Let's bow our heads in prayer.
Father, you, you know, sometimes, Father, we can forget that we're saved by grace alone,
through faith alone, and Christ alone, and sometimes we can think it's just about rules
and doing this and doing that, and we can just forget, we can forget, Father, that your
Son has died for us, that he loves us, that you love us, that you want us to pour out
our hearts to you, that it's about having a relationship with you that changes you, and
I mean, not changes you, changes us and brings you glory, and so, Father, we ask that your
Holy Spirit would give us a fresh appreciation for the intimate relationship you desire to
have with us, and the intimate relationship you desire your churches, our church, to have
with you, and so we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do this gentle but deep work
in our hearts that we might grow in these things, and we ask this in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So, four or five years ago, some of you have heard this story before, four or five years
ago, I think Louise's, my wife's birthday is in early January, and four or five years ago,
I think her birthday fell on a Tuesday night, so we have a tradition that we want to try
to have as much of the family to come around to help celebrate, you know, honour the person
whose birthday it is, and celebrate that, and, you know, give gifts, and so because Louise's
actual birthday was on, I think it was a Tuesday night, we had the family thing on the weekend,
but it comes to Tuesday night, and it sort of feels funny to do nothing at all on her
actual birthday, like that just sort of feels like a bit wrong.
So we decided that the two who still lived at home with us, and Louise and I, we'd go
out for supper.
So, you know, we get all ready, pick a restaurant, and we go to the restaurant, and I'm going to
get some of these details probably wrong, but you're going to get the gist of it.
We go to the restaurant that we've chosen, and the restaurant we've chosen isn't open,
because the staff is having their Christmas party that night.
And I think we try another restaurant, and there's something similar going on.
Then we're having a quick discussion about where we want to go, and Louise has a very
clear idea about where she'd like us to go, but I know better not.
Now, the place that Louise wanted to go was inexpensive, and I wanted to spend more money
than that.
Now, listen, one of the things I need you to understand, I am not trying to justify myself.
What I did was wrong.
Like, what I did was wrong.
I didn't listen to my wife.
And you can listen to the different ways that I was wrong, but I don't want it to sound
as if I'm trying to justify myself.
I'm not justifying myself.
And then we had a miserable evening, and we had a miserable evening because of me, and
I wouldn't listen to my wife.
Now, this story helps us to understand what's going on in this scripture text, which to us,
when we just read it, looks very perplexing and very hard to appreciate and very hard to
understand.
So it would be a great help to me if you would get your Bibles out and turn with me to Ezra
chapter 3, verse 1.
And I mean, we will always have the words on the screen, but there is something about having
a Bible of your own and being able to look around, look at the verses before and after,
and it just helped to make the story more your own if you, in fact, can look at it yourself.
And those of you who have tried to read the book of Ezra understand what I mean by saying
this is a book which is very hard to get into.
It's all weird names doing odd things and doesn't seem to relate to us.
But that story I had about Louise and myself celebrating the birthday will help us at a
very deep level to see why this is actually a very profound and helpful text and actually
speaks about the deep yearnings of our heart.
So chapter 3, verse 1, here's how it begins.
So just what's happened in terms of the context of the book is in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroys,
defeats Israel and Judah, destroys the city, takes the king away blinded into captivity, kills
the high priest, takes almost everybody into captivity.
The city is in ruins, the temple is in ruins, the holy things are gone, and looks as if
almost Israel is over.
But a prophet by the name of Jeremiah prophesied that 70 years from now that even though they'd
been very sinful that God would bring them back.
And God, one of the big themes of the book actually is how God uses pagan emperors to actually
accomplish his will.
The Assyrians eventually get defeated and Cyrus, the first Persian king, becomes the new emperor
of a mighty empire.
And some of you might not know this, but up until not that many years ago, Iran was called
Persia.
So imagine this is God doing something through the Ayatollah.
That's how crazy this is.
If all of a sudden the Ayatollah of Iran made a decision like this.
That's the shocking thing about the story.
So all of a sudden, Cyrus makes this decision that the Jewish people who want it can return
to the ruins of their homeland.
They, I mean, he might not think many want to go because who would want to leave civilization?
Who would want to leave all of the economic prosperity and safety and protection of living
at the center of the empire to go to these outlying area where there is just ruins and who knows
what wild and outlaw type things are going on there.
But he makes a decree that they can go back and he even gives money and other types of things.
And that's what we see in chapter one and chapter two.
And so this is taking place about five hundred and three, about three years, two to three
years after Cyrus's decree.
They've come back.
They've got their homes at least sorted out enough so that they have a roof over their
head.
And our story keeps up with chapter three, verse one.
And when the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered
as one man to Jerusalem.
Then arose Yeshua, the son of Jostak, and with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel, the son
of Shealatiel, with his kinsmen.
And they 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.
Now, pause.
Yikes.
Okay, George, this is a stretch.
You're saying this story is going to be helped by understanding having a birthday meal with
your wife.
The law of Moses, 536 BC.
And if you go further, all these burnt offerings and sacrifices, George, that is just religion.
It's barbaric.
It has nothing to do with us, but it does.
If you could put up the first point, that would be very helpful.
Here's the first point.
The real Lord, who really exists, created the real world, calls the real you into a real
covenant of real, unfailing love.
That is the message of the Old Testament.
It is the message of the New Testament.
We understand, of course, that there is a new covenant, a greater covenant, the final
covenant that's brought about by Jesus.
We celebrate it in the Lord's Supper.
We're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper at the end of the service.
The real Lord, who really exists, created the real world, calls the real you into a real
covenant of real, unfailing love.
You might notice, I think, the real bit's important.
So here's the thing which is going on.
Earlier on, just before this, I prayed.
And I am a very simple, I'm a simpleton when it comes to this type of stuff.
And most Canadians, most Canadians, when they think of religion or spirituality, they think
of it as a type of affectation.
It's like a hobby.
It just gives them some type of peace or inner hope.
You know, and many people say, well, I personally prefer some Jack Daniels or expensive wine.
That does the thing for me.
But for others, you know, it's going to church.
You know, that's fine if that's what it does for you.
And, you know, some good whiskey does it for me.
Then, you know, that's fine.
It's all cool.
You know, and they don't think that the story, when we read things like this, they don't think
it's real.
Not like a hockey game is real.
And when people are talking about what happened in the hockey game, that's real.
Or if somebody tells you about what happened at work, that that's real.
Or that your bank statements are real.
That religious stuff isn't real.
It isn't real.
But Christians believe it is real.
When I did that prayer, I believe I am talking to a God that does exist who can hear my prayer.
And that he will act in terms of what I've asked him to do.
That's what I believe.
I don't believe.
If I just thought it was an affectation, I wouldn't take up Jack Daniels or anything like that.
But I'd have nothing to do with this place.
Like, I mean, this is a complete and utter waste of time.
I believe there's a God who hears me.
Who hears you.
When you pray to him.
I believe it's real.
And that's what's at the heart of this story.
That this story is talking about what the Jewish people were doing and how it's real.
Now, why on earth does this matter?
Well, here's why it matters.
So, I was unbelievably shy with young women.
And I desperately wanted to have a girlfriend.
But I could barely talk to a real woman.
I could barely talk to them.
But I wanted to have a girlfriend.
I remember if I thought I might bump into a girl that I liked.
I'm not making this up.
I would make a checklist in my mind of things to talk about.
And I would try to memorize it.
Because I was completely hopeless.
Louise could tell you how hopeless I was.
There's still times I'm pretty hopeless.
But the thing about it is I would daydream about doing something with this young woman.
Go out and doing something.
In my daydreams, of course, the conversation flows effortlessly.
Effortlessly.
We have a good time.
We laugh.
Everybody's happy.
That's the real world.
I mean, that's my imaginary girlfriend.
But in the real world.
And in fact, if I was having an imaginary birthday party for my imaginary girlfriend,
what happened to me that night wouldn't have ended up with my wife being terribly unhappy with me.
My imaginary girlfriend would have loved everything I wanted to do.
She would have thought I was wonderful.
Everything would work out.
And I would leave those daydreams feeling very pleased.
But it's all imaginary.
Well, because, dang it, like real people say things and have opinions and want things.
And you don't necessarily figure those things out.
That's what happens in the real world.
So what we're seeing here in this text is actually, if God is real, okay, like, I don't want to offend you,
but it's possible that your own boutique spirituality and religions is actually the equivalent,
the religious equivalent, of having an imaginary girlfriend.
Because, you see, if there's in fact going to be a real God that really does exist,
it's going to be more like the birthday scenario, and it's in fact going to be like this.
This is actually proof that they're talking about, like, the real God who actually really exists.
And so, you see, in the real world, Louise communicated to me how she wanted to be honored and celebrated and enjoyed.
And I needed her to communicate that.
And I ignored it.
Now, think about it here for a second.
And if you have a birthday party for your one-year-old, like little Dahlia is having a birthday in whatever,
eight, nine, ten months or whatever, you can't really ask Dahlia what she'd like for her birthday or what would be fun.
I can give you a hint.
A cupcake with about this much cake and that much icing will make Dahlia very happy.
Put her in her little high chair and give her the cupcake with all that icing,
and in a couple of minutes, the cupcake will be destroyed.
There will be more cupcake and icing on the high chair, on the floor, on her face, in her hair, and all over her clothes than there is in her mouth,
and she'll be really happy.
They get a bit older, you have to start asking them their opinion.
You still don't really, you know, it might be that the five-year-old would just like endless bowls of candy,
and you'd say, well, we'll give you a candy, but you're not going to have endless bowls of them, right?
So they start to communicate it.
But as they get older, by the time they're old enough to be your peer, you've got to listen to them.
That's the only way you know.
But think about it for a second.
If that's how we treat a child and that's how we treat a peer, by the time it comes to God,
if God is real and he is a person, well, I don't have the vaguest idea in the world how to honor him.
I don't have the vaguest idea in the world how to celebrate him or enjoy him unless he communicates it to me.
I am completely, utterly dependent upon him communicating it to me.
And if I screw things up because I can't even listen to Louise, I have to listen to him.
And I can't second-guess him.
I can't say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you want that, but, you know, I think this is better.
No, I've got to listen to him.
So if you look back at the text, you'll notice, here's one of the keys to reading the whole book of Ezra.
You'll notice that just before the end of verse 2 it says,
as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
And you're going to see, if you're careful, it's one of those things that you miss.
But all the way through the book of Ezra, this little as it is written, as it is written, as it is written is always there.
Right?
But that's a sign that we're dealing with a real God.
At least one who claims that this is the real God.
We have to be completely and utterly dependent upon him revealing to us how it is that we honor him and celebrate him and enjoy his presence.
Now, some of you might say, George, okay, that's all very good.
Come on, George.
How barbaric is it?
You burnt animals?
Burnt?
Or, like, you take a cute little lamb or a cute little goat, you know, sheep, cut their throat and throw them on a fire?
Like, that's just all completely and utterly barbaric.
Like, what's going on here with this type of stuff?
Well, let me just comment on it on a moment.
But I think it'll be helpful if we look at the next few verses before I do.
Let's look at verses 3 and following.
It'll make it clearer.
Verse 3.
So, remember, they've all gathered.
They want to offer burnt offerings.
So, what they do is they, verse 3, they set the altar in its place.
Now, here, our English translation for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands.
It's a very, very literal translation, but it actually sort of obscures the meaning.
Basically, they were afraid of the people around them.
And that's going to become an increasing theme, and I'm going to talk about it more in a couple of minutes.
But they were afraid.
And in some ways, it sort of implies that their fear drove them even closer to God.
I mean, we can be afraid of people in our culture,
and the temptation is that when we're afraid of people that it'll silence us,
but it drove them to God.
At least it did right then.
And I'll continue reading.
And they offered burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord,
burnt offerings morning and evening.
Now, here we go through this, all this weird stuff, and I'll explain it in a moment.
And they kept the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, as it is written.
Remember, I said that's all the way through.
And offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule,
another version of as it is written.
As each day required, as it is written.
And after that, the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon,
and all the appointed feasts of the Lord,
and the offerings of everyone who made a free will offering to the Lord.
From the first day of the seventh month,
they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,
but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
Okay, so what's going on with this?
Well, there's several things which are going on here which are important.
The first one is, you don't have to have it up on there.
Just remember that the key to understanding this text is that the real Lord,
who really exists, created the real world,
calls the real you into a real covenant of real and failing love.
That's what's going on.
It's always the case.
It begins with Abraham right up to Jesus and the new covenant,
and it continues on today.
And so here's the point of the sacrifices.
The sacrifice of an animal like that is real.
You hear the cry of the animal.
You hear the cries of the animal that are about to come.
There's the blood.
There's the smell of the awful.
Like, it's real.
And it's real.
It's not just sort of sitting in silence in the comfort of your room
and thinking certain thoughts, which can just be all about imaginary gods.
This is very real.
It's very earthy.
It's very striking.
And if you're listening to God,
he says these times of these sacrifices are times for you to remember the covenant.
Remember that I am the God, that he is the God who loves you,
that has rescued you, that's called you into a relationship with him.
It's a time not just to remember the covenant but to focus on God,
that this is being done in a sense for him and for our relationship
and to honour him and to glorify him.
And it's also a time to remember that just as I have times when nobody can be married
for any length of time without having to learn to say they're sorry to their spouse
because we do wrong.
And if that's true of us with a spouse or even with a friend,
and there's times we have to apologise to our children that we've done something wrong,
but it's definitely the case that you cannot possibly have a relationship
with a God that's actually real that you never say sorry.
If you have a religion like that or a spirituality,
you have an imaginary girlfriend.
You have an imaginary God.
Not real.
Sorry, I don't want to insult you.
But you can't have a real relationship with a real person
without ever having to say you're sorry and make an amendment of life.
And you see there's a great cost with the sacrifice.
Now, what about us?
If you could put up the second point, that would be very helpful.
Here's the thing to understand.
I'll say this again at the end if I remember.
The Lord Jesus Christ's death upon the cross
was the true and greater sacrifice
to which all the sacrifices pointed.
That's what Jesus told us.
The Lord Jesus Christ's death upon the cross
was the true and greater sacrifice
to which all the sacrifices pointed.
So we don't slaughter lambs.
We don't slaughter bulls and oxen.
Why?
Because at one time for all people
on a busy road outside of Jerusalem
in a place that was so cosmopolitan
the charges against Jesus had to be read in three languages
Hebrew, Latin, and Greek
that Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on a cross
and in a sense what he did on earth
was also done in a sense in the transcendent, the spiritual
that was a once-for-all offering of God, the Son of God
in our place to make us right with God.
So that we would enter into this real relationship
of real unfailing love with the real God.
He provides that covenant
and all of these point to him.
But you notice that little bit about how the house of God wasn't made.
Look at the very end of verse 6.
It says,
but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
Now that's a small thing here
but once again this shows that we're talking about relationships.
I'm a sucker.
I am a sucker for The Rock
and his movies.
I know it's corny
but you know if I just want to relax on a Sunday afternoon
like I'll watch something
I'll re-watch something like the San Andreas Fault
with you know
him flexing his muscles
you know rescuing people
and doing all that type of stuff
with a caring...
I'm a sucker for those things.
Maybe some of you, now you have lower opinion of me
well that's fine.
I'm a sucker for them.
And so if you watch something like that disaster movie
the San Andreas Fault breaks
you know the San Francisco's all having tidal waves
and all that type of stuff
and Dwayne Johnson
I can't remember his name in that
but he always plays the same character
so it doesn't really matter what his character name is
it's always Dwayne Johnson
the imaginary Dwayne Johnson.
I mean in real life he probably cries
when he cuts his finger
I don't know
but you know in those things he's indestructible
and completely and utterly fearless
and of course
so that you know
his daughter of course
is up in San Francisco
his wife is there
and so the whole movie
as things are falling apart
is his rushing
there
now what's he rushing to do?
if he was rushing
because he knew where there was land
and he was going to go to that land
and he was going to build a house
and he was going to get everything set up with food
and then he went and rescued them
well first of all
they'd have been dead
well that would have sucked
but even if he was successful
they'd say
like
are you a moron?
like are you a loser?
like you really wanted to go build a house
before you came to be with us
and rescue us?
like what's all that about?
of course not
he goes to be with them
he goes to find them
he finds his wife
he finds his daughter
they're together
then they sort out all that stuff
that's what a real relationship of love is all about
and that's what's going on here
they begin with connecting with God
then we'll worry about the temple
then we'll worry about the walls
because it begins with a real relationship
with a real God that really does exist
now
this next bit's a bit odd
because all of a sudden
it talks about them starting to build the house
which we'll read in a moment
and it
and there's all these priests and Levites
and they have to supervise it
and it just seems really weird
well here
let's look at it
and I'll tell you how to understand it
it all
it
you have to think about it
with a real God
and a real relationship with that God
and if you don't think of it in those terms
nothing in the Bible is going to make sense
let's look at what it says
verse 7
so
the foundation hadn't even been based
so verse 7
they gave money to the masons and the carpenters
and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians
and the Tyrians
to bring cedar lodges from Lebanon
to the sea
to Joppa
according to the grant
that they had from Cyrus
king of Persia
now in the second year
after their coming
to the house of God at Jerusalem
in the second month
Zerubbabel
the son of Sheal-Atil
and Yeshua
the son of Jehozadak
made a beginning together
with the rest of their kinsmen
and Yeshua
Yeshua is a priest
and with the other priests
and the Levites
who had come from
to Jerusalem
from the captivity
they appointed the Levites
from 20 years old and upward
to supervise the work
of the house of the Lord
and Yeshua
with his sons
and his brothers
and Kadmiel
and his sons
and the sons of Judah
together supervised the workmen
in the house of God
along with the sons
of Hinnadad
and the Levites
and their sons
and brothers
and we'll just sort of pause here
so what's going on?
well I think you're going to know this
instantly if I said this
if it turned out
that I'd won a small lottery
and I'd got
four or five hundred thousand dollars
and I decided
you know what I think
I'm going to do
I think I'm going to build
a brand new house
for Louise
and I'm not going to tell her
I'm going to find some land
and I'm going to design the house
and I'm going to
supervise the builders
and when it's all done
I'm going to say to Louise
one day
let's go for a drive
out in the country
and we drive out
to the country
and I said
see that house?
does it look nice?
yeah it looks nice
I bought it
and designed it
and had it built for us
do you think she'd be happy?
no
would she be right
to be unhappy?
yes
she'd probably say
something like
George you had that money
you didn't tell me
and
you know how much
I would love
to design a house?
do you know how much
I would enjoy
talking with you
over it
about designing a house?
do you have any idea?
do you have any idea
what you robbed me of?
so what's going on here
is
they have the priests
and the Levites
supervising the building
the house
because the house
has to be built
as it is written
it's God's house
he designs it
not them
and that's why
they're supervising it
because
it's
for him
now
some of you might say
well George
that's
you know
that's a very
creative way
of reading the text
but I think
you're just
imposing that
on the text
I don't think
that's actually
something that
the text says
I think you're
just making it up
and imposing
on the text
and it's a very
interesting re-reading
but that's not
what the text says
well it is
look at verse 10
and following
and when the builders
laid the foundation
of the temple
of the Lord
the priests
in their vestments
came forward
with trumpets
and the Levites
the sons of Asaph
with symbols
to praise the Lord
according to the directions
of David the king of Israel
in other words
just like one of you
or any of us
if we were going to build
a house or something
at a certain point in time
we might take a bit of a break
and have a barbecue
and you know
have a bit of a party
and so they've come
to a key part
they've cleared away
enough room
that they can lay down
the foundation
they have a pause
they have a party
but look what happens next
and they sang responsibly
praising and giving thanks
to the Lord
what do they say
for he is good
for his steadfast love
endures forever
toward Israel
for he is good
for his steadfast love
endures forever
toward Israel
and all the people
shouted with a great shout
when they praised the Lord
because the foundation
of the house of the Lord
was laid
now all the way
through this
every time you see
the word Lord
that's the covenant
name for God
it would be as if
you know
my grandkids
if they always refer
to it like a generic
type of grandfather
and all
but they don't just
when they talk to me
I'm not their generic
grandfather
I'm their papa
when they talk
about Louise
she's not a generic
grandmother
she's Nana
she's their Nana
and whenever you see
the word Lord
that's this
that's the covenant
name for God
that's their private
name for God
and when you see
this song right here
for he is good
for his steadfast love
endures forever
toward Israel
usually in the Bible
if you see this word
steadfast love
in the ESV
it's translated
one of the most
important words
in the Old Testament
and I can't pronounce it
because I can get that
I can't get that guttural
but it has said
and has said
is this idea
of this unfailing
steadfast
covenant
love
and it describes
how the Lord
is towards his people
that his love
is a covenant love
a relationship love
like marriage
is a covenant
at least in a Christian sense
and it's describing
this covenant love
between the Lord
with his covenant name
and his people
and his love
is steadfast
it doesn't change
and it's unfailing
it can never not exist
and that's the love
that he has
towards its people
you see the text
is trying to tell you
that it's not about
trying to figure out
rules and religion
and ritual
that it's about
relationship with a real God
that's what the text
is trying to tell you
if you could put up
the third point
that would be very helpful
here's the thing
just as a bit of an
not an aside
it's a key part to this
it's a key part
to understanding Ezra
and understanding yourselves
you have a longing
and a yearning
to be in a relationship
of unfailing love
that is good
and true
and realer than real
every human being
has a longing
and a yearning
to be in a relationship
of unfailing love
that is good
and true
and realer than real
we might not want
to acknowledge it
it might be
that it's dormant
for long periods
of time
it might just be
that in certain types
of context
it comes to the fore
but that is a love
that you have
it's ultimately
a love
a desire
that you have
to know
the chesed love
of the Lord
and that he is not
just a generic God
but that he is
a God
whose name you know
and he knows
your name
it's also something
we desire
to have
as much as
possible
with people
you have
that yearning
only the gospel
satisfies the deep
yearning of your heart
only the gospel
satisfies the deep
longing
and yearning
of your heart
if you could put up
the next point
if you have
you know
if you'd like to join
our music team
that would be wonderful
but usually
before the service
I pray some version
of this prayer
with the musicians
and that is
you come into
his presence
but it's describing
what we're doing
this morning
you come into
his presence
to know him
as the triune God
receive grace
from him
and respond
in a worthy manner
that's what we do
that's what this
is supposed to be about
us coming
into the presence
of the triune God
we come together
with our brothers
and sisters
all adopted
by grace
into his family
and we come
to receive grace
from him
and we come
to respond
in a worthy manner
it's in this text
it's what's to
characterize
our worship
and our life
two more things
just to bring
this to a close
it's
and the first one
is really
important for us
because the fact
of the matter
is
we have
complicated
emotions
people are
complicated
the world
keeps wanting
to try to
reduce us
a lot
most modern
thought
tends towards
reductionism
to reduce us
to something
simple
but the Bible
acknowledges
our emotional
complexity
and it's seen
here in this
very next part
of the story
look what happens
in verse 12
so the foundation
has been laid
there's a little
altar
at a certain
part of
surrounded by
a foundation
they're all
ruins everywhere
they're afraid
of the people
but many of the
priests
verse 12
and the Levites
and heads
of the fathers
houses
old men
who had
seen the
first
house
that's
Solomon's
temple
they wept
with a loud
voice
when they saw
the foundation
of this house
being laid
though many
shouted aloud
with joy
such a beautiful
picture
many weeping
and many shouting
for joy
all at the same
time
all in the same
service
so that the
people could not
distinguish
verse 13
could not
distinguish
the sound
of the joyful
shout
from the
sound
of the
people's
weeping
the people
shouted
with a great
shout
and the sound
was heard
far away
you know
here's the
thing
we just celebrated
a baptism
of a beautiful
little baby
girl
there are also
women
and family
there's families
in this church
that struggle
with infertility
there's people
in this service
who wish
that they
could be
married
and have
not been
able to
be married
and on one
hand
to see
this beautiful
baby girl
get baptized
on one
hand
your heart
weeps
your heart
weeps
and for others
you're filled
with joy
and both
responses
are good
and both
responses
can be
in the
church
they can
both
be in
your small
group
some
will
celebrate
the promotion
that somebody
gets
and others
will be
sad
at their
own failure
in their
areas of
professional
work
and both
can be
there
both
should be
there
not can
be
should
be
there
because
we are
emotionally
complex
people
and our
community
should
allow freedom
for emotional
complexity
and you know
Romans 8
says all
things work
together for
good for
those who
love God
and this
is another
place where
we both
weep and
mourn at
the same
time
and that's
very true
obviously
for Christians
that's very
true
all things
work together
for good
for those
who love
God
but you
know
our sin
and our
rebellion
and our
hard-headedness
and our
just plain
stupidity
and foolishness
sometimes
mean that
we lose
real goods
God
gives us
a new
good
but the
real good
is lost
even when
we get
a new
good
and so
even in
our private
lives we
can have
times of
deep regret
and weeping
at the
good that
was lost
while we
accept and
rejoice in
the new
good that
God has
given us
just one
final thing
bringing this
to a close
enemies
chapter 4
verses 1
to 5
now when
the adversaries
of Judah
and Benjamin
heard that
the returned
exiles were
building a
temple to
the Lord
the God
of Israel
now just
pause
the word
there for
adversaries
in the
Hebrew
the original
language
actually
the original
language has
a range of
meanings
but all of
them are
bad
adversary
is actually
the weakest
of the
senses
can also
be translated
as foe
oppressor
enemy
and it
has with
it as well
sometimes it's
used to
physical objects
as a hard
pebble that
cannot be
broken or
flint
so it's
communicating
this idea
of an
oppressor
who's like
a hard
pebble
that can't
be broken
now when
the
enemies
the oppressors
who are
their
neighbors
heard
that they
had
returned
well they're
the enemies
they're
haters
they're
people who
want them
to fail
I don't
think there's
anybody here
over a
certain age
hasn't had
somebody in
their life
who was a
hater
and they
approached
verse 2
that's the
enemies
they approached
Zerabbel
and the
heads of
the
fathers
houses
and said
to them
let us
build with
you
for we
worship
your
God
as you
do
and we
have been
sacrificing
to him
ever since
the days
of
Esar
and the
king of
Assyria
who brought
us here
but
Zerabbel
Yeshua
and the
rest of
the heads
of the
fathers
houses
and Israel
said to
them
you have
nothing
to do
with us
in building
a house
to our
God
but we
alone
will build
the house
to the
Lord
the God
of Israel
as King
Cyrus
the king
of Persia
has commanded
us
I'm going
to say
more about
this in a
moment
but I'll
just read
the final
two verses
then the
people of
the land
discouraged
the people
of Judah
other
translations
use stronger
words than
discouraged
they harassed
threatened
hated
cajoled
insulted
hated
the people
of Judah
and made
them afraid
to build
they bribed
counselors
against them
to frustrate
their purpose
all the days
of Cyrus
king of Persia
even until
the reign
of Darius
king of Persia
now
if you go
on to read
the rest of
chapter 4
5 and 6
which I'm
not going
to read
and one
of the things
I've discovered
that if it
wants to be
helpful to
read
you have to
pay attention
to the
emperors
who are
listed
and it's
helpful to
maybe
I'm going
to have
a little
piece of
paper
that gives
me the
names of
the emperors
and the
dates
that they
reigned
but what
this book
just casually
mentions
is this
is over
a hundred
years of
hatred
this is
intergenerational
hatred
the scan
of the books
of Ezra
and Nehemiah
take place
over a hundred
years
and these
people who
hated them
for a hundred
years
a hundred
years of
hatred
now
the
communist
kicked
the
missionaries
out of
China
about
seven
years
ago
our
Chinese
brothers
and
sisters
have
faced
intergeneral
hatred
from the
communist
party
of
China
Khomeini
took power
in Iran
in late
1970
the underground
church in Iran
is coming up to
55 years of
hatred
intergenerational
hatred
and we can go
around the
world of
other places
of intergenerational
hatred
now what you
see the book of
Ezra and Nehemiah
about is the
flip side of that
because it doesn't
focus on it
if you could put up
the point that
would be very
helpful
to follow the
Lord involves a
crucial and
inescapable
intergenerational
dimension
one of the
questions that
was put to
me at
GAFCON
which was
very
it's been
playing around
in my brain
like a
virus
the question
is who's
going to be
the pastor
of your
great
grandchildren
we all
hope that
Jesus will
come back
but who's
going to
pastor
your
great
grandchildren
now on
one hand
we need
to live
every day
as if
Jesus
might come
back
tonight
but on
the other
hand
we need
to wrestle
with this
intergenerational
aspect of
discipleship
that's why
things like
royal seminary
and church
planting are
so important
but it's
also why
we have to
find ways
to help
parents raise
godly
children
have good
Sunday school
and good
other types
of mentoring
and maybe
we should
be getting
into helping
people homeschool
because
increasingly
our culture
is very
very
anti-Christian
but there's
this inescapable
thing and that's
what's hidden
in the book
of Ezra
it's part of
the story
of the book
of Ezra
and Nehemiah
is that
they fail
time and time
and time
again
but God
is faithful
why
because his
love towards
us is
hesed
it is
steadfast
it is
unfailing
it is
covenant
love
and so
they stumble
they're going
to spend
17 years
not building
the temple
it's going
to take
20 years
to build
the temple
because of
their fear
but God
never gives
up
he doesn't
give up
even though
many do
and he
sends
prophets
to challenge
them
at a
serious
time
and by
the way
you know
something
which is
so interesting
about how
the wisdom
of God
works
when Israel
was falling
apart
there was a
prophet named
Jeremiah
who said
there would
be 70
years
before
that the
temple
would be
back
and the
people of
Israel
would be
back
and the
worship
would be
back
they came
and they
started to
build
you can
check this
with all
the time
references
in 536
BC
they start
to build
the temple
they fall
into fear
they end
up finishing
it in the
year 560
BC
and 516
year BC
is 70
years after
the temple
was destroyed
in 586
BC
God kept
his word
it is
written
one final
thing
the Bible
gives hope
for enemies
you could put
up the final
point
here's the
thing I want
you to
understand
the Lord
does not
want more
Canadians
he has
zero interest
in Canadians
he wants
to adopt
more children
to glorify
and enjoy
him forever
forever
when I went
to Gafcon
there were
52 nations
represented
and God
doesn't want
more Nigerians
and more
Singaporeans
and more
people from
Indonesia
he just
wants more
children
you maintain
aspects of
your cultural
identity
that's
wonderful
that has
to be
if you're
human
you're
going to
have
culture
but at
the end
of the day
he doesn't
want more
of that
he wants
you
he wants
you
he wants
you to be
his child
by adoption
and grace
now why
why am I
saying that
it's not
on the
screen
but if
you turn
to chapter
6 verse
21
which is
giving you
chapter 4
5 and 6
gives you
this 20
year period
before the
temple ends
up getting
built
if you look
at chapter
6 verse
21
verse 19
on the 14th
day of the
first month
the returned
exiles
kept the
Passover
for the
priests and
Levites
had purified
themselves
all of them
were clean
so they
slaughtered the
Passover lamb
for all the
returned
exiles
for their
fellow priests
and for
themselves
it was
eaten
by the
people of
Israel
who had
returned
from exile
and also
by everyone
who had
joined them
and separated
himself
from the
uncleanness
of the
peoples of
the land
to worship
the Lord
the God
of Israel
by some
of the
haters
the people
gave up
having their
children
sacrificed
to Moloch
and who
had hated
the Israelites
who become
followers
of the
Lord
hate
doesn't
have the
final word
God's
heart is
that he
wants more
children
he doesn't
want more
people
biologically
descended
from Abraham
or from
one of the
twelve
I mean he
wants more
of them
sure he
does
but he
brings you
in by
adoption
and grace
and we
are to
pray for
our
persecutors
we are
to pray
for our
haters
we are
to pray
for them
please stand
as we
bring it
to a
close
you know
I'm just
gonna
I'm gonna
say one
thing
as I
just
yeah
no
let
we'll
just
close
let's
close
father
we
thank you
that you
are a
god
who
loves
us
you
really
exist
you
call
us
into a
real
relationship
with
you
call
us
knowing
what
we're
really
like
you
adopt
us
as your
child
you
call
us
to be
part
of your
kingdom
and
you
want
us
to be
part
of
not
just
a
generic
abstract
family
but
to have
local
churches
that we
can be
part
of
where
we
can
rejoice
with
those
who
rejoice
and
weep
with
those
who
weep
and
support
those
who
need
support
and
receive
support
when
we
need
support
and
we
can
put
an
arm
around
people
and
they
can
put
an
arm
around
us
and
we
can
pray
for
people
and
they
can
pray
for
us
and
we
can
help
each
other
out
and
we
learn
what
it
means
to walk
with
you
and follow
you
together
and
we
can
have
a
heart
for
our
culture
that
even
that
parts
of
our
culture
that
hate
us
that
we
don't
hate
them
but
that
we
would
have
strong
confidence
father
that
you
are
God
that
you
are
real
that
you
have
a
plan
and
purpose
that
you
are
bringing
things
to
their
proper
end
and
we
can
pray
that
you
turn
the
hearts
of
haters
away
from
hate
not
so
much
to
love
towards
us
but
love
towards
you
and
from
that
love
towards
you
will
love
towards
us
and
father
we
ask
that
you
help
us
to
have
such
lives
of
prayer
may
the
gospel
grip
us
we
ask
this
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
and
all
God's
people
said
Amen