THE BIBLE SPEAKS

by Lawrence W. Althouse

CAMPING OUT

May 4, 2008

Background Scripture:

Haggai 1, Ezra 5

Devotional Reading:

Psalms 84:1-4.

My first trip to Europe was in 1958, thirteen years after the close of World War II. I was surprised to find that, after more than a decade, there were many more ruins remaining than I thought possible. Some of them were not ruins from World War II, but the First World War. Now, a half century since that first European visit, any war ruins remaining are probably those left that way as a memorial.

In 1958 the Book of Haggai seemed particularly appropriate, for it is about rebuilding the ruins left by terrible war and captivity. Today, however, this book and its message may seem irrelevant---answering questions no one is asking---but it is not! Haggai’s message is for us and our time as much as it was 2,500 years ago.

First, let us review the historical sequence leading up to Haggai’s prophecies. In 589 B.C* the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar, attacked Jerusalem defended by Judah’s King Jehoiakim. The Babylonians destroyed the Temple and the city and carried the king and thousands into far-away Babylonian captivity. Left behind in Jerusalem was a tiny remnant of the “poorest sort of the people.” Half a century later, 538 B.C., Babylon was conquered by the Persians under King Cyrus, who, unlike the Babylonians, gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem and actually encouraged them to do so. Some did return, some did not.

LITTLE ACCOMPLISHED

The remnant that returned found (1) the poorer class Jerusalemites who had not been taken into exile, some of them having intermarried with nearby pagan people, and (2) the city in a ruined state, especially the Temple and the walls. Although Cyrus had encouraged them to rebuild the temple, little had been accomplished. Two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, realized that the first step in reuniting the people and reviving the faith of the Jewish people would be the rebuilding of the Temple. They urged the governor, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, Joshua, to get the people to begin rebuilding the Temple, a task begun in 520 B.C. and completed in 515. Haggai saw this restoration as the necessary preparation for the coming of the messiah.

This book is not by the prophet, but about him. It is composed of two chapters of four oracles. Unlike many prophetic books of the Old Testament we are given precise dates for each of the oracles, all of which are in prose rather than poetry, making them very direct and plain- spoken. None could complain that they didn’t understand him. Neither can we.

A BUILDING PROJECT

While I wouldn’t minimize the importance of any building project your church may be have in process, the tasks to which God is calling us today are even more important and daunting. God calls us to rebuild our lives, the churches, and our society. Just as Haggai’s readers recognized the legitimacy of God’s command, but believed they would have to wait until the times were more prosperous, so we tend to shrink from the rebuilding to which God calls us because we fear our economic straits and personal resources are too meager.

Haggai says to us, as he did to his own people, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?...Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is ever warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes” (1:4-6). Dwight E. Stevenson comments, “The people of Judah were living indoors; they had rebuilt their own houses. But God was camping-out in the ruins of his Temple.”

So, ask yourself: First, what rebuilding does God want you to do in your own life? In your family? In your church? In the world outside? And second, are you living safe and secure in your own house while God camps outside?

THE BIBLE SPEAKS

by Lawrence W. Althouse

WHAT CAN

WE DO?

May 11, 2008

Background Scripture:

Nehemiah 1:1—2:20.

Devotional Reading:

Psalms 137:1-7; 138:1-5.

Nehemiah was one of the Jewish exiles living under Persian rule in Susa, the winter residence of the Persian kings. In 444 B.C. he received a visit from Hanani, a kinsman from far away Jerusalem. The news of home that Hanani brought him was devastating. “The survivors there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Neh. 1:3).

Nehemiah was plunged into despair: “When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days; and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (1:4). Jerusalem, we need to remember, was not just the city from which many were sent into captivity, but it was also the place of the Temple, the focus of Jewish religious piety..

What can Nehemiah do? He can pray. Yet, for all the anguish and shock Nehemiah experienced, his prayer is not a wailing complaint, but a working-through of the devastating news. He begins with a statement of faith that is unbroken by his anguish: “”O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (1:5). He may not know how God can help his people in this crisis, but he is unshaken in his faith that God can and will.

RETURN TO THE LORD

He can also confess the sins of himself and his people: “We have acted very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments which thou didst command they servant Moses…” (1:6b,7). Although God keeps his covenant, the people of Israel have not. So, his prayer is not based upon the people deserving the help of God, but despite the fact that they do not. They return to the Lord in deep awareness and repentance of their sins.

Nehemiah can also use the resources which are available to him. He is the cupbearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes. His is one of most prestigious and important roles in the kingdom. He is responsible for procuring, testing and serving the king’s wine and making certain it is not poisoned. He is also the chief steward of the king’s apartment, a position of utmost trust.

A prime qualification for intimate royal servants was a pleasing personal appearance and personality. So, we can understand the significance of the king’s question: “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing else but sadness of the heart” (2:2). Whether or not he wore a sad face to get the king’s attention, we do not know. But the king’s awareness of his sadness is the opportunity to speak of his distress. Nehemiah seized the opportunity: “Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers lies waste and its gates have been destroyed by fire” (2:3). (Note: Nehemiah may have mentioned “sepulchers” because tombs were of great importance in the Middle East culture and the king was in the process of building his own grand mausoleum). So Nehemiah was sent back to Jerusalem, not only with the king’s agreement, but also with his authority.

.OUR TROUBLE

Once in Jerusalem, Nehemiah displayed great qualities of leadership. First, he made a thorough inspection of the broken walls of the city, making a complete circuit of them and seeing for himself what needed to be done. Secondly, he was able to challenge the Jews to take up the task that God had given him: “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” And the people responded: “Let us rise up and build,” (2:17,18).

The challenges with which God confronts us today are no less urgent and no less possible. Nehemiah alone could not get the wall of Jerusalem rebuilt. But, because he was a man of prayer, of contrition, and imagination, he felt the call of God and committed himself to doing his best. God asks no more---nor less---of us.

THE BIBLE SPEAKS

by Lawrence W. Althouse

A MIND

TO WORK

May 18, 2008

Background Scripture:

Nehemiah 4 through 6

Devotional Reading:

Psalms 70.

For the sake of perspective, let’s look at the big picture. It was in 587 BC, almost six centuries before the birth of Christ. After 18 months of siege by the Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah fell and thousands of Jews, mostly the upper classes, were carried captive into Babylonian captivity. A half century later, Babylonia fell to the Persian Empire under King Cyrus. In 538 BC Cyrus issued a proclamation permitting the exiled Jews to return to Judah. Some did return; others, particularly those who has prospered greatly and achieved high rank in exile, did not.

About 18 years later, in 520 BC some exiled Jews under the leadership of Sheshbazzar, a prince of Judah, made the long trek back to Jerusalem, where, at the order of Cyrus, Sheshbazzar was made governor and he led the exiled Jews in rebuilding the temple. More than half a century later, 457* BC, Ezra, a Levite priest, led more exiled Jews back to Jerusalem where he vigorously reestablished the rule of Jewish law. It was in 444 BC* that Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah and another delegation of exiled Jews to tackle the daunting task of rebuilding the city’s great walls. (*The dates for Ezra and Nehemiah are approximate because there were two Artaxerxes and we’re nor sure which one was the patron of Nehemiah.)

GOD’S PLAN

I can imagine that, when the exiles first reached Babylonia, some of them began to pray for God’s help to end their captivity and exile. So, did God ignore their cries for 67 years? No, I believe God heard and answered those prayers, although not in the time-frame they may have wanted. God did not wave a wand and restore the Kingdom of Judah and the Temple in Jerusalem. He answered them in a complex process of time during which his purpose began to be realized, first through Cyrus, then Sheshbezar, Artaxerxes, Ezra and Nehemiah.

There was, however, another part of the God’s unfolding plan. Sheshbazar did not rebuild the Temple all by himself. Ezra did not reestablish the Mosaic law by himself. Neither did Nehemiah singularly rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. They were the leaders of God’s plan, but it was the people of Jerusalem who, by the inspiration of God, were able to say: “So we built the wall: and all the wall was joined together to half its height. For the people had a mind to work” (4:6). The right equation: God, Nehemiah, the people who had a mind to work.

REMEMBER THE LORD

That didn’t mean that God uttered his command and the wall rose up to protect the people of Jerusalem. In fact, the rebuilding of the wall was accomplished under the most dangerous conditions. Jerusalem’s neighbors, the Arabs, Ammonites and Ashdodites, did all they could to discourage the returned exiles. They tired intimidation, terrorist attacks, and confusion, but the Jews were not deterred: “And we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against day and night” (4:9). No matter what tactics their enemies employed, Nehemiah met each threat with brilliant innovations and an inspiring message of encouragement: Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes”(4:14b).

Their enemies did not give up easily. Realizing that the Jews and Nehemiah had rebuilt the wall to half its height, they decided to try treachery, inviting Nehemiah to meet with them on the plain of Ono. Nehemiah wasn’t taken in, “But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down’” (6:2b,3).

One of the most seductive temptations that comes to people doing a good work is to halt their efforts so that they may pursue other lures: fame, fortune, prestige and power. It happens to people in national and international circles, but it can also happen in a parish church. Then it is that both the leaders and their followers need to be able to say with Nehemiah: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down”!

THE BIBLE SPEAKS

by Lawrence W. Althouse

ANOTHER

WATER GATE!

May 25, 2008

Background Scripture:

Nehemiah 8.

Devotional Reading:

Psalms 27:11-14; 19:7-14..

June 17 will mark the 36^th anniversary of Watergate, the 1972 criminal break-in at the Democrtic Party headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. Since that day and the aftermath that resulted in the resignation of President Nixon, the term “Watergate” has taken on the most negative and tragic connotations.

The story in Nehemiah 8, however, tells us of another Water Gate, this one with very positive associations. This date was chosen to happily and thankfully dedicate the newly-rebuilt walls of Jerusalem. Ezra the priest, however, also chose this time to read and reintroduce to the multitude the long-neglected scroll of the law of Moses, as well as to reinstate the ancient and joyful Feast of the Booths. All three of these events were took place in the court before the Water Gate. (We are not sure today of the exact location of the Water Gate, but, if you have ever been to Jerusalem and visited the Spring of Gihon, you were surely close by.)

There was probably one underlying purpose in celebrating the dedication of the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem, reading the law of Moses and reintroducing the people of God to the Feast of Booths. Ezra the priest saw this as an opportunity to restore the coveneant community of Israel. This was to be a time of rededication for the Jews who had gone astray and forgotten what it meant to be God’s people.

MOSAIC LAW

The key to this great occasion was not the rebuilt wall or the forgotten festival, but the

law. Ezra and the temple scribes played a major role, interpreting into Aramaic, the language of the people, the law written in the largely-forgotten Hebrew. Among scholars there is considerable debate as to which part or parts of the mosaic law they read that day. We do not have to know the answer in order to appreciate the significance of the event.

Upon hearing the words of the law, “the people wept” (8:9). What was there in the law that caused them to weep? It was a recitation of all that God had done for them and expected from them, and they had not been grateful for God’s grace, nor had they had kept his commandments. Often, when we read the Bible, we too find ourseloves confronted with our own frailures to keep covenant with God.

When at last they confronted their own infidelity to God, there was good news: “”Go your way, eat fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (8:10. The bad news is our infidelity; the good news is God’s proffered grace.

REMEMBER THE TIME

Ezra then restored to them the forgogten Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) in which Moses had enjoined the people of Israel to re-enact the time when, after their escape from Egypt, the Isralites lived for a while in leafy tents or booths. Thus, during the seventh month, Tishri (September-October), they erected booths, often on their roof tops, for a seven-day celebration, the most joyful and popular of Jewish festivals.

After I graduated from seminary, my first pastorate was a church that , like many others in our denomination, held an annual “Week of Revival.” I was uncomfortable because my own pre-seminary church experiences had not included revivals and I found the heavy expecatation of emotionalism contrary to my understanding of the gospel.

Today, however, I acknowledge the aim and purpose of the revival, if not always the methodologies. I have observed in my own life and others that probably all of us need to periodically have a Water Gate experience of that other kind: to be reconfronted with the terms of the gospel and have an opportunity to significantly renew our commitment to the Lord.