Restoration and Renewal: Lessons from Ezra and Nehemiah

"Now both Ezra and Nehemiah were involved in a major point of national revival. You can imagine what it was like for the Jewish exiles to be spending more than a generation of history in captivity in a foreign land. You can imagine the hope that was born in them when the news was shed abroad of the downfall of their captives, the Babylonians, and they could hope that the new reigning empire of the Medes and Persians might be liberating to them." [00:01:25]

"And so when the word comes to these refugees in exile, that a decree has been issued by the new king that permits them to return to their homeland -- this must have been one of the joyous occasions that takes place in the entire Old Testament. The first chapter of Ezra gives us a thumbnail sketch of this, beginning at verse one. 'Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, 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.'" [00:02:49]

"Notice how this book in introduced. It's not simply a secular history of the affairs of the King of Persia, but it begins by reminding the readers that what is about to take place takes place, first of all, in fulfillment of the future prophecy of restoration by Jeremiah, and that this mighty King Cyrus is stirred to his action by the work of God. You know, the Jewish people know nothing of a God who is not allowed to enter into the decisions of human beings, or to incline their hearts in one direction or the other." [00:03:47]

"When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites with symbols, to praise the Lord according the ordinance of David, King of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, 'For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel.' Then all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid." [00:06:30]

"But there's a note of sadness in this text. In verse twelve we read these words: 'But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers houses -- old men -- who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy.' There's a difference in generations. The younger people who had come now are so thrilled to be out of their captivity and to be involved in this building project to restore the temple to their nation; but for the elders of the community, for the priests and the Levites, it was a bittersweet moment because they still had a vivid memory of the splendor of the temple that was built by Solomon." [00:07:43]

"Nehemiah is captured by a spirit of grief, and so his first response to the bad news is to grieve, but his second response is to pray. 'And I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.' And I want us to take a minute to look at the prayer of this man. Remember now, he's been fasting, he's been mourning, he's been grief-stricken because the news has been bad news, and listen to what he says in his prayer. 'And I said, I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments, please let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel, your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against you. Both my father's house and I have sinned.'" [00:12:08]

"And what immediately follows from his prayer of adoration is a prayer of contrition, a prayer of repentance, in which he confesses not only the sins of the fathers, but the sins of his own generation and of himself. He said, 'We have sinned against you. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to me, keep my commandments, and do them, though some of you were cast into the furthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.'" [00:15:26]

"And so what follows then is the record of this whole dramatic chapter in Jewish history of the building again of the walls of Jerusalem. Now the king has given a safe conduct to Nehemiah and to his people to embark upon the task of rebuilding the temple -- to bring materials to the site, and to pass through various satrapies and so on of the Persian empire. But just as had been the case before, lesser officials in the kingdom and in the empire, did not like this special treatment that was being given to Nehemiah, and they began to enter into a conspiracy to thwart this work of rebuilding; and they were, in that sense, acting against the decree of the king himself." [00:19:23]

"And so here is a building project that is being undertaken in the midst of war, really in the midst of these raids that were coming at them every day. So in this sense they have a spear in one hand, and a trowel in the other, as those who are called to work on the wall have to work through the vicious attacks of their enemies; and to top it off, while they're going through this, some of the people themselves begin to murmur and grumble, and it's just a recapitulation of the people of Israel in the wilderness experience." [00:20:34]

"Nehemiah then embarks upon is a thorough-going reformation of the life of his people so that they will stop all this intermarriage with unbelievers, they will stop desecrating the sacred things of God with pagan rituals. And there's an interesting point that I'd like to finish this with that happens later on in the book -- towards the end of the book of Nehemiah -- where in chapter thirteen, he sets forth principles of the reform and of separation." [00:21:29]

"If the nation was going to start again and have a new vision of their mission, for which they were established and created in the first place, not only did they have to rebuild the temple, they had to cleanse the temple, and they had to cleanse themselves, and they had to purify their church -- that the church could be the church as God intended it to be." [00:23:04]