Returning from Exile

Our Theme is “Rebuilding the House of God”

Ezra 1:5 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.

It has been a difficult year.

Our freedoms are under attack.

Some have suffered and died.

We have been quarantined.

Our travel is restricted.

Our movement is restricted.

Our economy is damaged.

And we are divided over solutions and what to do.

It feels like Exile.

Exile is when a group of people are either forcibly held captive for a long period of time or scattered.

New Dictionary of Biblical Theology Introduction

Exile, in theological terms, is the experience of pain and suffering that results from the knowledge that there is a home where one belongs, yet for the present one is unable to return there.

It is difficult to hold a large group of people captive, so in ancient times they would be moved and resettled into smaller communities throughout the kingdom.

By being separated they would lose the strength of their numbers.

They would lose the power of sharing their common identity.

They would lose the ability to communicate, plan and strategize.

Ideally, they would assimilate into the culture of the conquering kingdom and disappear.

But Israel did not disappear in Exile.

It was while they were in exile that the Old Testament scriptures where compiled, edited and made available to the people.

It was while they were in exile that they formed into synagogues to study the scriptures - a model after which our churches were formed.

It was while they were in exile that Israel’s national identity not only survived, but they emerged even stronger and more unified.

It was during the exile, while studying the scriptures that the Jews began to actively anticipate the coming of a Messiah who would save God’s people.

It was during exile that people like Daniel, Esther and Nehemiah were raised up to demonstrate the wisdom and the power of God in a corrupt system and to stand for truth, justice and freedom.

The exile which was meant by the enemy to destroy the people of God brought them together and prepared the way for Messiah to save them, not from exile but from sin.

We are returning from exile.

Our lives are starting to go back to normal, but people are still afraid.

During the pandemic people got used to being alone and to looking out for themselves and their families.

But in US we have also seen people suffer more from mental health problems.

Alcoholism is up.

Abuse is up.

Beatings are up.

Murder is up.

Church attendance is down.

How do we go back to being a community - the people of God?

How will the body of Christ survive if we are independent of each other?

We need to rebuild the House of God!

We are returning from exile, but what has exile accomplished?

Are we stronger, wiser and closer to God than we were before?

When God restores us, will we go back to the way things were or will we move forward?

Has our wandering changed us?

Ezra was a priest and a scholar who served the king in exile.

Tradition says that he was very much involved in editing and compiling the Old Testament.

Because of Daniel and Esther, the kings of Babylon and of Persia had acquired a certain respect for the God of Israel.

Cyrus, possibly also Darius, commissioned Ezra to oversee the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:1–2 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.

We are rebuilding the house of the Lord, but how shall we rebuild?

We do not want to simply go back to the way things were.

We want to build back better!

In order to do that we need to remember who we are, let our hearts be stirred and allow God to restore.

Remember who you are.

Ezra 1:3–4 ESV

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.”

Remember whose you are.

You are God’s people - a people who belong to God.

When Moses received the ten commandments at Sinai the people also entered into covenant with God.

Exodus 24:3–8 NLT

3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” 4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.” 8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”

Moses made a blood covenant with Israel and they belonged to God.

Jesus’ blood is our covenant.

When we receive Christ as our savior we are in covenant with God through His blood.

Hebrews 12:22–24 ESV

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The blood of Abel cried out to God for justice because sin had come into the world.

The blood of Jesus makes us righteous before God and removes sin.

I think you understand covenant better in Africa than we do in America.

The point is that you are joined to the one that you are in covenant with.

You belong to God!

Remember where you come from.

For Israel in exile, they were removed from their homeland.

Land is important - we are connected to the land.

For Israel, they had a home where they worshipped God.

God’s presence had a physical location -it’s called the temple in Jerusalem.

God had already told the people that he was not bound to a physical location,

but in their minds, everyone has to have a home, including God.

1 Kings 8:27–29 ESV

27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.

Where does God live now?

Where is his temple?

You, yes you all are the Temple of God!

1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

So rebuilding the House of God means coming together as the collective “temple” and becoming what God intended for us to be.

God has a physical location on earth.

Yes, in Jerusalem.

But also here - because we are gathered as His temple!

So what does God intend for us to be?

Remember where you are going.

The temple was designed to remind people of Eden where mankind and God walked together in harmony.

The artwork on the inside of the temple was of plants and angelic creatures

1 Kings 6:29 NLT

29 He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

So if the temple is the place of presence of God

And it is designed to look like the place where God had relationship with mankind before sin.

Think of it - such elaborate artwork for a place that is only visited by very few people.

When the priest would go in to the Holy Place it would look like Eden, only dark and abandoned.

The presence of God alone, waiting for the restoration of mankind.

Then it should tell us what God’s intention is to restore.

He wants relationship with His people!

not a place where we come for just a few moments to pay our respects.

But to walk with God, commune with God and live with God!

Let your heart be stirred.

Ezra 1:5–6 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.

Are your hearts being stirred by the presence of God?

Embrace your God-given destiny.

So when King Cyrus gave the command, people began to get excited about going back to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple.

Now keep in mind these are not the same people who left Israel.

This is happening 70 years later.

So these are the children and the grand-children of those who were taken into Israel.

They had never been there, they had only heard the stories.

But they still had their identity passed down to them.

Their parents and grand-parents had instilled identity into them.

“You are a Levite! We are destined to serve in God’s house.”

Even though they are in Babylon and the temple has been destroyed, they still know who they are.

And that is all pointing to one day when the temple will be restored and they are going to do what they were born to do.

The prophet Ezekiel was from a priestly family.

when he goes into exile, he is having visions and people are gathering around him to hear his visions.

He is still connecting people with God - even though there is no temple to serve in.

He is still a priest - a person who goes between God and the people - or who connects people with God.

Ezekiel can’t help but to fulfill his destiny -even without a temple.

Who are you supposed to be? What is your destiny?

If we are going to rebuild the temple of God it means knowing who we are and then taking up and walking in our god-given destiny!

But we don’t do this alone.

Cultivate your godly relationships.

We have spent too much time in isolation.

We were created for relationship with God and with others.

God designed us to be most effective when we are working together with others.

So part of rebuilding the House of God is going to be repairing, restoring and cultivating godly relationships.

We are going to be talking about apostles and prophets tomorrow evening.

Apostles and Prophets need each other, but they don’t always get along.

We need the apostles and we need the prophets and we need them to listen to and understand each other.

When we honor the apostles and prophets; and they honor each other, the foundations of the church are restored and made strong.

Another foundation is marriages and families.

For a church to be strong, families need to be strong.

And for families to be strong, marriages need to be strong.

For marriages to be strong it will take work.

So we are also going to work at our relationships this week.

Work at unity.

As we are rebuilding the House of God the attack of the enemy will be towards our unity.

Look at Nehemiah trying to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

His enemies taunted him in the hearing of the people.

They tried to spread rumors and threats.

They had crisis of just ice and poverty that needed to be solved for the work to move forward.

But each time there was a problem they found a way to work through it.

Because nothing should be allowed to stop the rebuilding.

You will have problems too.

There will be crises, disagreements, and enemies.

But if you are committed to the rebuilding of the house of God you will find a way to resolve it.

You will need to work at it, but it will be worth it!

Allow God to restore.

Ezra 1:7 ESV

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.

The vessels of the House of the Lord may seem unimportant, but it makes for an interesting study.

These were items of gold and silver that were to be used in the ritual sacrifice and in the maintaining of the temple.

They were very valuable and could have been melted down for their precious metals.

The people wept when they were carried off into Babylon.

Hannaniah, the false prophet in the the time of Jeremiah predicted that they would be returned within two years, but Jeremiah said, “no, seventy years!”

We see them appear in Daniel when King Belshazzar brings them out to display for his party guests.

And on that occasion God judged him very severely.

Now they are being sent back to Jerusalem to be used again for the purpose for which they were intended.

The temple vessels are symbolic of God’s people - preserved and returned for use once more.

God will restore that which was lost.

The temple vessels come out of exile without being lost.

You and I are all vessels for God to use.

2 Timothy 2:20–21 ESV

20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

You may feel like you are hidden away somewhere waiting for God to use you.

You want to make yourself a vessel of honor.

When it is time, God will take you out and use you for his purpose.

You part is to prepare yourself to be a vessel of honor.

God will repair that which is broken.

You may feel that you are broken, or that you have failed and that God cannot use you.

God specialized in using broken vessels and making them new again.

The Apostle Paul thought he was really special until God broke him.

God showed him that he really is special, but not in the way that he thought.

Sometimes God needs to break a vessel and repair it again in order for him to be able to use that vessel as he chooses.

Ananias was the first person sent to Paul after God broke him.

But God gave Ananias a prophetic word as to what Paul would become.

Acts 9:15 ESV

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

God repaired Paul.

The persecutor of the church became the apostle to the gentiles.

The one who inflicted suffering became the sufferer.

The one who tried to destroy the church became the builder of the church.

If we are going the rebuild the house of God we need to first allow God to rebuild us.

God will redeem whatever is wrong.

God is good.

He allows bad things to happen.

But he is always working to turn bad things into good things.

God is alway working to restore.

God made the world and it was good.

Sin brought corruption and death.

Ever since that time, God has been working to restore what was lost and to repair what was broken.

You are part of God’s plan to restore.

God is making us new.

He is restoring us to fellowship with Himself.

He is rebuilding the house.

And we are returning from exile to work with Him.

Whatever is wrong, know that God wants to redeem and restore.

Redeem means that God is restoring value.

God does not waste - He does not throw away what can be restored.

He cleans it up and brings back the value of His vessels.

He allows them to be broken, but then he heals them and uses them for His service.

He sends a rebellious people into exile, but He brings them back again.

And he gives them everything that they need to rebuild the house of God - to restore fellowship with God

And to fill the house with His presence.

Remember who you are.

Let your heart be stirred.

Allow God to restore.