Snaddon, Dan: Studies In Ezra 05 ~ Ezra 5:and 6

I want to read this morning in the fifth chapter of Ezra, and also in the sixth chapter. And we've given ourselves an almost impossible task to try and cover the events, at least the, the highlights of these two wonderful and important chapters. Chapter five, verse one: Then the prophets Haggai a- and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied unto the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, and the name, in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel and Jeshua and began to build the house of God, which is at Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them. Look at verse four now. Then said they unto them, or should I read it first as it is said? Then said we unto them after this manner, what are the names of the men who make this building? Now, let me change two words here to give you the sense. Then said they, that is the adversaries, unto them, the builders, after this manner, What are the names of the men who make this building? But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease till the matter came to Darius, and then they returned, and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter. No questions were, were answered, you'll notice. They were too busy building. That's a wonderful way to be. Now, the letter that was sent by these people to Darius, the, the contents are found from verse six right down to the end of the chapter. And then when we come to chapter six, we find that Darius had made the necessary inquiries, and they had found the documents that gave the children of Israel permission to build the house, and many other things were revealed also. And in verse seven of chapter six, we have the reply of the king. Let the work of this house of God alone, and let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. Now, the Jews would have been very happy to have had that message, but that was not all the message. Look at verse eight now. Moreover, I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God, that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. Isn't this wonderful now? God's in this, isn't it? And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given unto them day by day. And then notice the next two words, without fail. Oh, God is working now, isn't he? And I think I've got a, a note in one of my notes here that God makes the wrath of man to praise him. And here's the perfect example. They wanted to stop the work, and God says, let the work go on, and then you'll give them all the assistance that you can, and without fail. Look now down at verse fourteen. And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Aido, and they built and finished it, that is, they finished the house of God, according to the commandment of the God of Israel. Now, you'll notice which commandment they put first here. They could have said according to the commandment of King Cyrus, couldn't they? But they didn't say that. There was some- someone more important in their life than King Cyrus, and they said, and they built and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel. Isn't that beautiful? And then they acknowledged the earthly dignitary, and they said, according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this, of this house of God with joy. You remember when the foundations were laid, there was shouts of joy and tears of sorrow. But when the house was completed and dedicated, they did it with joy. Verse nineteen now, and the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month, for the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity. I should have mentioned that in this verse, for the priests and the Levites were purified together, and then it says all of them were pure, and I take that to mean not just the priests and the Levites, but all the children of the captivity who had returned. They were all pure. And then when they were all in this happy and holy condition, they killed the Passover. All the children of the captivity for their brethren, the priests, and for themselves, and the children of Israel who were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto God from the filthiness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel did eat. Not only were they holy, but they were separated, and then they ate the Passover. They kept the feast of unleavened bread also, according to Ezra's account here, seven days, and they kept it with joy. For the Lord had made them joyful, number one. Number two, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them. No wonder they were glad. And number three, whose God strengthened their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. And this is the account, then, of the completion of the building of the house of God. Now let's go into it in a little more detail, as best we can, almost an impossible task in thirty minutes. Last night we left off at the part where we brought to your notice that because of the apathy of the people, they had lost their first love, their desire to build this house had plummeted, and they lapsed into a state, uh, of apathy, and the work of God ceased. The house, the work on the house of God stopped. And of course, we could apply that to modern days, because when we lose our first love, then we do lapse into, uh, apathy, and this is what I would like to bring to your attention just for a moment, that we can get what we have today in the Laodicean age. You see, it's epistas first, the losing of our first love, and then it's Laodicea, neither hot nor cold, neither hot nor cold. And what a dangerous thing it is for a Christian as an individual or for a local church to get into this Laodicean state. And of course, there's no doubt about it that our assemblies today, our assembly fellowships today, are better off financially and materially than ever they were in the history of our movement. But might I ask the question, are we more spiritual today than they were fifty, one hundred years ago, or perhaps one hundred and fifty years ago, when our movement began. And with the, with the advent of materialism, there also has come the tragedy of spirituality plummeting and becau- we becoming lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. And to God, this condition is nauseating. He says, I could just spew you or vomit you out of my mouth. And so, uh, here, this is the situation that we have here, and of course it is the situation that we have in the twentieth century. According to the best historians that I can find, that the work ceased for about eighteen months. There was nothing done to the building of the house for one year and a half, and it was during this time that God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. I want you to read those prophecies, especially Haggai, because God, not just now, but before you have lunch today, um, God anointed the hearts of these men, and God gave them a ministry. Now, when you read those books, Haggai is a very short book, incidentally, won't take you too long, neither will Zechariah, but God anointed these men for the ministry of that particular time. And Haggai in particular is, is, is really strong. He comes on strong, and God gave him a message that stirred the hearts of his people. And I just made a note or two here, which I'd like to show- share with you. He says, consider your ways. That's always a good thing to do, isn't it? Consider your ways. Where have you come from? What are you doing? Where are you going? And that's what Haggai said to the children of Israel. And he says, you've sown much. You've reaped little, evidently, because of the cessation of the work. God had come in in some kind of judgment, and he had judged the people. And he says, you've sown a lot, that is, you've put in a lot of work to what you've been doing during the time when the building on the house, on my house, has ceased. But he says, you've reaped little. And he says, it's true that you've earned wages, but he says, the money that you have earned, you have just put it into, into bags that had holes in it. Then he says again, consider your ways. He says, the Lord's judgment fell on you because you were dwelling in your own paneled houses and building your own paneled houses, and the work on my house has ceased. And he says, for that reason, I have withheld my blessing from you, and for that reason, I have made the earth to withhold its fruit from you. You see, brothers and sisters, you simply cannot go against God and expect to get off scot-free. God is watching. And you know, I've made a little notation here at the end of that, that Matthew six and thirty is applicable in every generation. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. And that verse in reverse is this: Neglect the things of God, and God will withhold his best blessings from you. Haggai spoke to the conscience of people. Zechariah, he spoke to the, to the, to the nation's heart. And as we read his prophecy, it's, it is prophecy. He says, there's a great future for you. All you've come from difficult times, and you are in difficult times, but there's a great future, and his, his whole letter is prophetic in character. Do you know what I have discovered in my own life and in the audiences that I talk to from time to time? That, generally speaking, when you speak about prophecy, everybody gets hyped up. Everybody sits and they, they're thrilled when they hear of the prof- the, the prophecies that have been fulfilled and are yet to be fulfilled. But you know, when you come along to an assembly and like Haggai, you begin to preach on the practical truths of the Word of God, the truths that touch us in the sore spot of our life, the truths that cut across habits that we have formed over the years, the truths that expose our unspirituality and show us that we are not in communion with God as we ought to be. Oh, we don't like these things. We squirm, don't we? And we say, I would rather listen to the man in his prophetic messages. But you know, God has a purpose in raising men. To touch the conscience like Haggai, and to touch the heart, like Zechariah. Now, as these prophets prophesied and exhorted the nation, there was an immediate awakening. And you know what happened? The result of this spirit-filled ministry, and if I may use a phrase from the Psalms, one of these men used the rod, and the other one used the staff. And as the word of God came to them, rebuke in the rod and guidance in the staff, they were awakened, and according to verse number three of chapter five— that, or verse number two rather, of chapter five— the result was this, that they began to build the house of God again. There is nothing more satisfactory to a preacher than to see his ministry taking effect upon the people of God. After all, that's what it's all about. A preacher who comes to display his knowledge of Old Testament history will get nowhere, but one who is trying to relate those things to present day circumstances and sees results. It's a very satisfactory thing. Haggai and Zechariah must have been very happy as they saw the work on the house of God commencing again. And you know what? We don't read of any opposition. We don't read of the adversaries during the eighteen months that the house wasn't being built, but immediately they started to build the house of God. The adversaries came along, verse 3. Who gave you permission to do this? See the idea? And some of you are older than I, a lot more experienced than ever I've had. And you can look back in your life, and you can see a divine principle being displayed here that is true in every generation. That wherever there is a work of the Spirit of God, a work of God himself in an assembly, in a group, then you can rest assured that there will be a counterwork of the enemy. It never fails. He is busy, and so these men said, we must build. And the adversary said, why are you building? Who gave you permission to build this house. Then a remarkable things happened, a remarkable thing happened in verse number four. The adversary said, who are your leaders? Who are your leaders? Oh, they weren't content to get at the rank and file. They said, who are your leaders? And you know, it's amazing. The question went unanswered. They were too busy building. They were inspired. They were enthused now. They were full of zeal for the house of God, and they loved God, and they were building, and they didn't even stop to answer their question. But you know, when we go over to the New Testament, Acts chapter twelve, here's one of the, it's, it's a wonderful chapter, this. It is a, an inspiring chapter, but it also is a tragic chapter. Acts chapter twelve. You know why it's a tragic chapter? One of the leaders of the Christian faith was beheaded, James. And you know that after chapter twelve of the Acts, we never read of Peter again. He fades out. You see, the adversary was after the leaders. But here, they went on with the work. Now, what was the inspiring force behind this revival? I believe we have it in, in verse five of chapter five. The eye of the Lord was upon them. The eye of the Lord was upon them. You know, that's a sobering thought, isn't it? The eye of the Lord was upon them. There's some controversy as to whether the witnesses of Hebrews chapter twelve are witnesses that are in heaven today, and they're looking down on us upon earth and seeing us work and seeing us act and seeing us live or not live for Christ. That would be a very sobering thought if that were true. I don't know whether that's true or not. But there's one thing of what- of which I am convinced, and it is this, that the eye of the Lord is upon me as an individual. This phrase hit my soul this morning. And I said, Dan, God is watching you. Why are you here? What's your objective for being here? To display your knowledge or to touch the hearts of God's people, to glorify Christ? The eye of the Lord is upon you. And I was very humble and sobered as I considered this thing. Now these men realized that the eye of God was upon them, and they built, and they built, and nothing could deter them from building this house of God. You sitting so comfortably and maybe complacently in your pew this morning, don't ever forget that the eye of the Lord is upon you. Then... the letter is sent. They couldn't do anything with these people, that is, the adversaries couldn't, and so they wrote out this letter, and they sent it post haste off to Derash, the king. Now, if you read the contents of the letter, you'll find that it, it is a much, uh, fairer, uh, estimate of the situation than the letter that the Samaritans sent. There were certain things that the adversaries had to acknowledge, that this was a peculiar, a unique type of work. But what they wanted to know was, did they have permission to do this? You see, because the children of the captivity said, we have permission. The king gave us permission, and moreover, we've got proof because we've got the sacred vessels of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar took away. We have brought them back, and we have them here, ready to go into service when the house is built. And so they mentioned all this in the letter that they sent back to the king, and they said to the king, verify this. And then we come on, and, uh, the king did verify that this was so. One of the things that I want to bring to your attention here, before we go on into chapter six now, is this, that I believe, and from this incident and many other incidents in the world, I believe that if God is in any work, it will prosper, and no created being can hinder it. And God never fails obedient faith and trusting faith. He never fails. You remember Gamaliel? Perhaps this is the same Gamaliel that taught Saul of Tarsus. He said to the Sanhedrin on one occasion, if this work be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it. And would to God that, that, that we realize that we were in the work of God. The Lord Jesus says, upon this rock, and never mind who the rock is this morning, he said, upon this rock I will build my church. Is the Lord building his church today? Most assuredly, he is. And each one of us should be builders, engaged in building this church. For we are living stones, we're we're not inanimate stones, we're living stones. We're being built together. Good to God that we would realize that God is for us. And as Paul says, if God be for us, who can be against us? Nobody, nothing can hinder the work of God. Now, chapter six. The king made a search for the desired document and found it. And he said to them, as he wrote back, he said to them, yes, permission has been given to them, and I believe it is suggested there that, uh, this was the edict of the Medes and the Persians, something that couldn't be altered, couldn't be changed. It was, had to be done now. The king's signature was on it. And he says, not only has this house to be built, and not only have you to leave them alone in the work, he says, you have to supply funds for the expenses that the work be not hindered, and that you have to give them animals for sacrifice, and you have to give them wheat and salt and oil also. As I mentioned to you when we read that, that God makes the wrath of man to praise him. They try to hinder the work, and in trying to hinder the work, God used that as an opportunity to send back word that the work had not to be hindered, and that over and above they had to supply the necessary materials and support these men in the building of the house of God. And not only did the king say that, but he said something else. He says that any man, be he noble or a peasant, no matter who he is, if he refuses to carry out the king's decree, then his house has to be broken down, it has to be made a garbage dump, and timbers have to be taken from that house, and the man has to be crucified. He has to be hung on that site. My God wasn't pulling any punches here, or the king wasn't, and of course God was behind it. He wasn't pulling any punches. He said, there you are. That's how it has to be. This, this house has to be built. No one has to de- detract or take from it. And of course, nobody had to add to it. You know, this is really something, isn't it? Because you remember that over in the book of Revelation, that the Lord said that anyone who takes from this book will be judged, and anyone who adds to this book will suffer the severe judgment of God. And so it is very, very important that we s- as we see those principles being unfolded. Here's something for you to ponder. In our preaching of the gospel, from time to time, we use the text in Galatians six that whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. And some of... I s- I should say we preachers love to lean over the pulpit and look at our audience and direct this to the unsaved. You know, brothers and sisters, this verse was not written to the unsaved. It was written to the church at Galatia. And what we try to put over to the unsaved actually should come to us first. I'm not objecting to the verse being used in a gospel way. That is an application, but the interpretation of the verse is this, that if we, as believers, sow to the flesh, we will of the flesh with corruption. But if we as believers sow to the Spirit, we shall off the Spirit with life everlasting. And there's a day coming at the judgment seat of Christ when this will all be taken care of. It's a sobering thought, isn't it? Taking from the Word of God, adding to the word of God. Now the king says, anyone that destroys this house, the judgment of God will fall upon him. Now, during the Maccabean period, and that's the period between the Old and the New Testament, there's some four hundred years there, there arose a very wicked Roman ruler, and he desecrated the temple of God. And then there was another man, Herod, we are introduced to him at the beginning of our New Testament, and he thought that the, that the house of God, the temple of God, was not just as grand as it should be, and so... in self-aggrandizement, he built onto the house of God. That Roman ruler during the Maccabean period suffered an extraordinary cruel death. And Herod, whom we have been introduced to, he also suffered a very painful death. And in AD seventy, when Tyrus, or Titus rather, the Roman general, besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the city and destroyed the house of God, so that there was not one stone left upon another. In a very short time, God came down and judged the Roman Empire, and they lost their power and lost their empire. Beloved brethren and sisters, we cannot, or no one can flout the law of God, and no one can disobey the word of God, and no one can hinder the work of God without incurring serious consequences. And the wheels of God's wrath grind slowly, but they grind surely. Surely. Just a couple of instances, and I wish I had time to develop them, but it's not possible this morning. Miriam. Miriam sinned, and she became a leper. See, you can't get off with it. And the tragedy of Miriam's sin was this, that two and a half million people were stymied in the one place. There was no progress for a whole week. They never moved one inch because of the sin of one woman. And then we come to a man called Achan. You know the story. God says you've not to do this. But Achan did it and thought he was getting away with it. Until they went to take the little city of Ai. And you know what happened there. And Joshua says, who's the sinner? Who's the sinner? Can you see Achan standing with his family? And Joseph took the tribes and he separated, Joshua took the tribes and he separated one after the other. There was the tribe left that Achan belonged to. And then he took the fathers of the families, and he began to separate them. Think of how Achan was beginning to feel as the finger of God came down and down and said, using the language of another, "Thou art the man. Achan, what have you done?" And hidden yonder in his tent, there was the bar of gold, the Babylonius garment. No one knew about it, but God did. And the consequence of his action was first a defeat for the people of God, and then death for him and his family. No one, no one can play with God. No one can be disobedient to direct revelation from God without suffering the consequences. You will pardon me, it's about two minutes to eleven. Just give me a few minutes, will you? You don't want to give it to me. You do? All right, all right then. Um, because we're coming to just the, the most important part. Incidentally, dinner's not till twelve, so I have a long time there now to, to develop my subject. No, I won't. We're, we're coming to a very important part now of our subject. Because Tatnai, he was the leader of the enemies. It says that he did speedily what the king commanded. He didn't waste any time about this. He says God's in this, and not only is God in this, but the authority of the king is behind this, and he says he did speedily what the king had commandment. And, uh, oh, and also think again now of the result of the ministry of Hage- Haggai and Zechariah. And they went to work, and they worked. And you know, from the time that they began to work until the time that the house of the Lord was finished, it was four and a half years. That's how long it took from the, from the beginning, uh, of the second revival, Four and a half years. Of course, the house actually took about twenty two years to build. But from what we have been dis- discussing this morning to the end, it was four and a half years. And then verses sixteen to eighteen of chapter six, the house is dedicated. And I mentioned to you that it was dedicated with joy. There was no tears here. It was a joyous occasion when the house was finished. You look at the sacrifices that were offered, and you think my word, they they really went to town. They they they really offered a a a lot. But you know, when you consider the dedication of this temple with the dedication of Solomon's temple, there's just no comparison. Oh, the expense. No expense was spared when the temple that Solomon built was dedicated. But you see, things were different. These children of the captivity were poor. There was no wealth behind them. And the thrilling thing to me about it is this. It is true that God acknowledged the sacrifice of Solomon because he came down into the temple and his glory so filled the temple that the priests couldn't minister therein. But it is thrilling to me to know that God was well pleased with the sacrifice that the children of the captivity gave. Because according to First Corinthians chapter sixteen verse two, that they gave according to their ability. And that's what counts. They gave according to their ability. And then you'll notice in verse nineteen, they com- they kept the Passover. Now, when did they keep the Passover? Oh, they were going back over the, the records and the law. When should the Passover be kept? The Passover hadn't been kept for years and years and years and years. And now they said, we're going to keep the Passover. When should we keep the Passover? Moses says that it was on the so-and-so day of the so-and-so month. And that is when they kept the Passover. I come to the conclusion that they were men of the book. The book, that was what mattered. What was God's revelation? And whenever they discovered it was written, that they did, and nothing could deter them, and so they kept the Passover. Oh, they looked back, and they saw how they were redeemed in the first place from Israel, from from Egypt, excuse me. They thought of the of the blood of the Passover lamb, and they celebrated this great occasion. What would be the equivalent of the Passover for we in the church age today? Surely it would be the Lord's Supper. Surely it would be the Lord's Supper. Salvation through the blood, not of a lamb, but salvation through the blood of the Lamb of God. Oh, what a sacrifice. Read the Old Testament. How many millions of animals were slain trying to appease God. It almost seems to me that, that literal r- rivers of blood flowed continually during that long period. And yet, there was no pulling away of sin. The sin was simply covered over, that's all, in the Old Testament, covered over. But Hebrews tells us the startling and the thrilling fact that by one sacrifice, one sacrifice, sin was taken away forever. And then our blessed Savior sat down at the right hand of the majestic God. You know what I feel like doing now? Singing that beautiful hymn, A wonderful savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful savior to me. And of course, the story is not just completed yet, but we're told, as I pointed out in my reading, that the priests and the Levites, they purified themselves. I like this. This is what we've been talking about all through the, the, the first six chapters, isn't it? Purifying themselves, getting right with God, being holy with God. And beloved brethren and sisters, this, this is, this is the condition that we should be in today. Holy, purified, pure in the sight of God. And then the people purified themselves, and then the next thing they did, they separated themselves from the wicked nations around. Purification, separation. And then when they did that, what did they do? They ate the Passover. They ate the Passover. And when we come to eat the Lord's Supper, are we purified? Are we holy? Are we separate? Let every one of you judge himself, judge his sin, and then let him eat. And our remembrance piece would be turned into a part of heaven were each believer to come in this condition. And then it says the Lord made them joyful. When a person is in touch with God, joy just erupts like a volcano. It just erupts. The Lord made them joyful, and the Lord turned the heart of their king, of the king, towards them. And then the Lord strengthened their hands for the work of God. I almost wish I had been one of those children of the captivity to go through this deeply significant spiritual experience. And yet today, we in the twentieth century can undergo the same spiritual experiences that these people went through. Think of the joy on earth. But was it anything compared to the joy that was in heaven, in the heart of God, as he saw his house completed and his people worshiping him as he so desired? And I believe that conversely, that there is nothing that gives God greater pleasure than to see his children come together at the remembrance feast to worship him and to take the bread and the wine in fond memory of his son. May the Lord make this book live in our souls today, shall we pray. Thank thee for the record that thou hast kept of these wonderful doings, our Father. Thank thee for the blessed Spirit of God who inspires us and reveals those things to us. How nice it is to sit in these comfortable surroundings and, and perhaps revel and even be thrilled by these conditions that prevailed so long ago. Lord, touch our hearts this morning. And may these same conditions be assimilated in our day by day experience for the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.