Big Time Celebration

7/13/2011 7:15:26 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                              Focus:  Stage Three: the work completed

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                           Reference:  Ezra 6:13-22

                Message of the verses:  “13 ¶  Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. 14  And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15  This temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. 16  And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17  They offered for the dedication of this temple of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18  Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 19  The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month. 20  For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21  The sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate the Passover. 22  And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

                There are two sub-sections in this last main section of chapter two from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Ezra.  The first sub-section is entitled “The joy of dedication and it covers verses 13-18 of Ezra six.

                First I want to focus in on verse fourteen and on the words “command of God.”  John MacArthur points out that this word “command” is usually translated “decree,” but in this case is translated command.  He writes, “The message here is powerful.  It was the decree from God, the Sovereign of the universe, which gave administrative authority to rebuild the temple.  The decrees (same word) of 3 of the greatest monarchs in the history of the ancient Near East were only a secondary issue.  God rules the universe and He raises up kings, then pulls them from their thrones when they served His administration.”  I think that this not, and the truth of it, puts things into proper perspective. 

                Dr. Wiersbe points out that at this dedication of the temple there was no Ark in the Holy of Holies, and no glory filled the house, the temple was still dedicated. 

                During the time when Solomon’s temple was dedicated there were countless numbers of sacrifices offered, but this temple dedication there were only 712 sacrifices, but the Lord accepted them.  They had offered twelve male goats as sin offerings, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

                This dedication took place on the twelfth day of the last month of the year 515 BC and so the Passover was to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month, which was only a few weeks away.  Joshua the high priest had also consecrated the priests and the Levites for their ministry in the completed temple.  It was David who had organized the way this should be done, as the priests were organized into twenty-four courses so their ministry would be more effective.  By doing this they did not have to serve all at one time (Luke 1:5, 8).  1Chronicles 24:1-19 speaks of how David divided the priests.  In verse eighteen there is a reference to the Law of Moses and this is reference to the consecration of the priests which can be seen in Lev. 8-9.

                The last sub-section is entitled “The joy of remembering,” and covers the remaining verses in Ezra 6.  This speaks of the Passover that they celebrated shortly after the dedication of the temple.  It should be noted that all males of Israel were required to go to three feasts that were celebrated in Jerusalem ever year, and the first of these feats was Passover, with the other two being  Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

                I wish to point out from verse twenty-one something that could be missed from reading it, and so I will quote a note from John MacArthur:  “the impurity of the nations.  These were proselytes to Judaism, who had confessed their spiritual uncleanness before the Lord, been circumcised, and renounced idolatry to keep the Passover (v-22).”  In the book of Exodus 12:43-49 it is made clear that these proselytes were allowed to take part in the Passover as long as they met those requirements listed in the note.  “  43 ¶  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44  but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45  "A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46  "It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47  "All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48  "But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49  "The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.’”

                I have recently finished a study of 2Kings and 2Chronicles and in those books both Hezekiah and Josiah celebrated the Passover and this kind of reminds me of their celebration.  When the children of Israel were wondering in the wilderness for forty years they did not celebrate the Passover after the judgment from the Lord came to them that they would be wondering for forty years,  This is made clear when in the book of Joshua all of the males had to be circumcised before they began their battles with the nations who lived in the Promised Land.  They did celebrate the Passover at that time and this is another of the memorable Passovers from the OT.  Of course the greatest Passover celebration was when the Lord Jesus Christ (our Passover Lamb) died on the cross at the time when the lambs were to be killed for the Passover.  Paul speaks of Christ as being our Passover:  “1Co 5:7  Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”  When John the Baptist saw Jesus before he baptized Him he said “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I find great comfort in knowing that God is the One who is in control of what goes on here on planet earth as can be seen from verse fourteen and explained from MacArthur’s note. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Realize that it is the Lord who is in control of not only the nations but my life as well, and as I go through this difficult time in my life that comforts me.

2.       Continue to learn contentment even though by my continuation of learning contentment seems I seem to be running into situations that are difficult, but do teach me that God is in control, and this is part of learning contentment.

7/13/2011 8:43:18 AM