Let's Not Get Carried Away?!

(taught by Arlene 9/14/10)

The book of Ezra marks a significant milestone in the life of the nation of Israel. As prophesied, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms after the reign of King Solomon. Centuries later, the southern kingdom of Judah had been carried away to Babylon for 70 years of captivity. Ezra marks the beginning of the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple.

Today Arlene covered three theological issues that relate to being carried away to captivity. She gave us the definition of theology. Theology is ‘the art and science of knowing what we can know about God in a systematic way'. She pointed out that Ezra is not a history lesson. Ezra was written to remind us. Her aim was to take the theological issues of the book and make it practical to our everyday lives. Arlene emphasized that her lesson is not something we hear and apply to those around us. We need to hear it for ourselves and make it personal to our own walk and relationship with the Lord.

Theological Issue #1: Holiness
Ezra (the man) returned with the second wave of exiles to Jerusalem. He came to bring revival to the inhabitants and lead these people in holy living. The temple had been rebuilt and now they had to live a life set apart. This is very relevant to our lives. The question is – ‘what exactly is holiness?’. In Hebrew the word is qādôš. It means sacred, consecrated, set apart as dedicated to God.

God gave the law to the Israelites, primarily to teach them how to live distinct and set apart lives onto God. When they obeyed they walked in His protection. When they disobeyed He lifted that same hand of protections and allowed their enemies access.

Holiness is not just an Old Testament concept. You can see a call for believers to live holy lives throughout the New Testament (1 Peter 1:15, 2 Tim 2:20-21). Although God promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us, when we live lives that are not holy (or set apart) we will lose out on the fullness of his power. This is called quenching the Spirit.

We learned that the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was carried away by the Assyrians because of their disobedience.

We learned that the Southern Kingdom (Judah) was carried away for their protection.

We learned that like the Northern Kingdom we can be carried away when we refuse to live Gods way.

There are some very practical things that can carry us away in our lives as well: unbelief, disappointment with God, prolonged trials, offenses, failure, shame,etc. All of things can cause us to stop living a set apart life unto God.

We don’t have to try to be holy – God has made us holy. We live in holiness when we are able to take these situations and allow God to be recognizable in them. We choose to believe God rather then doubt. We chose to trust Him even when it doesn’t seem like He is going to show up. We live as “prisoners of hope” when face with prolonged trials. We forgive rather then carry an offense. We don’t allow failures and past mistakes to rule the way we live our lives. When faced with the current economic climate, we bring hope.

Judah was carried into captivity for a different reason. They were carried away for their own protection (Jer 24). If we feel we are in a period of captivity and we don’t know why this may be it ( Psalm 44). We shouldn’t automatically assume we are doing something wrong. Sometimes it is because we are doing something right.

The question we need to ask ourselves – ‘Am I an Israel or am I a Judah?' If I am a Judah - wait on the Lord (Jer 29:4-14). If I am a Israel I need to repent, repent, repent! In the book of Amos he says ‘repent and live’ three times. There is life after repentance. It is a new beginning and the opportunity for a new start. Repentance leads to restoration.

Theological Issue #2: Restoration
We learned that God does the restoring (Ezra 2:1, Jer 32:37-41, 2 Chron 36:22-23). Our part is to repent and then wait. Physical restoration should not be confused with spiritual restoration. Sometimes God does not bring a physical restoration but he may restore creativity, joy and laughter(Psalm 126).

Theological Issue #3: Providence of God
Lastly, we learned that God was ordering every incident in their restoration. (Ezra 1:1 & 7:27, Neh 2:6, Psalm 126).

“What is equally apparent is the divine sovereignty. There are no overt miracles, but one imperial decision after another is quietly initiated by the Lord, who stirred up the spirit of Cyrus’ put a certain thing into the heart of Artaxerxes, and again saw to it that it pleased the king to send; Nehemiah to reverse policy” (Ezra and Nehemiah, Kidner, p24).

Arlene pointed out that it was the providence of God that cause the restoration of Judah to Jerusalem. She also pointed out that we weren’t in Bible Study today because we thought it was a good idea but God was quietly initiating events to get us here. That it wasn’t the bulletin or the blog or the emails or a friend asking us but it was God. God has ordered each one of us to be here today and He is glad that we came.

As you probably know, the Jewish people just celebrated Rosh Hashanah which is the celebration of their New Year. There is a popular practice associated with this holiday, it is Tashlikh ("casting off"). The celebrators walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty their pockets into the river, symbolically casting off their sins. It is a day of fresh beginnings. What a wonderful picture of leaving our past failures behind and starting a new.

God’s timing is perfect. His word and the traditions of the Jewish people remind me that there is always opportunity to start again.

Note: If you are interested in learning a little more about Rosh Hashanah, click on the following link: http://gardenofthelordis51.blogspot.com/2010/09/happy-new-year.html . It will bring you to Arlene’s personal blog where she has written a post entitled ‘Happy New Year’.

And finally a question for you – How did God speak to you today?? Let us know!