Filed under: aaron, artaxerxes, cyrus, darius, ezra, god, haggai, hanani, nehemiah, sanballat, schecaniah, tattenai, zechariah, zerubbabel
[Stuff we're skipping:
* So...the guys who were living in Jerusalem at the time wanted to help build the Temple, so they went to Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel saw through their efforts, though, because he realized that they didn't really worship I AM--they just wanted a cool temple. From that point on, the "locals" harassed the Jews while they rebuilt the Temple. After the reign of king Cyrus, during the reign of Artaxerxes, they tried to use politics to stop the building. They sent a letter to the king saying that the Jews had a history of rebellion--so why let them rebuild their city? Artaxerxes was interested in keeping the "peace" and ensuring his income, so he put a stop to the rebuilding.
* But then two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the Jews to continue building; so they did. Then Tattenai the "local" governor asked them who they thought they were, doing this; but God made it so that they could continue building until they got fresh word from the new king, Darius. He he he...so Darius ends up reviewing Cyrus' decree and tells Tattenai that it should stand (so that the Jews can pray for him and his household). Also, he says that the "locals" should even send their money to the capital of Persia--just send it to the Jews to help with the rebuilding. Oh, and also, make sure they have all the animals they need for sacrifices. He he he...gotta love it.
* They ended up finishing the Temple and having a huge sin offering (12 scapegoats for all the tribes of Israel). Then they celebrated the Passover. Finally, Ezra (a priest who was a direct descendant of Aaron) came from Persia to teach and lead the people. He was known as an expert in the Law of Moses. Darius gave Ezra anything he wanted for his priestly duties. Also, he allowed Ezra to create a Jewish court-system to regulate the land. In other words, it was God's way or the highway now in Jerusalem and the outlying region. (What I love is that this book, written by Ezra, then takes the first person narrative, and Ezra thanks God for doing this for him.) We get a list of people who went back with Ezra too. Ezra called for Levites to join him, and they all fasted on the journey for safety (which made sense because we are talking about a band of unarmed priests with a TON of money on them). They finally arrived, gave the money to the priests and made sacrifices.
* Huge problem: Ezra comes back to realize that most of the people (including the leaders) had continued to intermarry with the neighboring people (not followers of I AM). So, Ezra mourned and prayed in front of everyone. The people were inspired. A man named Shecaniah spoke for the people, saying that this evil could be undone--they just needed to get rid of their foreign wives and children. So, they did. This ends the book of Ezra.
* Then in Nehemiah, during the reign of Artaxerxes (which means we're backtracking a little), we learn of a guy named Nehemiah who was asking about how things were going with the returned exiles in Jerusalem. His brother, Hanani, told him that the walls and gates of Jerusalem were torn down. Nehemiah prayed and fasted for days, weeping and confessing the sins of his people...because he knew that God had allowed this to happen because of the sin of Israel. We are left with one sentence: "Now I was cupbearer to the king."]
1. Being the cupbearer, Nehemiah has access to the king! He can actually do something about this…
2. Notice that Nehemiah always had a good attitude, so when he was sad, Artaxerxes noticed. Do we always have such a pleasant appearance? Should we?
3. You’d think that, as the cupbearer, Nehemiah’s job was to not be noticed; so when the king starts making remarks about him, I’d be petrified too!
4. Nehemiah just goes for it, though. Why should he be happy when his city is in ruins?
5. Notice that Nehemiah prays as soon as Artaxerxes puts the ball in his court. I’m sure it wasn’t some out-loud, elaborate thing. I’m sure it was silent and quick. But it was a prayer nonetheless. Do you ever do that?
6. Nehemiah had his chance, and he wasn’t going to blow it. He had thought out the solutions to this problem, and he shared them with the king. He’s an organized guy. And, because of this, the king respected him. Man…does that mean that I have be organized?
7. Uh oh…this “local” guy, Sanballat, doesn’t seem to like the Jewish people much.
8. Interesting that he didn’t instantly share with everyone what he was there for. He just silently inspected the situation and prayed. Maybe there’s something to learn in that too. Maybe we let the cat out of the bag too often and should, instead, continue to submit our plans to God.
9. And then he rallies the troops to build, after all that prayer.
10. You know, I don’t think Sanballat is just going to go away…
