Richard Cimino Route _Ezra1-10

Transcription

1 ROUTE 66 Destination: Ezra This is our 21 st leg in our drive through the Bible. And tonight our road trip through the 66 books of the Bible brings us to a cluster of three books that complete the historical section of the Old Testament. That little cluster of books Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. So before we go any further let s bow our hearts before the Lord in a word of prayer. Father, thank you tonight for your Word. Thank you for this amazing collection of books, all of them God-breathed every word inspired, every word profitable. So, Lord, we look for you to profit us tonight. All that you would intend to do with your Word, Lord, we just give you free reign, so that when we leave here tonight there would be something of your heart that we know, something of the truth of your Word that we know, Lord, that would leave us transformed, that would leave us men and women scattering from this address into a world that is so desperately in need to know your love - a world orphaned by sin. Lord, we would ask tonight that you would speak, Page 1 of 28

2 that you would touch. And, Lord, for all that you want to do, once again I pray, please overlook my inadequacies as a man and as a teacher so that tonight your Word would go forth in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power - all so that the name of Jesus would be made known, all so that the name of Jesus would be glorified. For it s in His wonderful name we pray, amen. Well, this historical narrative began back in Genesis 12 when we were introduced to a guy named Abraham. And following from Abraham, his son Isaac, Isaac s son, Jacob, and then we moved into another guy named Joseph - the Patriarchs, if you would, of the nation of Israel. And that narrative that began in Genesis 12 closes at the end of the book of Nehemiah. Somewhere between 1,600 and 2,000 years have been covered in that narrative. So here s the general map, if you would, for tonight s leg of this road trip through the Bible. We re going to start with the background and overview of this book of Ezra. And then we re going to look at the structure of the book; and not just necessarily like here s this structure; here s this chapter; here s the next chapter; but we re going to kind of walk through it to get a sense of the structure. And then we re going to close with a look at why this book is so important for us to read; why it s so important for us to study. So a little background, and an overview. That last cluster of historical books is very unique in the collection of historical books in the Old Testament in that they deal with the history of the nation of Israel after the exile. Page 2 of 28

3 Sometimes you will read a commentary, and it will refer to this little cluster of books as post-exilic because they are happening after the southern kingdom of Judah has gone away into exile in Babylon. So let s just set that context. We have the Pentateuch, the five books literally - Genesis through Deuteronomy. That s referred to as The Law. Joshua, Judges, and Ruth - deals with the years when Israel was governed by God. And that section is referred to as the Theocracy - God governing the people. Judges and Ruth together, and the opening chapters of 1 st Samuel, as we ve learned in our road trip thus far, are referred to as the Period of the Judges. And this guy Samuel was the last of the judges in Israel. And so when we come to 1 st Samuel 8, all the way through 2 nd Kings, we have the period of the Monarchy in Israel, and the dividing of Israel into the northern and southern kingdoms. 2 nd Chronicles, as we just finished 2 nd Chronicles together last week, essentially recaps that history, but looking specifically at the southern kingdom. And as we said, it was kind of a divine editorial. It s a spiritual history, looking at things very pertinent to the temple and the spiritual life of Israel. At the close of 2 nd Kings and 2 nd Chronicles, the period of the monarchy ends with the southern kingdom of Judah being carted off into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Now, we don t know a whole lot about life, as the Children of Israel experienced while they were in exile in Babylon. It s pretty much 70 years of silence. We get a little glimpse into that life in exile through the lives of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Esther. There is one amazing window into the pathos and the bitterness of life in captivity during that 70 years. It s Psalm 137:1-9. I m going to read it to you. 1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Page 3 of 28

4 2 3 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentor s mirth In other words, their captors they tormented them; and they were joking and mocking them - saying, Sing us one of those songs of Zion! How shall we sing the Lord s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, Oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations! O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your littles ones and dashes them against the rock. That is bitterness of soul. That is sorrow that no one in this room understands. And the pathos in it is They realize why they are where they are. They realize their captivity was owing to their own rebellion, and their own idolatry. And they said Page 4 of 28

5 We have no song; And we won t have a song unless we can return to Jerusalem. The 70 years of captivity would come to a close at the beginning of the Book of Ezra. The period of captivity ends with a decree from Cyrus, the king of Persia. 2 nd Chronicles ends with this decree of Cyrus. Ezra begins with this decree of Cyrus. So we see the Book of Ezra is the continued story of the history of Israel. Now, the Book of Ezra covers a period of 80 years. It begins in 536 B.C. It ends in 456 B.C. Most of that 80 years is also a period of silence. Guys, the events in the Book of Ezra are only a fraction of those 80 years. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah original were treated as one book in the Jewish Canon. The canon - it s a term meaning - a measuring stick, a straight rod and it refers to the collection of inspired books, books that met the standard of divine inspiration. And so they originally, in the Jewish Canon, as well as in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), those two books were treated as a single entity. And that s why, by the way, when we look at the flow of that little cluster of books - it goes Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. The reason Esther is sitting here out of time, if you would, Esther doesn t follow chronologically, Ezra and Nehemiah we ll see that in a little bit. But the reason Esther s out there in the post-exilic trilogy, if you would, is because originally those books were treated as one - Ezra and Nehemiah. In the early part of 3 rd century A.D., a guy named Origen separated the two books in his translation of the Scriptures. And that continued into the Latin Vulgate translation, into our modern translations of the Bible. The title of the book Ezra Page 5 of 28

6 It s a little bit misleading, because, Ezra, though he is an incredibly important character in the book about only 40% of the book deals with him; 60% of the book takes place before Ezra even comes on the scene. Ezra s period of ministry in the book takes just one year. So the book covers a span of 80 years. There are 10 chapters in the book. 4 of those 10 chapters are dedicated to Ezra. And those 4 chapters cover just one year of those 80 years. Ezra - the first 6 chapters deal with a man named Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is going to lead some of the remnant of Israel, the people who were led into captivity for those 70 years, he s going to lead a fraction of them back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, the temple of Solomon that had been absolutely destroyed. Between Ezra chapter 6 and 7 is a 60 year period of silence. It s during that 60 years that the book of Esther takes place. So here is what I want you to do. It s a little exercise. I want you to turn in your Bibles you re in Ezra - turn to chapter 6, Ezra chapter 6. Right after the last verse of Ezra 6, and right before first verse of Ezra 7, write in capital letters write ESTHER, because that s where Esther fits. So when you read the Book of Esther, you know the chronology of the events in that book. Then chapters 7 thru 10 in the Book of Ezra continue the timeline. Those chapters take place over a one year period of time, and then the book ends. The Book of Nehemiah starts twelve years after the events in the Book of Ezra. The Book of Nehemiah follows the continued chronology of the post-exilic period. The end of the Book of Nehemiah brings to an end the historical section of the Old Testament. The rest of the Old Testament books, from that point forward, they are going to always revisit past history. Whether they re prophetic books or whether they re the books of literature, they re always going to revisit moments that come before the end of this chunk of historical narrative in the history of Israel. Page 6 of 28

7 So the structure of the book: Ezra divides into two parts. As I said, the first six chapters deal with Zerubbabel. Now one way to remember this guy, is he s the man who returned to Jerusalem to deal with Za rubble. He s dealing with the rubble there, the mess, the remains of what was left of the temple. Zerubbabel and another guy named Joshua are the main characters of those first six chapters. And those first six chapters, the first section of the book, it can be broken up into chunks of two, okay? 3 two chapter sections comprise the first division of the book. And so let s walk through that first division. Ezra 1: 1 In the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled So we need to understand Jeremiah died shortly after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. By the first year of the reign of Cyrus, Jeremiah has been dead already for some 50 years. So - Ezra 1: 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. And we re given the proclamation. Verse 2 says Ezra 1: 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. 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 let him rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. So here is this guy he s a pagan king, ruling a pagan empire; and he makes a proclamation to all of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that are living throughout his empire; and he says, You re no longer prisoners; You re free to return to Jerusalem; Page 7 of 28

8 You re free to return to rebuild the house of the Lord. Verse 4 it says Ezra 1: 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. In other words, he is saying, if you don t want to return, if you don t want to go, get out your checkbook because you need to support these people that are going back to rebuild something that God Himself has commanded me to have built. He s telling them, you guys that choose not to go You need to help pay their way; You need to provide for them while they re there; You need to underwrite this project. Cyrus is the king of the most powerful empire in the world; and he just gave an edict telling the people of God to return and build the temple in Jerusalem. That is staggering! Now this edict was given in 536 BC, 70 years after the Babylonian captivity began. The first of the captives, including Daniel Daniel, the prophet, was the first of the deported citizens of Judah - they were taken back to Babylon in 605 B.C. So 70 years from 605 B.C. brings us out to 536-ish. This proclamation made by Cyrus, it s not just a historical fact to be filed away. It is radically relevant to everybody. First of all, it shows us the certainty of God s Word. Cyrus cites the prophecy of Jeremiah. On two different occasions Jeremiah foretold the 70 year duration of the captivity. the first - Jeremiah 25:8-13, the second - Jeremiah 29: I ll repeat those for you - the first proclamation of Jeremiah giving the duration of the captivity is - Jeremiah 25:8-13, the second - Jeremiah 29: Page 8 of 28

9 Now many of you may be familiar with the promise of God in Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Let me read that again. It s a phenomenal promise! Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. That is one of the greatest promises in the whole of Scripture. That s a promise you want to have memorized, you want to have tucked away in your heart because it s one that will come to your aid time and time again as you walk with Jesus in a broken world. But don t miss this - Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise that God made to the men and women who were taken into exile because of their own sin and because of their idolatry. They had failed to acknowledge the infinite worth of God. They had failed to follow the ways of God. They had failed to listen to the Word of God. Their own failures ruined their lives. And God says to them, Yes you have failed me; but I have a future for you. That is our God! You have failed me; But I have a future for you. I m not going to ask for a show of hands, but I wonder how many men and women walked in here tonight thinking, painfully aware of how you failed God today, and you are just sitting there going, I m a failure. And to you God says, Yes Page 9 of 28

10 you have failed me; but I have a future for you. And that future is not predicated on your performance. That promise that God made to those people is preceded by this - Jeremiah 29: 10 For thus says the Lord: When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place, 11 for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. One of the greatest promises in the Bible is nestled into the context of Jeremiah s declaration in advance, the duration of 70 years for their captivity. One more very important prophetic reference - write this one in the margins of your Bible there, please - Isaiah 44:28. Cyrus making this decree is so very important for us, this little Book of Ezra so very important for us because it records this decree made by this guy named Cyrus, King of Persia. The prophecy of Isaiah 44 was made 150 years or more before Cyrus existed. When Isaiah wrote this prophecy, Assyria was the dominant power. Assyria would fall to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Babylon would become the dominant power for 70 years. Cyrus would conquer the Babylonians, and the Persian Empire came to power and their rule would last for 200 years. When Isaiah 44 was written, the Persians were not a geopolitical force to be reckoned with. Here is what Isaiah wrote. God is speaking; He says - Isaiah 44: 28 Who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill my purpose; saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built, and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. 150 years before Cyrus, Jeremiah the prophet names Cyrus. Cyrus will be a shepherd, in that he is going to shepherd God s people to fulfill God s promises saying of Jerusalem, Jerusalem shall be built; saying of the temple, your foundation will be laid. Page 10 of 28

11 Over 150 years before Cyrus was around, by way of Isaiah, God says, there is going to be a guy named Cyrus, and he is going to give a command for the temple to be built and the foundations to be laid. The Jewish historian, Josephus, records that Cyrus was actually shown the scrolls of Isaiah which contained his name; and that was the reason that Cyrus gave the decree for the children of Israel to return and rebuild the temple and to those who stayed behind to get out their checkbooks to fund it. Ezra is so very important to you and me because it informs you and that Gods word is sure. You can bet eternity on the promises of God. One of the big ones that you bet eternity on because of the surety of God s Word John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That promise is as certain - it s beyond our comprehension, the certainty of it. And that prophecy in Isaiah 44 it just says - check out how certain God s word is. Cyrus making that proclamation in Ezra 1 says - Trust the promises of God. They re sure. What are you trusting in tonight, guys? You see, here is the problem - Amongst Evangelical, Bible-believing Christians no one is saying, I doubt that this is the inspired, infallible word of God nobody is saying that. And people can quote chapters and verses. People can quote Jeremiah 29:11. People can quote John 3:16. People can point to and reference, in general ways, if not the specific address in the Bible chapter and verse - of various things that God has promised. And yet the challenge to you and me is, are we sure that God s word is sure, so sure that I am going to let God s Word dictate my behavior in the face of all my fallen emotions, Page 11 of 28

12 all the circumstances that I don t understand, everything s that wrong in my perception about life, every hurt, every pain? How am I going to process my life? Cyrus, in Ezra 1 says, Go with God. Lean on His Word. Second - the decree of Cyrus is radically relevant to us because in it we see the fulfilled promise of God connected to the prayers of God s people. We see the fulfilled promise of God in Isaiah 44 fulfilled, Jeremiah fulfilled. Those fulfilled promises of God are connected to the prayers of His people. Two weeks ago -- in our study of 2 nd Chronicles 6 -- we looked at the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple. And Solomon said, God, when your people disobey you, when we stop following your ways, when we stop listening to your word, and as a result we get taken captive to a land that s far away, that s not our land, when we turn and pray towards this temple, God, would you restore us and bring us back? And do you know what the Bible tells us? The Bible tells us that Daniel, who was in the first batch of captives taken to Babylon, that Daniel got into a whole lot of trouble for praying towards the temple. You remember the story of Daniel and the lions den, right? Well, that s the context. The enemies of Daniel tried to do away with Daniel by getting the king to pass a decree that for 30 days no one could make a petition to any god or any man except for the king. Well, Daniel, he went home, and as he did every day, he wasn t like making some rebellious, like raging against the system kind of a statement by opening his windows, and saying, Look at me; I m facing Jerusalem; and I m praying. No, he did that every day. It was his habit of living. He opened his windows; Page 12 of 28

13 he knelt down; he faced Jerusalem; and he prayed. And no doubt his prayer was shaped and informed by what Solomon had prayed for, that when God s people had failed and had turned to idols, and they were carried away in captivity, to correct their idolatry, to get them to get their eyes off of idols and get their hearts and their eyes and their minds and their lives set upon the one true and living God, that if they would turn and face Jerusalem, and say, God, forgive us and bring us back into the land, that God would restore them. I believe that that prayer of Solomon shaped the prayers of Daniel. And that s why Daniel was arrested; he was thrown into the lions den, because he was praying toward Jerusalem. Daniel had been praying for 70 years. That s a prayer life! Most of us -- I don t want to speak for you I can speak for me - I m not a very bad starter; but I m kind of an inconsistent finisher. And I can start out just gangbusters praying for something. And if a few weeks go by, and I m not seeing the answer to that prayer, I start to get a little A.D.D. - a little discouraged - roll it all into one lump, and suddenly the thing I was praying for, it s suddenly not at the forefront of my prayers anymore. Imagine praying for 70 years for God to hear the prayers of his people, and bring them back to Jerusalem. And then this king comes to power. And in fulfillment of prophecy, and as an answer to prayer, Cyrus gives a decree sending the people back. Guys, we need to understand something here. Prayer is all about the plans of God. Didn t Jesus say that? Right when they said, Can you teach us to pray? ; And Jesus said, Okay, when you pray, here are the elements of prayer pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Prayer is not about me talking God into doing my will. Prayer is about my heart coming into line with God s will. Prayer is about God s will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Prayer is you and me participating in the unfolding of the plans and the promises and the purposes of God. Page 13 of 28

14 We have the promises of God s Word; but then it s incumbent upon us to take seriously the necessity of prayer. We become a part of the promises and plans of God being brought about as we seek the face of God in prayer. The third thing - the decree of Cyrus was predicted by the prophets, connected to the prayers of God s people, but it was accomplished by human agency as the people of God participated in the mission of God. Zerubbabel, Joshua and Ezra, the three main characters of the Book of Ezra, they were missionaries. They just said, God, you re sending us back. You promised you would. You promised that the captivity would be 70 years in duration. You promised by way of Isaiah that there would come a guy named Cyrus, and he would have your command to send people back to lay the foundation of the temple and to build the temple and to rebuild the city. You ve done all of that. So now, Lord, here I am. Send me. The rest of Ezra 1 and all of Ezra 2 is about Zerubbabel leading just shy you can round it up to 50,000 people who responded to the decree of Cyrus. Ezra 2 is the list of the names of those who went with Zerubbabel back to Jerusalem. Ezra 3 tells about the work beginning. Ezra 4 tells about the opposition to the work. And, again, the Book of Ezra is so relevant to us because it reminds us that the mission of God will always face opposition; God s mission always faces opposition. The opposition in the Book of Ezra was intended to discourage the people so the people would quit the work. Page 14 of 28

15 Would you just for a moment, just try to reflect on what Terry exhorted us to at the end of the second song that he sang? Jesus says, As the Father sent me, I am sending you, right? And Jesus, he stepped into the world, and it says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. No man has ever seen the Father, but the only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him. And Jesus says, Now as the Father has sent me, I am sending you. You see, Jesus sends us into the world on a mission - and that mission is to reveal the heart of God for a lost world, and to proclaim to the world the message of God s redeeming love, and the name of the great rescuer - Jesus! That s God s mission. And you will face opposition - and the opposition takes the form of discouragement. Listen, the whole point of spiritual warfare is to get you to quit - that s it; that s the end game - just quit. You see, once you give your life to Jesus, you re not going to lose your salvation. Satan has lost you to the kingdom of life and light. All that s left that he could ever do is, by way of deceit and fear, discourage you so that you will be fruitless, that you will not bear the fruit that Jesus appointed you to. Remember, the night before Jesus died he says, Page 15 of 28

16 You didn t choose me. I chose you that you might bear fruit, and that your fruit might last to the glory of the Father. Satan just wants to reduce the output. He can t take away your salvation; but He wants to try to choke off fruit. He would love for you to quit. It s impossible for a real Christian to be fruit less; but Satan is going to work as hard as he can to minimize that fruit, to minimize your witness, to keep you from just living and charging in the mission of God in this world, to make the name of Jesus known. Well, the opposition was intended to discourage so the people would quit the work. And that s exactly what happened. Guys, the work stopped for 15 years; and nothing got done. Ezra 5 - In Ezra 5 the work is resumed. Ezra 5: 1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah and 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. That s so epic! Two big things here First of all - When you get to the Book of Haggai and the Book of Zechariah, you now know exactly where their prophetic ministries fit, right between verses 1 and 2 of Ezra chapter 5. So between verses 1 and 2 in Ezra chapter 5, in the margins of your Bible, just write Haggai and Zechariah, because that s where they fit. Second thing - They bring the Word of God; and the Word of God stirs the people to get back to work. And five years after, they complete the temple. Christians, hear this the Word of God, Page 16 of 28

17 does the work of God, in the lives of the people of God. Do not be a stranger to this book. Don t be a stranger to this book. And I don t mean in the sense of like okay, just simply like don t be an individual who has a Bible, but doesn t pick it up except for maybe on Sunday at church, or you come on a Monday night. And I know I m preaching largely to the choir here; but it s possible to be here on a Monday night, take notes, go home, and it just sits filed as notes in your Bible. The Word of God is so very, very important. I would venture that most of you have a handful of Christian friends; and their Bibles are gathering dust. You should be praying, God, I pray that you d stir in their hearts a hunger for the Word. Hebrews 4: 12 the Word of God is living and powerful. It s not ink on pages. It s not digital images on a screen. It s living. It s powerful. Paul says in 1 st Thessalonians 2: 13 When you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it really is, the word of God which is at work in you believers. The Word of God, does the work of God, in the lives of the people of God. Don t miss this Men of God brought the Word of God. And those men of God who brought the Word of God, supported and encouraged the servants of God in the work of God. Page 17 of 28

18 Do you know that s what church really looks like? God gave to the church ministries. And amongst those ministries is the pastor-teacher for the equipping of the saints, the building up of the body of Christ, so that the body of Christ can do the work of the ministry, the ministry of the Word of God equipping and encouraging believers. Ezra 6 records how the temple is dedicated. They completed the temple; And they dedicated the temple. A bit ago, I told you to write the name Esther at the end of Ezra 6 and before the beginning of Ezra 7. You also want to write in that same place so run there real quickly again write 60 years. There s a 60-year gap between chapter 6 and chapter 7. During that 60 years, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel, they pass from the scene; but the work of God needs to continue. So God raises up Ezra - the one whom this book is named after. And you need to understand, guys, as long as the Lord tarries, God s work has to continue. And there are going to be those men and women who were at the forefront of the work of God in a local church - and they re going to move on. They re going to go to Glory. The work of God still has to continue. There needs to be a new generation that s been brought up in the Word of God, that s been encouraged in the Word of God, that s been supported by the Word of God by a generation that s older than them, who themselves have received from the Word of God. Bible study is not for you to keep. Bible study is for you to give away. Ezra, like Zerubbabel, was a missionary. Page 18 of 28

19 And he lived in the Persian Empire, most likely in Babylon. Like Zerubbabel, Ezra is going to take a group of people on a 900-mile journey. His group - much smaller than Zerubbabel s 50,000 - Ezra s group was a little over 1,400. But it was still a giant move of faith - leaving the life that he had known because he, like Zerubbabel, believed that God wanted to use his life for God s mission and God s glory. That s what moves a man or a woman on mission is that you believe that God would want to use your life in His mission, for His glory. When we get that, that s when we say, Lord, I ll lay down my life for your mission and your glory. Didn t Jesus say that the night before He died? Father, if it s possible, let the mission that you sent me to do by dying on the cross - if there s another way for this mission to get done, let s do that way; but nevertheless, not my will but your will be done. It s so very important, guys, that we find our lives lost in God s mission and God s glory. And we have such great cause to want to lose our lives for His mission and His glory, right, to be lost in the cause of God s glory? Recently -- I m sure most of you saw on your internet browser, whatever your news site is on your internet; I don t know how many of you might have seen it in the news I haven t watched a whole lot of TV of late, whether or not it was even there but those pictures of - what was it? - 21 Christians that were beheaded by ISIS - lined up. Twenty-one brothers and sisters died for their faith in Jesus. I haven t heard anybody talking much about that. Why does that happen? Why are they saying that, your mission, your glory? Is there something that they know about God that we don t know about God? Because when I look at the sacrifices that are incumbent upon us for God s mission and God s glory, I just wonder, What s wrong with me, God? I ve been a Christian for a few decades now. And why am I stopping at this point? Why am I saying, ah, maybe somebody else will do that bit? Why is that in me, Lord? What is it about you that I m not understanding? What is it about your great love that I just am not grasping? Or what is it about your great love that is not grasping me? And why is that? Page 19 of 28

20 You know, we re coming up to an uncomfortable little season. We re in one. It s an exciting season. We re moving to a new location. It s going to cost us some inconvenience. And I know there are some people going, No, not another move. Hey, let me tell you something. I didn t wake up one day, and say, You know, I haven t got anything else on my plate. You know, I m teaching three Bible studies a week. I ve got a wife that s blind in one eye. I ve got a son that s getting ready to go down to college in Southern California, a son that s getting married. Why don t we move church? Let s do that because I just don t have anything else to do. The only thing that can move us to move in joy in those things, is like, Wow, God, this is about your mission. It s not about me. It s about you. It s about your mission, for your glory. A 900-mile journey, with 1,200 people and where he s going is not a pretty site. It s a big mess. A move of faith because he believed that God wanted to use his life for God s mission and God s glory. The Book of Ezra is big stuff because it s a book about missionaries - people who left their own home, traveled to a distant land to be involved in the work of God. Ezra s role will be to encourage the people spiritually, to be involved in their spiritual development, their spiritual changes, their reforms. Ezra, the missionary, he was the son of a high priest. He himself was also a priest. We re also told that he was a scribe. And he s referred to by the Holy Spirit as an expert in God s Word. We recently studied through the Book of Nehemiah on Sunday mornings. And we met Ezra there in Nehemiah. And we discovered in Nehemiah 8 that he was a Bible expositor. The people came hungry for the Word of God. They wanted to hear the Word of God. And they said, Ezra, bring out the book. And they built a platform for him to stand on. And he opened up the Word of God. And he read from the Word of God. And then he explained; and he read some more of the Word of God. And then he explained that. And he did it for six hours. And he provides an Old Testament model for expository preaching. Ezra comes on the scene in chapter 7. In chapter 7 Ezra petitions King Artaxerxes. And Artaxerxes will send him back to Jerusalem. Page 20 of 28

21 In chapters 9 and 10 Ezra addresses and deals with the problems existing in Jerusalem. And so there we close the basic outline of the book. And we re going to close tonight by emphasizing some more things why Ezra s so important, why we should spend time reading, studying and applying this great book of the Bible. Number one As we said, Ezra continues the story where Kings and Chronicles left off. We need to finish the story. Number two - Ezra gives the context for the books of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. We need to be familiar with the Book of Ezra if we want to understand those three prophetic ministries. Third - and we ve already alluded to this - Ezra is a book about fulfilled prophecy. The whole book is a fulfillment of prophecy, incredibly detailed, specific prophecy. A guy s talked about by name over 150 years before he s alive. The same guy ends the captivity of the Jews in fulfillment of another detailed prophecy that they would be in captivity for 70 years. And fourth - perhaps most importantly, the Book of Ezra informs us, it instructs us how to counteract the opposition of the enemy. And that s where I want to spend a little time in closing. Turn with me to Ezra 4. It s so perfect for communion. Ezra 4: 1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers houses and said to them, let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here. 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers houses in Israel said to them, You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us. 4 Then the people of the land - And look at what they do - Ezra 4: 4 discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. Page 21 of 28

22 And here s how they did it - Ezra 4: 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. And the rest of the chapter explains that they sent a letter to the king that basically stated that the Israelites had a history of rebellion, and if he left them there, and let them rebuild, it was not in the king s best interest or the interest of his empire because they would rebel. And so the king took a look into the archives; and he discovered that the accusations of the rebellion were true. And so he stops - gives a decree that the building stops. Look at - Ezra 4: 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt until a decree is made by me. And then verse 23 - the last half of it - 23 They went in haste to the Jews in Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. Discouragement based on accusation. Notice this about the accusations. Number one - the accusations were true. Number two - the accusations stemmed from the past failures of the people of God. And, again, it s so important to have a solid sense of the Old Testament. They had been told by the prophets not to rebel against the King of Babylon when he came against the city of Jerusalem. And had they listened, there would be no accusation to bring against them 70 years later. But they blew off the Word of God by way of Jeremiah; and they rebelled against the king of Babylon. 70 years earlier the people couldn t understand why Jeremiah kept telling them not to rebel. And now they understand. Now I wonder, guys, how many times in our lives we ve read something in the Word of God; and it just didn t make sense to us. Here s what Peter said in speaking of Paul the Apostle, who wrote more of the New Testament than anyone. Page 22 of 28

23 In 2 nd Peter 3: just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote (and he s speaking of Paul s epistles) how he also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him [or according to the wisdom God gave him] as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand. So if you ever picked up your Bible, read something that Paul the Apostle wrote, and went, that s hard to understand, you don t have to feel bad, because Peter read some of it, and said, that s hard to understand. And Peter wrote parts of the Bible. Paul wrote about predestination and election. He spoke about speaking in tongues. He wrote about the return of the Lord. Those things have been difficult to understand. And Christians have been debating them for a long time. Guys, the fact that there are things in the Word of God that are hard to understand does not mean that they re not true. Sometimes parts of God s Word are hard to understand because it s just not simple stuff. Other times it s hard to understand because we simply don t like what God has to say. We need to take a lesson from these guys who are now - the work has ceased; they had been discouraged because accusations had been brought against them that were true, accusations that were true because they failed to listen to what God sad, because God s Word made no sense to them 70 years earlier. The accusations discouraged the missionaries, halted the work of God. Three - when the people were discouraged by the accusations of the enemy based on their own past failures, that s when Zechariah and Haggai showed up. Zechariah shows up with a message for Joshua and a message for Zerubbabel. Haggai shows up with a message for the people. Page 23 of 28

24 Look at them Zechariah 3 quickly - it s right after Haggai - Zechariah 3. Zechariah has a message for Joshua the high priest. Zechariah 3: 1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, The angel of the Lord is just another way of speaking of Jesus in the Old Testament. So the Lord showed Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord - Zechariah 3: 1 and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan. The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. That word rebuke means - shut up. And the LORD says - Zechariah 3: 2 Is not this a brand plucked from the fire? speaking of Joshua. A brand - it s a stick that fell into the fire, pulled out before it was totally burned. Guys, in the Book of Revelation, Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. And here s Joshua standing before the Lord. Satan is there. Satan is going to bring accusations against him. And before Satan can accuse Joshua, Jesus says, shut up. I like that. Zechariah 3: 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel clothed with filthy garments. These filthy garments would represent all of Joshua s failures, all of the things Satan was going to accuse him of. Zechariah 3: 4 and the angel said to those who were standing before him, Remove - this is Jesus speaking - remove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said - this is Jesus speaking - Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments. 5 And I said, Let them put a clean turbin on his head. So they put a clean turbin on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. Page 24 of 28

25 Here s Joshua. He s discouraged. Why? - Past failure. God speaks to Zechariah. Zechariah sees the throne of God. He sees Joshua standing there in all of his failures. And what does God do? God wipes those things away. There s nothing left to accuse. Is it because Joshua hadn t failed? No. It s because Jesus removed them. Look at verse 8. Zechariah 3: 8 Here now, O, Joshua, high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign; In other words, the Lord s saying, I m doing this as a picture. He says, Zechariah 3: 8 behold, I will bring my servant, the Branch And, of course, it s a reference to Jesus. All of this is a picture. What God did for Joshua is a picture of the work that Jesus does for us. The vision concerning Joshua is exactly what Jesus has done for you and me. The handwriting of requirements that was against us has been blotted out on the cross. It s not that I m not a failure. It s that my failures are forgiven in Christ. So when I m discouraged by what I have done wrong, I can be encouraged by the fact that all of that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Christian, when you and I are discouraged by our failures, we need to get our eyes on Jesus, who says, Zechariah 3: 4 Behold, I ve taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments. Jesus not only cleansed Joshua and clothed Joshua, He stood by his side. That s where Jesus is in the life of every believer. Page 25 of 28

26 Zechariah also had a word for Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was not the spiritual leader of the people. He was the political leader. He was the governor. He was the one getting the work done. And he s radically discouraged. So Zechariah has a message for him. Zechariah 4: 1 The angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, What do you see? I said, I see and behold a lampstand all of gold with a bowl on the top of it and seven lamps on it with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me. What are these, my Lord? 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me and said to me, Do you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel So what s going on with Zerubbabel? Well, he s discouraged. On top of that, he s dealing with 50,000 discouraged people. It s hard enough to get one discouraged person to do something. He s got 50,000 of them. And they re complaining; some of them, no doubt, weeping. And so here s the Word - Zechariah 4: 6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. 7 Who are you, oh great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amidst shouts of, Grace, grace to it! Everyone s discouraged. They re thinking they would never get the temple rebuilt. God shows up; and He says, Listen it s not by your might; it s not by your power; it s by My Spirit, says the Lord. That mountain of discouragement and condemnation and accusation, and the sheer scope of the work, he says, I m going to accomplish that work. What s that mountain in front of you? The mountain of discouragement, the mountain of condemnation, accusation, the mountain of a scope of work that seems overwhelming, that it just paralyzes you, and God says to you today it s not by your might; Page 26 of 28

27 it s not by your power; it s by My Spirit, says the Lord. Zechariah s message to Joshua - we re washed in the blood of the Lamb. His message to Zerubbabel - we re filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, the limitless resource of His power like the menorah tapped into the supply of oil from the two olive trees. And Haggai has a message for the people. Just turn left in your Bible to - Haggai 1: 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. The people were saying, Well, now s just not the right time to rebuild the temple. We re busy building our own houses. There s all this opposition. It s against the law to do any building now anyway. This is just not a good time. And God s response is Really? It s not a good time to work on my house, but it s a great time to work on your house? God simply says to that, Consider your ways. Sit down and consider your ways in light of eternity. And that s the message. Are you involved in the things of eternity, or are you only involved in your own temporal comforts. And all of that, guys, happened between verses 1 and 2 in Ezra 5. The net result of these men of God bringing the Word of God to the servants of God was this - they went back to work even though it was illegal, even though there were enemies all around them saying, Don t built it. And do you know what happened? And this is amazing. God supernaturally changed the decree of the king for them to stop the work. The adversaries of the Israelites, they sent another letter to Darius saying, Hey, these guys are breaking your rules; they are going back to work. And they also informed Darius that the remnant claimed that Cyrus had issued a decree for their return and the Page 27 of 28

28 rebuilding of the temple. And so when that letter got back to Darius, he checked out the archives and found out, Whoa, time out, Cyrus really did make a decree. So the king wrote back, and said, Let them go back to work. And, by the way, you guys pay for it. God solved the problem. And here s our close We ve already seen Jesus in the vision of Zechariah, concerning the high priest Joshua. But I want to leave us remembering that the Book of Ezra is a story of restoration. I believe it s an amazing picture of how Jesus restores the broken life, how Jesus restores the backslider. Through the books of Kings and Chronicles we ve seen how Judah turned from God to serve idols, how Judah had rejected the Word of God and the prophets of God because they had rejected God himself. We saw how Judah ignored the ways of God and the warnings of God; and they were taken into bondage. But the story doesn t end there. Where there was no way for this exiled people to ever make it home, God made the way. Miraculously, a pagan king gives a command that said the descendants of Abraham should return to Jerusalem. God was the one working in all of this. Ezra 1: 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 up to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that s in Jerusalem. It was God who had stirred the hearts of the people so that they would desire to go back. And the same thing is true today. God is still in the business of stirring the hearts of men and women to see lives restored, to be a part of the mission of God. Page 28 of 28