Greetings members and friends and welcome to another commentary and preview to this Sunday’s study of the Word. This Sunday’s study text is entitled “Freedom To Worship” and it is based on Ezra 6:1-12.
This Sunday’s study is about persevering through obstacles to the worship of and faith in the Lord. According to several biblical commentaries, it was at least 14 years and as many as 20 years since king Cyrus gave his decree to allow the Jews to return home and rebuild the temple the Babylonians had destroyed.
During that time, their efforts had been frustrated by people in the region who didn’t want them to succeed. Some hired what we would call “lobbyist” today and what the text called counselors. Their job was to influence government decision makers for their own interest.
Not only did they hire these counselors and lobbyist, but they wrote letters to the king accusing the Jews of sedition and rebellion if they are allowed to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. As a result of all these efforts, a decree came from the king during this time period ordering the Jews to halt what they were doing.
But after a time of inactivity, the prophets of God encouraged them to resume the work on the temple. When they resumed the work on the temple, another king different from the one who ordered them to stop had risen to the throne.
Some of the same people, whose offer to help was rejected by the Jews, again intervened by writing a letter to king Darius to try to get the work stopped. But their letter backfired against them this time.
Instead of stopping the work, they were instructed to help expedite the work by giving the Jews everything they needed to get the job done all at the expense of the royal treasury. Furthermore, he ordered them not to interfere in any matter or else they would pay a heavy price up to and including death.
King Darius ordered the records searched and found king Cyrus’s original decree giving the Jews permission to rebuild the temple and commanding everyone to cooperate with them. So what the people who wrote the letter to stop the building meant for evil or bad for the Jews, turned out to be just what they needed and their good to complete the job of rebuilding the temple first and later the wall and the rest of Jerusalem until the time of Christ.
This study demonstrates that God never abandons His people no matter the circumstances and obstacles they must face to worship Him. This world which God made for us to dwell in is not ideal or perfect. While there are many wonderful things in it and to experience, there are just as many things to spoil it and make life difficult.
The challenge for the people of God is to persevere through the trials, setbacks and difficulties with faith in and true worship of God. Some of the challenges are more difficult than others and we are often left asking why so great the burden.
Only God knows for sure, but I can only surmise our trials and tribulations serve some divine purpose we are not able to fully see or comprehend. We are simply called to trust God without fully understanding or seeing His plan or reason for our pain and suffering.
Just like those in the study today, there are people and have been people in every generation who want to stop the progress of others for various reasons. Most of the reasons stem from jealousy, greed, envy, lust or some other fleshly passion rooted in the heart. We can be assured that God knows our situations and circumstances.
God has and always will work behind the scenes as He did with the Jews in today’s study to bring about His purpose for His people and foil the attempts of their enemies to stop them. We here in the United States have unlimited freedom to worship the true and living God as we see fit where in many places on this planet there is no such freedom.
There are those in some places who can only dream of the freedom to worship we here in America so recklessly disregard, ignore and abandon. Many of our ancestors braved and endured unimagined severe hardship and difficulty to keep and maintain faith not only for the sake of their own souls, but to pass it and the hope of a better life along to us.
So far in the year 2022, we are doing physically and materially better that they could even have imagined, but are doing so poorly worshiping God in spirit and truth that it is not worthy of their sacrifices.
I surely would not like to see it happen because I recognize how much we are blessed. But I am forced to confess that if we don’t amend our ways, God might be compelled to turn all our lights off for an extended period of time. Never doubt that He can or doubt that He will.
Well, be sure to look over the study again and come prepared to offer your comments, questions and perspective on the meaning of the study. If you can’t attend your own Sunday School class this Sunday, you can join us live and online at 9:00 am at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link.
You can also join us live by dialing 508 924-2890. If you have any comments or questions, be sure to place them in the comment section or you can share them on Sunday. So, let’s all have a great lesson and discussion this Sunday and remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
