The Bible Recap - Day 261 (Ezra 4-6, Psalm 137) - Year 6

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Yesterday the exiles who returned from Babylon started rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, and today that comes to a screeching halt. It starts out subtle. First, a few of Israel's enemies try to throw a wrench into the plan to rebuild. The Israelites have been gone for decades, then all of a sudden they show back up to rebuild the ruins in the land these people have lived in for maybe all of their lives. This doesn't sit well with their enemies who live there, of course, so their enemies hatch a plan to put a stop to it. They're like, oh, you're rebuilding the temple to Yahweh? What a coincidence.

It just so happens we've been worshipping him too, so you should totally let us help. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua send them packing. They say Cyrus has commanded that only the Israelites who returned from exile should rebuild it. When the enemy's plan A doesn't work, they go over the Israelites' heads. They start bribing officials and lying and scheming to put a stop to things. And it seems to work. The construction project is officially put on hold for something like 15 years. Maybe some of you feel this way about your road system. By the way, the extent of this delay kind of flies under the radar in the text because it's only evident if we pay attention to the different kings mentioned.

A lot of what happens in chapter four isn't chronological. It's more of a parenthetical statement that just shows us this is not a one-time situation the Jews are dealing with. Their enemies have been persistent. For instance, here are a few of the other things chapter four says their enemies do to deter them. When a new king, Ahasuerus, begins his reign, the locals write him a letter to make sure he knows

why they've asked for the construction project to be stopped. By the way, we'll read more about him in the days to come, so remember his name. Then, when his successor, Artaxerxes, takes over the throne, the Israelites' enemies whip out their laptops again and continue their letter-writing campaign, making sure to highlight some of the negative aspects of the Jews while also flattering the king. Their letter basically says, Those Jews who used to live there in Babylon that your people sent here, they're trying to take over.

And maybe you don't remember this, but when they lived here before, they were a bunch of wicked rebels. So we think you should shut their construction project down, because if they finish it, they will definitely not honor you. And look, we don't want to be gossips. I mean, we didn't even really want to say anything, but we'd just hate to see you disrespected like that. That's our primary concern. But you don't even have to take our word for it. If you do a Google search for Israelites, rebels is what will come up at the top. We promise. Okay, thanks.

Bye. Right away, King Artaxerxes hops on the Googler and sure enough, the Jews are rebels. Oops. So he decides he needs to shut things down, just like the letter suggested. When their enemies get the king's mandate in response, they rush right over to Jerusalem, and as 423 says, by force and power made them cease. Ugh, I feel so defeated. But chapter 5 has better news for us. First, some prophets show up among the Jews and speak words of encouragement to them when

their enemies start discouraging them. The prophets' names are Haggai and Zechariah. We'll read some of their words over the next few days when we drop in on their books. As a result, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the current leaders of the returned exiles, rally the troops to start rebuilding. Meanwhile, the governor and his crew swing by Jerusalem one day, and they're like, hey, do you guys have a permit for this? And who are you anyway? Not a single one of you is wearing a hard hat. We don't get any information about what the Jews said in response until the next chapter. Verse five just says,

but the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews. So the governor and his crew let them keep working for the time being. They decide to send it to the higher-ups for follow-up, namely, Persia's new king Darius. The governor drafts his letter to the king, and it goes something like this. We were just in Jerusalem, and we noticed the Jews have a big construction project going.

It's pretty impressive, honestly. We asked if they had a permit, and we asked who they were, and they just said, we are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and that they're rebuilding the temple. Apparently, their ancestors built it a long time ago, but then they angered God, so he drove them into exile. Now they're saying Cyrus sent them back home

and told them they could rebuild their temple and that he actually gave them a bunch of vessels for it. Does any of that ring a bell? Could you double check the records to see if that's true because we're not really sure how to proceed here. In chapter six, Darius looks through all the archives. There's no Ctrl-F on ancient scrolls, so it probably takes a while to find this information. Finally, they find it in one of the storage rooms in the king's summer home in the mountains.

That's not a joke. I'm just glad they kept looking. And when they find it, it reveals that not only had Cyrus given them the permit to rebuild the temple, but he also gave them permission to build it six times larger than before. Then followed that by saying, let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. What?

Armed with this new information, King Darius writes the governor back and says, back off, let them rebuild. The only time you need to bother them is to write them a paycheck, because you're affording the bill for all of this. Give them whatever they need as far as supplies and even give them whatever they need for sacrifices and offerings. And give it to them every single day. Do what they need so they can continue to seek their God and pray for me and my family.

Then King Darius adds a little PS that says, no one can change this command or he'll get the death penalty and I'll turn his house into a landfill. And may God overthrow anyone who tries to overthrow the Jews or destroy their temple. The end. I'm speechless just reading this 2,500 years later so I can't imagine how the governor felt in that moment when he got that letter.

Can you imagine if people wrote laws like this today? This is one of the greatest clapbacks of all time and it's a legal document. The governor did what he was commanded, and the Jews prospered in the land. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah continued to prophesy to the people, and the construction crew kept working until they finished the house of God and dedicated it to him with offerings and praise. Then they celebrated the Passover, 70 years after their exile, just like God promised. And what's more, this Passover wasn't just for the Jews.

It was for anyone who had turned to worship Yahweh, Gentiles included. They were welcomed into the family of the Israelites. This is huge. And I love what verse 22 says, The Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." We wrapped up today's reading with Psalm 137. It's one of the newest Psalms. It makes reference to Jerusalem's destruction, so we know this had to come after David's time. It recounts the time when they were exiles in Babylon, remembering life in Jerusalem.

While it felt like torture to think about their homeland, it was also torture to think of forgetting their homeland. They asked God to punish their enemies and to bring justice. It ends with a pretty shocking expression of their anger and grief. And once again, the Psalms remind us that God can handle even our worst emotions. We can talk to Him about even the feelings we know aren't true or right, because He's the one who can set our hearts on straight. What was your God shot today? I cannot stop thinking about that letter from even the feelings we know aren't true or right, because He's the one who can set our hearts on straight. What was your God shot today? I cannot stop thinking about that letter from King Darius to the governor.

Wow! And I also can't stop thinking about all the steps it took to get to that letter. If the enemy hadn't tried to stop the Jews from rebuilding, the Jews would have rebuilt, but they would have had to pay their own bills. Instead, God worked it out so that the enemy's efforts to thwart his plans actually resulted in a better outcome for his people. God's enemies deceive, frustrate, and accuse. They wield fear as a weapon,

and if they can't stop you outright, they'll try to discourage you into quitting. But God, he says, I'll take their lies and their scheming and their manipulation, and I'll use them as tools to expose the truth, bless my people, and advance my kingdom. No one can pull off that kind of redemption story like Yahweh. He's where the joy is.

Tomorrow we'll be reading the Book of Haggai. It's two chapters long. We're linking to a short video overview in the show notes to help set you up for success, so check that out if you've got five minutes to spare.