Two Different Reactions to the Laying of the Foundation

Posted on August 26, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #8)

Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. (Ezra 3:8, N.K.J.V.)

In the fourteenth month of their return to Judah, the group of former Jewish exiles began the work of laying the foundation for their new temple in Jerusalem. It was no coincidence that this was the same month in which King Solomon had begun work on the previous temple (1 Kings 6:1). That similar starting point showed that the returning exiles were trying to do things right this time.

The work was overseen by Zerubbabel as well as the High Priest Jeshua and the other priests. According to God’s instructions in the Mosaic law, the Levites (the non-priest members of the Jewish tribe of Levi) were to be responsible for everything related to the construction and upkeep of the tabernacle/temple (Exodus 38:21; Numbers 1:47-54; 18:1-7). Consequently, the Levites who were twenty years old or older were appointed to do the actual hands-on labor. In previous times, the cut-off age for such work had been thirty rather than twenty (Numbers 4:1-3; 1 Chronicles 23:1-5), but King David, in one of his last acts as king, had lowered it to twenty (1 Chronicles 23:24-32).

Having a desire to build a temple is one thing, and having the Levites as an unpaid work force to build it is another, but having the knowhow to actually build such a structure is something else entirely. So, now it was time to start using the money that had been donated by those heads of families prior to the building of the altar (2:68-69). During the months that passed between the building of the altar and the laying of the foundation, additional masons and carpenters were hired and paid with money, food, drink, and oil (3:7). Cedar logs were also purchased from the Phoenician cities of Sidon and Tyre in Lebanon. The logs were cut in Lebanon, shipped along the coast to Joppa, and then brought the additional 35 miles overland to Jerusalem. The fact that Sidon and Tyre were also under Persian rule made it easy for Cyrus the Great to authorize the deal. Over 400 years earlier, King Solomon had purchased much of his building materials, masons, and carpenters from that same part of the world (1 Kings 5:1-18; 2 Chronicles 2:1-16).

As soon as the temple’s foundation was laid, Jeshua and his fellow priests stood in their priestly clothing for the formal dedication and blew trumpets (3:10). The specific group of Levites who were known as “the sons of Asaph” then played cymbals and praised the Lord. Using “the sons of Asaph” in this way harkened back to how King David had formerly instructed the forefathers of that group to play that particular role (1 Chronicles 25:1). The group also sang responsive praises to the Lord, giving thanks to Him (3:11). Afterward, all the people shouted with a great shout (3:11).

The time of joy and praise was somewhat hindered, however, by the elderly priests, Levites, and heads of the families. Rather than be happy about the foundation of the new temple, those who had seen the old one when they were young wept with a loud voice at their remembrance of it and the more prosperous times that had accompanied the laying of its foundation (3:12). Their outward mourning made for an odd mix when combined with the younger crowd’s shouts of joy. Both types of sound blended together to create one big din of noise in which it was impossible to tell exactly who was shouting for joy and who was crying out in mourning (3:13).

In his commentary remarks on the book of Ezra, Warren Wiersbe has left us with an excellent word regarding this friction between the elderly Jews and the younger ones. As a matter of fact, this extended word is so good that I’ll use it as the close to this post because nothing else needs to be added to it. In talking about how older believers and younger believers must work together in God’s work, Wiersbe weaves in a quote from the famed 19th century preacher Alexander Maclaren and writes:

It’s unfortunate when the unity of God’s people is shattered because generations look in opposite directions. The older men were looking back with longing while the younger men were looking around with joy. Both of them should have been looking up and praising the Lord for what He had accomplished. We certainly can’t ignore the past, but the past must be a rudder to guide us and not an anchor to hold us back. God’s people are a family, not a family album filled with old pictures; they’re a garden, not a graveyard covered with monuments to past successes.

We have similar generational disagreements in the church today, especially when it comes to styles of worship. Older saints enjoy singing the traditional hymns with their doctrinal substance, but younger members of the church want worship that has a more contemporary approach. But it isn’t a question of accepting the one and rejecting the other, unless you want to divide families and split the church. It’s a matter of balance: the old must learn from the young and the young from the old, in a spirit of love and submission (1 Peter 5:1-11). When they were new, many of our traditional hymns were rejected for the same reasons some people reject contemporary praise choruses today.

“But each class (the young and the old) should try to understand the other’s feelings,” said Alexander Maclaren. “The seniors think the juniors revolutionary and irreverent; the juniors think the seniors fossils. It is possible to unite the shout of joy and the weeping. Unless a spirit of reverent regard for the past presides over the progressive movements of this or any day, they will not lay a solid foundation for the temple of the future. We want the old and the young to work side by side, if the work is to last and the sanctuary is to be ample enough to embrace all shades of character and tendencies of thought.”

Every local church is but one generation short of extinction. If the older believers don’t challenge and equip the younger Christians and set a godly example before them (Titus 2:1-8; 1 Tim. 5:1-2), the future of the congregation is in jeopardy. The church is a family; and as a family grows and matures, some things have to fall away and other things take their place. This happens in our homes and it must happen in the house of God. To some people, “change” is a synonym for “compromise,” but where there’s love, “change” becomes a synonym for “cooperation with one another and concern for one another.” “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1)

Posted in Aging, Balance, Change, Church, Elderly, God's Work, Ministry, Music, Series: "Ezra", Worship, Youth | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Kind of Shape is Your Altar in?

Posted on August 24, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #7)

And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Jozadek and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. (Ezra 3:1-3, N.K.J.V.)

God showed Israel’s King David the Mount Moriah site upon which David’s son Solomon would eventually build the Jewish temple. God then spoke through the prophet Gad to tell David to erect an altar on that site (2 Samuel 24:18-25). In compliance with that command, David bought the site and erected an altar there. That divine sequence of building an altar before building a temple would be repeated by the group of Jews who returned to Judah from Babylonian exile.

The two main leaders of that group were Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Zerubbabel, who carried the title “governor,” was a descendant of David and as such served as the group’s civil leader. Jeshua, who carried the title “High Priest,” was a descendant of Aaron and as such served as the group’s spiritual leader. Both men understood that their first order of business in Jerusalem was to build a new altar. This was to be done even before the work on the temple itself began. After all, the outdoors altar that would sit at the front of the temple would be nothing less than the center of Israel’s corporate worship. If the Jews didn’t offer the Mosaic law’s required sacrifices, the nation had no hope of enjoying God’s favor.

Not only did Zerubbabel and Jeshua understand the priority of the altar, the rest of the people did as well. As verse 1 of our text describes the situation, the people gathered together “as one man to Jerusalem.” What a beautiful scene it must have been. These people were back in their homeland of Judah, resettled in the cities in which their forefathers had formerly lived, and now it was time to begin the work of building their new temple. That work would start with the erecting of a new altar.

The only hindrance to the peoples’ zeal was the fear they felt due to the threat of the enemies that surrounded them (3:3), especially to their immediate north. There, in Samaria, lived the descendants of the foreigners — Gentiles from Babylon, Cuthan, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim — who had been deported into the land of Israel by the Assyrian empire when the Assyrians had conquered Israel’s northern kingdom some 185 years earlier (2 Kings 17:24-41). These descendants had become even more firmly entrenched in the land during the decades the people of Judah had been in forced exile in Babylon.

Ezra 7:9 indicates that the trek from Babylon to Judah took four months, and once the returning Jews arrived in Judah their first order of business was to establish homes for themselves in the area. Once that was done, however, they turned their full attention to building the new sacrificial altar that would sit outside the new temple. Presumably, the new altar was built upon the foundations of the old one even though scholars are in agreement that most aspects of Zerubbabel’s temple were built on a smaller scale than had been used for Solomon’s temple. Just for the record, the bronze altar of Solomon’s temple had been approximately 30 feet long, 30 feet high, and 15 feet wide (2 Chronicles 4:1).

Once the new altar was completed, Jeshua and his priests immediately sacrificed burnt offerings upon it. These were the first such sacrifices that had been offered at that site since the Babylonians had destroyed the previous temple. Just as God had been pleased with the aroma of the burnt offerings that Noah had offered up following his departure from the Ark (Genesis 8:20-21), surely God was equally pleased with the smell that lifted up to Him from the burnt offerings from the new altar in Jerusalem.

The “seventh month” (3:1) was the month called Tishri. It ran from September 15 through October 15 of our calendar year and was a very busy month in terms of the requirements of the Mosaic law. First, the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6) was to take place on the first day of the month. Second, the Day of Atonement was to take place on the tenth day (Leviticus 23:26-32). Third, the Feast of Tabernacles was to take place on days 15-21 (Leviticus 23:33-36, 39-43; Numbers 29:12-29). Each of these annual events required the offering up of burnt sacrifices.

At the close of the month of Tishri, Jeshua and his fellow priests continued the law’s required practice of offering up a burnt offering each morning and evening. These were in addition to all the law’s other required sacrifices. Now that the Jews had an altar again, there was no excuse for them failing to keep the law’s ritualized system of sacrificing. If they needed to be reminded how seriously God took His law, all they had to do was remember that their failure to keep it was what had landed them in God’s woodshed called Babylon.

Today, we Christians must make sure that we ourselves keep worship front and center in our lives. Each of us should ask the question, “What kind of shape is my personal altar of worship in right now?” Sadly, some of us will have to admit that our altars are in disrepair and need some work. And how do we begin that work? We begin it by making worship a priority again. You see, God wants more than just the leftovers from our lives; He wants to have first place. And no matter how many beautiful temples we build, if each of them doesn’t have a functioning altar in front it, our priorities are out of whack and we stand in danger of experiencing God’s hand of chastisement.

Posted in Priorities, Series: "Ezra", The Old Testament Law, Worship | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Funding God’s Work

Posted on August 21, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #6)

Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, to erect it in its place: According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments. (Ezra 2:68-69, N.K.J.V.)

Leaders should lead by example. Leadership that doesn’t do so will have trouble finding followship. Fortunately for the Jews who left Babylon and returned to Judah to build a new temple, some of the heads of their families led by example in the way they gave financially to support the building program.

In post #2 from this series, we learned how the Babylonian neighbors of the departing Jews had gifted them with articles of silver and gold, goods, livestock, precious things, and other voluntary offerings. Cyrus the Great, the leader of the Medo-Persian empire that had deposed Babylon as the dominant world power, even joined in with the gifting by returning to those Jews 5,400 items that had once been housed in the temple in Jerusalem. When the Babylonians had destroyed that temple decades earlier, they had removed those items and carried them back to Babylon.

Once the returning Jews got back to Judah, though, it became time for the Jews themselves to fund the rebuilding of the temple. That’s when some of the heads of the Jewish families really stepped up to the plate. After arriving in Jerusalem at the end of the four-month journey, they stood at the ruins of what had once been their temple and gave their offerings. Each family head gave willingly as much as he could according to his wealth. The sum of their gifts totaled up to 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the new priesthood that would be established to work at the temple.

This part of the story reminds us what the New Testament teaches about how God’s people are to fund His work. Consider the following passages (with me emphasizing certain parts of the passages):

1 Corinthians 16:1-2: Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (N.I.V.)

2 Corinthians 9:6-8: Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. (N.L.T.)

2 Corinthians 8:11-14: Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have.  Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.  Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. (N.L.T.)

1 Timothy 6:17-19: Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. (N.L.T.)

In all of these passages, we can hear what God is saying. When it comes to funding His work, He doesn’t want to bleed His people dry but He does want us to give voluntarily, cheerfully, and generously according to our income. That goes for temple building, helping the poor, supporting missionaries, funding the work of the local church, and anything else that might be deemed “God’s work.” It’s just a shame that so many Christians blatantly ignore this important aspect of service. If those heads of the Jewish families who built that second temple in Jerusalem had given like many Christians do today, there would never have been a second temple.

In closing, let me be clear: God’s work doesn’t get done on pocket change. I trust that you will keep this in mind, Christian, when it comes your time to give. Remember that Jesus wants you to submit every part of your life to His Lordship and that includes your money. He has work that He wants you to generously support, and anytime He allows you to have more money, there are two questions that you should ask Him. The first one is: “Lord, how much extra do you want me to give from this new excess?” And the second one is: “Where do you want me to give it?”

Posted in Giving, God's Work, Missions, Money, Series: "Ezra" | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Real Group Consisting of Real People

Posted on August 19, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #5)

The book of Ezra’s general list of the people who left Babylon and made the four-month-long trek (Ezra 7:9) to return to Judah is given in Ezra 2:1-61. Even though the list provides only a handful of the actual names, it is nevertheless fairly thorough. Since the list is divided into no less than eight sections, let’s take them one at a time.

Section #1 (2:1-2) gives us the names of 11 men. Apparently, these were the most prominent leaders among the group. As we might expect, the first two names on the list are Zerubbabel (the governor) and Jeshua (the High Priest). In keeping with the interpretation that “Sheshbazzar” was merely another name for Zerubbabel, “Sheshbazzar” isn’t listed as being one of the 11. (By the way, the Nehemiah who is listed wasn’t the Nehemiah from the Bible’s book of Nehemiah, and the Mordecai isn’t the same one who is featured prominently in the book of Esther.)

Section #2 (2:3-21) offers the names of 18 Jewish families and the numbers of people from each of them who made the journey. There were 2,172 people from the family of Parosh (2:3), 372 from the family of Shephatiah (2:4), 775 from the family of Arah (2:5), 2,812 from the family of Pahath-Moab (2:6), etc., etc., etc. All of these families returned to settle down again in the cities and towns they had once called home in Judah (Ezra 2:1). Interestingly, Judah is referred to as “the province” in Ezra 2:1. This indicates that it was now just one small territory of the massive Medo-Persian empire rather than an autonomous kingdom in its own right.

Section #3 (2:21-35) shifts gears from talking about families to talking about various cities and towns. 21 such places are named. 123 people resettled Bethlehem (Ezra 2:21), 56 resettled Netophah (2:22), 128 resettled Anathoth (2:23), 42 resettled Azmaveth (2:24), etc., etc., etc.

Section #4 (2:36-39) deals with the number of priests from bonafide priestly families. 973 priests from the family of Jedaiah made the trip (2:36) as did 1,052 from the family of Immer (2:37), 1,247 from the family of Pashhur (2:38), and 1,017 from the family of Harim (2:39). The numbers add up to a total of 4,289 priests.

Section #5 (2:40-42) mentions non-priests from the tribe of Levi. While all of Israel’s priests came from the Aaronic line of the tribe of Levi, not every member of that tribe was a priest. So, in addition to the 4,289 priests who made the journey back to Judah, 74 Levites did as well. According to the Mosaic law, the Levites were to be the caretakers of the temple (Numbers 3:5-8). Also, 128 singers from the tribe of Levi (specifically, the family line of Asaph) and 139 gatekeepers from the tribe were part of the group. These gatekeepers would have the job of keeping unauthorized people from entering forbidden areas of the new temple.

Section #6 (2:43-54) speaks of the Nethinim. These were temple servants of low standing who were neither priests nor Levites. In Hebrew, the word Nethinim means “those given.” Most likely, these laborers were the descendants of the Gibeonites who had once deceived Joshua and thus been allowed to live alongside the Jews in Canaan but only as common laborers who did the most inglorious jobs (Joshua 9:1-27).

Section #7 (2:55-58) refers to “the children of Solomon’s servants.” Apparently, these temple workers could trace their ancestry back to forefathers who had performed similar menial tasks as part of Solomon’s temple staff during his reign. No doubt these servants performed the same type of lowly temple duties as the previously mentioned Nethinim, and the combined number of these servants and the Nethinim totaled up to 392 workers.

Finally, section #8 (2:59-63) talks about all the Jews who made the trip even though they couldn’t officially prove their Jewish ancestry by way of family genealogies. This group included members of three families of common people (2:59-60) as well as members of three priestly families (2:61). Despite supposedly being from these three priestly families, these men were disqualified from being considered for the priesthood. Even though the passage doesn’t tell us what became of the members of all six of these families, it seems likely that Zerubbabel at minimum granted them the basic rights the Mosaic law gave to strangers and foreigners who chose to live among the people of Israel (Exodus 22:21,24; 23:9; Leviticus 19:33-34; and Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:29).

Well, by now you are probably beginning to get so bogged down in all the minutia of these groupings and numbers that you are losing sight of the passage’s main teaching. So, let me crystalize that teaching for you: Somewhere in the ballpark of 50,000 real people, inwardly stirred up by a real God, made a real four-month trip, from one real place to another real place, to fulfill that real God’s real will. It wasn’t just Zerubbabel and Jeshua who had actual names. No, every last one of those approximately 50,000 people did as well. This shows us that there are times when God purposefully uproots specific individuals and relocates them to faraway places.

Perhaps God will stir you up to make such a life-changing move one day. For that matter, perhaps He is doing it right now. If He is, the best you can do is obey Him and trust Him with the results. Just as He had a divine plan for the life of each of those people who relocated from Babylon to Judah, He has a divine plan for your life, too. You just have to trust Him, step out in faith, and make that big move whenever He burdens you to make it. Summing up the situation, don’t ever try to make any move apart from God’s will but don’t ever drag your feet when you know what He wants you to do, either.

Posted in Change, God's Will, Individuality, Series: "Ezra" | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Godly Leadership

Posted on August 17, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #4)

It’s been said, “Everything rises or falls on leadership.” So, with this in mind, who was God’s man to lead the remnant of Jews out of Babylon and back to Judah for the purpose of building a new temple in Jerusalem? His name was Zerubbabel.

Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel (Ezra 3:2) and the grandson of Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin, whom the Bible sometimes lists him under his variant names “Jeconiah” (1 Chronicles 3:16-17) and “Coniah” (Jeremiah 22:24-28; 37:1), was the next-to-last king of Judah. He reigned in Jerusalem for only three months before Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar captured him, took him to Babylon, and replaced him with Zedekiah, Judah’s last king (2 Kings 24:8-12; Ezekiel 17:11-14). The point is that Zerubbabel was a full-fledged descendant of Judah’s royal bloodline, a bloodline that could be traced back to David. In a perfect world, he would probably have been Judah’s king sometime in his life. He is even named as being a link in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:12-13; Luke 3:27).

While Zerubbabel was the civil leader of the remnant, their spiritual leader was a priest named Jeshua (Ezra 2:6; Nehemiah 7:11). He was the High Priest of the group of priests who would restore the worship practices of the Jewish people once the new temple was built. The name Jeshua is a variant of the name “Joshua,” which explains why the Bible also refers to him as “Joshua” (Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 3:1-3).

One interpretive difficulty that arises from the book of Ezra is the identity of the man named Sheshbazzar, who is called “the prince of Judah” (Ezra 1:8). In post #2 from this series, I talked about the 5,400 articles of silver and gold that Cyrus the Great returned to the Jews as part of Cyrus sanctioning the Jewish return to Judah. Those articles had all been a part of the decor of the Jews’ original temple, the temple of Solomon, that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Well, according to Ezra 1:7-11, the man to whom Cyrus counted out those 5,400 articles, and the man who took those items back to Jerusalem, was Sheshbazzar.

Who, then, was this Sheshbazzar? While there are some excellent scholars and commentators who contend that he was a Persian official appointed by Cyrus to oversee the returning exiles, it doesn’t seem likely that an appointed Persian official would have been described as “the prince of Judah.” This is one reason why many students of the Bible believe that “Sheshbazzar” was simply another name for “Zerubbabel.” Just as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were given the Babylonian names “Belteshazzar,” “Shadrach,” “Meshach,” and “Abed-Nego” (Daniel 1:6-7), perhaps “Shesbazzar” was either the Babylonian name or the Persian name for Zerubbabel.

I myself favor the interpretation that Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel were the same man. My reasons are numerous. First, no mention is made of Sheshbazzar in scripture other than the book of Ezra (Ezra 1:8,11; 5:14,16), but Zerubbabel is frequently mentioned as being the civil leader of that remnant who left Babylon and returned to Judah. Second, even though Ezra 5:16 says that Sheshbazzar laid the foundation of the new temple, Ezra 3:8-13 says that Zerubbabel led that work, and Zechariah 4:9 specifically says that it was Zerubbabel who laid that foundation. Third, whereas Sheshbazzar carries the title “governor” in Ezra 5:14, Zerubbabel carries it in Haggai 1:1 and 2:2. Fourth, Zerubbabel could indeed legitimately be called “the prince of Judah,” his grandfather having been the king before the Babylonians started running things in Judah. Based upon these four reasons, I feel reasonably confident in saying that “Sheshbazzar” was another name for Zerubbabel.

In closing, let me say that godly leadership should always be appreciated. Whether that leadership be in regards to civil matters (as was the case with Zerubbabel) or spiritual matters (as was the case with Jeshua), godly leadership is usually very scarce in this fallen world in which we live. The plain truth is that leaders such as Zerubbabel and Jeshua don’t grow on trees and we should always appreciate the ones we have. I suppose that Proverbs 29:2 says it better than I ever could, and so I’ll offer that verse as the conclusion to this post. In the blunt beauty that is so typical of the book of Proverbs, the verse says:

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. (N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Leadership, Series: "Ezra" | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“What Do You Mean You’re Not Going With Us?”

Posted on August 14, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #3)

Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. (Ezra 2:1, N.L.T.)

How many of the Jews living in Babylon accepted Cyrus the Great’s offer to return to their homeland of Judah and build a new temple in Jerusalem? The total number was only 42,360 (Ezra 2:64-65). By adding in the additional 7,337 Gentile servants and 200 Gentile singers (secular singers), the group’s traveling total gets raised to 49,897 Additionally, 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys made the trip (Ezra 2:66-67).

While the number of Jews who left Babylon and returned to Judah is impressive, the truth is that the majority of Jews chose to remain in Babylon. You might be asking, “But why didn’t all of the Jews return home?” My answer is that, spiritually speaking, the only ones who chose to make the trip were the ones whom God had inwardly stirred to make it (Ezra 1:5). Evidently, the stirring those people felt was something like an Old Testament version of Philippians 2:13, which says concerning the Christian:

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (N.K.J.V.)

As for the practical side of things, there were numerous reasons why the vast majority of Jews chose to remain in Babylon. And truth be told, each of those reasons had enough merit to make staying in Babylon seem like a sensible course of action. To see this, let me name the reasons.

Reason #1: Many of the Jews were simply too old to make the physically demanding trip of 900 miles. The trip would take four long months (Ezra 7:9), and even if the elderly Jews survived it, there was a ton of hard work awaiting them at the end of it. Temple building, obviously, isn’t something that old folks usually line up to do. Take the prophet Daniel, for instance. He was at least in his 80s when Cyrus’ decree was given. That probably explains why the Bible makes no mention of him being in the group that returned to Judah.

Reason #2: Many of the Jews worried about the potentially fatal dangers inherent with the trip. Harsh weather conditions could take a heavy toll, to say nothing of what thieves, robbers, bandits, and cutthroats might do. It wouldn’t have been just the elderly who would have been concerned about the element of danger, either. The fathers and mothers of infants and young children would have had the same apprehensions.

Reason #3: Many of the Jews had been born in Babylon during the captivity, which meant that Babylon was the only home they had ever known. Sure, they had heard the older generations tell stories about the land of Israel in general and the region of Judah specifically, but all the stories in the world could not create actual memories. Historically speaking, my Scotch-Irish ancestors settled the region of the Appalachian Mountains in which I have spent my entire life, but I have no plans to pull up stakes and relocate to either Scotland or Ireland just because my ancestors once lived there.

Reason #4: Many of the Jews enjoyed lives of reasonable comfort in Babylon. The possibility that a Jew could become wealthy in Babylon through business is evidenced by the fact that 7,337 Gentile servants of Jewish people joined in with the group bound for Judah. You see, unlike Israel’s 400 years of bondage at the hands of the Egyptians, the Babylonians did not inflict harsh labor upon the Jews. Some of them, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, even held positions of authority in Babylon’s government. Even the Jews who hadn’t enjoyed any privilege under Babylonian rule knew their lives would be getting easier under the rule of Medo-Persia. Cyrus’ decree was clear proof of that. Therefore, some of them probably thought, “Why should we leave here now? We’ve already endured the worst part of staying?”

Reason #5: Many of the Jews still remembered the prophet Jeremiah’s instructions to them regarding their years in Babylon. He had told them to build houses there, live in those houses, plant gardens, eat the harvests, marry fellow Jews, and produce children (Jeremiah 29:1-6). He had also told them to seek the peace of Babylon as a way of seeking their own peace (Jeremiah 29:7). Admittedly, Jeremiah had meant for his instructions to apply only to Israel’s required years of exile, but we can understand how a Jew who had built a house in Babylon and raised a family in that house wouldn’t have been so quick to move 900 miles away in his senior-citizen years.

Reason #6: Many of the Jews were too backslidden or undiscerning to understand the spiritual value of relocating to Judah and building a new temple. Actually, the nation’s appreciation for spiritual matters had been at a low ebb even before the Babylonians had marched to the gates of Jerusalem. That was one of the reasons why God had allowed the Babylonians to do what they had done. And, obviously, after all those decades in Babylon without a temple, a priesthood, or the opportunities to observe their spiritual feasts and offer up sacrifices, the Jews’ level of spirituality had only decreased all the more.

It’s fair to ask if all those Jews who chose to remain in Babylon missed God’s will in doing so. My take is, they didn’t. As I see it, the determining factor for what God’s will was for each individual was whether or not God stirred up that person to make the trip. Getting back to Daniel as an example, no one is going to convince me that he missed God’s will by staying in Babylon.

What we can learn from this is that God doesn’t have a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all will for everybody. Certainly, He wants each individual to experience salvation (2 Peter 3:9) and live completely under His Lordship, but that’s pretty much where the group similarity stops. As I said at the close of the first post in this series, if God stirs you up to make the move to Jerusalem and help build the new temple, His blessings surely await you in Jerusalem. No one is disputing that. But just be certain that it’s God who is burdening you to make the move. Putting it another way, don’t let anybody goad you into doing something that God isn’t telling you to do. Remember what Vance Havner used to say: “Some sing, ‘I’ll go where you want me to go Lord,’ but they won’t stay where He wants them to stay.”

Posted in Aging, Choices, Decisions, Elderly, Fear, God's Will, Obedience, Series: "Ezra" | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

When God Flips a Script

Posted on August 12, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #2)

Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. (Ezra 1:5-6, N.K.J.V.)

When God relocated the people of Israel out of their enslavement in Egypt and into their promised land of Canaan, He had the Egyptians foot the bill. Even before He sent Moses back to Egypt to lead that exodus, He told him concerning Pharaoh:

“So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:20-22, N.K.J.V.)

God’s word on that matter did come to pass (Exodus 12:35-36), and the Israelites eventually used many of those Egyptian items to build the Tabernacle, Israel’s first site of worship (Exodus 25:1-9). That set a precedent for what would happen centuries later when God was ready to relocate some of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon and into their homeland of Judah to build a new temple in Jerusalem. As our text verses tell us, all the Babylonian neighbors of those Jews encouraged (aided, helped, assisted) them by giving them articles of silver and gold, other precious things, and livestock.

Even Cyrus the Great, Persia’s king, gifted the returning Jews. As a matter of fact, he gave them the most important items of all. I’m talking about the holy, consecrated items that had previously been used in Solomon’s temple, the temple the Babylonians had destroyed. The Babylonians had loaded up all those items and carried them to Babylon in keeping with the erroneous idea that having the vessels from a rival god’s temple somehow transferred that god’s power to the new owners. Ezra 1:7-8 says regarding those items:

King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

Following that passage, the chapter’s next three verses (verses 9-11) provide us with a partial listing of those items. The list reads as follows: 30 gold platters, 1,000 silver platters, 29 knives, 30 gold basins, 410 silver basins, and 1,000 other articles. Verse 11 says that in total the number of articles of gold and silver were 5,400. Each of those thousands of items had long ago been a part of the decor of Solomon’s temple.

If you know your Old Testament history, you know that some of these items had recently been used in Babylon by the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar. In Daniel chapter 5, we find the story of how Belshazzar threw an elaborate feast in honor of 1,000 of his lords. As the wine was flowing liberally at that feast, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver vessels from Jerusalem’s temple be brought forth, and Belshazzar, his guests, his wives, and his concubines proceeded to drink from those vessels and sing praises to the Babylonian gods who had defeated Israel’s god. But that same hour Belshazzar saw the fingers of a man’s hand appear out of thin air and start writing on one of the walls of the room. The handwriting read: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Since none of the Babylonians could interpret the words, the elderly Jewish prophet Daniel, who had long ago been a part of that first wave of deportees who had been taken from Judah to Babylon, was called in to help. He explained to Belshazzar that the fingers of the hand had been sent from God and the words meant:

  • MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it.
  • TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.
  • PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

That same night Belshazzar was put to death as Cyrus the Great’s Medo-Persian army captured Babylon, the capital city of the empire. Cyrus then placed a Mede named Darius in charge of the city while he himself ruled over the colossal Medo-Persian empire. Darius grew to have great respect for the elderly Daniel, and some commentators believe that God worked through Daniel’s wise counsel to prompt Cyrus to issue the decree that is recorded in the closing verses of 2 Chronicles and the opening verses of the Ezra.

As long as I am passing through here, let me also mention that the most famous item from Solomon’s temple is conspicuously absent from the list of items provided in Ezra 1:9-11. That item was the Ark of the Covenant. When Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian forces destroyed the temple and ransacked its items, did they not take the Ark of the Covenant back to Babylon? Evidently not. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, let me encourage you to read my blog series entitled “The Ark of the Covenant.” In those posts, I go into great detail about the history of the Ark and offer some possible explanations as to what happened to it.

For now, though, let me just wrap up this second post from the Ezra series by saying that when God flips a script, He really flips a script. When your former persecutors become your benefactors, you’ll know that God has flipped your script. When your former enemies become your supporters, you’ll know that God has flipped your script. When those who once worked against you start actively working for you, you’ll know that God has flipped your script. Do you believe that God still does such things? If you do, then don’t hesitate to ask Him to flip that script that has been hindering you for so long. Why should you hesitate to ask when it just could be that God’s handwriting on the wall stands ready and willing to pronounce the downfall of your oppressors and bring about a new status quo in which you will be able to move into a brighter future?

Posted in Adversity, Change, God's Omnipresence, God's Judgment, Justice, Persecution, Problems, Prophecy, Restoration, Series: "Ezra", The Ark of the Covenant | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

When God Stirs You Up

Posted on August 9, 2021 by russellmckinney

“Ezra” series: (post #1)

Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:5, N.K.J.V.)

The book of Ezra opens with all the Jews from Judah, Israel’s southern kingdom, still living in forced exile in Babylon. It has been around seventy years since the Babylonians conquered Judah and initiated the first of what would ultimately be three separate waves of relocating the Jews to Babylon over a period of approximately sixteen years. That’s seventy years of judgment for sinfully disobeying God’s laws and worshiping false idols. That’s seventy years of living somewhere other than their homeland of Israel. That’s seventy years of having no temple in which to worship and offer sacrifices. By now, most of those original deportees from Judah have died off in Babylon. But their descendants, probably numbering between two and three million, remain there.

However, a different wind is now blowing in Babylon. The Medo-Persians (an alliance between the Medes and the Persians) have conquered the Babylonians and become the most dominant nation on earth, and their leader, Persia’s Cyrus the Great, has issued a startling decree. He has decreed that any Jew who wants to return home to Judah and help in building a new temple in Jerusalem may do so. The decree raises the obvious question, “Why would a Gentile ruler give a rip one way or the other about the Jewish people?”

We find the answer in scripture. In our Bibles, the book of Ezra is directly preceded by the book of 2 Chronicles, and the closing two verses of 2 Chronicles read as follows:

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, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up! (2 Chronicles 36:22-23, N.K.J.V.)

These two verses are repeated almost verbatim as the opening three verses of the book of Ezra. Notice two things from both passages. First, Cyrus’ decree was the means by which God fulfilled a prophecy that He had given decades earlier through the prophet Jeremiah. That prophecy stated that the Jews would serve the Babylonians for the limited amount of time of seventy years (Jeremiah 25:8-14; 29:10). Second, it was God Himself who inwardly prompted Cyrus the Great to issue the decree. As Cyrus said of God, “He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.” This is a classic example of Proverbs 21:1, which says:

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (N.K.J.V.)

I especially like the wording 2 Chronicles 36:22 and Ezra 1:1 both use in saying that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia.” The Hebrew word is ur, which means “to awake,” to arouse,” to “stir up.” It’s the same word that is used in our text verse, Ezra 1:5, which says that God “moved” (N.K.J.V.) the spirits of the heads of the Jewish tribes of Judah and Benjamin to arise, go to Jerusalem, and build a new temple. The point is, just as God stirred up Cyrus’ heart to issue that famous decree, He stirred up the hearts of those Jews to put it to good use.

History shows us that, in both instances, God’s inward stirring coincided with outward circumstances. In the case of Cyrus, who was a lost unbeliever, God’s stirring coincided with Cyrus’ plan to create loyalty to him on the part of his subjected peoples by allowing them to return to their original homelands. As evidence of this, the historical artifact known as the Cyrus Cylinder, which was created on the occasion of Cyrus’ capturing Babylon, quotes Cyrus as saying, “May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities daily ask Bel and Nebo for a long life me.” Bel and Nebo were two of Persia’s gods.

Also, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Cyrus was shown the prophet Isaiah’s prophecies concerning himself and wanted to fulfill them. Speaking under the inspiration of God, Isaiah had actually named Cyrus by name approximately 200 years prior to the time God lifted Cyrus to world domination (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-13). If the Josephus account is accurate, it provides even more evidence of how Cyrus’ outward circumstances confirmed what God was inwardly stirring him up to do.

Along the same lines, in the historical case of the exiled Jews in Babylon, God stirring many of them to return to Jerusalem and build a new temple there coincided not only with their national longing to return to their homeland but also a prophet’s specific prophecies concerning that return. As I mentioned earlier, it was Jeremiah who had prophesied that seventy years would mark the end of Babylon’s rule over the Jews. So, here again we see that the Jews’ outward circumstances as well as the prophecies concerning their future worked together to confirm what God was inwardly burdening them to do.

Perhaps God is right now stirring you up to do a specific thing. If He is, you already know what it is because you have already been feeling an undeniable inward tug to do it. In addition to you feeling that tug, you are probably also noticing that your circumstances are aligning in a way to make it easy for you to do what God wants you to do. I won’t even begin to guess what that something is, but I will tell you that God has business interests all over the place. All He requires from you to join Him in doing that business is your obedience. This boils the matter down to the simple question: “Will you give Him that obedience and do what He is stirring you up to do?” You see, God has blessings awaiting you in Jerusalem, but you’ll never know those blessings if you ignore His inward stirring and remain in Babylon.

Posted in Change, Courage, Decisions, Faith, God's Omnipotence, God's Timing, God's Will, Government, Obedience, Prophecy, Series: "Ezra", Service, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Landing Is Important (repost)

Posted on August 4, 2021 by russellmckinney

(I’m on vacation this week, which means that I won’t be doing any writing. Instead, each day (Monday through Friday) I’ll republish an old post. Since even I myself don’t remember writing half the things I find on the blog, don’t feel bad if each day’s post seems brand new to you. Hopefully, God will use these old posts in even greater ways than He used them when I first wrote them. Enjoy.)

A student pilot was doing an excellent job flying the plane during his lesson. Then came the moment when the flight instructor looked over at him and said, “Okay, let’s take it down and land.” The student said, “Sounds good, let’s do it.”

As the plane began to descend, the instructor couldn’t help but notice how calm the student remained. Whereas most trainees instinctively got a little nervous at the thought of bringing the plane in for a landing, this trainee’s facial expression and demeanor didn’t change one bit. The instructor thought to himself, “This guy is going to make a great pilot.”

Not too long afterward, though, the plane hit the runway hard, bounced 50 feet into the air, hit the runway hard again, bounced 25 feet into the air, hit the runway hard again, bounced 5 feet into the air, and finally came to a full stop. The instructor was horrified. Actually, he was just glad to be alive after that awful landing. He looked over at the student and said, “You did just fine flying the plane, but your landing was the worst one I’ve ever seen.” That’s when the student looked at him and said, “MY landing? I thought YOU were handling the landing!”

When you seek God’s will regarding a decision and then do that will, the landing for that decision becomes God’s responsibility. Conversely, when you do your own will regarding a decision, God isn’t responsible for the landing. Unfortunately for God, His reputation has taken many a hit simply because He got blamed for a landing in which He had no part.

So many times we go our own way, do our own thing, and then somewhere in the middle of it all say, “Lord, please bless my efforts as I do Your work.” God must think to Himself, “MY work? Do you really think you are doing MY work here?” The term “rubber stamp a decision” is a metaphor that means that the person who is technically in charge of an operation robotically grants approval to what his underlings think should be done. This approval is evidenced by the person opening his desk drawer, pulling out the custom-made rubber stamp that has his signature embossed on it, and pressing that stamp down onto the official document that sanctions the project. Needless to say, God doesn’t “rubber stamp” anything that isn’t His will.

Right now, whatever decision you are facing, seek God’s will concerning that decision. Even more than just seek it, do it. Then take your hands off the controls and let God bring the decision in for a landing. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that even God’s landings can sometimes get a little rough. Oh, and did I mention that He might not land you where you thought you were going to land? Still, though, the great benefit from doing God’s will and letting Him handle the landing is that when you are finally at “all stop,” you will have the deep-settled inner peace that only comes from doing God’s will. And that, of course, is really the only way to fly.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How Can a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?

Posted on July 31, 2021 by russellmckinney

“How can a loving God send anyone to Hell?” is a question that has been asked thousands of times down through the years. You yourself have probably asked it at one time or another. One Bible scholar who has left us with a good answer was Dr. Henry Morris. As a matter of fact, his answer was so good that I thought I’d just share it with you verbatim. Morris wrote:

The reason is that, as a God of love, He will not force people into Heaven against their will. Such people would not be happy in Heaven!

God is not only a God of love but also of perfect holiness and absolute righteousness. There can be no sin of any kind whatever in His presence in Heaven. He created man for fellowship with Himself, but of course man (Adam first, then every other person individually since Adam) has become a sinner, separated from God’s presence and fellowship. No one therefore has a right in himself to be in Heaven. Every person, without exception, deserves to go to Hell. As the Scripture says, it is a place where men “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (II Thess. 1:9).

Thus, in Hell there will be no love, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8). There will be no light, for God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). There will be no peace or rest or joy, since these are all gifts of God (John 14:27; Heb. 4:3; John 15:11). On the contrary, there will be eternal corruption, strife, rebellion and hatred.

Now this is exactly what we all deserve. “But God…is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us” (Eph. 2:4). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:9).

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, lived a perfect human life. He died for our sins,…and then He arose victorious over death and Hell, “alive forevermore” (Rev. 1:18). He paid the full price for our redemption and restoration to the presence and fellowship of God for which we were created.

The only rational response a man can possibly make to this infinite manifestation of God’s love is to fall on his knees before God, confess and forsake his sin, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior and commit his life and soul, for time and eternity, to the service of the One who has loved him so much and paid such an awful price for his salvation.

On the other hand, if a man either rejects or ignores the love of God in Christ, he thereby chooses to remain independent of God and to continue in his own way with his own interests and ambitions and pleasures. He is too proud to acknowledge himself as the worthless, Hell-deserving sinner that he is and thus unconsciously aligns himself with those other self-righteous, religious, intelligent, unbelieving people whom God permitted to reject and crucify His Son two thousand years ago.

Basically, Dr. Morris’ one answer can be boiled down to two answers. First, God’s love demands that He send lost sinners to Hell. As Dr. Morris pointed out, God loves people too much to force them into Heaven against their will, and those who loved sin on earth more than they loved God wouldn’t be happy in Heaven anyway. I would add in that those who defiantly resisted submitting to the Lordship of Jesus in life certainly wouldn’t want to spend eternity under that Lordship. That would be too great a violation of their willful independence.

Second, God’s holiness demands that He send lost sinners to Hell. The scriptures that speak of how holy God is are far too many to list, but you can read Isaiah 6:1-5, Habakkuk 1:13, and Revelation 4:8 to get you started. Unfortunately, God’s holiness raises an eternal problem for us humans because we are all sinners. We are conceived with and born with the nature of sin (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3), and this nature of sin compels us to commit acts of sin (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:11-18). Each and every one of these acts must be forgiven before God’s holiness can allow Him to let us into Heaven, and that forgiveness can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Posted in Christ's Death, Depravity, Eternity, God's Holiness, God's Love, Heaven, Hell, Rebellion, Salvation, Sin, Submission | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment