The Temple Complete - ANB W2, D5 - 3.15.13

Friday, March 15                                                                  The Temple Complete

Ezra 6.13-18

When the king speaks, the people listen. If they are smart, they do exactly as he says. That is what we find recorded for us here in Ezra 6.13. The people of Israel had already determined that they would work on the temple until King Darius responded to the letter sent to him by Tattenai, in spite of the opposition they were receiving from those around them. It was no surprise to them the response that Darius gave. Because we are on a somewhat fast track through Ezra, we did not take time to thoroughly cover the prophecies of Haggai to the people of Israel. Not only did Haggai bring a harsh Word from God about their sinful laziness, he also brought a calm assurance to the process. In Haggai 2.4-5, God tells the people of Israel: “All you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst, do not fear!” They had the protection of the Lord their God, so they continued to work according to His command.

Now the word from King Darius came back to them. It is almost comical that Ezra notes how Tattenai’s attitude toward the people of Israel and their work had changed. He and all of his people did all that Darius commanded them, and they did it diligently. The process was slow, taking nearly four years to get from the foundation, which was where they had left off sixteen years before the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, to the completion. Also, note that the decree of God is credited first in the secession of powers to oversee the completion of the temple. As was stated earlier, when the king speaks, the people listen. More importantly, what God commands MUST be completed. Not only was it completed, but when God makes the provision for the work and materials, the end result is much more beautiful than expected.

Let’s see this last point in perspective. Haggai tells us exactly what God is doing in the building of the temple. “Who is left among you who saw the temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?...I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the ealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts” (Hag. 2.3, 7-9). God’s provision was to complete the temple and to make it better than it was before. Solomon’s temple was renowned throughout the Ancient Near East for its beauty and its glory. If it had not been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, it would have probably been one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. But God was up to something great. He wanted to show Israel for the nth time that His power was above and beyond anything they could fathom. And now we see four years after His Word came through Haggai that this temple was complete and that the richest empire of the time, the Persians, paid for it. They fulfilled the provision that God made.

When God sets a task before us, He expects us to move forward with it. Hopewell is in a position that many churches long to be in: a place of God’s blessing and promise. But there are some drawbacks to our position and they all come from our end. Because of what God wants to do in and through our congregation, change must take place. The word change is not easy for us to swallow. It means we have to let go of some our sentiments and press on. The new temple in Jerusalem was different from the old one and symbolized a new beginning in the life of Israel. They bore the hardships of watching the old temple get destroyed and the years of exile, but to experience the full blessing of God, they had to let go of all of their preconceived notions of what the temple should be. God promised a greater temple and He delivered. No matter how different things look in the future, for us to get to where God leads, we must conform to His vision, whether that is a physical building or a new way of “doing church”.

Prayer:

God, thank You for desiring to use us for Your kingdom. Help us to be diligent in the work before us and help us to be flexible in conforming to Your leadership and vision.