We continued reading through Ezra today. Chapters 4-6

With all building projects, there is opposition. After Cyrus came Xerxes and Artaxerxes. The enemies of the Jews brought reasons to stop the building of the temple. It is a reminder that even though you are doing God’s work, there will always be people opposed to it.

Following Artaxerxes came King Darius. He gave a decree after the Jews reminded him to go back to the archives. He discovered the decree that King Cyrus made in the past. Thank God for records. In the records and even in the decrees of the kings we see God’s sovereign hand. In each instance, God’s name was glorified and exalted. Even Gentiles proclaimed this temple as the great God’s temple.

At the end of chapter 6, we see a glimpse of the assembly of God. The temple is complete and the people shout for JOY!
Ezra 6:13-22

Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

We finished our time of worship with prayer. We acknowledged that we should have greater joy in celebrating the new temple God has made in us by the Holy Spirit. We watched American Idol and Dancing with the Stars earlier today, but even more so, because of our Lord Jesus Christ who died and established us as his people and temples of the Holy Spirit, we should have greater joy, sing songs of praise greater than American Idol and dance with greater passion than Dancing with the Stars.

So we prayed for that reality to be evident in our lives. We also continued interceding for our friends, family, and church.

May God be glorified.