Ezra 1 – 5

Ezra is Ezra-Nehemiah in the Jewish texts, but was split in the canonization of the Christian Bible. As with Chronicles, this is primarily a history of the Jewish people. Verse 1:2 opens with God’s influence on the occupying king:

The Eternal One, the God of heaven, has decided to give me all the kingdoms of the world to rule as my own. In return for this, He has told me to build Him a new house in Jerusalem of Judah

We occasionally see God influencing those outside the Jewish faith, but mostly to punish them and not to build them up like Cyrus has. This book has the temple being rebuilt for the second time with King Cyrus’ blessing. This undertaking is wholly done by the Israelites and those who wish to help must prove their lineage. Also, during this period King Cyrus returned all the vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar when the temple was destroyed.

We read through this and see Zerubbabel in the mix and that always sparks a desperate search. A long time ago I was watching a sermon by Joel Osteen on rebuilding the temple. I had been reading the scripture referenced so it caught my ear. The sermon’s focus was “beginning again” to rebuild our broken lives into prosperity. The problem was a few verses he was quoting were non-existent in the version I was reading and I have not found them since. So when reading this I wonder if I’ll find the scripture that was misquoted or just interpreted a different way.

This highlights the danger of what people do, me included, when “cherry picking” verses. Unless you understand the context often the meaning can be twisted. I do this often when some words catch my eye and have meaning to me on some level, I use them to highlight that. From time to time I find that I was using scripture out of context to tell a story I wanted to tell and not the intent. This is why I read the Bible in full as much as possible. First, it allows me to understand the context. Second, it shows me how this book is “living” since I pull out something new each time I read it.

Verse 5:5 is Israel’s response to the new king who ordered construction to stop:

 But the True God protected the Jewish elders. The Persians did not intend to stop the laborers until Darius received a letter concerning the situation and sent his written reply.

The new king’s orders did not supersede King Cyrus’ orders, especially since they were inspired by God. The people knew this would be a mistake and continued the construction process against the new order to stop. It’s a conflict we face from time to time when the earthly authority conflicts with God’s laws. Take abortion, that conflicts with God’s will yet it’s the law of the land. So what should Christian’s do about this? Bomb clinics or just not have abortions? We cannot harm others in following God, yet somehow stories like this can be twisted to justify just that. The key again is knowing the Bible inside and out before following someone who may have an ungodly agenda.