“Complete and Dedicated”

Scripture: Ezra 6:13-22

For hundreds of years, Israel had struggled in their relationship with the Almighty. Was he as mean spirited and overly demanding as he appeared to be, or was he truly working for their betterment? Was he aloof or present, was he loving or cold, was he jealous and solitary or was he accepting and embracing?
The people, instead of trying to understand their Lord’s ways, decided to head off in another direction – one of their own making – which turned out to be disastrous for the nation. And then they began to wonder if God really and truly loved them. If he had chosen them to be his own people, why was all this bad stuff happening? Who is our Jehovah really?
But instead of turning toward God for the answer, they turned away.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:
Are you worried because you find it so hard to believe? No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith, if there is some part of your life where you are consciously resisting or disobeying the commandments of Jesus. Is there some part of your life which you are refusing to surrender at his behest? Some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps your ambition or your reason? If so, you must not be surprised that you have not received the Holy Spirit, that prayer is difficult, or that your request for faith remains unanswered.
If you dismiss the word of God's command, you will not receive his word of grace. How can you hope to enter into communion with him when at some point in your life you are running away from him? The one who disobeys cannot believe, for only those who obey can believe.

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963), 72-73.

After their return from captivity, Israel had begun to obey. They were rebuilding the temple, they were rebuilding their faith, they were beginning to worship in the true way again, and even though there was tremendous opposition to this new start, they remained faithful and focused on what their God wanted from them.

Read Ezra 6:13-15

With some starts and stops, with both opposition and commitment, with uncertainty as well as dedication, the temple was finally completed after many years of labor and strife. But notice the thought contained in the latter half of verse 14 – the temple was constructed according to both God’s command and the commands of the Persian kings. The important command, of course, was God’s, but we have also seen that the Persians’ command was inspired by the Lord. So in this case, the two authorities come from the same Divine Will.
Bonhoeffer’s implication that God’s grace comes to us whenever we obey his command seems to be proven in this instance. Israel obeyed the Lord in the rebuilding effort, and by doing so, the obstacles that cropped up were swept aside and the people were blessed.
I believe that the struggles that come to the Church of today are because “we” (that’s an all inclusive “we”, and is not intended to be restricted to one segment of faith) don’t take the time to consider what God’s will might be. Different groups claim that they have the inside tract to Jesus’ call on our lives, and yet many of the ideas seem to be in opposition with both the other calls and with Scripture! Remember this - Divine Will can never create conflicting agendas with itself! The Holy Spirit will never lead us to a place that is in direct conflict with Jesus’ teaching, and neither the Spirit nor the Christ can ever call us to a walk that is in conflict with the Father’s voice. And if anyone ever tells you that they can, ask them how our Triune God could ever oppose himself, and why they think that internal dissension can ever be good for the integrated Body of Christ! And the answer, of course, is that it can’t!

Read Ezra 6:16-18

In this passage, please note who is listed as the worshippers – the priests, and Levites, and the rest of the exiles! There’s no mention of those who had stayed behind during the exile. Could it be that these others were still intent on pleasing the Persians and chose not to participate in the opposition to the Persian authorities? Could it be that they were intentionally excluded by the exiles, because they were unclean and defiled by their intermarriage to the people from other nations? The question will also be addressed in later verses, but it would seem that the dedication of the temple and the priestly installations were exclusive ceremonies, limited to those who were following the commands of Almighty God.
Regardless, we see that Israel is striving to return to its roots and relationship with the Great Jehovah. And Bonhoeffer’s statement that obedience is the only path to true faith is shown to be correct. But isn’t obedience always required if honor and trust are to be shown to authority? Whether it is God’s authority or secular authority, disobedience can never be equated to respect for the one who gave the disputed command!

Israel was once again walking in trust of God Almighty, and they were doing everything that they possibly could to be obedient. And I have to believe that the former exiles were beginning to be a good influence on the rest of the nation. It had to be obvious that, in their obedience, God was blessing their efforts to rebuild the temple, and that the faith that had suffered so greatly in the past was also returning. Israel was on their way toward becoming a Godly nation once again.

Read Ezra 6:19-22

Adar is the last month of the Jewish year, and the very next month, Nissan, held the celebration of Passover. The temple was dedicated and the priests were installed, just in time to celebrate the first of the 3 great Jewish holidays. Once again, God’s grace shone through the fog of uncertainty, and the people are blessed.
And now, some of the non-exiles were able to join them. We are told that these had “separated” themselves from the unclean practices of the Gentiles, and had, presumably, been ritually cleansed and brought back into the fold. Israel had so much to be thankful for – life was beginning to make sense again, the temple, even though it wasn’t quite as glorious as the first, had been reestablished, they were at a relative peace with their neighbors and Persia, and they could once again sacrifice to their Almighty God.
Was it because of the generous nature of Cyrus and Darius? The obedience of Governor Tattenai? The faithfulness of the nation? Or was it simply the benevolence of God? The Lord’s plan was back in play for Israel, and his grace was once again theirs to either claim or reject.

The church of today must discover the same truth that Israel came to know – that same truth that Dietrich Bonhoeffer shared with the world – “No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith, if there is some part of his life where he is consciously resisting or disobeying the commandments of Jesus.” We need to come back to the place where we can hear the one voice and one word of God, with our one ear of faith. We need to begin to pull in the same direction, with one vision and one goal in mind, instead of in opposite directions that can only tear us apart. Israel discovered that the Father had been with them all the time, even when they had turned away, even when they were taken away, and that until they opened their eyes to his glorious way, it was they who had been lost, and not God.

A first-grade teacher seated her students in a circle one day, and asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. One by one, each child got up and announced, “I'd like to be a nurse like my mother”, or “I want to be an engineer like my father”, or “I want to be a teacher like you, Miss Smith”.
The last child to speak was the most shy and timid little boy in the class. He [announced], “When I get big, I'm going to be a lion tamer in the circus. I'm going to face those animals with my whip and chair and make them leap through hoops of fire and obey all of my commands.”
Seeing the disbelieving looks on the faces of his classmates, wondering if he could ever act so boldly or bravely, he was quick to reassure them, “Well, of course, I'll have my mother with me.”
--Source unknown.

And we need to know that our Heavenly Father is with us, and that his way is the perfect way. By faith, we obey, and in obedience, we grow in faith. That is the example that must be set for the “lost” of this world - that when they leave the practices and ways of earth behind, they, too, will grow in faith and obedience to the One and Living Lord, Savior and Redeemer, God Incarnate, Jesus the Christ.
And each one of us must be that example if the Church is to become one again.