Report from Jerusalem
1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah’s Prayer
4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah Sent to Judah
2:1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
(ESV)
Category: Scripture
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Going Deeper
Ezra 5.4.24
Hopefully you have been amazed at what God has done from the beginning of Ezra chapter one: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia …” A little background will be helpful to set the stage of what is going on in Ezra.
The people of Israel where carted off into captivity. If you remember back in Deuteronomy, we read this:
Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.”
This text was written when Moses was still alive. Judah was carried off into captivity in about 580 B.C. The northern kingdom was carried off much earlier (790 B.C). It is important to remember that in the time before Christ, the numbers run backwards–they are counting down to Christ–which is the central point of all history. In Ezra 5:10 and following, we see the leaders of Israel acknowledge that their forefathers have angered God, and that Israel worshipped false gods was not a surprise to the God of heaven, as He knew when He made His covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai that this would be the case. God ordained this to be a part of His perfect plan to bring about redemption, which was promised in the Garden.
Two takeaways from this brief history: First, nothing surprises God. There is nothing that has cropped up in history that has God surprised or wasn’t ordained by first or secondary causes. Man’s wickedness, Israel’s disobedience, Israel being conquered by another country; none of this was outside of the preordained plan of God. The Scriptures tell us that God raises up kingdoms and tears them down according to His good, wise, and perfect counsel. This should be a comfort in this time of turmoil as we come to elections. The Lord holds the heart of the king in His hand. He orchestrates and what He has ordained will be the outcome. Israel chose to follow after the false idols, and they are held accountable for these actions. God is not responsible for Israel’s sins of disobedience, idolatry, and all the other commands they broke. God cannot be tempted by evil.
Second, we see God’s faithfulness or steadfast love. Ezra 1:1 says, “… 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.”This is a huge statement leading off the book of Ezra. Hopefully you see God’s active hand in the life of Ezra. God promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10, 14) to bring His people back, and His promise was written in His word—written to the people to comfort them. God gives comfort in trial via His unchangeable word/promise. If God says it in His word, it will happen. We need to trust that God does what He says He will do. This is a comfort and a warning. Israel was God’s chosen people, and God still punished them for their disobedience. Many thought that since they were the physical descendants of Abraham, this would not happen. God disciplines those whom He loves so that we will repent and honor Him again. Take comfort that God did not leave them in their exiled place. God actively worked in Cyrus’s heart to bring about His holy will. Cyrus did not know God (Isaiah 45:5), but that doesn’t matter because God holds the heart of the king. God is sovereign over all things, and people will act in accordance with this.
Now, this does not give us free reign to throw our hands up and not do anything! God has given us responsibilities. We are to act in accordance with what He has commanded us. We are to engage the public square based on God’s character and attributes. We are to obey our civil government as if following the command of God. We are to help the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions. We are to raise our families in ways that glorify God, because this is the expectation of what God has given us. We don’t just let our children do anything they want, but we train them and nurture them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. When we do this, we know that we have been faithful and obedient, and that God will do what is good and right according to His counsel. We do not always understand what is good and right, but we can trust that God does and He is good and right.
In our reading, we find God ordained Ezra to play an important role. Ezra was a priest and a scribe of God. He was a Levite, which means he was of the priestly tribe. He was sent by Cyrus to help the people of Israel to follow after God. Ezra 7:10 says, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” First, notice that Ezra was ruling his heart (referring to his inner most being–emotions and mind). He was not allowing fleshly things to control him but was choosing to act in accordance with God’s desire. He actively went after God’s law. Second, Ezra was a man of God. The Law of God was living to Ezra. This was a challenge, as Ezra had to respond and deal with an Jewish culture that had absorbed many practices of the cultures around them and where breaking the commands of God without even realizing it.
In chapter eight we see Ezra lead by an example. In Ezra 8:21-23 it says, “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”
This is a great passage. When Ezra was preparing to lead the people back to Israel, he didn’t ask for protection from the king but fasted and prayed. This is a great example for us. Many times we can reach out and get the problem solved, but we do it without trusting in God. What would it look like if instead of looking to just fix it yourself, you fasted and prayed more often? When we slow down and seek God in faith, He shows us the way. This does not mean that we forsake the means He has given us. It is simply slowing down to acknowledge that He is God and is at work. It is a way to protect us from getting out of step with His will and ways. Many times we solve the problem ourselves without involving Him. This is not what Ezra does; he went to God and trusted Him, and God listened! God hears our prayers. Let’s go to Him more than we do.
As things progressed, Ezra had to make some radical changes in the latter part of the book, to bring Israel back into submission to God’s word. If Ezra had not studied the word, he would have not known this was necessary. In Chapter 9, we see again that Ezra prays about it first. This is the pattern of Ezra: problem, pray, trust God, obedience. This is the cycle that we as believers should follow. What problems do you need to use this pattern for? How can you make this a regular practice?
Ezra, as a scribe and a priest, was a type that points to Christ. As a priest, he fulfilled a mediatorial role for the people of Israel. He interceded between the people and God—performing the sacrifices, showing them that sin needs to be atoned for. All the while, Ezra was a man who did not fulfill this role perfectly. In this he shows us our need for the truer and better priest, Jesus Christ. In the New Covenant secured in His blood, Christ pleads our case before the Father against the accuser because we are His. Praise the Lord.
Ezra was a shadow of Christ in teaching the Law. Jeremiah 31:31 tells us we have the law written on our hearts. This is in a greater way than just knowing it; it is following it willfully. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, the law is written on the believer’s heart in a way that we now can obey it and glorify God. Do you know God? Have you trusted in Jesus’ mediatorial work for you, that He has robed you in His (Jesus’) righteousness and that you can come before the Father with boldness? If you have not cried out to God, ask Him to give you saving faith. If you have, then walk and talk with Him every day, as you obey His commands and navigate this broken world for His name’s 0sake and others’ good.
By His grace and for His glory
Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine
Soldiers For Jesus MC
Chaplain Council
SFJbible.com
*Special thanks to J.Taylor who helped me prepare this week’s devotion
Ezra Sent to Teach the People
7:1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest—6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.
7 And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. 8 And Ezra1 came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel: 12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.2 And now 13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, 15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. 17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. 18 Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. 19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.
21 “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, 22 up to 100 talents3 of silver, 100 cors4 of wheat, 100 baths5 of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23 Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. 24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. 26 Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”
27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
Footnotes
[1] 7:8
Aramaic he
[2] 7:12Aramaic Perfect (probably a greeting)
[3] 7:22A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
[4] 7:22A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters
[5] 7:22A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters (ESV)
The Decree of Darius
6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits1 and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”
6 “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your2 associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. 7 Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”
The Temple Finished and Dedicated
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
Passover Celebrated
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for 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.
(ESV)
Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding
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 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 discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 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.
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.1 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace2 and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”
The King Orders the Work to Cease
17 The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 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. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”
23 Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Footnotes
[1] 4:7
Hebrew written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language
[2] 4:14Aramaic because the salt of the palace is our salt (ESV)