It Takes A Village – Week 12

King after king ruled. Young men took the throne, one after the other, their time of rule short and riddled with corruption. And then the evil began to spread to the leaders, the priests, and the Jews. Sin spread like water upon a shoreline within the hearts of God’s people, and finally God allowed king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to rob the temple of all its valuables, capture the king of Jerusalem, and send the Jews into captivity exiling them from their land.

Then, over a century later, Cyrus king of Persia sent them back to rebuild a new Temple of worship for the Lord. With little to their family names and struggling to survive, they began to rebuild all that had been destroyed under the great leadership of Ezra. Laying burnt offerings every morning and evening, the Israelites were surround by enemies and confrontational neighbours on all sides. But they needed set aside their fears offering worship to their God- the God who loved Israel.

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.
Ezra 10:1

Ezra was a direct descendant of Aaron. A priest and biblical scholar with a deep faith and burning conviction for God and His laws. We find him leading the second group of Jews returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. We encounter Ezra wailing before the Lord soul-broken for the sins of the people, specifically the intermarrying with foreign wives. Scripture gives us an account of each family that seemed to fail at keeping the Jewish blood and bond free of outside influence and, by the end of the book, Ezra prove to be powerful in birthing a revival in the hearts of the Israelites renewing their covenant with God and submitting in obedience to Him.

Life Application:

A covenant is not a contract. We can learn from the difficulties of the Jews that stepping outside of our covenant with Him will prove to cause heartache and anguish. The rebuilding of the Temple of God is akin to the rebuilding of our lives in a new covenant with Christ. The strongest relationships within our village are those that hold the greatest of intimacy. We must ask ourselves difficult questions such as whether the people who we share our most personal thoughts, struggles, and triumphs are like-minded in Christ’s cause. Are we guarding our hearts from outside influences that have the ability to corrupt our mind and emotions? Difficult indeed, for Christ greatly desires to make us holy- set apart for God and His purposes- not our own.

Father, help me to guard my heart and that which flows from it. Sometimes my soul wails like the spirit of your faithful servant Ezra, begging you to forgive my transgressions. When I stumble and fall, may you be merciful towards me renewing my covenant with Christ in your mighty name. In Jesus name, amen.

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