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The book of Esther is one of those books, like Ruth that is best read at one sitting. It’s a great story of a meteoric, providential rise to a place of honor and power at just the right time; with a prideful, vengeful antagonist; with a humble heroine who has to take a fearful step of faith; and with a sharp turn of events at the end. It is the story of Purim, a joyous festival celebrated every year by the Jews to this day (it fell on March 19,20 in 2011). We’ve already covered how Hadassah (Esther) was chosen by God’s providence to be the queen of Persia. We’ve also seen how Haman, because Mordecai conscientiously refused to bow to him, plotted to destroy all the Jewish people in the Persian empire (virtually all of them) by official decree of the king (who trusted Haman too much). When this plot came to Mordecai’s attention, he persuaded Esther (who was fearfully reluctant at first) to approach the king. Esther and the Jews fasted and prayed for 3 days, and then Esther humbly and diplomatically approached the king, at first inviting him and and Haman to a banquet. At this banquet Esther invites King Xerxes (Ahaseurus) and Haman to yet another banquet the next day (I suppose that is has always been true that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach), when she promised the king that she would then make her request of him.

That night, when the king was having a bout of insomnia, he called for the royal book of records — doubtlessly, like most other government reports, a good remedy for insomnia, a real snoozer — and discovered that although Mordecai had been responsible for foiling an assassination plot against the king that nothing had been done to reward him. The next day, the king called in Haman to ask him what should be done for the man that the king wanted to honor. Because Haman thought (in his pride) that the king wanted to honor him, he laid out an elaborate scheme of honor — which the king then commanded Haman to lead in Mordecai’s honor. Haman was privately mortified and vexed beyond words as he obeyed the king’s command. The turn of Haman’s fortunes had begun, and that’s where we left it.

But in the reading today Esther finally reveals to king Xerxes that someone had plotted to murder her entire ethnic group, the Jews. When the king asks who this villain might be, Esther fingers Haman, who was probably shocked to just now discover that the queen was Jewish! The king stands up in a rage and walks to the balcony to think, while Haman begs for his life, even throwing himself on the queen’s couch. When the king returns to the room, he finds Haman touching the couch, which angers him all the more. When it is reported to the king that Haman has already built a very tall gallows to hand Mordecai on, the king finds poetic justice in hanging Haman on those very gallows — later his 10 sons would join him. To repel the planned attack (because the command of a Persian king cannot be rescinded), the king gives Mordecai, the new grand vizier, permission for the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies. The Jews do defend themselves and destroy their enemies, and the day was established as a Jewish holiday, Purim.

Lessons?

Revenge is not as satisfying as we think — Have you ever gotten revenge? Have you ever noticed how dissatisfying it is? And even how it often comes back to bite us? Haman’s revenge turned inside out isn’t all that unusual. Even if you get the revenge you wanted, you still have to look over your shoulder constantly. Revenge often involves the burning of relational bridges; and it often just becomes a vicious (literally) cycle — witness: the middle east. Haman’s prideful scheme to get revenge not only didn’t work, it came back (by God’s greater scheme) to bite him — hard.

The enemies of God’s people — Although sometimes on our personal, micro level of life it sometimes feels like our enemies and our persecutions persist; a time is coming in which — like in the story of Esther — all the enemies of God’s people will be eliminated and God will bring proper justice and vengeance.

“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.” Revelation 6:9-11, NAS95.

“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.” Romans 12:19, NAS95.

One day we will enjoy our own version of Purim. Rest from trials; rest from temptations; rest from sin, suffering, and death; and rest from enemies.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

We left the story yesterday just as Haman had implemented his wicked scheme to avenge his wounded pride by doing more than merely punishing Mordecai for his imagined slight; he was going to annihilate Mordecai’s entire ethnic community across the empire. It was a pretty good plot; it had the authority of the king himself, and no decree of the king of Persia could ever be reversed. Haman thought he had an air-tight plan. But God had a plan of His own — and no one trumps God’s plans.

Do not imagine — As soon as Mordecai heard of the plot to kill all the Jews, he was thrown into deep mourning, and sent a messenger to Esther that she had to talk to the king and do something to prevent this wicked plot against God’s people. Esther’s initial response is probably exactly what most of us would say, essentially, “I can’t. The king might kill me. There’s nothing I can do.” Mordecai’s reply to her was something that we should all keep in mind, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.” We’d like to imagine our inactivity, our failure to get involved in doing our part to serve, share the Gospel, teach, speak up for what is right, contribute, or attend will not really effect us. The truth is — just like Mordecai explained — we will not escape the consequences of our apathy, our laziness, our let-George-do-it attitude, or our distraction with lesser priorities. They weaken the church we are part of and a weaker church will effect us, our family, and our community morally and spiritually. “Do not imagine that you can escape” — yet we often do.

For such a time as this — This verse expresses so beautifully the constant possibilities of God’s activity in our lives. “Who knows?” It applies to us in zillions of ways, doesn’t it? Who knows whether you attained this job for the purpose of saving this colleague’s soul and that of his/her family? Who knows whether you got into this check-out line to be the right person at the right time in this cashier’s life? Who knows whether you lost your job so you could spend more time with your kids at a critical time in their lives? Too often we see only randomness in everyday life, and we fail to see the possibilities of God’s hand. Esther had clearly been placed were she was by a benevolent God who intended to save the Jews — and His grand scheme of redemption.

But this same verse also reveals something many people — many that I’ve spoken to about this, anyway — have not thought about: that God might have a plan B or C or ZZZ. “For if you remain silent at this time,” Mordecai said, “relief and deliverance will arise for the Jew from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.” If you don’t cooperate with God’s plan, he says, God will simply find a more cooperative person and let you perish. Meaning, you have free will; your life hasn’t been planned out, the script (apart from the most generic outline of the direction that God wants history to go) hasn’t been written, you still have legitimate choices that you personally must make. So, on the last day, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself for being lost or saved, because you chose one or the other, you believed and obeyed or you did not believe.

Pride ruined everything — In 5:13 Haman says something that out to make us think. Haman by his own assessment had everything — everything! At 5:13 he even had the honor of being invited by the queen for a very exclusive dinner party — but Mordecai’s refusal to indulge his pride by bowing to him was overshadowing every blessing, every honor, every benefit, every treasure. How often do we let one relatively small thing ruin everything else. It’s not perfect, so it’s all junk. How much better Haman would have been, if he had been satisfied with what he’d been given. How much peace, joy, love, relationship, blessing, benefit, and lasting memory do we miss by focusing obsessively on the one thing that displeases us.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading starts the excellent story of Esther. If you’ve never read the story, hold on to your hat; it will have drama, intrigue, a few twists and turns, and a great victory.

Before we dive into the text, however, I thought you might enjoy a little background to the story. First, Ahaseurus, the king of the story, is the same man (Xerxes) in the famous secular story of the battle of Thermopylae against the 300 Spartans, led by king Leonidas. Indeed, he was married to Esther and she was queen of Persia at the time of this historic battle. His Persian empire and power was vast — from northwest India, across the Fertile crescent, all of modern Turkey, and south to as far as Ethiopia.

Secondly, notice the detail of the descriptions found in just these first three chapters of the book. It seems clear that the writer was an eyewitness of these events, for example…

“There were hangings of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king’s bounty.” Esther 1:6, 7, NAS95.

Or…

“On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,” … “and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom–” Esther 1:10, 14, NAS95.

Thirdly, you will notice that although the word “God” is not found in the book of Esther at all, it is clear that God’s providence is actively at play. In fact, the theme of this book seems clearly to be the providence of God.

So, what interesting things do we have in today’s reading?

Obeying God rather than men — This story contains a great example of civil disobedience — or at least a laudable choice to honor God’s command over any man’s. Mordecai hung around the gate of the palace of the king everyday; and as Haman, the king’s prime minister or grand vizier, came to the palace to advise the king, only Mordecai did not bow. The reason was purely religious, Mordecai did not want to offer a gesture to a men that ought to belong only to God. Now bowing to kings was not wrong of itself (e.g., 1 Sam. 24:8), but this bowing was obviously intended to be a reverence reserved for gods — the Hebrew word for “homage” (the root meaning “bow”) is often translated “worship” in its context. This Mordecai would not do. This risked the king’s anger, since it was the king’s command that he was disobeying; but obeying God rather than men was more important. Keep this in mind, when the world tries to jam you into its mold.

The price of being different — In connection with the point above, its also important to notice that Mordecai didn’t just put himself at risk, but his entire ethnic group, the Jews. According to Haman’s “pitch” to the king, “…There is a certain people (Mordecai’s people, the Jews) scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.” Esther 3:8, NAS95. The Jews were accused of being different, and they were — they were supposed to be! But being different can draw persecution — every kid in school knows this. What’s the saying, “It’s the nail that stands up that gets the hammer”? And so it has always been, even today. And the temptation remains as strong as it ever has, to blend in, be like everyone else, not be judgmental of others by being different — look the same, act the same, talk the same, dress the same, be the same. But the God calls His people of all ages to something different, “… Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,’ says the Lord. ‘AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, NAS95.

I’ve a rabbi friend with whom I had regular conversations years ago. He was from the Reformed Synagogue tradition. They do not wear the prayer shawls; they don’t wear beards; they usually don’t observe the Sabbath or the dietary laws; Passover is usually only confined to the evening of the Seder meal. Our conversation, one day ran to why and how the Reformed Synagogue came to be, his answer to me was that it was largely a reaction to the Holocaust of WWII, when Jews were too easily identified by those who hated them — they were different than the other Europeans, and this drew persecutions and pogroms and ultimately the Holocaust. So, the Reformed tradition sought deliberately to blend in, no longer be different — effectively reducing them to a culture club.

Can you identify with their fears? But despite the “good” reasons that we might have for blending in to the general “Gentile” population, God still commands that His people be different! Holy!

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Sadly, just like in the days of the kings of Judah, restoration was a constant process. Things would be properly restored, but ‘ere long a new generation would neglect the Temple and the Law or engage in the corruptions all over again. Every generation needs to be brought back to God’s teachings. Nehemiah effectively pressed restoration of God’s Law — as difficult as it sometimes was — in our reading today.

Taking a vow to do right — You know, it’s one thing to have someone tell you what you ought to be doing. It’s another thing to make a personal, deliberate promise to do them. These Jews, like all other Jews of the world, were born into the Mosaic covenant, the sign of circumcision being the mark that they are part of it — even though they never agreed to it personally. After hearing the Law of God and realizing how far off the mark they had gone, these Jews had decided to take a positive vow to obey the things they had read in the Law: keep the Law, not intermarry, observe the Sabbath Day, observe the Sabbath year, supply the Temple properly, yield their first fruits as they should, and give their tithes.

Now, as Christians we deliberately enter into covenant with God, we aren’t merely born into it without a choice. But even more than that we’re supposed to be reminded about the covenant each first day of the week. As we partake of the cup, representative of the new covenant in Christ’s blood, we should be reminded of the covenant of obedience that we have with full knowledge made before God. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take similar silent vows before God, like Nehemiah’s people did that day. How would your life be different, if you did?

Dedicating the wall — There is a pretty obvious answer to this question, but why did the Jews need a wall around Jerusalem? Why was it such a priority to Nehemiah? To keep out the enemies of God’s people, foreigners and other polluters of Israel. An unwalled city was open to attack, to plunder, and all her residents were unsafe. It was like leaving your doors and windows wide open all the time. Once done, Nehemiah wanted to have a dedication ceremony to celebrate. The heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:15-17) has walls and the sinful and impure (21:27) cannot go inside.

Our day may view this as being a bit exclusive (a serious social misstep), but there really are walls around God’s people the church. The word of God itself delineates the separation between the people in Christ and those outside of Christ (Eph. 1 and 2). Despite the world’s view that, especially in Christendom, there really shouldn’t be any walls at all, God’s word disagrees. Paul demanded that an immoral man (1 Cor.5) be expelled, excluded from the body of Christ, for his repentant sin. And the New Testament writers consistently speak of those outside of Christ as being “Gentiles” — indicating clearly that we should recognize a difference between those who are obedient disciples and those who are disobedient or disciples in name only. Let the denominationalists and the inclusivists rail against God’s “line in the sand”, His wall, if they want; it will, in the end, change nothing with God, and only condemn their souls.

Sabbath restored — Sabbath was important in Mosaic law, even though it was often disobeyed. It was one of the “markers” of Judaism in the rest of the world, along with food taboos and male circumcision. In the New Testament Sabbath observance has been done away with: “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” Colossians 2:16, 17, NAS95. But that having been clearly stated, the idea behind the Sabbath, to meditate on God’s will in our lives, is still a great idea. Sunday is not the same thing as Sabbath; there seems to be evidence “between the lines” in Scripture (1 Cor. 11 and Acts 20:7) that slaves often had to work on Sundays, delaying communion to mid or late evening on the Lord’s Day — so don’t confuse them or get the idea that I’m suggesting a direct correlation between them. But I would encourage every Christian to prioritize Sunday worship. Fifty or sixty years ago many laws forbade all but the most essential commerce on Sunday to accommodate Christian worshippers. We’re not that fortunate today, but Christians can still make the good and wise choices for their soul’s encouragement and edification. Take the time assembly with the church each first day of the week.

Mixed marriages removed — You’d think that folks would have gotten the message by the time Nehemiah removes the mixed marriages — this wasn’t the first time that this had come up in the post-exilic period. Mixed marriages were dangerous and forbidden. They were Solomon’s downfall, the reason Ahab was as evil as he was, and were the fountainhead of much of Israel’s misery. Yet people still, then and now, have their hearts captured by someone outside the faith, fantasizing that love will conquer all or that they will change the other person — only to get changed themselves. Be careful before saying, “I do” to anyone, but really beware of religiously mixed marriages — they are often the seed of great heartbreak and spiritual pollution.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Nehemiah is an impressive leader among his fellow Jews during very, very challenging times. What he led them to achieve in such a short time was truly masterly and accomplished, but he wasn’t done yet. A more complete restoration — a spiritual one —was needed. So, with Ezra the scribe, Nehemiah led the people to hear the Law and understand it, so they could follow it.

Explaining the Law — Although there are folks who discount the value of preaching — and yes, in the interest of full disclosure, I am one — there really is more to knowing the Scripture than just reading it for yourself. Ezra not only needed to translate it (not as many knew Hebrew anymore) but there would still be lingering questions about, for example, what the term “work” might entail, so a person would not violate the Sabbath (8:7,8). And such explanations and applications are still part of a healthy diet of a Christian congregation on Sunday mornings. We all, even the preacher, need help in applying God’s word, since we’re all a little blind to our own faults and stuck in our own ruts. Look for and find the value in the preaching — apply it!

The joy of the LORD — After the Law had been explained it became heart-breakingly clear that Israel had been responsible for Israel’s low estate. There was weeping and mourning, but Nehemiah and Ezra encouraged the people to reverse directions about that and rejoice (8:10) — not to be glad about their sin and great fall, but rejoice because the Law was being read, explained, and restored among God’s people. But how is the joy of the LORD one’s strength? It’s when we’re rejoicing in the blessings of God, the answers to prayer, seeing the hand of God changing our lives, and changing others’ lives that we are emboldened, strengthened, and we allow ourselves to be empowered by the Spirit.

Seeing the big picture — Have you ever wondered why the big picture of the history of Israel is repeated so often, as in chapter 9? Well, of course, different contexts will carry slightly different nuances for these rehearsals of history; but the overarching reason for these recaps is that the bigger picture can help us to see the patterns that escape our notice on the micro level — today, the last week, the last year. I sometimes ask clients coming to me for counseling to write down a history of their lives; as they do so, patterns of behavior, dysfunction, and responsibility begin to emerge. So also for Israel. So also for the church. Have you looked at the big picture of your life? Have you ever indulged in a study of church history, the big picture of Christianity? More importantly, what will you do, when you find things to correct?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

The book of Nehemiah is a great book full of leadership wisdom and godly example, and is certainly worthy of far more reading and study than is generally given to it. Today’s reading is focused around the actual completion of the wall in an amazingly short period of time, despite the opposition of enemies. Let’s take a look at just a few great lessons here.

Purpose — “The people,” 4:6 tells us, “had a mind to work.” Anyone who has ever had the privilege of leadership knows how invaluable this factor is in accomplishment of any real goal. Much of this may have been due to Nehemiah’s system of work assignment — build in front of your own house; but however the workers got motivated, this was key. These folks had purpose! There was no question about what they were about, when they arose in the morning. It’s also key in the church, too. What if your whole congregation really “had a mind to” evangelize, to do mission work, to care for one another, or be a light in the community. Imagine how much might get done for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom!

Prayer — But despite the Jews’ admirable mind to work, they still had obstacles to overcome — enemies who wanted so see them fail. And these weren’t benign enemies who simply wished them ill, they were people who were inclined to lie, sabotage, or actually physically attack. Nehemiah and his fellow Jews understood how vulnerable and militarily weak they were against such devious and hateful enemies — which forced them to become more dependent on the LORD. Someone has well said that when life sometimes forces us to our knees, we discover that that’s where we should have been all along. So it was with Nehemiah, “But we prayed to our God, and because of them [their enemies] we set up a guard against them day and night.” Nehemiah 4:9, NAS95.

Preparation — Which leads me to my next point, their preparation; Nehemiah prayed but he also prepared for defense. It’s important to pray, and then it’s important to do what you can — put legs on your prayers, as it were. Sometimes we treat prayer like it’s “room service”: place your order and wait for things to come to your room. Or in Nehemiah’s case, pray for protection and then act as if there were no danger. God expects both prayer and our obedient, faithful action. It’s not enough to pray that the church grow, but never reach out to the lost with the Gospel.

Pattern — Here’s a great principle of Christian leadership and how it differs from typical, secular, worldly leadership; Nehemiah provided the right example — what he expected of others is what he was willing to do himself. He refused to do the usual supervision of the arduous work, while living in the lap of luxury, which was typical of Persian governors (see 5:14). Sometimes churches are not so evangelistic, caring, involved, committed, or even biblically knowledgeable, because their leadership sets the pattern, the wrong example. It works the same way with families, too. Example of leadership is crucial.

Payoff — The end result of the mind to work (purpose), the prayer, the preparation, and the pattern (example), is the payoff: a defensive wall around Jerusalem in an amazing 52 days — a little over 7 weeks. What great Kingdom payoff would you like to see? What do you need to do?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

The book of Nehemiah tells the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonian army in 586 BC. When Persia’s king decreed that all the exiles could return to their homelands and build their temples, it was approximately 539 BC. The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem began soon after, but because of political obstacles, it wasn’t finished for almost 25 years. Ezra came to Jerusalem about 458 BC, about 57 years after the completion of the Temple to restore the pattern of worship and purity and morality of God’s people in Judah. Only 13 years later Nehemiah enters the picture, 445 BC, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So, what can we learn from a building project? A lot, as it turns out.

You promised — After having talked with Jews who had been in Jerusalem about the state of the returned exiles and Jerusalem, Nehemiah was moved to his core and offered a heart-felt prayer to the Lord. Part of that prayer was a reminder to God of what He had promised. Huh? Does God need a reminder? No, of course not; but He doesn’t mind it either; and it’s good for us, because it helps us know that we are, in fact, praying according to the will of God. There are at least three factors that are a part of a prayer that gets a yes from the Lord. Faith, of course, is one; proper motive for the prayer is another; and praying according to the will of God is another. Calling upon the faithful God to remember and fulfill His own will is benign enough, but it’s really helpful to us; so claim the promises of God in your prayer and be assured that you’re, at minimum, praying according to the will of God.

Prayer on the fly — This story also includes an example of a prayer on the fly: “Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 2:4, NAS95. Here’s an example of what it means to pray without ceasing. As things came up Nehemiah was praying about them. How much strength, courage, wisdom, intervention, and guidance do we take a pass on by failing to pray without ceasing (pray on the fly)?

Organize the work — The job was huge and it would take organization, and more than organization it would take motivation. Nehemiah accomplished them both by assigning people to just build the wall right in front of their own homes. Here’s something for ministers and evangelists to consider, because sharing the good news with the world is a pretty big job, too. How do you do it? Organize and motivate God’s people — maybe by getting the church to “build the wall in front of their own houses”.

You don’t need to be a specialist — Did you notice that among the guys who were building the wall none of them were listed as masons? Perfumers, goldsmiths, Levites, priests, officials — yes; masons — not so much. My point is simply that in the church we sometimes turn down opportunities for service or building the walls of the Kingdom, because we don’t feel qualified. We sometimes have a sort of idea that to do certain things in the service of the Lord we need to be highly trained and experienced — a specialist. Specialists are nice, but utility fielders are often better — people who are willing to see a need (sometimes we avert our eyes from opportunities) and willing to do something about them.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading of Scripture concludes the book of Ezra, giving a very brief look into Ezra’s actual work among the returned exiles, the Remnant. Ezra takes on the task of rooting out the practice of intermarriage with pagans. It was hard work and heart-breaking work!

A few notes might help understanding a few things in the reading today. 1) 8:15 mentions a river that led to Ahava, from which Ezra left. That river is most likely the famous Tigris River. 2) 8:21 mentions that they opted to take along no protection with them on their return back to Jerusalem, and v. 31 mentions that they were indeed attacked. The reason, they had a very rich cargo of silver and gold in their caravan. 3) Ezra declared in 8:28 that both the treasure and men who carried it were “holy” or under the ban. This was to enlist the help of God Himself against robbers. 4) Intermarriage with Canaanite women was specifically forbidden by God in the law Exodus 34:14 and Deuteronomy 7:3. One of the main reasons for Israel’s defection from following the Lord was these intermarriages with Canaanite women.

A real prayer of faith — The idea of praying in faith is often misunderstood. We sometimes mistake “faith” for “intensity”. Jesus helps us define a prayer of faith a little better in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” Please note carefully, “believe that you have received them”. What do you do, when you believe that they have been given something? You act on it! It’s a pattern in Scripture that God expects us to act as if the request were already ours — priests, walk into the flooding Jordan as if it were already dry land; Peter, step out on the water as if it were frozen solid. Here Ezra knows that if he is to pray for protection — and tell the king that his God would protect them — they needed to act as if they were indeed protected by God (as opposed to an army).

Do you pray in faith? Do you pray according to the will of God with good motives (James 4) and then act as if the request had already been granted? Or do you pray and wait to see if God will do His part first?

What would you be praying? — Ezra’s prayer is a most contrite confession and plea for mercy. He is fearful, because one of the very things that led Israel away from God the first time was happening again. The good news is that God did forgive, because they did repent. What sort of prayer do we pray sometimes? “Lord, you know I have difficulty with this sin, and I’ve messed up again. Thank you for your grace so rich and free!” Now there’s a lot right with this prayer, but there’s also something missing, repentance. And sometimes it the very thing that keeps us from overcoming those sins — and receiving forgiveness.

The hard, heart-breaking work — Please never imagine that Ezra had no heart in calling for Jewish men to put away their Canaanite wives. He knew how hard it would be for these men to do this; notice how he mentions in 10:44 not only the wives but the children. Ouch. But the culprit was not Ezra, it was  these Jewish men, who had made the terribly tragic choice of intermarrying with women that they knew they should not marry. Sometimes repentance demands some very hard and heart-breaking corrective action. But let it never escape our lips that “That’s just too hard.” Jesus died on the cross to fix our sin mess — talk about hard!

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.
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Audio for the scripture today can be found here: files.me.com/parklinscomb/htl760.mp3

Well the foundation of the Temple had been laid, and things were starting to look up for the returning Jews, the Remnant. But Satan seldom lets us savor the good times very long; new challenges arose, and it is through faithful action that the obstacles were overcome and triumph was won.

Who is my Christian brother? — You read about the Samaritans a lot in the New Testament. They are the despised race of Jesus era, and are the surprise heroes of a couple of meaningful stories in the Gospels. But who are they? When Israel was exiled to far away lands by the Assyrians, the Assyrians had to replace them with other people from somewhere else in their empire. These people originally came in worshiping the gods of their foreign cultures, but in short order they added the LORD to their list of gods to be appeased. They became known as the Samaritans, a people of mixed ethnic background and of mixed religious allegiance. It is this mixed religious allegiance that was the real deal killer, when they came to offer help in building the Temple. Israel had learned the hard way that intermarriage and compromise in the spirit of cooperation and inclusion was a sure-fire recipe for religious error and God’s displeasure — we saw plenty of that as we read through 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. And it should give us pause for thought on the very relevant question, “Who is my Christian brother?”

Weren’t these Samaritans worshiping the same God as the Jews (yes, although maybe not exclusively)? Weren’t these Samaritans living decent moral lives (yes, they knew and approved of the Ten Commandments)? Then why wouldn’t the Jews let them help with the Temple? Paul gives us an inspired and rather exclusive answer in 2 Corinthians doesn’t he?

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, NAS95.

Fraternizing with those in error tends to lead us into error; we come to like the person in error, we retreat from confrontation for the sake of the relationship, and in time their error doesn’t sound so erroneous. It doesn’t always have to happen that way, and yes, I understand that mixing among the unsaved is how we are able to win the lost; but the Scripture is talking about working together, sharing resources together, getting too chummy, etc. — fraternizing.

The importance of deeds done in faith — Well, the rejection of the Samaritans didn’t go well; it seldom does. And the Samaritans were now motivated to “kill the project” that they were being excluded from, so they appealed to the king to stop the work on the basis that Jerusalem had a history of being an empire herself and had rebelled against previous empires (Babylonian). The king, hearing only one side of the story, did order a stop to the work; and the enemies of Judah enforced it — challenge. Unfortunately, things stayed that way for a while, until God raised up a couple of prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, who encouraged and motivated the Jews to step out on faith and begin rebuilding. When local Gentile government officials looked into the matter, the Jews wisely pointed out to the king that they had begun to build the Temple not on their own initiative, but on the order of the revered king Cyrus. This was enough to cause king Darius (the current king) to not only allow the construction to move forward, but to command that the local officials actively help the Jews to complete the Temple’s work with all the supplies they needed.

Obstacles are bound to jump out and hinder the progress of any good work; the key to godly success is to determine to move forward in faith and obedience to God’s will one step at a time. When we get to Haggai and Zechariah, we’ll notice that many of the people of Judah reacted to the work stoppage like many of us would — get discouraged and forget about coming back to it (it was 25 years from the time of the return to the Temple’s completion). But the prophets pulled them in the direction of faithful obedience; and it’s lesson for us all.

Obstacles are everywhere. What are you discouraged about? Evangelistic efforts? Church growth? Your marriage? Your kids? Your parents? Your job, office, or employer? Faithfully “step out on the water” (1 Peter can give a lot of examples of situations and their proper response) and watch God’s wisdom at work.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.