Read the Bible in a Year!

After a couple starts and stops, the temple is finally rebuilt through the strong decree of Darius, king of the Persians.  But as the author points out in 6:14 – the temple was actually rebuilt through the absolute decree of God, the decree of Darius only complimented God’s will.  This simple verse reminds us exactly how God normally works in the world – He does so through people, even those whose allegiance isn’t to Him.

Once the temple’s completed the king sends a Jewish leader and scribe to Jerusalem to assure all is well, and that there’s adherence of his decrees about the temple and its functioning.  So we’re introduced to this books namesake, Ezra, the bases of whose leadership and influence rests on his unwavering faith in God (see verses 8:22, 31).  Yet his faith in God clearly comes from his love for and his knowledge of God’s Law and His Word (7:10).  We shouldn’t miss the connection between our time in the Scriptures and the knowledge it brings and our faith and trust in God.

The first step the returning Jews took in rebuilding the temple was to build the altar.  The reason for this step is simple – the priest could begin the regular daily sacrifices as soon as possible.  The sacrifices were at the heart of Jewish worship so it made sense to complete the altar before any other part of the temple.

This step did not seem threatening to the non-Jewish people around Jerusalem.  But it was the next step – the laying of the foundation and the building of the temple building itself that caught the attention of the enemies of the Jews.  With the rebuilding of the temple meant the possibility of rebuilding of Jerusalem itself which would result in that city becoming, once again, a powerful influence in the region, and placing the Jews as the center of this power.  None of the people around Jerusalem wanted to see the swing in power from the non-Jewish inhabitants to the new Jewish ones, so they worked hard to see that this next step – rebuilding the temple – did not happen.

We’re nearing the end of a section of the Old Testament that contain the books the scholars have labeled the historic books (Joshua through Esther).  The last three of these books (Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther) all deal with the periods during or after the Babylonian exile we just read about in II Chronicles (and II Kings).  As referenced in today’s and yesterday’s reading, the exile was a “Sabbath” period of 70 years, about two to three generations.  This means the returning exiled Jews to Judah were people who were born and raised in Babylon.  Their home wasn’t the Promised Land but a foreign and pagan country.

On the other hand the displaced people whom the Assyrians had put into Israel and the poor left by the Babylonians made up the current population of the Promised Land.  These people had become a blend of races and nationalities and, because of the 70 years, the Promised Land had become their homes.  This reality is the context for much of what we’ll read about in our next two books.  It’s a situation that will create many problems, hardships and issues for the returning Jews as they try to re-establish their lives and their nation in the Promised Land.

We read about the last faithful king of Judah (at least until the coming of the Christ).  King Josiah led Judah and the remnant of Israel through another revival by destroying all the altars and priests of the false gods the people had begun to worship again.  He, once again, cleaned up the temple and re-installed the temple services and led Judah to both the public reading of the lost Law now found, and the celebration of the Passover.  This celebration turns out to be the greatest celebration since the times of Samuel the prophet.  It’s an incredible vision for the readers returning from exile.

And almost as soon as Josiah dies, the end does come to Judah, the destruction predicted from the time of Moses for unfaithfulness, comes upon Judah lightening fast.  With a successive list of short-lived and unfaithful kings, Judah falls from God and is finally conquered, the temple and Jerusalem destroyed and many of its people exiled to Babylon.  It’s in Babylon the people will stay for 70 years before having the opportunity to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple, their nation and their lives.

We continue in our story about the good and faithful king Hezekiah.  His faithfulness to the Lord led only to reforms in the temple but ultimately to revival among the people.  It appears his steady and faithful commitment to the Lord and the temple caught on with the people and they began to become more committed and involved.  One of the most obvious signs of renewal among the people was the incredible tithes and gifts the priests received for the temple and its operation.  It was so great that it seems the priests and Levites had to open up unused store rooms to hold it all.

Yet faithfulness and revival didn’t assure Judah would be free from challenges and difficulties.  The king of Assyria comes to conquer Judah and Jerusalem and in the process talks badly about the Lord.  But because of the foundation of faithfulness of both Judah and its king Hezekiah, they were able to withstand both the verbal and physical attack by the Assyrians, then to witness their miraculous delivery by the hand of the Lord.  God responded to and through Hezekiah and Judah’s faithfulness and prayers and delivered them from sure destruction.

After the reigns of unfaithful kings, Judah is blessed with a new king, Hezekiah, who halts the spiritual slide of Judah and, through God’s Spirit, ushers in revival.  It appears that the Temple has been severely neglected for years and the people responsible for its care and operation had turned to other work.  So Hezekiah’s first act is to clean up the Temple and call the priests and Levites back to their work.  Once the Temple and the staff become consecrated (ceremoniously cleansed), Hezekiah, with the counsel of the priests, re-institutes the Passover celebration.  He invites all the Jews from Judah and Israel to come to Jerusalem to take part.  It turns out to be the greatest Passover celebration since the days of Solomon – the golden age of Israel.

The entire episode is a wonderful reminder of what one person, fully committed to God, can do to change the course of a nation.  Yet even more important for us to see is the necessary work of God’s Spirit working in people’s lives that ultimately moves a nation.  God moved Hezekiah and then used him to help move a nation to return to faithfulness to Him.

After a dark period in Judah’s history God gives Judah two successive kings who were faithful to God and demonstrated the ability to lead the nation effectively.  The result is Judah regains some of its power, influence and economic strength lost during the previous administrations.  Yet it seems that the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham was not enough to turn back the cultural tide of Judah.  Notice 27:2 “But the people still followed corrupt practices.”

It’s that plague like characteristic of sin we’ve spoken about on earlier days.  Sin and its consequences spread from one person to another and from one generation to another like a contagious disease.  Even the faithful leadership of two kings isn’t able to stop its spread.  What can stop the downward spiral of sin and its consequences?  A movement of God’s Spirit, often called a revival or an awakening, and is the only hope of transforming a culture and turning a people away from a downward slide towards destruction and finally death.

In our reading today we see just how fragile the reigns of Judah’s kings had become and thus just how fragile Judah’s security and prosperity were.  Though we read about just two of Judah’s kings, Joash and Amaziah, whose reigns began well at some point they fell hard from faithfulness.  Notice what the Scriptures say about each.  Joash, it’s written, “did right in the eyes of the Lord all the day of Jehoiada the priest” (24:2).  Of Amaziah, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart” (25:2).  Neither is exactly ringing endorsements.

These statements are also a sign of the direction Judah was heading during these years.  It’s difficult to watch others (or maybe watch yourself) make poor choices and turn away from what is right and true and then reap the natural consequences, whether it’s the ancient Jewish kings or people in our lives today.  The only hope for long-term and true transformation is found through faith in God through His Son Jesus Christ.

After the death of the faithful king Jehoshaphat, the kings that follow didn’t display the same faithfulness to God.  As a matter of fact the next two kings “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done” (21:6, 22:3).  Now those are words no king would want said about them and thus show how far and how quickly the descendents of a family can slide away from God.  And as we’ve already said, “as the king goes so goes the kingdom.”

But one of the causes for this decline was the relationship Jehoshaphat had with Ahab – the relationship God condemned through the prophet Jehu (19:2).  As part of the alliance between Jehoshaphat and Ahab, Jehoshaphat’s kids married the daughters of Ahab.  So the influence of Ahab and his house continued for the next generations of Judah’s kings.  It’s a reminder of the ripple effect of sin and poor judgment.  Sin is never contained just with the sinner, like a plague it always spreads to those around the sinner and often far beyond and for long periods of time.