When the original temple was built in Solomon's day, it was the golden age of Israel. God provided for the building miraculously, as He had promised David He would. After years and years of work during a time of peace in the nation, the temple was finally finished. When the Holy Place was dedicated, God's glory so filled the temple that the priests could not finish their work. (1 Kings 8). Solomon prayed a powerful prayer of dedication and the Lord's presence stayed in temple for many years.
After Solomon's death, Israel split into two kingdoms. King after king ruled over both areas. And with each king, Israel began to drift away from their God. Even though a few kings followed the Lord, most did not. Eventually, Israel was sent into exile in Babylon, and Jerusalem, God's Holy City, was left in ruins. The temple that Solomon had so lavishly built was nothing but sticks and stones, and the sacred objects inside the temple were carried off as treasure by the Babylonians.
Seventy years later, the Israelites were allowed to return home to what was left of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra recounts how the temple,which had been completely destroyed, was rebuilt. It took 3 1/2 years and was a much smaller version, but nevertheless, the place where Israel met with God was restored. Nehemiah returned to find the city wall in shambles and wept for many days over it. Finally, he received instruction from the Lord to rebuild the wall. King Artaxerxes of Babylon even gave him the resources to do it. The exiles who had returned even began helping him do so. In a short 52 days, the work was done.
One might believe that the rebuilding of the wall and the temple was just as easy as building the original temple had been, but they would be wrong. Ezra and Nehemiah both recount stories of people who tried to discourage the rebuilding process. Ezra 4:4-5 reports that "[T]he peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia." It even came to the point in Ezra 4:24 that the worked was stopped for a decade because of opposition.
In Nehemiah 4, two men named Sanballat and Tobiah became angry that the work on the wall was happening and began to publicly malign the Jews for working on this task. But Nehemiah, who is one of the wisest men in the entirety of Scripture, prayed. He said, "Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders." (v.4-5)
But Sanballat and Tobiah continued to torment the Jews until finally, Nehemiah had people stationed at the wall with swords. God frustrated the plots of those who were their enemies, and the work continued. (Nehemiah 4:15) These evil men came back and tried to stop the work again in chapter 6, but again, Nehemiah prayed. His prayer was simple: "Now strengthen my hands." (Nehemiah 6:9b) Despite their threats, the wall was finished. God honored the prayers of Nehemiah.
Sometimes we build, and then, by no fault of our own, what we have built gets torn down and turned into rubble. In some instances, it is our fault that what we have built is destroyed. We try to rebuild, but it seems as if that at every turn, we are met with opposition. The obstacles in our way seem bigger and badder, and we don't think we will be able to place another stone onto another. The work has to stop as we grieve and mourn a little more. We feel as if we have taken two steps forward only to take three back. Rebuilding is a seemingly never-ending process of progress, resistance, a little more progress, even more resistance, and then finally, one day, the work is complete, and we are new again.
Right now, I am in a rebuilding phase in my life. Some days I am making great progress. Other days, I am sitting in the middle of my rubble heap wondering how all of these stones can ever be a building for the Lord again. I wonder if my work may be in vain. I think about giving up. But if you look at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you see that neither of these men gave up. When things got hard, they sought their God. As I said, Nehemiah's prayers are some of the most profound in all of Scripture. Ezra was given the job of reading the Book of the Law to the people when the work was done on the wall. At that reading, the people began to mourn and weep over their sin. After that reading, Nehemiah told the people, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b)
In the middle of our rebuilding, when we face opposition and hardship, we must remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is fairly easy to build. But it is in the rebuilding that we grow the most. It is where we have to draw the nearest to God in order to gain the power to go on. The enemy does not want us to rebuild. That is quite obvious from these two accounts! Rebuilding means we are back in the game and ready to serve our Lord again. That is certainly not what he wants! He wants us to sit in the midst of ruins and stay there. Because when we do rebuild, we have a story to tell, don't we? And that story does nothing but bring God greater glory!
On the day the foundation was laid for the new temple in Ezra 3, there is a beautiful account of the events that happened there:
"When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
After Solomon's death, Israel split into two kingdoms. King after king ruled over both areas. And with each king, Israel began to drift away from their God. Even though a few kings followed the Lord, most did not. Eventually, Israel was sent into exile in Babylon, and Jerusalem, God's Holy City, was left in ruins. The temple that Solomon had so lavishly built was nothing but sticks and stones, and the sacred objects inside the temple were carried off as treasure by the Babylonians.
Seventy years later, the Israelites were allowed to return home to what was left of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra recounts how the temple,which had been completely destroyed, was rebuilt. It took 3 1/2 years and was a much smaller version, but nevertheless, the place where Israel met with God was restored. Nehemiah returned to find the city wall in shambles and wept for many days over it. Finally, he received instruction from the Lord to rebuild the wall. King Artaxerxes of Babylon even gave him the resources to do it. The exiles who had returned even began helping him do so. In a short 52 days, the work was done.
One might believe that the rebuilding of the wall and the temple was just as easy as building the original temple had been, but they would be wrong. Ezra and Nehemiah both recount stories of people who tried to discourage the rebuilding process. Ezra 4:4-5 reports that "[T]he peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia." It even came to the point in Ezra 4:24 that the worked was stopped for a decade because of opposition.
In Nehemiah 4, two men named Sanballat and Tobiah became angry that the work on the wall was happening and began to publicly malign the Jews for working on this task. But Nehemiah, who is one of the wisest men in the entirety of Scripture, prayed. He said, "Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders." (v.4-5)
But Sanballat and Tobiah continued to torment the Jews until finally, Nehemiah had people stationed at the wall with swords. God frustrated the plots of those who were their enemies, and the work continued. (Nehemiah 4:15) These evil men came back and tried to stop the work again in chapter 6, but again, Nehemiah prayed. His prayer was simple: "Now strengthen my hands." (Nehemiah 6:9b) Despite their threats, the wall was finished. God honored the prayers of Nehemiah.
Sometimes we build, and then, by no fault of our own, what we have built gets torn down and turned into rubble. In some instances, it is our fault that what we have built is destroyed. We try to rebuild, but it seems as if that at every turn, we are met with opposition. The obstacles in our way seem bigger and badder, and we don't think we will be able to place another stone onto another. The work has to stop as we grieve and mourn a little more. We feel as if we have taken two steps forward only to take three back. Rebuilding is a seemingly never-ending process of progress, resistance, a little more progress, even more resistance, and then finally, one day, the work is complete, and we are new again.
Right now, I am in a rebuilding phase in my life. Some days I am making great progress. Other days, I am sitting in the middle of my rubble heap wondering how all of these stones can ever be a building for the Lord again. I wonder if my work may be in vain. I think about giving up. But if you look at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you see that neither of these men gave up. When things got hard, they sought their God. As I said, Nehemiah's prayers are some of the most profound in all of Scripture. Ezra was given the job of reading the Book of the Law to the people when the work was done on the wall. At that reading, the people began to mourn and weep over their sin. After that reading, Nehemiah told the people, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b)
In the middle of our rebuilding, when we face opposition and hardship, we must remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is fairly easy to build. But it is in the rebuilding that we grow the most. It is where we have to draw the nearest to God in order to gain the power to go on. The enemy does not want us to rebuild. That is quite obvious from these two accounts! Rebuilding means we are back in the game and ready to serve our Lord again. That is certainly not what he wants! He wants us to sit in the midst of ruins and stay there. Because when we do rebuild, we have a story to tell, don't we? And that story does nothing but bring God greater glory!
On the day the foundation was laid for the new temple in Ezra 3, there is a beautiful account of the events that happened there:
"When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away."
Keep rebuilding, dear one. As you do, your healing will come smack dab in the middle of it. Shouts of joy will come. Everyone will be able to hear it. Will there be a tendency to look to the past and lament what used to be? Yes. Absolutely. That is what the older generation seems to be doing here in Ezra's day. But eventually, you will see God do a totally new thing. And there will be nothing left to say but, "He is good; His love toward me endures forever!"
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