I know that I am not a professional contractor, but what little that I have done has taught me one thing: tearing down is much easier than building up (or trying to rebuild afterwards). When you destroy or tear apart something, pieces go in different spots, tools end up in different places, and if you aren’t careful you may lose something you will need later! The point is that rebuilding is a difficult process. Ezra, the person for whom the next book in our monthly series is named, knew that firsthand. Ezra, along with Nehemiah and others, returned to the Promised Land decades after the Israelites had been taken captive as refugees. Under the Kings that had followed David and Solomon, the people gradually drifted away from following God and had turned to following idols instead. Despite warning after warning from God’s prophets, they had refused to turn from their evil ways and thus were captured and exiled to a far-off land. Nearly seventy years later they had been allowed to return, but they had rebuilding to do.

When Ezra and his group of Jewish refugees returned, they set about rebuilding Jerusalem, but it was not always a unified effort. Struggle came in the form of still being under the rule of a foreign government (rather than be an independent nation with their own king like they had been accustomed), and also internal strife. Ezra and Nehemiah needed to remind the people something that every church needs to understand: they are God’s people. Our identity rests on who we are made and redeemed to be in Him. Ezra needed to remind them that God’s faithfulness and his power are stronger and more constant than any human empire. Despite the hardships that we endure even today, this lesson from ages past is still just as fresh today as it was then, and we need to hear it. Friends, God has not abandoned you. He is with you through every struggle, and I know I need to preach that to myself very often, if not every day. 

One final note on Ezra. Even after they had completed a new temple in Jerusalem (one of their top priorities), it did not have the splendor of the first temple built under Solomon when Israel was at the peak of its glory as God’s kingdom of priests. The main reason was that while the building had been rebuilt, God’s glory had not returned, and it was not present in the second temple as it had been the first. So in a sense, Israel, while having returned to the land were still in “exile” because God’s glory was not present. Soon, however that would all change. God’s glory would return, but not dwell in a building. Instead that glory would “take on flesh and dwell among us” (John 1). In the person of Jesus Christ, God had returned to His people! Through His crucifixion and resurrection the greater exile was over! This exile was not of simply one people (the Jews) away from their Promised Land and God’s presence due to their sins. Instead, the bigger picture emerges. We see this when we look at Genesis. In Eden, we as one people (humanity) were exiled from our Promised Land and God’s presence (Eden) due to our sin. Now, in Jesus Christ, God had returned to humanity, taking on humanity in order to redeem humanity. Through the cross and resurrection, our exile is over! The powers of darkness and death have been defeated, and now we understand “temple” not as a place to visit God, but His dwelling inside each one of our hearts when we become followers of Christ. The beginning of new life is now friends, and it will be completed when, as we see in Revelation, God will once again dwell with humanity in fullness and in a new garden. We will be restored and no longer will death hold any power whatsoever, and every tear will be wiped away. That is the best news ever given to humanity. Dear friends of Conemaugh, I pray that would be the good news we speak and live daily. 

Your Brother,

Craig

When we see the book of Chronicles in the Old Testament, our eyes may be tempted to gloss over this Old Testament text. Trying to read the first couple of chapters does not make it easier, as these are mostly family records that could seem as if they have no relevance today, but I would argue otherwise. Human societies and cultures have often wrestled with two equally important questions: Where have we come from and where are we going? When you are living in exile, in a foreign land not your own, these questions become even more vital to answer. Israel as a country and a people were only starting to rebuild their civilization when Chronicles was authored, and so these questions had to have answers, which also help us understand our place as God’s people today. Chronicles gives us these answers.  

1 Chronicles looks at the very beginning of humanity, Adam, and “chronicles” or tells the story of Israel all the way up until King David’s death, but this is not the focus. Rather this is happening in the background as the book transitions from 1 to 2 Chronicles (they were once one book). As 2 Chronicles begins, jubilation is the attitude of the day, for David’s son Solomon is crowned king, and Solomon represents the ideal: he is God’s choice ruling over God’s people in peace. Yet, this event is coupled alongside the other high point of the book: the dedication and building of the Temple. At its completion, God’s very presence is dwelling in the Temple, and the entire picture is beautiful! The entire purpose for God’s creation of a people to call His own has hit its crescendo! God is dwelling with His chosen people, ruled by His chosen king, and purposed for being a light for all nations to see what it means to be ruled by the Lord on earth as it is in heaven, the kingdom of God (sound familiar?). It all starts at the center with God and builds outward. God is to be worshipped. The king and the levites serve as ministers to the people, providing both spiritual and material needs, who in turn, act as ministers and “priests” bringing God to the world and the world to God. This is a beautiful picture of what the Kingdom of God looked like at one point, and points the way to what it will look like in the future.

While this is the peak of Israel’s glory days, it doesn’t last forever. The nation is soon torn asunder by pride, anger, and overall turning away from Him. The rest of 2 Chronicles tells the story of different kings, some of whom came very close to this ideal, and others who strayed far from it. Eventually, the now-two different kingdoms of Israel and Judah each were invaded, the temple destroyed, the kings overthrown, and the people sent into exile, but just like the book of Kings, Chronicles ends on a note of hope. Cyrus, king of Persia allows the Jews (from the kingdom of Judah) to return to the Promised Land! Despite wickedness, despite exile, despite seeming as though all hope is lost, God’s promises are always faithful as He carefully orchestrates this return of His people so that a new Davidic King can come from them who will be the King of Kings, our Lord Jesus. God’s purpose to redeem humanity continues. For us as Christians, it is important to know this history of Israel as it relates to us in our faith. For God dwelt in another temple, not made of brick and mortar, but flesh and blood, and like Solomon, He is a King. Solomon was called “son of God” but this was a metaphor, yet for this King, it is a very literal term. 

Chronicles also answers one more vital question: who are really God’s people? Is it ethnic Jews only? Those who are circumcised? Or is the tent a bit wider? Turns out, God’s people are any and all who call upon His name for redemption, which is a pretty wide net. His mission is to the entire world, and now We are His ministers, serving in His kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” until one day when the two finally meet. 

Your Brother,

Craig.