Fully Devoted: Israel, Act 2Sample

Former Glory

The seeds of hope sown into the desperate hearts of God’s people began to spring to life when Cyrus, the king of Persia made a surprising decree. 

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.’”  Ezra 1:2-3 NIV

Cyrus, in a drastic departure from the normal pattern of people in power, acknowledges that his authority actually comes from God. And his awareness of that fact leads him to free the captives. After 70 years, God’s promise of deliverance was coming to fruition. But it wasn’t a mass exodus like the one from Egypt. The return of the Israelites happened in three main stages. 

    1. Zerubbabel and the new temple

Zerubbabel led the first group back. And on the bright side, after 70 years of despair and suffering, there’s now hope and joy. In their zeal, this first group immediately goes to work laying the foundations of a new temple. Their enthusiasm is fueled by a very real sense of God's presence with them, leading them out of the land of their captors—much as He did when they left Egypt. They’re reliving their Exodus story and it’s nothing less than invigorating! But, much like in the original story, this first group of freed captives quickly loses their fervor. There’s a “dark side” to this deliverance that we have to acknowledge. Israel is returning to find their homeland in ruins. Their city had been burned to the ground, chaos and confusion surrounded them on every side, and they were defenseless, vulnerable, and weak. Their return was one of the most anti-climactic moments in history. 

Picture it with me. The epic music is building. The camera is panning. There’s a  glorious light shining … on a dusty … pile … of ash. WHAT? We waited 70 years for this? Their disappointment must have been so heavy. And when the weight of their current reality being a mere shadow of Israel’s former glory hits home, all work stops for 15 years. Cyrus dies and new kings rise to power who are less than excited about Israel’s rebuilding process. Finally, Darius takes over and allows for the work to resume, but the people are lukewarm, at best, about wading into the mess. 

    2. Ezra and the renewal of the covenant 

During Darius’ reign, the new temple was finally completed and Ezra led a second group back to Jerusalem. Ezra was well-versed in the Law of Moses. And just like when the people departed Egypt, they once again needed to be reminded of their identity as a nation. They needed to relearn what it meant to be the people of God, and to understand how to relate to Him and represent Him to others. So Ezra came and reinstituted the priestly order. He trained up a new generation of spiritual leaders to remember their covenant with God and help the people navigate the tension of figuring out how to be a nation again. Under his leadership, there was confession of sins and an awakening passion to serve and honor God. But their distinctness was a difficult thing for them to process in their state of defenselessness.     

    3. Nehemiah and the rebuilding of walls 

Nehemiah, who was in the service of the king, received word from the exiles who had returned. And it wrecked him. 

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” Nehemiah 1:3 NIV

Nehemiah fasted, prayed, and asked permission from the king to leave his job as the royal cupbearer and become Israel's new general contractor. He was sent to his people with the king’s blessing and a burden to recover his people’s dignity. Nehemiah rallied the people, and in the face of significant, deceptive opposition from neighboring nations, they completely rebuilt the walls of the city in 52 days. This is an impressive feat even with modern-day machinery! And this happened with a bunch of returned captives who worked on the wall with one hand and held a sword in the other hand to defend themselves! Each person dedicated themselves to the section of wall in front of their own homes and they blew expectations out of the water. 

So God’s chosen people are now back in the Promised Land. They have rebuilt the temple, reinstated the Law, and reconstructed the walls. But will they reclaim their identity? Will they step back into their calling as holy, set apart people representing a holy, set apart God? Or are their hearts still back in Babylon? As God’s people today, let’s ask ourselves the same questions. Will we take hold of our identity in Christ? Will we embrace our calling to represent our King and His Kingdom to the rest of the world? Or are our hearts still captivated by our culture’s version of Babylon? 

Journaling Questions 

• What verse or verses stuck out to you today? Take some time to write those down. Why did they stand out? 
• Why do you think the people were disappointed in the new temple? What does that tell you about the way things were supposed to be between God and His people?
• Why do you think the covenant is so important to God?

Memory Verse

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NIV