WWUTT 709 Generations of Israel Rejoice?

When the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem and they were praising God, there were multiple generations there praising the Lord. And likewise, we will have multiple generations in our churches helping one another when we understand the text.

The Ministry of When We Understand the Text

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the book of Ezra. It's going to be a little shorter lesson today, but as with last week, I'm going to begin in chapter one with the decree that was made by Cyrus, king of Persia, so that the Jews would return to their land, that they would go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of God.

Cyrus’s Decree and the Return from Exile

Ezra chapter one, verse one, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.

He is the God who is in Jerusalem and let each survivor in whatever place he sojourns be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

This was the same decree that we saw talked about at the end of second chronicles. And it is also that decree which begins the book of Ezra. First it was decreed by Cyrus. It went out into all of the kingdoms that that were under the rule of the Persians.

And then he put it in writing so that it would be known that this was a decree that was to be fulfilled. And so it was with the Jews going back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And this just shows how God was sovereignly working.

He was providentially working even through men to bring about those things which had been prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah. Now, if you were to lay out the Old Testament in a chronological order, and so far we have been reading these things in a chronological order.

But if you were to take all the books and lay them out in the order in which they were written, Jeremiah, of course, would have come before the book of Ezra. So we're reading a historical record that started all the way back in the book of Genesis.

And now we've come to Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther. And as far as the chronology of the events that happened in the Old Testament are concerned, these are the ending books. These are the concluding books to those events in the Old Testament.

The prophets and some of those things would be laid out before the events of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, as Esther may have taken place sometime in that fourth century B .C., bringing a conclusion to the events that we have read about in the Old Testament.

So here that decree has been issued. The Jews, we read about gathering up their things, the money that was given to them so that they could make this journey and afford the building materials that were going to be needed to rebuild the temple.

That's what we get in chapter one. And we read that chapter last week. In chapter two, we read about those exiles returning and we have what's basically a census. So I'm going to start here at the beginning of chapter two, but not read all of this word for word.

Now, these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

And then it's going to mention those people who led them back to Jerusalem and then talk about those families, the houses, the members of those households and tribes and what they numbered, the people that had returned back to Jerusalem.

And we have the summation, the total of those who had returned mentioned in verse sixty four. So this is Ezra chapter two, verse sixty four. The whole assembly together was forty two thousand three hundred and sixty.

So this is the total number of the people of Israel that returned from exile back to Jerusalem. But this was also combined with those people that were already there. So it doesn't mean that the exact number of people in Jerusalem was forty two thousand three hundred and sixty because not included in that in that number.

Verse sixty five was the male and female servants of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty seven. And they had two hundred male and female singers. Their horses or horses were seven hundred and thirty six.

Their mules were two hundred and forty five and their camels were four hundred and thirty five and their donkeys were six thousand seven hundred and twenty. Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord, that is in Jerusalem, made free will offerings for the house of God to erect it on its site.

According to their ability, they gave to the treasury of the work. Sixty one thousand derricks of gold, five thousand minas of silver and one hundred priests garments. Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants lived in their towns and all the rest of Israel in their towns.

So some that were not exiled out that still were there in Jerusalem and in Judah, they were part of this assembly that was gathered together once again to consider those things that had happened to them, consider how the Lord had been faithful to them, to deliver them back to this land as he promised they would.

And not everyone, some of them died. And in fact, the Lord, through Jeremiah, said that there were those who were going to perish in captivity because of their sin against God, because they were wolves instead of shepherds to lead the people as they were supposed to do.

And instead they were false teachers and led the people astray. So those who were false and those who boasted and said, hey, nothing's going to happen to me. They perished in captivity and those of their progeny as well.

But here are those families and those heads of household and their offspring that were allowed to come back to Jerusalem to fulfill that which had been prophesied by Jeremiah. And also we read about some of these events in Isaiah and other prophets as well.

Worship at the Restored Altar and Temple Foundation

Ezra chapter three. Now, when the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Then arose Jeshua, the son of Josedach, with his fellow priest and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his kinsmen.

And they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it as it was written in the law of Moses, the man of God. They set the altar in its place for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands.

And they they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as it is written and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule as each day required.

And after that, the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord and the burnt offerings of everyone who made a freewill 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, so they gave money to the Masons and the carpenters and food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus, king of Persia.

Verse eight now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua, the son of Josedach, made a beginning together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from captivity.

They appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward to supervise the work of the house of the Lord and Jeshua with his sons and his brothers and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hinnadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

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 son of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David, king of Israel.

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. Now, this is very similar to something that was sung by the people in First Chronicles chapter 16, but it says here that they sang responsively.

So that means somebody was singing something and then the whole crowd, the whole assembly as one man. Remember, it says that they gathered together as Jerusalem, as one man. So you're talking one huge voice of greater than 50 ,000 people that were being lifting, that were lifted up in praise to God.

It must have sounded absolutely awesome. I don't know if you've ever been to like a big stadium event where 50 ,000 people are singing. I have been to something like that before. Back when I was in junior high, attended Promise Keepers in Boulder, Colorado.

And when we would all sing together with the Promise Keepers band, all these men in this stadium singing over 50 ,000 people, it sounded absolutely awesome. And so you think about this in Jerusalem, even during this time of Ezra, with all of these voices singing together as one and likely what they were singing, since we're talking about a responsive singing, someone singing something and it was likely the Levites.

We had those that tribe of Levites that were responsible for the musical instruments and for leading the processions. So they were singing and then the whole crowd was responding back to them. And it was likely Psalm 136, because this is the Psalm that we see where somebody is saying something and the whole crowd is repeating the same thing over and over again.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords for his steadfast love endures forever to him who alone does great wonders for his steadfast love endures forever over and over again.

We see that there in Psalm 136, and I find it particularly convincing that Psalm 136 would have been the song that they were singing, especially when we consider that in Psalm 137, this was the Psalm that was written while they were in Babylonian exile.

So it's interesting to have both of those back to back. Psalm 136 when they returned, Psalm 137 when they were in exile. So I think that was the Psalm here. And that's what's being hinted at in Ezra chapter three, verse 11, that they were singing Psalm 136 and all the people shouted with a great shout when they praise the Lord, because the foundations of the house of the Lord was laid.

One of the things that were being shown here in Ezra chapter three is the heart of the people, that they are not just doing this as a religious practice, but they are following the law of Moses to the letter.

They even find a remnant of the altar left, even though the foundation of the temple has not yet been laid. It says that the offering or the altar was in its place. Ezra 3, 3. They set the altar in its place for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands.

And they they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord. So they they erected the altar in the place where it would have stood in the temple. There may have been a broken down section of the altar that was still there.

So they reconstructed it and put it in the place where it would otherwise have been in the temple and offered sacrifices unto the Lord with the fear of God in their hearts and did everything according to the law of Moses.

So we're meant to be shown here in Ezra three, the genuineness of the hearts of the people as they worshiped God, singing together in one voice. He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. And then concluding that verse, chapter three, verse 11, with all the people shouted with a great shout when they praise the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

It's kind of like now we're getting down to business. We're making progress here. Praise God. He has been faithful to us. He's returned us to this place. And look, the work that we have set forth to do is is happening.

It's coming together. Verse 12. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the father's houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping for the people shouted with a great shout.

And the sound was heard far away. How gorgeous is that? What a gamut of emotions is being run here and stretching across the generations. For you have those who are the oldest who remembered seeing the very house of God.

Remember, they've been in captivity for over 70 years. So you had some there who even had had once seen the temple of God. And when they're seeing the foundation being laid again and offerings being offered on the offering or on the altar where the altar would have been in the temple, some of them are so stirred with emotion that they begin to weep.

And again, in the same attitude of praise as those who are singing for joy, the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. And there are people shouting that with jubilation in their hearts. There are others who are shouting that as well.

But their joy is being expressed through their tears. And they are also saying he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. How beautiful a thing it is when the people of God across multiple generations are worshiping together the influence of of the oldest generation upon the youngest generation and even ways that the youngest generation can minister to the oldest generation.

When that happens in a church, how beautiful that is. There is a huge push right now on churches being multiethnic. There is not as much push on churches being multigenerational. That's not as popular.

It's not as appeasing or as appealing to the world who is all about multiethnicity right now as well. You know, it's kind of trying to feed the world's appetites by pushing this agenda of multiethnic churches, which isn't possible.

You can't do that. And if you could do that, it would be racist if you were saying, you know what, we're seeing a group of this ethnicity over here in this part of the church. But over here, we don't have this ethnicity.

So we need to go out in the community and focus on that ethnicity. Well, then you're focusing on skin color and you're focusing on appearance on the outside rather than truly desiring to change the hearts of anyone who would hear the gospel.

And we should not be prejudiced when we share the gospel. We should share the gospel with absolutely everyone. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and all who believe in Christ are justified by his grace.

And that's a work that the Holy Spirit does as the gospel is being proclaimed. You cannot force unity and a church growth strategy is not going to bring about unity in your church either. It is only through the hearing of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit to turn hearts from sin to the truth of God's word.

That's how you grow a church. And if the Holy Spirit decides that your church is going to be multiethnic, then your church will be multiethnic. But many churches, most churches, in fact, I would say, aren't even in multiethnic areas.

There may not be that opportunity for you to have a church that is made up of multiple different ethnicities. Now, in my church, we are. And it's because of Fort Riley, the influence of a military base next to our community, which is why we have so many different people from so many different backgrounds in our congregation.

But it's not something that we as a church are trying to do. We just happen to have multiple different persons of different upbringings and traditions and things like that that come together in one spirit from one father, God over all who worship the one Christ, Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins.

But we can't force that to happen. That is a work that the Holy Spirit does now, while a church cannot deliberately be multiethnic, it will be multigenerational. And we should strive for multigenerational in our churches, not trying to appeal to certain demographics, to young families, things of that nature, but that we that that our church service is built upon the gospel.

And sometimes the youngers are going to have to give to what they know would be better for the older generation. And sometimes the older generation is going to realize, hey, sometimes we're going to need to cater to the whippersnappers.

OK, so that's just going to happen. And we have instructions that are given to us in Titus chapter two about multigenerational worship in church. As for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much whine. They are to teach what is good. And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. And in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may not be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

There are no instructions in the Bible on being a multiethnic church, but there are plenty of instructions on how we're supposed to be multigenerational, with the oldest generation leading the younger generation and the younger generation following the example of those who are older.

So that is definitely something that we as churches should be. We will have multiple generations, though not every church will have multiple ethnicities. And besides, I mean, a striving for a multiethnic church.

Again, you're just looking for what's on the outside instead of understanding the change of the heart that happens through the Holy Spirit, by the declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how beautiful a thing it is when multiple generations worship together.

And we have that in our church as well, even entire families with as many as four generations being represented in one family, in some of the families that are in our church. That's a beautiful thing to see as well.

I love it. The Lord is indeed good and his steadfast love endures forever. We see it continuing in the generations that exist within our churches. Let us pray. Our Lord God, we thank you so much for the salvation that has been brought to us in Christ, how you have reconciled so many different people from so many different ages and generations, so many different backgrounds and cultures.

And you have brought them together into one one people of God who is named by our father in heaven. We wear his name and we have been reconciled to him through the blood of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross.

So previously we were hated by others and hating one another, but now we are one in Christ Jesus and we should show the love of Christ to each other. So teach us how to do that more and more. Help us to be a church that is living in obedience to the word of God, not catering to the different fads of the culture, but knowing what it is that you have said to us in your word.

Keep us diligent in these things, steadfast and passionate for the word of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Gabriel Hughes is a pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.