consider your ways

So I have been reading through the book of Ezra, and the organization of the book really fascinates me. I mean, it almost reads like a novel or a play. It opens with the exiled Israelites returning to rebuild the temple. God has moved the king, Cyrus, to allow the Israelites to travel back to Jerusalem. Cyrus even goes so far to command that the Israelites should be given “...silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides free will offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:4) How amazing is that? God is so good! Not only has He changed the heart of the king of Persia, but He has made a way for His people to go back to their home and even provided funds for them to rebuild the temple. God provides for/equips the Israelites to accomplish His will.
Then, in chapter four, the enemies of the Israelites employ all manner of trickery to hinder the building of the temple. They intimidate the workers, bribing officials to frustrate and slow down the Israelites. Finally, they write to Artaxerxes, contriving a cease and desist letter from the king. And what do the Israelites do? They give up. Stop building the temple. Now, at this point, i am feeling sympathetic with the Israelites. After all, we are called to respect authority and the authority of the land has commanded that they stop construction (which is kind of a lame way of thinking...after all, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto the Lord what is the Lord’s....and we are supposed to hold everything up to God’s word and act in accordance with what it teaches, i.e. if God says to build the temple, but the monarch says to stop building, we build anyway). But then, in chapter five, Ezra mentions the prophets Haggai and Zachariah (and i thought, hey! i know them...their books are further into the bible...) so i went and read them. And this is what i found...

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.” (Haggai 1:7-9)

wow. punch in the face. Difficulties arise and instead of trusting in God to work out the problems, the Israelites abandon their purpose and busy themselves with their own goals. So often, i think that Christians catch a vision of what God is doing and passionately set out to be used for His will and then when hardship comes, they lose heart and start thinking that maybe what they thought wasn’t really God’s will because it’s hard. Well, who said it was supposed to be easy? Just because God chose to bless the Israelites with Cyrus’ decree and encourage them with easily acquired materials, that doesn’t mean that God is required to continue to provide in the same way. God is not formulaic. It’s like in Prince Caspian, when Lucy meets with Aslan and wants Him to come roaring in and save everyone like He did in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but Aslan says that He never works the same way twice. why? Because God isn’t about the ends. We try to micro-manage God, by expecting Him to work in the most “efficient” way, by our standards. But God has another purpose in mind. He is about the relationship. The Israelites had already experienced God as provider. They needed to grow, to experience God in a new way. Before, He blessed them so they could worship Him as provider. When things are tough, when the world turns against the Israelites, they could experience Him as comforter, as their rock. They could have trusted Him to see them through the persecution and continued construction on the temple.(again, like when Lucy should have followed Aslan, even when her older siblings didn’t believe her, yet she let her circumstances dictate her actions and resulted in disobedience.) But they didn’t. and, as a result, they missed out on experiencing the faithfulness and power of God.

BUT.... God doesn’t give up on them. In Zachariah, God says, “Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem” (Zachariah 1:14-17).

Thank you, Father, for Your enduring faithfulness!

i have more to write about Ezra, but i don’t have time right now....