case they were simply rebuilding a temple that had been constructed many years before by one of their great kings. Of course, this was a reference to Solomon who had built the first temple some 500 years earlier (c. 966 B.C.).
⇒ They claimed a historical right to rebuild the temple (v. 12). Years before, their God had aroused Nebuchadnezzar to destroy their temple and exile their ancestors—all because of their sins. Implied in this statement is the strong testimony that they had now repented of their sins. Therefore, they had the right at this time to rebuild the temple so they could once again worship and serve the God of heaven and earth.
⇒ They claimed the legal right to rebuild the temple (v. 13). The Jews informed the governor that King Cyrus had some years before issued a decree for the temple to be rebuilt. Naturally, this was the strongest claim the Jews had, for once a decree had been issued, it could not be changed or revoked.
Notice in all they did, they honored and glorified God in their answers, acknowledging they were “the servants of the God of heaven”. It was God who had given them the right to rebuild, and put it on King Cyrus heart to give them the right and guarantee their supplies.
5) Fifth, the governor reported the detailed explanation of the legal claim given by the Jews (vv. 14–16). The Jews had claimed that King Cyrus had even returned all the furnishings of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had plundered (v. 14). In addition, King Cyrus had appointed a man named Sheshbazzar as governor, charging him with the duty of returning the furnishings to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple (vv. 14–15). Furthermore, the Jews claimed that Sheshbazzar had laid the foundation of the temple and that they had been working on it ever since. However, the temple had not yet been finished.
6) Sixth, in closing his report the governor made two requests of King Darius (v. 17). The governor asked that the king search the royal archives to verify the Jews’ story and then send a reply to him with the king’s decision concerning the matter.
God was watching over His people, protecting them and allowing them to continue their service for the LORD. Likewise, God’s eyes watch over us as true believers, protecting us as we walk about day by day. No matter who we are or what our daily tasks may be, if we are truly following and trusting the LORD, keeping His commandments, the LORD is right there with us. He is taking care of us, protecting us from the enemies of this life. We are not necessarily delivered from trials, but we are delivered through trials. As we walk through hardships and suffering, we learn to draw closer and closer to the LORD. And as we draw closer to Him, He infuses peace within our hearts, giving us the strength to conquer the trial. When His peace and strength are demonstrated within our lives, the world sees a strong testimony for the LORD. They too can turn to Him for peace and strength through the trials of this life.
Through all the hardships and trials of life, God protects His people, never failing us. He always provides whatever is needed for the moment: either His power to deliver us from the hardship or through the hardship. Listen to what God’s Holy Word says about the watchful eyes of the LORD, His protective power: