Road Trippin With Rachael

Sometimes, I look at what is happening and I wonder what God is going to do with everything that is happening. How is it all going to work? When am I going to see the results of his plan? Reasonably, there are all thoughts that we have. As finite beings, we get to see this little piece of the puzzle as we go throughout our lives. Sometimes we get to see a few pieces when we look at the lives of other people, or at our own life through the passage of time. However, in the day-to-day we don’t get to see what the final product is meant to be.

But God does.

God sees all the pieces, and he knows what the final This week we are going to be knocking out two chapters of Ezra – not because I am in any rush to get through them, but because they go together. These two chapters cover a major event that takes place, and this time frame is covered in two other books of the Bible – the books of Haggai and Zechariah. The Israelites are going back to building the temple, after having been halted in Ezra 4. There is an almost sixteen year gap between the end of chapter four and chapter five, where the temple was only its foundation. Now the words of Haggai and Zechariah have come, and the people are moving again.

As we go through chapters five and six, we are going to be looking at three actions we can be taking while God is at work.

Be Convicted to Follow

When we are in God’s will it often feels like we are experiencing two extremes. There is the part of conviction, and alignment of all that is happening and we are seeing the fruits of the labor God has put in our hearts. Then there is the feeling of road bumps, testing, and discouragement when the devil is working overtime to keep you from being successful. The Israelites definitely experienced both of these extremes during the time when they were building the temple. In fact, their discouragement has prevented them for sixteen years from working on the construction

God strategically placed individuals to call he people back to their convictions. Regarding Ezra, he brings the prophets Haggai and Zechariah into the picture. (Ezra 5:1 & 6:14). The conclusion they ultimately came to was that they were convicted that they were doing what God had called them to do and they began to build in earnest. Feeling discouragement wasn’t a new feeling for the leaders or people. Moses had to deal with the whole Golden Calf Affair (Exodus 32). King Josiah sparked revival, but he would have had some pushback from those who wanted to maintain the status quo (II Chronicles 34). If we want to look to towards the New Testament for some examples, besides the obvious of Paul in his missionary journeys, there is the Apostle Thomas, who was ready to die with Jesus (John 11:16). Having individuals around who push you to see your convictions through is God’s way of making his will happen.

Another part of conviction is knowing the purpose of that conviction. When we look at Ezra 5:5 and 11, we really see this with Israel’s elders. They clearly state what their purpose is to those who wished for them to stop their building, and that conviction was communicated back to the king. Regardless of the conviction, being able to articulate your purpose strengthens it, and communicates to others what is behind the decisions you are making. Abraham did this when he refused to take part of the spoils from the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:22-24). The purpose was that Abraham would not accept anything that could lead to anyone besides God getting credit for the blessing Abraham would receive. Likewise, Paul tells the church in Rome why he wanted to come to them. It was not because he believed that they were doing anything that was unbiblical but because he “often planned to come to [Rome] in order that [he] might have a fruitful ministry among [them], just as [he had] had among the rest of the Gentiles” (Romans 1:13 CSB). The audience both of these men spoke to or wrote to knew their purpose.

Even when we have people around us where are affirming our convictions, and we can clearly communicate the purpose of those convictions, three are still going to be people who who will try to convince you that your convictions are wrong. Ezra 5:15 displays this clearly with the men who came forward questioning the building of the temple. We see this throughout scripture, so it is nothing new that this happens. Noah experienced this with building the ark (Genesis 6); Abraham when he left Ur (Genesis 15), and Peter and Paul later experienced there being a whole discussion about what it meant for an Gentile (non-Israelite) to come to Christ (Acts 14: 15:1-21). There will always be those who will try to pull you off the path that God has laid out for you. Sometimes, what we think of as convictions are us wanting to have our own way, and we have to rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit, the affirmation of those believers closest to us, and the peace that we have with our decisions to be able to stand up against those who would see us quit.

Trust That There Is A Plan

We don’t always get to see the puzzle as it is being built. That can be incredibly frustrating even when we have the convictions to follow God’s leading. But God has a plan that we can trust in, even when we cannot see it. Specifically with Ezra 5 & 6 we see this played out in multiple ways. The foundation for the temple to be rebuilt was laid with King Cyrus (Ezra 1:11; 6:3-5), and since it was done as a decree that they were returning, there was precedent that decrees couldn’t be overturned (Daniel 5-6). This example was done on the world stage at the time, long before the return of the Hebrew people to the Promise Land. Another example of God going before the people was where King Darius provided financial resources for the temple when they found the decree from King Cyrus (6:8). What wealth the Hebrew people had, they had accumulated while they were in Babylon. The wealth of the nation had already been absorbed into Babylonia society when they were taken over. Yet, God has provided; he placed it on the heart of the king to have his country give back what had been taken and finance the construction of the temple.

Through it all, God makes his name known. Both Cyrus and Darius are sure to give credit to the God of heaven and earth who dwells in Jerusalem (6:12). This example is not regulated only to Ezra, but we see it throughout the Bible. We saw it in Exodus 5-11. God brought plagues on Egypt, each representing one of the gods the Egyptians worshiped, to show how they did not stand against the God of Israel. He shows it in with Rahab, and how she had heard of what happened in Egypt and she feared the Lord (Joshua 2:8-11). And when we get to the New Testament it is proclaimed during Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36). In each account of God doing the miraculous, there are those who witness it who proclaim him. Sometimes this is with fear – as was the case with Egypt. Some times this is with a mixture of wanting to be a part of his people, which was the response of Rahab. Many times, it is with the confession and belief that God is Lord of all, which is what we see during Pentecost and what we see whenever the Gospel is proclaimed, resulting in hearers making a profession of faith. In all things, God makes himself known, and it is through him being known that he accomplishes his plan.

But there is another part to God’s plan coming to fruition that we do not always talk about; God humbles hose who would stand against him. Ezra 6:13-14 records those of the region west of the Euphrates doing exactly that. They attempted to keep the Israelites from building the temple (again) by lodging a complaint with the current king, but God humbles them by having the king say that they found the original decree. Not only did they find the original decree, but the those who attempted to impede the project were now going to be contributing financial to it. Humbling indeed. Other examples of God doing something similar involve Pharaoh (Exodus 11:10, 12:29-30), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4 – that was a bad one, but he praised God at the end of it), and Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9 – who later became known as Paul the Apostle). The outcome of trying to hinder God’s plan is that you will be humbled.

Rejoice In the Fulfillment

It is sometimes hard to see while in the midst of God plan, but we are also able to rejoice when we see God’s plan being fulfilled. Rejoicing has, scripturally, taken place in three different ways: through offerings (Ezra 6:15), celebrations (Ezra 6:18), and remembrance (6:22). All of this is recorded in Ezra – as you can see by the references -however, we see this in other places as well. Offerings were made by Noah when they came out of the ark (Genesis 8:20), and when the Israelites first crossed over the Jordan into the Promise Land (Joshua 4:2-7). We see celebration taking place when Isaac was born after the long wait for Sarah to have a son (Genesis 21:7), and when the people were save from a holocaust while in Persia (Esther 9:17). Finally, we see examples of the people remembering the steadfast love of God, specifically in the Psalms 136, but also Jesus commands that when believers take communion that it is done in remembrance (I Corinthians 11:25-26). In all these examples, there is rejoicing. Rejoicing through remembering, rejoicing by giving, and rejoicing by celebrating.

Final Thoughts

We need to always remember that God is working. God is always at work, but we might not always see it because we are a part of it. Like someone working on a puzzle without the box, we do not know what the final picture is going to be, but God does. As the puzzle is coming together we need to remember our part, and be convicted of it. If we have conviction, we are going to strive forward regardless of what comes our way. Connected to that conviction is the trust that God’s plan is going to work out. We already know that through history, God has provided a way to save people from their sins, we can have confidence that the plans he has for us are going to be work out too. And finally, we can rejoice in the here and now. God has set down his plans, and while we are in the waiting, we can be rejoice in what hope that we have.