Adventure 27, Ezra: Politics as usual?

Having left behind the kings, we return to the people of Israel (not referring to the northern kingdom now, but the returned captives and people left in the land) after the 70 years of captivity are over. Ezra is considered the author of this book which bears his name, even though he is not mentioned by name in the book. he is probably also the author of Nehemiah, which may have originally been one book with this one, and possible of the Chronicles. He was a priest, and thus a fitting person to lead the people in the rebuilding of the temple, but he did take on a few other roles also - in some ways he is a governor, a (peaceful) soldier, being God's prophet, politician, and scribe.

There are three main themes in this book that I dwelt upon. The first is the centrality of God, and with this the purifying of the people. The second is diligence, and reliance upon God. The third is politics, and respect to authority.

A lot of the book is about the temple, and the centrality of God comes out clearly just in that. I remember Haggai's words from earlier:

"Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" (Hag 1:4)

A bit like our personal lives - sometimes we focus too much on getting our 'own lives' sorted without making time/place for God - Who should be part of everything in our life, of course, but it is sometimes all too easy to work on that bit of ruined building last when it should be our first priority. Notice that the first thing they did was to set up the altar (sacrifices for sin, and sacrifices for worship).

With the place of worship returned, its other purpose (thinking of Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the first Temple) as a place of repentance is also put to use. Part of the problem that caused the captivity was the intermarriage and general wanting to be like the other nations. The people were still doing that - but here was a time for purification. They had returned to the land, rebuilt the Temple, and now they needed to sort out their personal lives as well, and put away their foreign wives who served foreign gods.

It took diligence to continue building the Temple. The others around them that did not want this were apparently powerful. The same people (or similar) later objected also to the rebuilding of the walls under Nehemiah, and the threat was great enough to arm the builders. But God is strong and protected them. They had celebrated the feast of booths (a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, and God's faithfulness in those times), and relied on Him again here at the end of another exodus.

Notice how the adversaries worked - they pretended to be on God's side first, but Ezra sees through their pretentions and answers them respectfully but firmly in the negative.

When that didn't work they tried to make life as hard as possible for the workers on the temple. Things get political, with the bribing of counselors, and writing a letter to the king with false accusations. It works initially, but Ezra doesn't give up, resign himself to 'that's just the way the world is' or burst out angrily at anyone. Instead, he works within the system, replying to the king's edict with a respectful letter asking for the facts to be checked, and declares the true intentions of the Israelites. It seems very similar in many ways to the political situation in NZ (or other western nations). We don't have kings, but we do have people in government that can be written to respectfully seeking to promote the truth, and uphold the things of God. Here Ezra's efforts are rewarded, and there is a renewed commitment of supplies and provisions for the build of the temple. The answer is not always going to be yes when we get involved with these things, but can like Ezra show initiative, respectfully speak up where appropriate, and rely on God for the outcome.

Finally, I want to just mention another significant incident in this book - Ezra's trust in God for safety on the journey. There is a hint of natural human fear here, and he is right to be concerned for the safety of the people in his group. But though he fears, he trusts in God more, and knows His ability to provide safe passage. He also is concerned for the testimony of the Lord to others. Having assured the king that God is powerful to protect His own, he lives this out, but does not take it for granted. He and the people fast and pray, recognising their own dependence on God for safety.