10.06.07 AM Ezra 1
Ezra # 1. The Providence of God (Part 1) – The release of the captives Ezra 1:1-4)
This morning we’re going to be beginning a new series looking at an Old Testament Book – Ezra.
I believe that what this book has to say to us is of absolute relevance to us as a church at this time.
I hope that over the weeks we will draw inspiration from God’s word in our present situations.
As we see to grow forwards as a church, as we seek to address the issues and difficulties we have with our buildings, as we seek to be the people God is calling us to be in order to reach out to Wollaston and beyond.
Oswald Chambers in his book My Utmost for His Highest (July 7th), wrote this :
“Thank God He gives us difficult things to do!”
I wonder if you agree with Chambers’ sentiment?
I wonder if the Lord is calling you to do difficult things, calling you to follow him in the midst of difficulties?
I believe that God is calling us a church to rise up in faith at this time in our life as a church and do the difficult.
Ezra was a man whom God called to do a very difficult thing.
And alongside Ezra, God called his people to do a difficult thing.
Ezra assembled thousands of Jewish exiles to go to Jerusalem in 459BC to begin the rebuilding of
Jerusalem and the temple, and to restore the Jewish community in their own land.
This call upon their lives would involve leaving their settled comfortable life in Babylon, then four months journey across desert, with hard work and sacrifice when in
Jerusalem.
They would face opposition from within and without, threats, intimidation from enemies, doubts and uncertainty, headaches and hiccups.
They would need a great deal of faith, courage and perseverance if they were to do what God called them to do and be what God called them to be.
But they would discover that as they ventured forward in faith that God would provide for everything.
The building materials, the strength and wisdom they needed, the courage and conviction.
He would even clear the obstacles and difficulties that seemed to loom so large.
They would discover that what Paul asserted to the Christians in
Rome many years later was indeed true :
“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
You know, God is calling us as his people to live for him – a difficult thing.
He is calling us to throw off everything that hinders, the sin that so easily entangles us and holds us back, and run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.
God wants us as a people to grow forwards together, to grow in being deeper disciples of Jesus.
And therefore he calls us to do the difficult.
He is not looking for shallow celebrities, but deep heroes of faith.
Celebrities come and go, they chop and change, they are instantly built up and easily knocked down.
God is into sustainability – he is into real growth, not instant results.
He wants us a people to persevere, to press on, to not give up in developing deeper discipleship.
A Christian should not give up – but should throw themselves upon God’s strength and grace.
According to chapter 7:1-5, Ezra was the son of Seraiah - a descendant of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron.
Jerusalem and to take with him a company of Israelites (Ezra 8).
Over the next few weeks we will see how God’s providence was at work in
Israel’s life – in three key ways :
In the release of the captives (Ezra 1:1-4), the return of the remnant (Ezra 1:5-2:70) and the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 2:68-3:13)
So this morning we are thinking about
1. The release of the captives (Ezra 1:1-4)
More than a century before, the prophet Isaiah had warned the Jews that the people of Judah would be taken captive by
Babylon and punished for their sins (Is 6:11-12; 11:11-12; 39:5-7).
Sadly, yet inevitably, his prophesy was fulfilled.
You know, God warns us about carrying on in sin, the time comes when he will act.
In 605 BC Nebuchadnezzer, leader of the Babylonians, deported the royal family and took the temple furnishings and articles to
Babylon.
In 597 he sent into exile 7000 “fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand craftsmen and artisans.” (2 Kings 24:10-16) and in 586 he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and exiled the rest of the Jews in
Babylon, except for “the poor of the land” (2 Kings 25:1-21).
But then came time for the Babylonians to be defeated, and we see the Lord raise up the Persians to subdue the Babylonians.
And in 538, Cyrus the great, king of Persia, conqueror of
Babylon, issued a decree that permitted the exiled Jews to return to their land and rebuild their temple.
This too had been prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years before (Isaiah 44:28).
He even got Cyrus’ name right – “Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of
Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." '
Now, I want to point out three important spiritual truths here :
1. God is faithful to his Word.
For at least forty years, the prophet Jeremiah had warned the leaders of
Judah that the Babylonian exile was inevitable.
Jeremiah 20:4-5 “… I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to
Babylon or put them to the sword. I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of
Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to
Babylon.”
Jeremiah 21:7-10 “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.' "Furthermore, tell the people, 'This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of
Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.'
God is not one whom you want to mess about with – if he has warned, then we need to heed his warning.
God does not tolerate sin – he repays.
I’m afraid to say that God is not nice ! He is thoroughly good, yes, but he is also just.
He warned his people then – to submit to his discipline – to humble themselves under his mighty hand – only by doing so would they be saved.
Only then could their save the city and the temple from ruin.
But the leaders didn’t listen – in fact they called Jeremiah a traitor – and the
Holy
City and the temple were destroyed.
God is faithful to his word.
And Jeremiah also announced that the captivity would be for seventy years (Jer 25:1-14, 29:10 see Dan 9:1-2)
And this was the case.
You know – you can take God at his word. Whether it be a word of blessing or a word of chastening.
Joshua reminded the people “… that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled …” (Joshua 23:14)
And Jesus, Yeshua, assures us that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
If God has shared something with you, believe it – hold on to his word, do not let it go.
If God has spoken to us as a people, he will remain true to his word – his word will be fulfilled.
2. God is faithful to his covenant
You know, in spite of their sins these exiles were God’s chosen people and children of the covenant he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen 12:1-3)
The nation had broken the covenant, but the Lord had remained faithful to His Word.
He had called the Jewish nation to bring blessing to all the earth and he could see to it that they fulfilled their mission.
Through them the world would receive the written word of God, and ultimately the living Word of God – Jesus the Saviour of the world.
Even though we fail God, God does not fail us.
The writer to the Hebrews says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)
These word remind us that even though we may face financial difficulty, even though we may face the temptation of the things of this world, even though we may face opposition, hurt, upset from people, we can place our trust in God.
Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)
If you have wandered from the Lord in recent days, if you know yourself to be half-hearted, luke-warm as a Christian, double-minded, turn back to the Lord.
The Lord says to you, "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.” (Jeremiah 15:19)
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)
3. God is in control of the nations
It was the Lord who raised up Nebuchadnezzar.
God calls him, “My servant” (Jer 25:9, 27:6, 43:10).
He raised him to chasten the people of
Judah.
He then raised up Cyrus, whom he called, “my shepherd” (44:28) and “His anointed” (45:1), to defeat the Babylonians and establish the
Persian empire.
We need to remember that the Lord God is sovereign over all nations and can do what he pleases with the most powerful rulers.
We see this in his dealings with Pharoah (Ex 9:16, Rom 9:17) Ahasuerus (The Book of Esther), Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:28) Augustus Caesar (Luke 2:1) Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:20-24).
Nebuchadnezzar’s story is fascinating and serves as an important lesson to us (Daniel 4:28-37) :
“All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal
palace of
Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great
Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"
The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."
Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives for ever. …
At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Are you in the place of pride or humility?
King Jehoshaphat said it perfectly : (2 Chron. 20:6) "O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no-one can withstand you.”
And if this is true for the leaders of the nations, the G8 countries, the Magabes and Sadam Hussains of this world, then is this not also true of our work places, our boss, our neighbour, our relative.
They and we are in his hands – let us entrust ourselves to him and his ways.
The apostle Paul reminds us that we need to pray for those in authority over us - not that our agenda might be fulfilled, but that God’s will might be accomplished on this earth (1 Tim 2:1-8)
Puritan preacher John Watson said, “God can make a straight stroke with a crooked stick”
God can use anyone he chooses to accomplish his plans.
I suggest that you may want to, instead of pleading with God to change your unfair boss, or unkind neighbour, or difficult relative or fair-weather friend, that you plead with God to powerfully use them to bring about transformation in your life, in the workplace or neighbourhood or family.
And if God is in control of the nations, then he must be in control of this little old church in this little old
village of
Wollaston.
Let us be those who submit gladly to his ways, his timing, his purposes in Wollaston and beyond and throughout the nations.
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