Thoughts from Camp - Day 15 - Zerubbabel

"Seek God until He breaks your heart, and then preach from the bottom of your broken heart." This 

is what I often say to those I mentor. So with seven weeks of speaking, writing devotions and heading up ministry at a summer camp, I anticipate being challenged, stretched and broken as the weeks roll on. Each day I will post some lessons to be learned from the devotions and messages we have studied as a camp.

Dragged into exile. It had been foretold by Jeremiah, Isaiah and others. Israel had been sinful and wicked - they didn't care about the temple sacrifices. They oppressed the widow and the orphan. God promised to humble them and restore unto them a knowledge of Him. So after some time chilling outside of the Promised Land, the day came for the remnant to return

A decree went throughout the land - King Cyrus of Persia said that anyone who wanted to rebuild Jerusalem could go. So who else would head up but one of those unknown, unrecognizable but dreadfully important Bible characters. Zerubbabel was his name, and the first thing he did when he arrived was to rebuildd the altar. Why? Because God is holy, and sacrifice needed to be made for sin. That was a priority. Shortly after, they re-poured the foundation of the temple. The old men who remembered the old one wept. The young men shouted with joy, until no one could distinguish between the cheering and the crying.

A few bitter men write a letter to the king complaining about the Jews and the work halts for a bit. But isn't too long until they pick up where they left off and carry on. God's work carries on. Although it stopped for a bit God is sovereign (and good) and the work continued. The temple is eventually finished, funded by king Darius, and the stolen temple articles are returned from Babylon.

What do we learn from all of this? That God's prophesied plan in Isaiah and Jeremiah to humble His people worked. The men who had misused the temple had been invaded and the remnant that survived was now, after years, returning to try a second time at what they had blown the first time. Could they be stopped by a grouchy neigbour? Of course not. God is sovereign – his work will be done.

Ezra shows up shortly after, he comes to teach people the law. He reinstates the Levitical priesthood so that the physical building Zerubbabel built has something going on inside. Shorlty after, he finds out everyone is being immoral in their marriages (interracial mingling - a Torah no-no). He tears his garments. He prays. And here's something cool - when he prays, he counts himself in with all the sinners. He, an innocent man, confesses the sin of a country he's a part of. A true leader with integrity counts themselves with those under them. Then, Ezra confronts the people about their sin, and they admit they have a problem. They do their investigating to figure out who is married to a person of what nationality. Then they deal with sin. Marriages are broken (not ideal, but better than the sin they were in). Families are flipped upside down. The nation had been dragged into exile for immorality, and this time they were literally willing to have their worlds turned upside down to avoid having sinful hearts before God. God is holy – we need to deal with sin.

Nehemiah, who gets his own book of the Bible but never his own Sunday School teaching slot, leads the third group of exiles back. He helps to rebuild the wall and put nation back on feet. And once they are a real nation living behind a wall, he works to stop the oppression of the poor and makes sure everyone is fed, and living in a real house. If you read the prophets, a lot of why Israel was judged is because they mistreated the widow and the orphan. And here, Godly Nehemiah knows what's up. God is loving – He cares for the oppressed.