The Reading
Ezra 1:1-4, 3:1-4, 10-13
In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord
stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald
throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared: “Thus says
King Cyrus 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
in Judah. Any of those among you who are
of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to
Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is
the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they
reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with
goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in
Jerusalem.”
When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening. And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the
Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with
trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the
directions of King David of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and
giving thanks to the Lord,
(at this time we had a
pause in the reading as the choir sang a piece based on Psalm 100)
“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever
toward Israel.”
And all the people responded with a great shout when they
praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was
laid. But many of the priests and
Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its
foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many
shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of
the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted
so loudly that the sound was heard far away.
The message
Today is the last Sunday of our Old Testament readings for
the church year. Since September we have
shared an overview of the scriptures that were the Bible to the people of
Israel, Jesus and his first followers. This
experience was a very long Advent, giving us a chance to experience what we are
waiting for, to see where the hope and expectation for a messiah came from and
understand why it was necessary for Jesus to be born as one of us, suffer, die
and rise again to restore our relationship with God once and for all. We
started at creation, where God forms order out of chaos, creating a world,
environment and life from nothing. We
went through the stories of God communicating with the world by speaking to and
directing people like Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, Miriam, Ruth. Moses, the
Judges like Deborah and the Kings like David and Josiah. Here God makes an
covenant with them and all the people of Israel. Included in this agreement was
the promise of being a great nation, freedom from slavery in Egypt, and the
special status as God’s people. This group of promises was contingent on Israel
worshipping God and keeping the law and commandments.
Just like we do whenever we try to live as God asks, the people of Israel constantly fail to keep their part of
the agreement. They forget about what
their God has done and what the Lord promised, they worship foreign gods like
Baal and seek their protection and salvation though questionable deals with neighboring
empires. In response to this disobedience, God punishes the people. There was a cycle of sin, punishment, repentance
and restoration that happens over and over again. During this time, God
communicates with the world though a different group of people. This time, it
is the prophets like Hosea, Isaiah and Huldah,
They all work in different contexts and times and they all use different
examples and language but they share a few similar themes. First, God is aware of the people’s sin and
is disappointed and angry. God will punish the people for their
disobedience. God will allow the enemies
around them to overwhelm and defeat them.
There will be a time of oppression, suffering and great loss. The second shared theme of the prophets is
that the suffering will not endure forever, God’s promises will. The prophets share news of hope for the
hopeless, light for people in darkness, the promise of a Messiah, sent from God
to make all things new.
This morning, we have one of the last major stories in the
Old Testament. The scriptures end with
the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
About 70 years before this return and rebuilding, we have one of the
most tragic and shocking events in the history of Israel. The Babylonians defeat Israel. The people of
Israel had gone through defeat before. This time was different though, the
Babylonians destroyed the center of Israel’s faith, the temple built by Solomon
in Jerusalem. In addition, the people were sent into exile, scattered away from
the promised land of the covenant.
The people of Israel suffer total defeat and God does not
intervene to help them. Years before,
the prophet Jeremiah announced this would come to be along with a promise of
restoration.
In Jeremiah Chapter
25, we hear “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule
are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my
gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland: .
and again in Jeremiah Chapter 29
“ This whole area will
become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of
Babylon for seventy years.’ But when the seventy years are over, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his nation for their sins. I will make the land of
Babylon an everlasting ruin. I, the Lord, affirm it! I will bring on that land
everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written
in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied
against all the nations”
The restoration comes as God once again intervenes in
history, The Babylonians are defeated by
the Persians. With the Persian victory,
the people of Israel return home: Thus
says King Cyrus 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
in Judah. Any of those among you who are
of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem
in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel
The people gather out of exile and return to Jerusalem. The city was restored, the temple rebuilt,
the people celebrated and sang. This was new life, new community, new joy, just
like in creation, God has created and rebuilt something where there was
nothing.
After this great celebration, the people of Israel continue
to live in and around Jerusalem but they remain a conquered people, a colony of
one empire or another. They maintain
faithful hope that God’s promises are true, the prophets words would come to
be, a Messiah would come to them, born from King David’s family line and
complete the restoration of God’s people. Around 500 years after the return
from exile, Israel is a colony of the Roman Empire and Jesus is born. Of course, their expectation is that the
Messiah will raise an army, take a throne and make Israel a world power once
again. God ends up doing something else, dealing instead with the permanent
forgiveness of sins, the welcome of all people and the promise of eternal life.
Over the next few weeks, we will look at the birth of John the
Baptist from Luke’s Gospel, the Christmas story and the visit of the 3 kings.
After that we will start a reading of Mark’s Gospel that will bring us from
Christmas to Easter. As we complete our
journey through the Old Testament, there are a few things we should remember,
that will inform the next part of God’s story. We must remember, God keeps
God’s promises, God acts in history, God intervenes in the world and God works
though us.
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