1. God blessed the remnant with firm audacity (5:5)
2. God blessed the remnant with a fair assessment (5:6-6:5)
3. God blessed the remnant with a fervent advocate (6:6-13)
4. God blessed the remnant with full accomplishment (6:14-15)
Back in the book of Exodus, when God was describing the priestly garments to Moses… He included a very strange feature. In what was called the “breastplate of judgment” He included a couple of special stones. Nobody really knows what those stones looked like or how they worked. But we know what they were called. They were called the Urim and Thummim. And many times in the Old Testament, that’s where they would go to determine God’s will about something. Even as late as Ezra 2, the priests would seek the Urim and Thummim to determine the will of God that He was going to bless. One time this bright young theologian came home from seminary. His head was full of all kinds of biblical knowledge. And he was more than happy to let everybody know what he knew. So one day after church, he was talking with a group of people about all kinds of wild theological theories about how the priests would use Urim and Thummim to determine God’s will that He would bless. After this went on for a good bit of time, one wise old man spoke up. He said, “Son, I don’t know about all that fancy stuff you’re talking about. I know that somehow, by God’s design, in the days of the priests… He made it so they would have to use the Urim and Thummim to determine God’s will that He would bless. But here’s what else I know. I know that it works almost the same way today.” That really got the young scholar’s attention. “Yep—Instead of working through Urim and Thummim, today God reveals His will through Usin’ and Thumbin’—Usin’ His Word and thumbin’ through it’s pages.” If you’ve spent more than just a few minutes with Don Deel, I’m sure you’ve heard him tell you what God blesses. He is quick to tell you that God only blesses one thing. God only blesses His Word. The only way to determine the will of God for your life that He will truly bless is by usin’ and thumbin’ through His Word. God blesses obedience to His Word. We see that in our passage tonight. Our passage tonight is very long. It runs from 5:5 all the way to 6:15, so we’re not going to read each verse as we go along like we usually do. But keep your Bible open and follow along as we go. Just a little side note here. Never trust a preacher. I think I’m safe in saying that because the Bereans didn’t even trust the Apostle Paul. And the Bible praises them for that. What I mean is, don’t always completely trust that what a preacher says is true to Scripture. That’s why you’re blessed to have your own Bible. Look it up for yourself. Read what comes before and after the text that was presented. Make sure the sermon or teaching was on what the text was really about. One of the reasons that the Lord has convicted me to preach through books the way I do is to help you get into the habit of systematically looking at texts. Know the text in its context. If I jump around from text to text, it’s too easy for me to preach my thoughts instead of what God’s Word actually says. I don’t know about you, but I want to hear from God. Actually, I do know about you. You want to hear from God too. That’s why you put up with my teaching the way I do. So, why is it that we want to hear and read and learn God’s Word so much? Why do we hunger for it the way we do? Because, to steal Don Deel’s line, that’s what God blesses. He blesses obedience to His Word. Just like He did with the remnant in our passage. Remember where we are. After 16 years, the remnant had finally gotten back to work on the temple of God. God spoke to them through His prophets Haggai and Zechariah. And when they heard the Word of God, they got busy. But no sooner than they had gotten back to work, some Persian government officials came and questioned them. They questioned their authority and they even took a list of names down in order to report them to King Darius. But the remnant wasn’t intimidated. They had heard God’s will clearly revealed in His Word. And they didn’t ignore it. They didn’t put it aside. They no longer stalled and delayed. This time, when they heard God’s Word, they obeyed His will. And when that happens, God blesses. I want us to obey God’s will that we see in His Word. I don’t want us to ignore it. I don’t want us to stall or delay. When we see God’s will in His Word, I want us to obey just like the remnant did. And when we do, God will bless. And He’ll bless in four ways. The first way God will bless is with firm audacity. Look at verse 5:
EZRA 5:5
God blesses obedience to His Word with firm audacity. Audacity is boldness. And make no mistake about it, the remnant was bold. In the early 16th century Henry VIII was the king of England. As the king of England, he was also the head of the Church of England. As such, he would call for the bishops to preach to him. One day, he called Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worchester (Wooster) to preach for him. Well, Bishop Latimer certainly did. He laid it on him. See, Henry VIII was a very immoral man. The only reason he formed the Church of England was because the Catholic Church excommunicated him for his many divorces. He was an immoral man who thought he could have his own little church with puppets for preachers. But Bishop Latimer was no puppet. So when he came to preach to King Henry, he laid it on him. And the king didn’t like it. When Latimer finished, the King ordered him to come back the following Sunday prepared to apologize for the offense he had given. Well, the following Sunday arrived. And Bishop Latimer stood before the King. And this is what he said out loud, to himself: “Latimer, Latimer. Thou art going to speak before the high and mighty king, Henry VIII, who is able if he thinks fit, to take thy life away. Be careful what thou sayest. But—Latimer, Latimer. Remember that thou also are about to speak before the King of kings and Lord of lords. Take heed that thou dost not displease Him.” And then do you know what he did? He preached the exact same message he had preached the week before. Of course, that kind of boldness can get you killed. And it eventually did. He was burned at the stake by King Henry VIII’s daughter—Mary, also known as Bloody Mary. As the fire began to burn his body, this is what he said: “We shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God’s grace shall never be put out.” That is boldness. That is audacity. That’s the kind of firm audacity that only comes from obedience to God’s Word. And that’s the kind of firm audacity the remnant had. Remember the information that the questioners came looking for back in verses 3-4. They wanted to know two things. They wanted to know: who told them it was OK for them to build. And who were all the people involved. The authority question—that’s not too threatening. But the names? That would be scary. The remnant knew that if King Darius had a list of their names, he could have them all killed for treason. That would have been scary. It would have been intimidating. But what did they do? They obeyed the Word of God and they kept on building. God blessed their obedience with audacity. The audacity to keep building in spite of threats. The audacity to keep building in spite of opposition. The audacity to keep building in spite of fear. God was with them and gave them the audacity to keep going. Did you know, the same God will give you the same audacity today? If you obey what He tells you to do in His Word, He will give you the courage and boldness to keep obeying. It is scary to sacrificially give in the face of bills and personal expenses. It’s scary to commit to service in the face of a crowded schedule—especially when you’re already worn out. It’s scary to reach out to people that you don’t know. It’s scary to witness to them. But those are all areas that are clearly laid out in God’s Word that we are supposed to obey. And when you obey God’s Word, He’ll bless. He’ll bless you with firm audacity. The first way God blesses is with firm audacity. The second was is with a fair assessment.
God blessed the remnant with a fair assessment. Verses 6 and the first part of verse 7 introduce a letter that the questioners sent to King Darius. The content of that letter runs from the second part of verse 7 all the way through the end of the chapter. In verses 8-10, the questioners let the king know what they saw that was going on. They saw that in Jerusalem, there was a group of people who were building a house to the great God. They described a little bit about the construction. This wasn’t just some sort of flimsy structure. They were building it with great stones. High quality building materials. Stuff that’s not easy to work with. It was really surprising work, considering the number of people that were working on it. But they were getting right after it. The work seemed to be going very quickly and efficiently. It had to be to get as much done as they had done. They gave a completely fair and honest description about what they saw. Then, in verses 11-16, the letter moves from their description of the work to what Zerubbabel and Jeshua had said about it. And here’s the amazing thing. The questioners actually fully reported what the remnant had to say about their work. Right down to each and every reference to God. They gave them a fair assessment. Maybe our news media needs to take a fairness lesson from these questioners. Most of the time when the media reports on conservative evangelical Christians, we are portrayed as kooks and extremists. But that’s not what happened here. The remnant was portrayed accurately and fairly. They were given a fair assessment. Finally, verse 17 closes the letter by suggesting that the king follow up on the remnant’s claims. They thought he should check the archives to make sure Cyrus really did authorize them to build the temple. That’s fair. And Darius did. The first 5 verses of chapter 6 records the first part of his reply. He followed their advice and searched the archives. He found out that everything the remnant had said was true. If someone wants to explore the claims we make… that’s a fair thing. God’s people should never be afraid of questions. If someone wants to explore our claims about God and creation and the Bible—go right ahead. If the assessment is fair, truth will always win. And Jesus said that He is Truth. So we have nothing to fear from a fair assessment. God blessed the remnant with a fair assessment because of their obedience. But will our obedience always yield the same thing? Yes it will—eventually. Sometimes God will bless us with people who will fairly assess the claims of Christianity that we present them with. But many people won’t. But, rest assured, the fairness will come. Your obedience might not yield a fair assessment right now. But it will eventually. It will when it really counts. In the 73rd Psalm, the Psalmist was proclaiming the seeming unfairness of life. In verses 2-3, he said, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” It didn’t make sense. Here he was being obedient to God’s Word. But it seemed like all the people who were disobedient were prospering. But then he went on to see the ultimate fairness. Verses 16-19 portray the final assessment. “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” The remnant got an immediate fair assessment from the questioners and from Darius. We won’t always get a fair assessment from our questioners—immediately. Obey God’s Word anyway. Obey God’s Word anyway, because the fair assessment will come. When you obey God’s Word, He’ll bless you. He’ll bless you with a fair assessment. He’ll bless you with firm audacity and with a fair assessment. He’ll also bless you with a fervent advocate.
God blessed the remnant with a fervent advocate. In chapter 6, verses 6 through 13, Darius continues with his letter back to the questioners. He responds by telling the questioners to leave the remnant alone. Let them continue the work that they are doing on God’s temple. But that wasn’t all. He commanded them to help with the financing of the temple. Darius told them to give the remnant some of their portion of the taxes they were supposed to give to him. And help them out with animals for their burnt offerings. Of course, he had a selfish motive. He wanted Israel’s God to bless him too. But selfish motive or not, he was a fervent advocate. He went so far as to threaten anyone who stood in the remnant’s way. And he put the questioners in charge of enforcing his decree. King Darius became the remnant’s fervent advocate. But he wasn’t their biggest advocate. He wasn’t their most important advocate. As a matter of fact, it didn’t really matter if he was on their side or not. Because they had a bigger, more fervent advocate than him. You see, they had God as their advocate. Because the remnant was obedient to God’s Word, God was their advocate. He was in their corner. He was on their side. But it was really more than that. Because in reality, by being obedient to God’s Word, the remnant was on God’s side. By obeying God’s Word, they had bent their will to His. They were now lined up with God’s will. And anytime we are lined up with God’s will, He is our fervent advocate. Paul understood that when he wrote Romans 8:31-34. He wrote, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” When you obey the Word of God in accepting the free gift of salvation, you have a fervent advocate who continually intercedes for you. When you are obedient to God’s Word, He will bless you. He will bless you by giving you the fervent advocacy of His Son Jesus Christ. And when Jesus is for you, the whole world can turn against you. They can turn against you, but they can’t stand. Because he backs His advocacy with a far more powerful promise than Darius’ threats were. When you are obedient to God’s Word, no enemy can stand against you. Because you’re standing in the power and authority of Jesus Himself. When you obey God’s Word, He’ll bless you. He’ll bless you with a fervent advocate. He’ll bless you with firm audacity, a fair assessment, and a fervent advocate. But here’s the real kicker. Here’s the icing on the cake. He’ll also bless you with full accomplishment. Look with me at 6:14-15.
EZRA 6:14-15
God blessed the remnant with full accomplishment. And this house was finished. They got it done. After all those years of exile. After all those years in rubbles. After the long journey from Babylon. After the 16 year delay. After all of those things, it took them about four years to finally get the temple built. And now it was complete. What a blessing from God! Now was standing a place where they could worship God. Now was standing a place that was a testimony to the nations that there was a God in Israel and YHWH is His name. What a glorious day that must have been. I want you to notice something. Way back, 20 years ago when they first started building on the foundation. Way back when they first faced the opposition and almost responded the right way. Way back then, they succumbed to the opposition and quit working for 16 years because they were building under the wrong authority. Instead of recognizing their authority came from God, they told the opposition that their authority was Cyrus. But look at them now in the second part of verse 14. “And they builded and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel.” And it was only under God’s authority that all the others came. They had learned to be obedient to the Word of God. And when they obeyed the Word of God, He blessed them. He blessed them with firm audacity, a fair assessment, a fervent advocate, and above all, He blessed them with full accomplishment. What is God’s will for your life? First, it’s to have a personal relationship with His Son. Everything else flows from that. But after that, it’s to hunger for His Word. It’s to spread the Gospel. It’s to faithfully use your gifts for the building up of His church. It’s to edify and encourage and build up each other. It’s to worship Him by being a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him. How are you going to fully accomplish His will for your life? Simple obedience. Obey Him in the things you know you’re supposed to do. Then he’ll show you the rest of it. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you.” Be faithful where He’s called you. Be receptive where He’s leading you. And be responsive when He’s drawing you. Is Jesus drawing you tonight? Is He drawing you to salvation? Is He drawing you to service? Don’t delay. The remnant delayed and were cast aside as useless for 16 years. What a waste of precious time. Don’t delay. If Jesus is drawing you tonight, you need to obey His call. Whatever it is, step out in obedience tonight.
