DONE 210801 Ezra: The Lord is Sovereign Over All

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INTRODUCTION
A couple of weeks ago, the family and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Columbia County fair in St. Helens. The family loves to ogle at the trinkets, gorge on some suspicious fair food and look at the different exhibits - PHOTO SLIDE and we always get our family picture taken at the old time photo booth. It’s a great family tradition and its always fun to invite a member of the family along with us. This year it was Rachael’s cousin, last year we dressed up as pirates and took that with Rachael’s brother, a few years ago it was Pastor Gary and Diana at the state fair where he made me sick on roller coaster rides PAUSE LOOK AT GARY AND DIANA… Never again, Gary, hahahah!
Well, anyway I usually give the kids a couple of bucks to spend on whatever they want. They usually spend it on a toy that breaks about fifteen minutes after we leave. But this time, my son surprised me. He bought a little ring and on the ring was inscribed a familiar verse.
VERSE SLIDE The verse is from Jeremiah 29:11. READ SLOW It says, ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Those wonderful words of comfort have provided stability and peace for many of us. When the world is falling apart, when loved ones pass away, when everything is wrong we, as believers cling to the fact that God has a good purpose that He alone sovereignly superintends.
The Lord has a good plan and He is executing throughout human history to the final eventual end of revealing to the world His ultimate magnification and exaltation. This is so good. SMILE We who know the character of God, that He is good, that He is compassionate, He is unwilling that any should perish we cling to His sovereignty because His sovereignty gives us stability- solid ground. ONE ONE THOUSAND ONE, TWO ONE THOUSAND TWO...
We love Him for it. ONE ONE THOUSAND ONE, TWO ONE THOUSAND TWO...
Well, today, the plan is to pick up the story from where we left off last week in Habakkuk and cover a pretty expansive piece of history - we are going to cover 70 odd years of history in a few minutes… 70 years is a lifetime but the things that took place over that 70 years have continued to define religious Jewish life to this day. Our ultimate destination is actually to arrive at the introduction of the book of the week, which is Ezra.
The main point that I want to get across from this message is that “The Lord orchestrates all of human history and activity to achieve His ultimate end - His own glory”
Before we begin, let’s go to our Sovereign Lord in prayer and ask Him to help us to worship Him well today.
PRAYER
Lord, God, we see Your hands in history and in our own lives. We see how You direct all of human history toward Your own glorification. You, Lord, are the only One worthy of exaltation and honor. You deserve praise and acclaim because of Your goodness and grace....You have proven time and again that You are who You claimed to be. You claimed to be patient and longsuffering. You stated that You will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.... PAUSE... You did that, You do that and You will do it again in the future. Your character is unchanging. You are true and the one that believes You, that trusts You, will not be disappointed. We believe that You of Your Own will have sufficiently and completely exposed Your own Son, our precious Savior, to the overwhelming wrath that we deserve. Because of this, we honor You with our focus and attention now. We have one request… help to concentrate on You and honor You with our worship today, in Jesus’ name and in the power of Your Holy Spirit we ask this, amen.
CONTEXT
As, I mentioned a moment ago, during the introduction, we are going to cover a pretty wide swath of territory and history eventually landing at our text today in the book of Ezra. Last week we looked at the book of Habakkuk. The prophet Habakkuk in the watchtower, remember? 1st SCHEDULE SLIDE
The prophets Habakkuk and Jeremiah served at approximately the same time. They served at a time before Jerusalem fell to the Chaldeans and some time afterward. So we are going to pick up the story from last week and carry it to the eventual goal of the return of the exiles from Babylon back to Judah.
If you will remember, last week we looked at Habakkuk’s interview with God where he asked God why He would use wicked Babylon to judge the people of Israel. These two prophets, Habakkuk and Jeremiah, they both served the people of Judah with warning after warning about the coming judgment. But they wouldn’t listen.
2nd SCHEDULE SLIDE After the untimely death of the Good King Josiah in battle against Pharoah Neco at Megiddo, the people installed his son, Jehoahaz as king in Jerusalem. 3rd SCHEDULE SLIDE He only lasted a few months before Pharoah Neco came back from the north and dragged him off to Egypt. Before they left, Pharoah Neco made his older brother, Jehoiakim king in Jerusalem.
It was at that time that Habakkuk climbed the watchtower to call on the Lord… Maybe some of us wondered why a watchtower? Surely there are other places more conducive to a conversation with God than a watchtower. What about the temple? VERSE SLIDE Well, Habakkuk likely climbed the watchtower in 607BC because God was already softening Jerusalem up for Nebuchadnezzar to take. 2 Kings 24:2 tells us that the Lord sent bands of Ammonites, Babylonians, Arameans and Moabites to destroy Judah - that is the other reason why Habakkuk climbed the watchtower… the threat was at their doorstep. 4th SCHEDULE SLIDE
This whole time, Jeremiah and Habakkuk ministered to the people of Israel and warned them to humble themselves before the Lord. In the absence of godly leadership, the people of Israel had rapidly returned to the idolatry, lawlessness and disobedience that Josiah had worked so hard to destroy.
5th SCHEDULE SLIDE All of their wickedness came right back in after Josiah’s death. Egypt took over until in 605BC Pharoah Neco met the soon to be Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in battle in Carchemish MAP and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Egyptian forces there thus becoming the undisputed ruler in the most important region in the known world.
We know Nebuchadnezzar as the Golden head in the vision that Daniel interpreted for him… as a magnificient king, virtually all powerful in the known world but for the first 3rd of his 43 year reign he achieved no major victories. He led a horrible campaign against Neco and failed to take Egypt… and the vassal states in the region, they took notice and began to rebel. This includes the people of Judea led by wicked king Jehoiakim 6th SCHEDULE SLIDE.
As these various people groups began to disobey and flaunt their rebellion against Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar strengthen himself and went on the war path. Please turn if you would to 2 Chronicles 36. In chapter 36 verse 5 we join up the context to the text.
2 Chronicles 36:5–6 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
According to the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and began the first exile of three, hauling off Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin and many of the prominent citizens and nobles to Babylon. 7th SCHEDULE SLIDE He ransacked the temple and the city leaving Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah as king. In verse 10 we read
2 Chronicles 36:10–21 | 10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him (Jehoiachin) to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord, and he made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel.
The prophet, Jeremiah, he had warned the people of Judah over and over and in Jeremiah 38 we learn he got tossed into a cistern for his trouble. A CISTERN is a big cavernous hole in the ground that is filled with rain water, and as the rain water fills the cistern it also fills with silt and dirt and debris… The text says that when they threw Jeremiah into this cold wet hole in the ground he sunk into the mud… The situation is dire in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar has besieged the city and the people are starving, they have eaten all the remaining food and they got tired of this guy Jeremiah always giving them bad news. They threw him into this muddy pit and until a servant of the king rescued him. It took 30 guys to pulled Jeremiah out of the hole and put him in the guardhouse and the king, Zedekiah, he went and met Jeremiah and asked him for the word from God...
Jeremiah 38:14–18 | 14 Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” (YOU GET A SENSE OF JEREMIAH’S FRAME OF MIND IN HIS RESPONSE) 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.” 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. 18 ‘But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’
King Zedekiah did not listen to Jeremiah - which is just what 2 Chronicles tells us happened. He stiffened his neck and rebelled against the warning from the Lord. Back in 2nd Chronicles we read in verse 14
14 Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem. 15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; 16 but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.
They didn’t listen to the prophets… They didn’t heed the word of the Lord... What had the prophets warned them about? I mean most frequently we see them warning the people about their lawlessness, their idolatry, their injustice against the widow and the orphan. But also one other thing, they had not been obeying God’s command to let the land rest one year in seven.
Every seven years the land was supposed to take a break from being farmed… apparently, the people after they came into the promised land out of Egypt had consistently and repeatedly disregarded this law found in Leviticus 25:1-4. For nearly 500 years they had ignored this Law and for that reason also God is going to to punish the people… That one infraction, consistently and repeatedly done over and over was going to mark the calendar for how long they would be in exile. Back in verse 17 we read
17 Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. 18 All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. 8th SCHEDULE SLIDE 19 Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. 20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.
God scraped Judah off the map because they had not bothered to adhere to a seemingly small command. They hadn’t let the land rest. They had taken and taken and taken and done what was right in their own eyes.
I need to ask, us all, legitimately, is there something in God’s word you reject? ONE ONE THOUSAND ONE TWO ONE THOUSAND ONE Is there something that you refuse to do. Maybe it is to love your neighbor. Maybe it is to live out your faith, maybe it is to forgive another. Whatever it is that we have been commanded to do, it isn’t optional.
Now, there is a big difference between the rebellious idolaters of Judah and us, on this side of the cross. We are different but God still requires obedience. And we should gladly give it to Him because of what He has done for us. He has opened our eyes and made us aware of the huge cost of our salvation. It cost God everything to make us whole again, new again… It is a small thing that He asks of us, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. God is so good, He does what He says He is going to do. He keeps His promises. He provides for His people and He comforts them.
You know in that verse I read at the beginning of the message I left out the context. The context of Jeremiah 29 is after the fall of Jerusalem. Flip over to Jeremiah 29:10
Jeremiah 29:10–13 | 10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
The good plans that the Lord had for the people of Judah, included leaving all they had ever known. Ponder on that… The good plans of the Lord included coming to a land filled with foreigners, idolators. The good plans of the Lord involved allowing them to be deported from the promised land of milk and honey for the land Babylon. They would be away from home… they would be isolated and apart and homesick for 70 years. The good plans of the Lord included allowing them a period of pain...
You know I have noticed that the biggest changes in people’s lives come when they finally build up an appetite for change. God, is going to leave the people of Judah in Babylon for 70 years until they call upon Him, until they search after Him with every beat of their heart. It is going to take 70 years to build up the desire of the people of God to return home and do worship right. It is going to take 70 years for the land to heal up from the missed Sabbath rests… 70 years of hunger and homesickness and healing… 9th SCHEDULE SLIDE
Maybe, you are in pain right now. I don’t know… SMILE. People are frighteningly good at hiding their depression, their anxiety, their sadness and their fear. They are good at not exposing the truth and keeping their outer veneer highly polished. They are good about chatting about the weather or traffic and you would never know that inside they are dying... You may be experiencing that right now. You may be in a period of exile, in a difficult time a hard time, to build up a desire, an appetite and a hunger for God to the point of fully searching for Him with every beat of your heart… SLIDE
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
When we turn to God with our whole heart and give Him every part of ourselves we will find ourselves satisfied… LONG PAUSE ONE ONE THOUSAND ONE TWO ONE THOUSAND ONE
Ok, that is all of that context for Ezra. I want to bring us to our principal text today… Now don’t worry, we are just going to breach the surface but I also wanted to maintain the flow of our timeline.
If you are still in 2nd Chronicles you will note that we are skipping the last two verses of the book. Why? Why skip any part of the Bible? Well, its nothing nefarious. I am skipping them because they are repeated verbatim in Ezra 1:1-2… We are jumping past 70 years of exile and coming back to the good plan of the Lord for His people’s welfare and their return home to the promised land.
King Nebuchadnezzar is a man just like any other and he has died like all other men, and other kings have risen after him and fallen but now a new king has taken over the region. The king of Persia. VERSE SLIDE His name is Cyrus and the Lord called him messiah in Isaiah 45:1. This messiah, this anointed one, this savior, Cyrus is going to restore the inheritance back to the Jews and when they come they will rebuild the Temple of God. Ok, Ezra chapter 1 says SLIDE
Ezra 1:1–4 | 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: 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 appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 ‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! 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 ‘Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’ ”
The Lord had orchestrates this event and all of human history and activity to achieve His ultimate end - His own glory. The Lord has good plans that include salvation and restoration. He has a good plan that included restoration and salvation which He did for the Jews in 538BC. Interestingly, the book of Ezra, recognizes that it is not because of the people’s good deeds and righteousness that God did that but because He is gracious. He is gracious and He is good all the time. PAUSE ONE ONE THOUSAND He is holy and worthy of our honor and glory because He has done a superb job of superintending all of human history to bring us to the ultimate Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
Cyrus may have been a type for the people of Judah, a type that enabled the people of God to rebuild the temple but we have the fulfillment of that type in Christ. Jesus is the Lord’s anointed also. He is the ultimate Messiah. The true King of Kings. The promised One who rules and reigns is coming again in glory.
The Lord orchestrates all of human history and activity to achieve His ultimate end - His own glory. Let’s stand and I will close in prayer.
PRAYER
Lord God, You are good. You work throughout human history to achieve Your ultimate end. Your own glory. You have shown that You are who You said You are. You are a good King, the sovereign ruler over the universe and for that we praise You. We honor You for using man’s evil to achieve the fulfillment of Your design. I pray that we would search for You with all of our hearts and that You would give us the desire of our hearts. Help us to want You, to love You and obey You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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