Sunday
Morning Bible Study
March 2, 2003
A Time to Rebuild
There had been plenty of warnings. The nation of Israel
had strayed far from the Lord and the time of judgment had come. The beginning of the end of the kingdom of Israel
started in 605 BC as the first wave of captives were hauled off to Babylon
by king Nebuchadnezzar. Another group was taken in 597 BC. Finally, in 586 BC,
Nebuchadnezzar wiped out the city of Jerusalem,
destroyed the Temple of Solomon,
and hauled off the last batch of captives to Babylon.
In 538 BC, the Persian army, led by Cyrus the Great captured Babylon.
One of the first things that Cyrus did when he absorbed the Babylonian empire
was to declare freedom to all the captives. He ordered all those who had been
displaced by Nebuchadnezzar to return to their homelands and rebuild their
cities and temples. The Jews were no exception. Cyrus even ordered that all the
treasures that had been taken from all the world’s temples be returned.
The first group of Jews to return numbered less than 50,000. When they
arrived at Jerusalem, they built an
altar and began to once again offer sacrifices to God.
It’s a time of rebuilding. It’s a time of taking the ruins of life and
building a Temple.
:8-13 Temple
foundation laid
:8 Now in the second year of their coming …in the
second month,
It is now the spring of 535 BC, and it is time to begin to rebuilt the Temple.
It has been 70 years since the first captives were taken off to Babylon
by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC.
second month – was also
the same month (May-June) when Solomon began building his Temple
(1Ki. 6:1).
:8 began Zerubbabel the
son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua
the son of Jozadak
These are going to be the two main men behind the building of the Temple.
Zerubbabel – Z@rubbabel – “sown in Babylon”;
the grandson of king Jehoiachin and a descendant of
King David. He is the civil ruler.
Jeshua – Yeshuwa‘– “he is saved”; He is called “Joshua” in the books of Haggai and
Zechariah. He is the high priest, a descendant of Aaron, and the grandson of Seraiah, the priest who was killed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki.
26:18, 21; 1Chr. 6:14; Hag. 1:1).
:10 the builders laid the foundation of the temple
of the LORD
Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the Temple.
There is another Temple that we
ought to be concerned about.
Lesson
Be a builder
What’s your place in the church? God wants you to be a builder. He wants
you to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
The Corinthian church was filled with divisions. There were all sorts of
cliques in the church. Each group thought they were better than the other
groups. As Paul deals with this sense of division, one of the metaphors he uses
is that of building.
(1 Cor
3:9-17 KJV) For we are labourers together with
God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
“ye” is plural. Paul is talking to the church as a whole, not to
individuals.
{10} According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a
wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and
another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed
how he buildeth thereupon.
Sometimes we look at this passage as how we build our own individual lives
as believers. Yet in context, Paul is talking about the church. He’s talking
about how the church is being built up. Paul founded the church and other men
were working in the church to build it.
A person needs to be careful about what their contribution is to the
building up of the church.
Illustration
The Builder
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He
told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business
and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He
would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The
contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just
one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was
easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy
workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his
career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect
the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is
your house,” he said, “my gift to you.” What a shock! What a shame! If he had
only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so
differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
{11} For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
Zerubbabel and Joshua have laid the foundation of
the Temple in Jerusalem.
Paul is saying that the foundation of the church as a Temple
is Jesus Christ.
The
gospel. Perhaps you need
a new foundation in your life.
{12} Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
precious – timios – as of great price, precious; held in
honour, esteemed, especially dear
I have usually thought of these as being things like
rubies and emeralds, but I wonder if that’s not correct. It may simply refer to
the huge types of stones that were cut out for the building of the Temple.
When Solomon built his Temple …
(1 Ki 5:17 KJV) And the
king commanded, and they brought great
stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of
the house.
They were “costly” because they took a lot of time and
effort to cut them and haul them to the Temple
site.
There’s lots of ways to build a church. There are good ways and bad ways.
Illustration
Think of the story of the three little pigs. Are you
helping to build the church out of hay so the wolf can huff and puff and blow
the house down?
The Three Lil' Pigs
One day a young boy was sitting in his first grade class
as the teacher was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs. She came to the
part of the story where the first pig was trying to acquire building materials
for his home. She said “...And so the pig went up to the man with a wheelbarrow
full of straw and said ‘Parden me sir, but might I
have some of that straw to build my house with?’” Then the teacher asked the
class “And what do you think that man said?” and the little boy raised his hand
and said “I know! I know! He said ‘Holy smoke! A talking
pig!’”
Sometimes we get too distracted by fleshly-whiz-bang
things like “talking pigs” to notice that we aren’t building with the right
materials.
How do we build things out of gold, silver, and precious stones?
One way is to be sure to do everything with God’s kind of
love.
(1 Cor 13:1-3 KJV) Though I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. {2} And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. {3} And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing.
Back to 1Cor. 3 -
{13} Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is.
We call this the “judgment seat of Christ” or the “bema” seat of Christ. This will be a time when each of us as
believers will be judged by Jesus. This isn’t a question of whether we’ll be
saved or not. The issue is what kind of rewards we’ll receive for the things
we’ve done in this life.
Some people have a problem with the idea of “rewards” because in a sense,
none of us deserves anything. But Jesus is still fair Master. The person who is
serious about following the Lord will find that they haven’t done it for
nothing. They will be rewarded in heaven.
{14} If any man's work abide which he hath
built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. {15} If any man's work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
The judgment will be something like a blast furnace. If your work survives
the fire, you receive a reward. If your work is burnt up in the fire, you will
still be saved, but you’ll probably have whisps of
smoke curling up off your head …
{16} Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? {17} If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy; for the temple of God
is holy, which temple ye are.
Some folks use this verse to say that if you commit suicide, God will
destroy you. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not in favor of anyone taking their
life, but the context here is talking about the church as a temple (plural
“ye”), not the individual’s body. The individual as a temple is covered in
1Cor. 6:19.
The point here is that if you mess with God’s church, you’re going to be in
big trouble.
:10 … to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of
David
They are following the same formula of worship that David established when
he brought the Ark into Jerusalem
(1Chr. 16). It involved the priests, the
instruments, and songs that included the phrase:
(1 Chr
16:34
KJV) O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his
mercy endureth for ever.
(1 Chr
16:41
KJV) And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were
chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his
mercy endureth for ever;
This is the same formula that Solomon followed when he had the Ark
put in the first Temple (2Chr. 5:12-14)
:11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the
LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.
by course – ‘anah – to
answer, respond, testify, speak, shout; to sing, utter tunefully; perhaps
antiphonally.
(Ezra 3:11 NKJV) And they sang responsively…
mercy – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness. It means loyal, steadfast, or
faithful love and stresses the idea of a belonging together of those involved
in the love relationship. It has the idea of God’s faithful love for His
unfaithful people.
endureth for ever – ‘owlam – long
duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore,
perpetual, old, ancient, world
This is a HUGE theme in the Old Testament (which might be surprising for
some of you who think the Old Testament is only about a cruel God who judges
people.
This was part of the song that David had composed to be sung before the Ark
(1Chr. 16) as well as what the singers sang when the Ark
was brought into Solomon’s Temple
(2Chr. 5).
This is what Jehoshaphat had sung when they sent the singers out in front
of the army
2Ch 20:21 … that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went
out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] for
ever.
It’s a phrase that pops up in the Psalms 43 times in many different ways
Ps 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my
mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Ps 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to
everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s
children;
It’s the basis for the “Great Hallel” is found in Psalm 136 –
(Psa 136:1-4 KJV) O give
thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. {2} O
give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. {3} O give
thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. {4} To him who
alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Every line ends with the phrase “his
mercy endureth for ever”
It is God’s invitation for us to draw near to Him:
Jer 31:3
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore
with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Lesson
God’s mercy is forever
God has an amazing love for us that is based upon His faithfulness and is
not ruined by our own unfaithfulness.
You may be thinking that God could never love someone like you. You are
wrong.
How can I be so sure that God loves me? We have proof of God’s love in the
New Testament.
(Rom 5:8 NASB) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We can know beyond all doubt that God loves us because
Jesus died on a cross in our place.
For some of you, you may be at the point where you need to
turn to Him for the first time and give your heart to Him.
For some of you, you need to go back to the cross and
remember how much He loves you.
(Rom 8:31-32 KJV) What shall we then say to these things? If God be
for us, who can be against us? {32} He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?
God is not against us. He is for us.
Lesson
God’s mercy allows us to rebuild
I think it is significant that they sing this as they begin the rebuilding
of the Temple. It has come home to
them that God hasn’t forsaken them. His mercy endureth forever.
The example of Israel.
The nation has been through a process of judgment. They have been through a
time of sifting where all the yucky stuff gets sorted out of their lives.
Before their exile in Babylon,
the nation was easily attracted to idolatry. They worshipped Yahweh, but they
also worshipped many other gods. By the end of seventy years in Babylon
they had learned their lesson. They would not return again to look to other
gods.
They had been refined.
That’s not to say that they would have no more problems. When Jesus came to
the nation of Israel,
they rejected Him. Forty years after their rejection of their own Messiah, God
would once again judge the nation and once again the city and the Temple
would be destroyed.
And yet in 1948, God has once again shown His great mercy towards His
people.
In our lives, there may be times when we too experience difficulties
because God is trying to get our attention and have us turn our lives around. When
you finally hit bottom and realize that you have been wrong and you need help,
you will find that God’s mercy is forever. It will be time to rebuild.
:12-13 But many …who were ancient men, that had
seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their
eyes, wept with a loud voice
ancient men – perhaps seventy years or
older. Even though the period of captivity began in 605 BC, the Temple
of Solomon wasn’t destroyed until
586 BC. It is now 535 BC, fifty-one years later. Some men were still alive who
had seen Solomon’s Temple before it
was destroyed.
To these men, the small foundation that has been built is nothing compared
to the glory of Solomon’s Temple.
Lesson
Don’t miss out on God’s work in the
small things
For Zerubbabel, one of the issues involved is
that this group of old men were looking back to the “good old days”, and this
new Temple just didn’t seem to make
the grade.
There would be a period of sixteen years where the building of the Temple
will be suspended. When the rebuilding starts again, the prophet Haggai would
address this problem.
(Hag 2:1-9
KJV) In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came
the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, {2} Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech,
the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, {3} Who is left among you that saw this house
in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in
comparison of it as nothing? {4} Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,
saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech,
the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and
work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
The encouragement here is for Zerubbabel
and Joshua to keep working. They are not to stop the building of this Temple,
even though some would say that it wasn’t very special.
{5} According to the word that I covenanted with
you when ye came out of Egypt,
so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. {6} For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it
is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land; {7} And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all
nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of
hosts.
The “desire of all nations” refers to Jesus.
{8} The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the LORD of hosts. {9} The glory of this latter house shall be greater
than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give
peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
This building that Zerubbabel
was starting would eventually be remodeled by Herod the Great, but it would be
the same Temple that a young twelve
year old boy would call “His Father’s House”. When that boy became a young
carpenter from Nazareth, He would
be teaching the multitudes in that same Temple.
I think we need to be careful with our attitude about the things that God
has called us to do.
I think there will be times in our lives when we might be tempted to think
that we are wasting our time on things that don’t seem too important.
Perhaps you are a single parent and you regret that you
can’t do all the kinds of things you’d like to do because you have to stay home
with your kids.
Perhaps you might be leading a small Bible Study and you
wonder if you should quit because you don’t have people tripping over
themselves to come to your study.
Perhaps you are in a troubled relationship or difficult
job situation and you wonder why you waste your time with such hopeless people.
When God asked Peter to reach out to the Gentiles, He said,
(Acts 10:15 KJV) What God hath cleansed, that call
not thou common.
If you are doing something that God has led you to do, it is not
insignificant and unimportant.