The Hope of Restoration
The Work of Revitalization • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Work of Revitalization
The Work of Revitalization
As the kids are being dismissed to Jr. Church you are welcomed to be seated. If you are visiting for the first time today or viewing this online, my name is Pastor Ben and it is a joy to with you today. If you are recently new or visiting for the first time today, I would ask that you grab one of the visitor’s cards from the pew in front of you and fill it out. You can place that in the offering plate as it goes by following the message. For those of you who tune in online, please go to our website, burroak.org, there is a place where you can request info or submit your prayer requests. This would give us the ability to connect with you.
Well last week we began our new series on the work of revitalization. From our introduction message we looked to three aspects about the process. First was why do we need to revitalize? The answer to this is because we are prone to becoming complacent to the way God has called us to live, which causes us to forget our God and to actively walk in rebellion. The second was the outcome of our complacency. Here we discussed the nuance of the Church’s relational proximity to God as the bride of Christ. Our rebellion of complacency is not that of a prodigal son rejecting the Father authority, but rather that of an adulterous spouse. The last aspect we looked at was the timeline for revitalization. From this we saw that there is no actual earthly ending point but rather markers that we can be looking for.
These markers where:
Hearts soften & desire to grow in Godly wisdom
Repentance of sins
Growth in knowledge and understanding
Increased attacks by the enemy
New conversions & baptisms
What we need to remember is that first and foremost revitalization is heart work.
Since this is the case, let us work on our hearts by turning to our focus verse.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Please pray with me.
Father we thank you for today and this time that you have given us. As we come to your word, would you open our hearts and minds so that we may receive it. This is your service Lord, may you be here amongst us. May you bless this message and our time together. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
The title of our message for today is The Hope of Restoration: God’s Faithfulness. and we will be surveying Ezra chapters 1 and 2. If you brought your own Bible or want to follow along on your device please turn there now. If you are using the blue pew Bible it is on page 428 at the bottom of the page. Or you can follow along on the screen.
Let us hear the word of the Lord.
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.
6 And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.
7 Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
1 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.
59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:
64 The whole assembly together was 42,360,
65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.
66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245,
67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.
68 Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site.
69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.
70 Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.
May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
As we consider this passage for today, there are a few things we need to keep in mind. First, preaching from an OT narrative book is quite different then preaching from a NT epistle. Their perspective points of view are different. NT epistles tell us how to live in light of the work that Jesus has previously accomplished. OT narratives show how God operated within the lives of mankind while pointing forward to the need of a Messiah. As we work through Ezra and Nehemiah what we will see is how God’s character is put on display, how man responds to that, and how this points towards the need for Jesus.
As we consider the hope of restoration today through chapters 1 and 2 we are going to consider three biblical aspects of God’s character, promise, provision, and providence.
The God of Promise
The God of Promise
In the first verse of our passage today we read.
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
Now when we are reading the OT and we come across the word lord we need to stop and ask ourselves who here is being talked about. The reason for this is that the English word lord is used to describe both God and man. Context will tell us who is being referred too. In English translations when we come across it like this where it uses the small capital letters it is being used as the proper name of God.
Within our passage for today the proper name of God, Yahweh, is used 7 times, 6 of them are in chapter 1. Ezra is wanting the reader to start by getting his focus on Yahweh, to see what it is that he has done. As we have looked at before embedded within the name of Yahweh is the understanding that he is the keeper of his promises. That he is in fact the God that can carry through with his promises. But how do we see that set before us here in this passage?
As verse one indicates the proclamation that Cyrus states is to fulfill the word that Yahweh spoke through Jeremiah. What was this word?
10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.
Jeremiah lived during the time leading up to the exile of Israel. We see his prophecy of Yahweh’s promise to bring them back to the promise land being fulfilled within this proclamation. Yet, within this passage there is more evidence of Yahweh being the God who keeps his promises.
Writing nearly a hundred years prior to Jeremiah, Isaiah prophesied who it was that would release the Israelites back to the promised land.
1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
While we can see these promises being kept within the immediate context, Yahweh’s character is not built on just these two promises. Last week we looked at how the exile due to not keeping the Sabbath rest for the land was established in the Levitical law. This was nearly 900 years prior to the exile. Built within this law is the promise of return.
40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,
41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
And as we see how this section ends, the promise of return is not founded in the law but rather with the covenants that Yahweh made going all the way back to Abraham. Abraham was 1,500 years prior to the exile. Yahweh being the God who keeps his promises is established on who he is as he has revealed himself continuously throughout the ages.
If you remember when we went through our lamenting series we looked at how lamenting is possible because of Yahweh’s emet and hesed.
His trustworthiness and covenantal love.
The hope of restoration, the hope of revitalization, is not built on what we can muster in our own strength, but rather in who Yahweh says that he is. He is the keeper of his promises.
So what does this mean for the Christian and for the Church? When we begin talking about Christians and remembering the promises of God, far too often we are looking through too narrow of a lens. We will question Yahweh’s character on what we have experienced in our lives or maybe one generation back to our parents. When we do this it is like trying to grasp Yahweh’s character by looking at it through a keyhole. You will spend most of your time questioning what it is you are looking at.
See we need to broaden our view. The Scriptures teach that through Christ, gentiles were adopted into the family of God. By this that means we now have a shared history that we can look back upon. The Scriptures indicate that this is how we are to view the promises of Yahweh. We too are to look back to see what God did at the return from the exile. We too are to look at what God did in the conquering of the promise land. We too are to look at what God did through the exodus. We too are to remember what was promised to Jacob, and to Isaac, and to Abraham. We are to stare back down this long line of history and see that at each and every point alone the way, God is faithful.
When you feel at your wit’s end with a child, God is faithful. When you feel like your marriage is at the brink of no return, God is faithful. When you feel crushed by the responsibilities of life, God is faithful. Moms, when you feel like no one sees you for all you do for your families, God is faithful. Church, when persecution comes knocking at our door, God is faithful. When all earthly prizes and possessions are stripped away from you, when every friend or family member abandons you, God is faithful.
Yahweh is the God of promise. And his promises are not empty. For not only is he the God of promise, but he is also the God of provision.
The God of Provision
The God of Provision
When it comes to God’s provision too many Christians get uncomfortable. Maybe it is because we want to stay away from bad theological practices. Maybe it is because we feel like God has never really provided for us. In his Gospel Coalition article from this past February, Garret Kell address the question on if God will provide for our needs. Through this article he presents four principles for the Christian, and I would include the Church, for trusting in God’s provision. They are,
Rest in God’s Promises
Remember God’s Past Faithfulness
Be Ready for Peculiar Provisions
Rejoice in God’s Present Provision
The first principle we covered in our previous point. As we look to our passage for today, we see that Yahweh provides for the Israelites as they get ready to journey to the promise land.
4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
Within Cyrus’ proclamation to let them return there is also provision for the trip and the building of the temple. As we read through this we ought to be saying to ourselves that this all sounds really familiar. Almost as if the the Israelites had been through something like this once before.
35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Tied directly to looking back down the long line of our faith history to see that Yahweh has kept his promises, we can also do so to see that he has provided for his people. The land he promised to Abraham, he provided a way for them to enter into it and not be in desolation through the Exodus. When the Israelites chose not to listen and out of fear did not enter the land, Yahweh provided manna for them to eat while int he wilderness. When the manna wasn’t enough for them, he provide quail for them. Each time they turn away, we would provide a leader to rescue them and bring them back. When they were tired of his headship and wanted a king, he provided a king. When they went into exile he provided a way for them to return and to rebuild their temple and city.
Each step of the way Yahweh was there to provide. The provision may not have come in a form that they thought it should, but provision was there not the less. This is the third principle for God’s provision. Be ready for it to come in unlikely or peculiar ways. Looking to the story of Elijah and the ravens, Kell reminds the reader that ravens were an unclean animal, yet twice a day Yahweh provided for Elijah by having the ravens bring bread and meat to him.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
And this wasn’t the only time that Elijah was provided for in a peculiar way. Elijah stayed with a widow and her son during the time of a great famine. The widow believed that her and her son were near death because of the famine. Yet, God provided for them and Elijah by never letting the flour or oil jars running empty. If we remember from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus informs us that this widow was a gentile woman. Not only did Elijah see provision from an unclean animal, but also from someone outside of his accept community.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
These two lead us to the last principle, rejoicing in the current provision. Elijah had known better days. The widow and her son had known better days. The Israelite people had known better days. Yet, what could they find in that moment to be thank for? What could they see that they currently had that was provision from Yahweh? Are there eyes open to see the everyday gifts that are granted to them?
When heading down the path of revitalization, when seeking out the hope of restoration, these are the same questions we need to be asking ourselves. Many can remember the days when the seats were fuller. Many can remember the days when there was more cushion in the bank account. Many can remember the days when there was more of a presence of young families and young adults. But what in this moment can we be thankful for? Can we get beyond church operating as we believe it should and be ready for the peculiar ways that Yahweh is going to provide for our needs as a church family? Can we trust that God will provide for us, regardless of what that may look like?
Warren Wiersbe states,
“To whom does God give His provision? To those who trust Him and obey His instructions. When we are doing the will of God, we have the right to expect the provision of God.”
Warren W. Wiersbe
What is the will of God for the church? To exalt God, edify the saints, and evangelize the lost. For those that Yahweh has set his affection after, and have responded to this affection in obedience, then provision is there for the fulfilment of the promises that Yahweh has made. Why is this the case? Because Yahweh is the God of providence.
The God of Providence
The God of Providence
Built within the definition of this term, providence, is the idea that it is Yahweh who is at work.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) (Providence)
Providence:
1 a: divine guidance or care
b: God conceived as the power
sustaining and guiding human destiny
But how do we grasp onto this reality of providence in our lives and hows does our passage for today point towards it? Looking back to our first verse that sets the stage we see that Ezra indicates that it is Yahweh that is at work.
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
The text indicates here that what Jeremiah spoke was not of his own accord but rather the word of God. Or that God was speaking through Jeremiah. The next aspect that we see is that Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus. Showing how this work of God is not uncommon, Daniel Akin states,
Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah (God Stirs Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–5))
So God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, hardened Sihon’s spirit and made his heart obstinate, and the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar was hardened. When God stirs the spirit of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1, He is doing the same thing that He did at the first exodus and on these other occasions, but in a different way.
Yet, Ezra doesn’t stop by showing God’s power over the king, he shows it over the people as well.
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.
Akin comments,
Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah (God Stirs Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–5))
The same terminology used in Ezra 1:1 for the stirring of the spirit of Cyrus is repeated in 1:5 for the stirring of the spirit of those who went up to Jerusalem. Ezra repeated the same words in the two verses to show the Lord’s power both over Cyrus and over His people.
Ezra sets the stage for this book and the book of Nehemiah by showing that it is in fact Yahweh that is causing all of these events to be. That it is in his providence that all things are taking place. By understanding this as the foundational premises for this book we can begin to answer some questions about what we read and how it applies to our life and how it ultimately points to Jesus.
One of the more difficult aspects to understand from reading these first two chapters is what comes near the end of chapter two.
59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:
62 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
We see here that there are some who had a desire to return and did return but were not able to prove their genealogy. Because of this they were excluded from certain tasks, specifically from serving int he priesthood. The issue here was a matter of holiness. Within the Mosaic Covenant, the levitical code spelt out specifically who could serve as a priest and who could serve as a high priest. If these guidelines were not followed, the result was death for those who were operating outside of them.
This may seem harsh but it points towards the fact that Yahweh’s holiness is to be taken seriously. Far to often this is an area we grow lax in. We relish the grace aspect to the point that we believe it is a license to not live holy lives. These priest not only had to be from a specific lineage, but also had strict consecration codes they had to follow to be able to come into God’s presence. It is said that when the high priest would go in to the most inner chamber, into the holies of holies, of the temple, the room that was behind the veil, he would go in with a rope around his waist in case he was struck dead, the others could pull him out.
See man is so stricken by sin that even in our best efforts to display holiness, we often fail. All of this pointed to the fact that we needed a greater high priest. A high priest that did not have to worry about their sin. A high priest that could present the perfect sacrifice, so that once and for all the debt of sin was paid, and man now through this priest could bold come before God. This problem was solved through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The veil was torn upon his death because the price had been paid. Now through him we can go boldly before the throne of grace. That is Yahweh’s providence working to solve man’s greatest issue.
But is that all? Is all that God’s providence has done for us is solved something that right now I am not even thinking about? How dies God’s providence apply to my life today? What does it mean for the struggle that I personally am currently in, what does it mean for our church? First having our greatest issue taken care of is to re-frame how we think about every aspect of life. When we have our lives anchored on the hope of the future return of Christ and the promises that he has made. When we see the provisions that he has given us, then we can trust in his providence regarding our situations. B.B. Warfield stated,
A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly problems.
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield
This group of returning exiles that we read about in verses 59-63 were told “no” and “not yet” to part of their requests. Akin tells us that because of the concern of holiness their exclusion, the response of “no” and “not yet” are for their protection. We need to understand that in Yahweh’s providence something that we have been praying about or asking for, that does not seem to be coming through can be due to the fact that receiving it may be harmful to us.
For individuals, this may come in the form of a job, or a relationship, or an opportunity, or a material item that we want. For the church, maybe it is certain people we would like to come, maybe it is certain ministry opportunities, or buildings or property items that we hope for. There are times that within Yahweh’s providence that he says yes, there are times when he says not yet, and there are times when he says no. In times of blessing we tend to forget Yahweh’s providence. In times of struggle we tend to not see Yahweh’s providence. We can train ourselves to see his providence by putting into practice the four points we discussed earlier.
As Spurgeon writes,
Blessed is the man who sees God in trifles! It is there that it is the hardest to see him; but he who believes that God is there, may go from the little providence up to the God of providence.
Providence, Volume 4, Sermon #187 - Matthew 10:30
Charles Spurgeon
As we hope for restoration, as we walk the path of revitalization, can we rest in Yahweh’s promises? Can we look down that long history of faith and see how he has been faithful? Can we see his provision for our needs? Can we release the idea of it looking how we ought to think it should look and be prepared for Yahweh to provide in peculiar ways? Can we be grateful for what we currently have? Can we come to rest in the providence of God? Can we come to take Paul’s words and find the peace and freedom to live fully for Yahweh?
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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END IN PRAYER
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