It’s Time to Rebuild | Exclusive opportunity awaits for those seeking restoration (2 Chronicles 35 – Ezra 5)

It’s Time to Rebuild | Exclusive opportunity awaits for those seeking restoration (2 Chronicles 35 – Ezra 5)

Multiple chances…

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16

The prior chapters in Chronicles, and especially here, remind us that God cannot and WILL NOT be mocked. Here we see He persistently sent messengers (the prophets). The response brought about the consequence that left Jerusalem in ruins, the temple looted and burned to the ground, and the people carried off into captivity by the Babylonians.

The history of slavery…

The remnant was carried off into exile. A nation that had left slavery was now back in it.

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, there was a symbolism that carried with it from the root of slave labor. Slaves were not originally intended to be a negative thing. One such purpose was that if you owed someone money and lacked the means to pay them back, you were given the opportunity to work it off through labor, by becoming their slave. It was common and important because it provided a person with a dignified, non-lazy attitude to right a wrong. It was not considered theft or deceitful to not pay back a debt, as it could be corrected through this manner.

The Bible also lays out specific treatment requirements for slave owners. They were to treat them kindly, unlike how we picture slavery today. Once the terms of service were complete, or the year of jubilee (when slaves were to be let go of their duty), the owners were to send them off joyfully with gifts as a thank you. It was respected when one would repay their debt. (On a semi-related note, this reminds me of the stories when a young kid gets caught stealing from a gas station, they are not able to give back the item or pay back the owner so they work off the debt they owe and learn a lesson in the process. The work they provide serves a purpose for the owner and the kid.)

Slavery became corrupt…

Way back in the 6th chapter of Genesis, the people of earth had already become so corrupt that God sent a flood to wipe them all away. Obviously a trend throughout the Bible, is watching how what God designed as good was twisted through sin to become evil. So, too, with slavery.

Already by Joseph’s time, his life was traded for profit by his own brothers. Slavery was already not what it was intended to be.

Yet, look back to when the Israelites left their horrible situation in Egypt.

The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Exodus 12:35-36

God righted what man had corrupted. They left with gifts, as it was originally intended, even though the Egyptians did not treat them well.

The remnant…

In Ezra, we see the hand of God in control of a world leader; it should comfort us to no end to recognize this sovereignty in our lives today as well when we look at all of the world leaders.

Think about it from an outside perspective. Cyrus was the Perisan king, and Persia had conquered much of the world at that time (including Babylonia where the remnant were slaves). The remnant of Israel were now under his control. Arguably, he was the most powerful person on the earth at that time.

Yet, he allows the slaves to return to their home to rebuild a temple to their God? In the first year of his reign, no less.

It makes no human earthly sense… which points all the more to the magnificence of God’s sovereignty. Cyrus obeyed God.

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.

Ezra 1:1, emphasis added

Sending away with gifts…

Not only does he allow them to leave, but he gives back all of the temple furnishings the Babylonian king (Nebuchadnezzar) had plundered from the temple.

Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:7-11

Again, we see God’s overarching care for His people. The Israelites again became slaves, left slavery under God’s guiding hand, and were sent off with gifts.

Time to rebuild…

The Israelites ended their time in Israel with three wicked leaders who refused to humble themselves before God, multiple prophets attempted to deliver messages of warning, and the vast majority of people followed their leaders into continual sin. A small remnant was carried away to become slaves.

The remnant in the Bible is often looked at with hints of adulation. Rightfully so, they were the small group left that would eventually fulfill the prophesy of Jeremiah,: there would be a time to rebuild the temple, Jerusalem, and the nation. What is often missed, is the trials they went through after being identified as the remnant. They were slaves after all.

It wasn’t a snap in time before they headed back to their homeland, but 70 years. The land had a chance to recover, rest, and enjoy its sabbath rests. While the remnant was facing the consequences for Israel’s sins, God was preparing the land for their return.

Our lives carry similar ebbs and flows. Sometimes, the care God is providing in the background while you face battles may not be understood until a later time, which is why it is crucial to take these chapters and understand God's… Click To Tweet

Our lives carry similar ebbs and flows. Sometimes, the care God is providing in the background while you face battles may not be understood until a later time, which is why it is crucial to take these chapters and understand God’s sovereignty at ALL TIMES. He never changes, what was true then about caring for His people, is true today.

The remnant faced a time to rebuild. The temple was on the agenda, but it did not come easily. They faced persecution and hardships and it ended up taking 20 years. The remnant at this time, were made up mostly of the next generation from those who were taken as slaves, yet they faced their own challenges.

The church today…

The church today is facing a similar crisis. The world is displaying evil and sin on an entirely new level. The boldness of which good is called bad is frightening. The sin of this world is being heralded by the elites, politicians, and notorious leaders.

I heard a pastor recently speak of his time in China. He was meeting with the underground church leaders in China about their churches, the (real!) persecutions they face there, and how to help from afar. At one point, nearly every hand was raised when he asked how many had gone to jail for their faith.

During their devotion portion, one lady handed her Bible to someone who didn’t have one and recited the entire book from memory. She told of her time in jail when they would have papers snuck in with portions of the Bible written down. The Christians in the jail had to memorize the words as fast as possible before the guards would find the papers and punish them. In turn, she memorized huge chunks of the Bible.

At the end he asked the leaders how he could help once he returned home, and they asked him if we could all pray for their churches to be like those in America… to have the freedom to meet openly and without fear of persecution. The pastor said he absolutely would not. His prayer would be the opposite, that our churches would become more like theirs. Where the study and memorization of Scripture was a priority, a seeking and yearning for the words from the Lord were sought after, and where a relationship was God was worth persecution and jail. He shared that in America each family averages two Bibles per family, yet there are few who open theirs other than on Sunday.

Rebuild your foundation now…

The Chinese underground church leaders asked him if we could all pray for their churches to be like those in America… to have the freedom to meet openly and without fear of persecution. The pastor said he absolutely would not. Click To Tweet

There is a time to rebuild and that time is now. If you are a Christian in America, take note of the persecuted church now and learn from them! KNOW YOUR BIBLES! Truly persecuted Christians in the world are higher than the number of citizens in the United States. Well over 300 million people today are being persecuted. I don’t mean a harsh comment or a slap on the wrist but true persecution. It was shared on a podcast a couple days ago the story of a man who was shot every hour from the feet on up, yet he refused to deny God. True persecution is happening and we need to wake up as a church to what we stand for.

Rebuild your foundation now while peace is all around you, so when trials and persecutions come, you will stand strong with the remnant, the few remaining that are the true Christians. It is time to rebuild.

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