Embark with us on a historical sojourn to the ancient streets of Jerusalem, as we explore the reestablishment of Judean worship in the wake of Babylonian captivity. Our latest episode paints a vivid tableau of the Judeans' spiritual odyssey, tracing their steps from foreign lands back to their sacred soil, where they begin the monumental task of reconstructing their temple. The altar, emblematic of sacrifice and communion with the divine, stands as the first milestone in their journey towards reclaiming their identity and heritage. We reflect on the significance of this act, pondering the parallels between the restoration of a physical structure and the intimate process of fortifying our own lives of worship.
The air thickens with intrigue as we navigate the complex saga of the Samaritans, whose history intertwines with that of the Israelites in a tale of conquest, cultural assimilation, and religious divergence. Their offer to aid in the temple's reconstruction, and the consequential rebuff, sparks a discourse on maintaining doctrinal purity amidst a pluralistic society. This episode peels back the layers of these ancient contentions, drawing lines to the present-day challenges faced by the Christian community in upholding fundamental spiritual truths. Through our exploration, we uncover the delicate balance required to honor one's faith while engaging with a diverse array of beliefs.
Concluding our narrative journey, we examine the universal theme of opposition to divine endeavors, recognizing the timeless nature of such resistance. The episode casts a lens on the efforts to disrupt the rebuilding of God's temple, underscoring the perseverance of God's people in the face of adversity—a testament echoed through succeeding generations and mirrored in the lives of believers today. With the prophetic voices of Haggai and Zechariah as our guiding compass, we are inspired to press on in our spiritual pursuits, undaunted by the obstacles that lie ahead. Join us for an enriching encounter with history, faith, and the enduring spirit to overcome.
Embark with us on a historical sojourn to the ancient streets of Jerusalem, as we explore the reestablishment of Judean worship in the wake of Babylonian captivity. Our latest episode paints a vivid tableau of the Judeans' spiritual odyssey, tracing their steps from foreign lands back to their sacred soil, where they begin the monumental task of reconstructing their temple. The altar, emblematic of sacrifice and communion with the divine, stands as the first milestone in their journey towards reclaiming their identity and heritage. We reflect on the significance of this act, pondering the parallels between the restoration of a physical structure and the intimate process of fortifying our own lives of worship.
The air thickens with intrigue as we navigate the complex saga of the Samaritans, whose history intertwines with that of the Israelites in a tale of conquest, cultural assimilation, and religious divergence. Their offer to aid in the temple's reconstruction, and the consequential rebuff, sparks a discourse on maintaining doctrinal purity amidst a pluralistic society. This episode peels back the layers of these ancient contentions, drawing lines to the present-day challenges faced by the Christian community in upholding fundamental spiritual truths. Through our exploration, we uncover the delicate balance required to honor one's faith while engaging with a diverse array of beliefs.
Concluding our narrative journey, we examine the universal theme of opposition to divine endeavors, recognizing the timeless nature of such resistance. The episode casts a lens on the efforts to disrupt the rebuilding of God's temple, underscoring the perseverance of God's people in the face of adversity—a testament echoed through succeeding generations and mirrored in the lives of believers today. With the prophetic voices of Haggai and Zechariah as our guiding compass, we are inspired to press on in our spiritual pursuits, undaunted by the obstacles that lie ahead. Join us for an enriching encounter with history, faith, and the enduring spirit to overcome.
Speaker 1:
All right, ezra, chapter 4, no hurry to get through the book, but you remember, it's a history and it's that return of the people after the captivity in Babylon. God had promised it that way, said that captivity would be 70 years and it was. And as the Persians take over the Babylonian Empire, they send the people back to where they came from. And they send the people back to where they came from mainly here, the people of Judah able to go back to Jerusalem, and Cyrus encourages them not just to go back to their homes but to rebuild, rebuild the temple. Lots of reasons for that, but that's the history here. It's a rebuilding of the temple, that place of worship We've seen, though it's a historical book, but it's also got a rebuilding of the temple, that place of worship We've seen though it's a historical book, but it's also got a lot of spiritual application as rebuilding of the place of worship. It's a good parallel to our lives, this building of a life of worship, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, 19,. Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit whom you have from God? You're not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify or worship God in your body, and there's that possibility just like Paul says in Romans 12, 1, that our lives should be offered as a living sacrifice to God, which is true spiritual worship, sacrifice to God, which is true spiritual worship. So we see a lot of that here. As they come back, and with a purpose to rebuild the temple.
Speaker 1:
Not everybody came back. Some, though, did feel the need to see that place rebuilt, and they come back. They start you'll remember last time, I think very important they start with the building of a piece of furniture, the altar, the place of sacrifice, and we mentioned last time that without that sacrifice, without the cross, without a real connection to God and a relationship with God based on what he's done for us, there is no life of worship. So that's what we've been looking at here in the book of Ezra, and we come to chapter four, and we realize this truth that whenever God is doing a good work, building something in our life, of changing things in our life, of saving people, whatever it is, whenever God's doing a good work, the enemy, our enemy, will always come and oppose that work, and that's chapter four, as my Bible says, resistance to the rebuilding of the temple. But verse one makes it pretty clear Now.
Speaker 1:
When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord in Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the father's houses. And there's going to be some opposition here from the adversaries of Judah, the enemies of Judah that word adversaries there could be the idea of pressing, something that kind of presses us or squeezes us. So you know, it's the trials of life, it's our enemy, the devil, right, he's actually known as an adversary, one who comes against us. His name actually, I think, means that. And so as the people rebuild, the enemies come and notice the attack. Here. It comes in two tactics the attack, and they came to verse 2, do Zerubbabel he's the leader there, there, governor kind of thing and the heads of the father's houses and said to them let us build with you, for we seek your god as you do and have sacrificed to him since the days of, uh, that assyrian king, that king of assyria who brought us here. So they come first and it sounds like a nice thing. You know what I mean. We've already established that they're the adversaries and the enemies. But they come to Zerubbabel and they said, hey, let us build with you, can we help? And they said we've worshipped, we've sought God as you do, and have sacrificed him since the days that Assyria came.
Speaker 1:
So we remember back when the northern tribes of Israel, the 10 northern tribes, were taken much earlier by the Assyrian empire. Brutal empire came in, they destroyed Samaria and they took the people captive to Assyria. That was the tactic there. They take them out of their place so they don't have to deal with rebellion and stuff like that. They would take the people out and in this case they actually brought other people in. So picture it. You know, in the destroying there of Samaria, they take the native people out and they bring a group of other people Assyrians, other folk in, and that's how they kind of take over a territory. They left some of the poorer people, they bring in some of their own people and they just let life go on. That's how they handled that.
Speaker 1:
Second Kings explains this. That that's exactly what happened. Now, the people there in Israel, they intermarried with these foreign folk that came in, these Assyrian folk that came in. They intermarried and started families with them and they become the Samaritans. So if you fast forward to the time of Jesus and the gospel, the much hated Samaritans, the despised Samaritans. That's where they came from. They were people of Israel who had kind of compromised with the Assyrians. That's the way they were seen, and 2 Kings 17 points that out.
Speaker 1:
Now they say here we've worshipped your God. Since the captivity, since the Assyrians came here, we've worshipped your God. Now, how did that happen? You read on in 2 Kings 17,. And something interesting happens as those Assyrians come into the land. It says that there were lions that came out and would attack them frequently. There was a problem with a lion problem, you know. And they said ah, as the lions are attacking, we must not be worshiping the God of the land correctly. We're doing something wrong. That's why all these wild animals are attacking us. 2 Kings 17.
Speaker 1:
And so they say we need to learn how to worship this God, the God of the land, the God of Israel, this God, the God of the land, the God of Israel. And so they bring in the Levites and say we want to learn how to worship your God so we don't get destroyed by lions. And they did. But what they did was they mixed wild animals. They mix. No, now I've done it. They mix some of their practices with the practices of the God of Israel. So there's this kind of like hybrid Assyrian slash Israel worship going on.
Speaker 1:
So when they say we worship your God, they're sort of telling the truth, but they're sort of not telling the truth. It's not pure their worship. And so they come to Zerubbabel and they say we want to help build the temple. Let us serve with you, let us worship with you. Now notice what zerubbabel here says. Zerubbabel, verse 3. And joshua and the rest of the heads of the father's houses of israel said to them you may do nothing with us to build a house for our god, but we alone will build to the Lord, god of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us. So Zerubbabel and Joshua say no, you can't. Now you look at that and you kind of in one sense go well, that's not very nice, shouldn't we all just get along? If they want to worship your God, if they want to build the temple and they want to help, why don't you let them join in? But you know their intentions weren't that pure I think we'll see here in a second. But they weren't on the same page.
Speaker 1:
And of course this is good application for the modern day, because it's very difficult to know where people are actually at concerning truth anymore. Truth is just kind of flexible in the world's mind and you know there are some things that are non-essentials. I hate to even say that there are some things that are non-essentials in the Bible, things that we disagree about. Maybe it's, you know, the timing of the return of Jesus and last time events. Maybe it's things that have to do with the Holy Spirit. I really hate to say non-essential, but these are things that Christians can disagree about. The details it's, you know, maybe not so certain in the Bible. But then there's other things, and you know there are other things that we absolutely can't agree to disagree about who Jesus is, who God is right. Is Jesus just some teacher or a prophet, or is he actually God in the flesh, as the Bible teaches? And that's the kind of stuff we can't compromise on.
Speaker 1:
How is a person saved? Are they saved by what Jesus does, or are they saved by being a member at a church or being baptized into a church? There are things that we have to disagree about because the Bible is very clear and we need to know what those things are for sure. Different Jesus right. We could easily go to the Jesus of the Mormon religion, right, not the same Jesus. Now, they would disagree with that. But he's not. Well, he may be a God in flesh, but he's not the same. He's a spirit brother of Lucifer. You know the story, right. And so, as much as anyone would say, oh, we have the same Bible, we have the same Jesus, we don't. We have to disagree. And again, if a person says, oh, you're saved by being a member of this church, you're only saved by being baptized in this church, we have to disagree.
Speaker 1:
In matters of sin, right, that's a rough one nowadays, because there are are certain things the Bible is very clear is sin. And yet I read even today that a certain church is reinstating, you know, homosexual pastors into the ministry and you know a picture on the news of them hugging each other and just, wow, we've, you know, we've found a resolution to this problem. But you can't compromise on that, man. If a person is saying that it's not sin to engage in, that they're never going to come to God, they're going to always be going to sin. And so we can't compromise on these things. We've got to know what the Bible says on these non-compromisable issues, and I think the same way, as cold as it sounds, zerubbabel and Joshua say no, you don't have any part with us. You're not. We're not going the same direction, we're not doing the same thing.
Speaker 1:
Well, notice the tactic changes there in verse four, there in verse 4. Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah and they troubled them in the building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. So they changed the tactics from well, we really want to work alongside you. Oh, nice, no, not nice. It's a tactic to overthrow the work. They change their tone and they begin to oppose and trouble and frustrate. And what we have in the rest of chapter four is some examples of letters that were written back and forth. That was their main attack here. Now, as you go on to Nehemiah and you look at the book of Esther, you see that the attack does get more vicious in some cases. In the book of Nehemiah they do get to the point where they say when they don't know it, we will turn around and we'll kill them. Right, that's pretty serious. Here it's words, it's threats, it's letters. But it's still attack, a different tactic, and yet effective attack, because the work did stop. Notice verse 6. Notice verse 6. They frustrate him.
Speaker 1:
The time of those guys reign verse 6 in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. So here, getting into the history, it gets a little confusing because things aren't chronological. In chapter four we have these accusations here in the reign of Ahasuerus. We have accusations and letters in the reign of Artaxerxes, which is a lot longer. But they're all examples of this opposition. But look again at verse six. That opposition came in the reign of Ahasuerus, which is just fun to say I can do Ahasuerus.
Speaker 1:
Well, what happened during that time? The work stopped. That's important to notice here. In chapter four, specifically between chapter four and chapter five, the work stops for at least 16 years. Now we don't see 16 years here, but for at least 16 years the work absolutely stops at the temple. So we've got a foundation, we've got the altar and then we've got tumbleweeds. You know what I mean. Like it just stops and nobody does anything on the temple for 16 years.
Speaker 1:
Well, what happens during that time? It's important to see Ahasuerus, you'll remember the name from the book of Esther. It seems that the time of Esther happens during this 16 years. It's likely that it happens during this time, and you know the book of Esther, we'll probably look at it after Nehemiah.
Speaker 1:
But the time of Esther there's a hardcore opposition to not just stop the work, but a guy named Haman tries to kill off the whole Jewish people. Right, that's his plan to kill every Jew there was. We would call it anti-Semitism, we'd call it genocide, right? And we see something that when the work stops for 16 years, the enemy not only tries to kill the work but tries to kill God's people altogether. I mean, there's probably a lot of application that you could get out of that. When the work stops is a great time for the enemy to just try to kill God's work altogether. And we see that this is something that's happened over history. If you look at history, time and time again, the enemy, through many, many different ways, tries to kill off the Jewish people. Now, the enemy will kill, steal and destroy anyone he loves to do it right, but especially, it seems, the Jewish people.
Speaker 1:
Because there's a promise going on here. You know there's a promise. At this time there's still a promise of a Messiah who's going to come from the line of Seth, from the line of Shem, from the line of Abraham, down through time. It's through the line of Judah and through the line of David. The enemy knows. If I can do anything, I ought to kill off that line. I ought to stop that from happening, because that would make God a liar. Now that's not going to happen because God's not a liar. It's going to happen just the way that it's going to happen, just the way God said it would. But we get this just intense desire of the enemy to kill God's people to stop the Messiah from coming. It happened in Pharaoh's time, with Moses and the people of Israel, right, it happened with Haman. It happened with Herod. It happened all throughout history. But there's still promises to be had. I think the Bible is pretty clear. There's still promises for the Jewish people.
Speaker 1:
Now, god didn't choose them for any reason other than he wanted to. You go back to Moses' time and God tells him I didn't choose you because you were strong or smart or the best. You were the weakest. You were the weakest people. I chose you so that people would know how strong and how great I am. God says he wanted to. It's just God's sovereignty, I think. But there's a plan for the world. There's a plan, though, for this group of people.
Speaker 1:
Let's turn to Ezekiel, chapter 36, really quickly. Ezekiel 36. I can read it better on here Ezekiel 36, 24. God tells his people of something that would happen in the future. I think we see it in our time. Part of this. This is after the captivity has already happened. It's already in full force.
Speaker 1:
Ezekiel 36, 24. God says clean water on you and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and check this out. You shall be my people and I will be your God.
Speaker 1:
And you know, I just think here this is like the challenge of the ages, right? God here says this is what I will do. There's no doubt about it. I will do this. I'll take you from the nation Now and, of course, 1948, god did that. He took them from the nations, the descendants of Abraham, from the nations where they were scattered, and I will make you a nation there.
Speaker 1:
But notice, it goes way deeper than that. Um, I will cleanse you, I'll put my spirit in you, I'll give you a heart of flesh, um, and and and. Notice, it's okay, carlito, notice, uh. And then you will be my people and I will be your god. Um, they're his people, but he's not really their God yet. And I think I know God makes a promise. He's going to do it. For what reason? Because he wants to, and I think that's it. And there's going to come a point where God's going to do a real work in the people of Israel and they're going to know him. That's how the story ends. So check it out. There's this promise. It hasn't happened yet. They may be a nation, but they're not. He's not their God, right? And? And yet he's going to do that.
Speaker 1:
And so, over time, the enemy has done everything to kill off these people, right Again, from Pharaoh to Haman, to the Inquisitions, to even Martin Luther, right? Martin Luther just drives me crazy, right, because such amazing, you know, step there of nailing that on the door and saying it's going to be by grace, salvation by grace. But there was a moment in his life where he wrote strictly against the Jewish people and said burn them down, burn down all their stuff, kill as many as you want to kill. Now I think at the end of his life he said OK, I went a little too far on that, but here's the deal that spirit of wanting to destroy God's people can get to the best of us, I think, and it's you know. And then you go down to Hitler, and then you go to the Antichrist, who's going to do even worse than everybody else put together. And that's just what the enemy wants to do. And I think it's worth pointing out during the 16 years that nothing happened at the temple. It seems Haman was trying to destroy God's people. Now it's not going to happen because God is not a liar.
Speaker 1:
But this is what goes on in verse 6 and in between chapter 4 and chapter 5, in that time period. Now, in the rest of the chapter, verse 7 and on, we have an example of the letters that were exchanged back and forth In the days of Artaxerxes also, bishlam, mithridat, tabor and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and the letter was written in Aramaic script and translated into Aramaic language. Rahim, the commander, and that guy and the scribe, wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion Verse 9. From Rahim the commander and that guy, all of them, their representatives, let's move on and the rest of the nations and so forth. Notice verse 10. It ends, and so forth that's about where we get with all those names and so forth. This is a copy of the letter that they sent him To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the men of the region beyond the river, and so forth.
Speaker 1:
Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem and are building the rebellious and evil city and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations. Let it now be known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are completed, that they will not pay tax, tribute or custom, the king's treasury will be diminished. Now, because we receive support from the palace, it is not proper for us to see the king's dishonor. Therefore, we have sent and informed the king that search be made in the book of the records of your fathers and that you will find the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city in former times, for which cause the city was destroyed. We inform the king that if city, if this city, is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be you will have no dominion beyond the river. So they send this letter Now.
Speaker 1:
It's during the time of Artaxerxes, if it matters, that's more, during Ezra's time. So again he's giving an example of the kind of stuff that was written in these letters. It happened a few times. This is in Ezra's time and they petition the king and say you know, you can't let the city be built in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, you can't let the wall be rebuilt because if they do, they're going to rebel. And it was true they had rebelled over the time. They rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and that's what they're referring to here. But they try to stop the work and I think Ezra is pointing out it was like that back in Zerubbabel's day. It's like that during our day.
Speaker 1:
This is how it goes, the opposition is, and the king responds there in verse 17. And he says in verse 18, the letter which you sent has been clearly read before me and I gave the command and a search has been made and it has been found. The city is rebellious and revolted and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. They have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over the region beyond the river and tax and tribute and custom were paid to them. Now give the command and make these men cease, that the city may not be built until the command is given by me. Take heed now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage increase and hurt to the hurt of the kings? So the king responds and says right, we don't want this to happen. Stop the building of the city. Now the same thing happened earlier on is what he's getting at in the story Earlier on. They wrote letters and caused the building of the temple to stop Verse 23,. And when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before them and their companions, they went up and hasted Jerusalem against the Jews and, by force of arms, made them cease. That's the work of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem ceased and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. So that's where we are the temple building process it stops for 16 years at least and nothing happens.
Speaker 1:
And so, really, what we see in chapter four is that threat Whenever God's people are doing something good, whenever God's doing something. In our hearts. We've had that happen, right, where you're just excited what God's doing, maybe your prayer life is just taken off and you find yourself praying more. You find worship just to be a natural thing. It's that time you know when you decide to take, you know, sinful things out of your life. It's that time that the enemy will always attack subtly, right, maybe with fear, with discouragement, maybe with distraction, something simple like that, and he causes the work to cease. We ought to be aware that's what we're always told right, be aware, don't be ignorant of the enemy's devices. He's like a roaring lion right, stand in the battle, put on the armor of God and do everything you can to stand right. And so that's really the lesson here is to always be aware of attack.
Speaker 1:
And now there comes a point in this where they don't get the king's uh, approval, but they just continue. We'll talk about it next time in chapter five. But notice, it stops, starts off then the prophet haggai and zachariah. Uh, prophesied to the jews who were in judah in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. So a couple of prophets stand up, haggai and Zechariah. And Haggai says hey, what's going on? You've stopped. Consider your ways. Zechariah says this is a word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. It's not by might or by power, but it's by my spirit. You've got to keep going in what God's called you to do. They stand up and say you can't give up now. You have to keep rebuilding. And they do. And so, aware of that attack, that really is it. Aware of that attack, aware that the word from God is just keep going, keep building, keep setting your heart towards the things of God, and God will. Obviously the story continues here next time, but God has a work to be done.
Speaker 1:
So, god, all our lives are different and all of us are going through different things, different distractions and forms of discouragement and even just temptation in our lives. And yet your desire for us is that we grow, and your desire is that our life would just naturally begin to look like a place of worship to the world around us. God, I just pray you'd help us keep our eyes on you. Those things that are bringing us down. We would like a right eye or a right hand. We would realize that nothing is more important than what you have for us. God, work these things into our lives and help us keep our eyes on you. God, I just pray for my friends again, that you would be with them this week, the rest of the time, in these simple things that you put in front of us, that we would do your will and there would be a lot of joy in it. So, god, go before us and pray in Jesus' name, amen.