Ezra and Nehemiah
Ezra and Nehemiah talk about many figures who helped in the rebuiliding of Jerusalem and the temple. Among these figures: Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra and Nehemiah themselves. Choose one of these figures (or a figure not on the list), and select a verse from Ezra or Nehemiah that particularly well summarizes the contributions of this figure. Explain why you chose this verse and why this person's contribution is particularly important.
posted by Ancient Art at 3:35 PM
6 Comments:
An important figure that made a major contribution to the rebuilding of the temple is King Cyrus of Persia. By permitting the Hebrew exiles to return to their land to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, Cyrus showed that he was a compassionate leader and understood the treatment of the Hebrews at the hands of the Babylonians. Verse 2-4 sum up his proclamation to Israel to return to their homeland and worship their God.
All of the first chapter of the book of Ezra deals with King Cyrus's proclamation to allow the Hebrews to return to their homeland to do God's bidding. Although he did not worship the God of Israel, Cyrus offered them his blessing and his help in getting back the relics that the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar took when they conquered Jerusalem. Ezra 1:7-9 covers the various items that Cyrus brought out of Babylon and returned to their rightful place in the temple of God in Jerusalem.
Cyrus also fulfilled the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah by allowing them to return after 70 years in captivity. Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1-13 stated that Cyrus will allow the Hebrews to return and rebuild their temple and rebuild Jerusalem. Jeremiah 29:10 also mentions that the Hebrews would be rescued after 70 years. The fulmillment of the prophecy is mentioned in Ezra 1:1 by stating that "in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia" to allow the Hebrews to return home.
Ezra 5:2-11 clearly shows that Zerubbabel, Jeshua, along with others definately show that these individuals were not afraid to stand up and work on the temple. Many individuals would probably have been intimidated by the governor (and entourage) showing up and demanding they stop building. These individuals are definately role models in the sense they took a stand for what they felt needed to be done. Many people today could learn a valuable lesson from this. Even today many individuals are afraid to take a stand on any issue. This in turn allows others to make arbitrary decisions that may or may not be in the best interest of society. People need to understand that sometimes they should take a stand (for/against) on an issue. If people are not willing to take a stand now, their children and grandchildren may not have the opportunity to speak out.
It was stated earlier in the book of Ezra that King Cyrus of Persia let the people who wanted to go back to help build the temple go, which is really sincere of him and all, but what i found to be even more compassionate was in chapter 3:7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by the sea from lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus King of Persia. Its one thing to just allow people to go do something, but when you give them money, food, etc to do something, really says how significant he really was to the building of the temple.
Ezra 10:1 "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." This verse leads to the confession of the sins of the people of Israel. I think this verse very well summerizes Erza's contributions. Ezra was a priest who was able to get the Israelites to realize their sins, and later confess their wrong doings. I think this is a huge contribution to the rebuilding of the people. If they would not have realized their sin and if they could not have confessed, they would never start to rebuild.
Ezra 3:1-3
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
Taking on the task of building the alter in the temple is a much greater task than it really is given credit for. Jeshua built the altar using the exact rules Moses wrote down. I can remember how precise those directions were! Also, he and his fellow priests had to do it,not with support from the community, but in fear. There would be no use for a temple without an altar... that's Jeshua's big contribution.
I think that King Cyrus is a very important man to this story because of his help in allowing them to start rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. the verse that tells him that he should aollow the Isrealites rebuild Jerusalem is in Ezra 1:2. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdome of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for hime at Jeruslaem in Judah. this verse states that god told him that he is supose to so he does.
Post a Comment
<< Home