First Things First (2 of 7)
Series: Ezra
Robert Dawson
Ezra 3
How many of you have had a project around the house you wanted to do or needed to do but kept putting it off and putting it off or you just could not find the time for it no matter how hard you tried? How many of you, once you found the time and bit the proverbial bullet and decided to take the proverbial bullet and decided to tackle the project stared at it in disbelief asking yourself, ''Where do I start? What do I need to do first?''
That may well have been on the minds of the Jewish leaders and people who returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile in Babylon.
1. As Part of God's sovereign plan Cyrus, King of Persia, issued an edict inviting all the Jews who wished to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple the opportunity to do so. He even brought out the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the Temple so they could be returned to their proper place.
2. Roughly 50,000 people returned to find things in Jerusalem in much worse shape than they had hoped and anticipated. Things were an absolute mess.
Remember, the majority of these people had never seen Jerusalem. They had never seen, much less worshipped, in the Temple. Those who had seen Jerusalem and the Temple were utterly flabbergasted by what they saw because they had probably not seen the full results of Babylon's demolition of their Holy City.
1. It was a city in ruins. The Babylonians had done quite a number on Jerusalem, its Temple and its walls.
2. Not only did Babylon decimate the city and the temple it had decimated the people. Their way of life, national identity and worship were gone. Those who remained had lost their national and religious distinctives as foreigners, both from a national and religious perspective, moved in and took advantage of and intermingled with the Jews who remained.
This task was about more than a building campaign. It was about a people. It was about more than cleaning up ...
Series: Ezra
Robert Dawson
Ezra 3
How many of you have had a project around the house you wanted to do or needed to do but kept putting it off and putting it off or you just could not find the time for it no matter how hard you tried? How many of you, once you found the time and bit the proverbial bullet and decided to take the proverbial bullet and decided to tackle the project stared at it in disbelief asking yourself, ''Where do I start? What do I need to do first?''
That may well have been on the minds of the Jewish leaders and people who returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile in Babylon.
1. As Part of God's sovereign plan Cyrus, King of Persia, issued an edict inviting all the Jews who wished to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple the opportunity to do so. He even brought out the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the Temple so they could be returned to their proper place.
2. Roughly 50,000 people returned to find things in Jerusalem in much worse shape than they had hoped and anticipated. Things were an absolute mess.
Remember, the majority of these people had never seen Jerusalem. They had never seen, much less worshipped, in the Temple. Those who had seen Jerusalem and the Temple were utterly flabbergasted by what they saw because they had probably not seen the full results of Babylon's demolition of their Holy City.
1. It was a city in ruins. The Babylonians had done quite a number on Jerusalem, its Temple and its walls.
2. Not only did Babylon decimate the city and the temple it had decimated the people. Their way of life, national identity and worship were gone. Those who remained had lost their national and religious distinctives as foreigners, both from a national and religious perspective, moved in and took advantage of and intermingled with the Jews who remained.
This task was about more than a building campaign. It was about a people. It was about more than cleaning up ...
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