Kingdom Building

I am studying through Ezra-Nehemiah these days as we lead the church in understanding how God fulfills his promises for his everlasting kingdom.  Set in the century after the exile, these books record the activity of God to rebuild the temple, the law, and the city of Jerusalem. 

It would be very easy to study these for purely historical interest.  Or, more commonly, to study these for "leadership principles."  Neither of these is true to a Gospel driven approach.  All biblical narrative is about Messiah-Jesus.  This is not exception. 

The opening verses of Ezra are a thunderclap about God's ways.

Ezra 1:1  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.

Here is what God has taught me.

These words seem simple, as a record of history, but behind them lies the covenant of God with Abraham -- a covenant to bless all nations through his ultimate Messiah-son.  That covenant restrained the hand of God's justice against his people so that a remnant survived.  That covenant God is working to fulfill here.

Behind them lies the covenant at Sinai and the clear conditions of obedience and the blessing of the land that will follow, or the curses of judgment that come with disobedience.  Those curses came to pass after 800 years of patience by God toward his people.  That covenant failed and the new covenant became a "felt need."

Behind these words lies the promise of God through Isaiah -- that God would raise up the King Cyrus, and through him he would rebuild the city and the temple after exile.  (see Isaiah 44-45).

Behind these words lies the promise of God through Jeremiah (ch 25 and 29) that the exile would last 70 years.

The historical setting is significant.  A generation had been taken captive and died in Babylon.  The city and temple had been decimated. The Jews were a minority, prisoners and captives in a foreign land, with no power. 

But God was at work and he remembered his promise.  He rose from his silence and took action, and for the next hundred years, in the midst of opposition from within and without, he rebuilt the city and the temple and re-taught the people the law. It all begins with this act of a sovereign God upon the heart of a great Emperor: Cyrus.

Here is the point: God is sovereign and initiates. He uses means to get his work done -- but it starts with God at work.  There is no "how to" here -- they did not finish and write a book about "how to rebuild the temple and the city" -- they were not Americans.  He begins by acting upon the heart and desires of of the King.  He put Cyrus in place as King to do this.  This means that behind every successful church or person or business there are words like these: God stirred . . . .  It is not a matter of formulas.

God initiates with this purpose: to continue his unstoppable purposes to bless all nations.  He works slowly and steadily -- like a glacier.  There is no haste here.  He will bring Messiah into the world.  He will call a people to himself from every nation.   He will redeem them by blood.  This work of God in Ezra-Nehemiah is ultimately aimed at the cross and the empty tomb, and at the innumerable multitude gathered round the throne of God and the Lamb.

This is a call to faith for us and me.  if God is at work, he will accomplish his purposes.  And he should get all the glory.  I need not fear, and I need not press him to hurry.

Our church right now is engaged in seeking a permit from the city of San Diego to use a warehouse for our gathering.  We have run out of space and God keeps bringing us new people.  What seems to be a simple process is an intensely political process -- slow, grinding,  But God has been at work, without our initiative, to bring us people who have helped us immensely.  This passage reminds me that it is his work we seek and we must obey and trust and be patient for his work. 

Comments

[charlene]

Thanks. My sermon this week is about Kingdom Living instead of Kingdom Building (the modern version of the Tower of Babel, if you ask me). Though this is not a popular opinion, and church-related materials all suggest that if you're not busy building the kingdom you aren't a Christian, I believe that the Kingdom already has been built, has been paid for, and will advance in God's time and way. Our job is to be faithful citizens of it and invite others in.