Hello friends! It's Vina! First of all, if you prefer listening than reading, click here.
I got stuck with the book of Chronicles, in particular the Second book, and I wanted to write something about it too. However, I realized I have just kept on dragging on and was not making any progress. My last episode was in August. Well, it is really hard because the Chronicles has almost the same content with Kings and I don’t want to be redundant. So, I prayed about it and God directed me to continue on Ezra. This made me so happy as I just reached approximately ⅓ of the Bible. Hallelujah! Praise God!
I was pleasantly surprised that Ezra is a very short book and so I decided that for this article, I would just combine Ezra with the next book, Nehemiah. Biblical scholars say they are really just one book and you can really see the continuity of the story.
So, Ezra and Nehemiah revolves around 3 main characters: Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. They appeared in different timelines but with the directive of the kings, these 3 men led the exiled Jews as they made the promised land their home once again. They all wanted things just the way they were before.
They dreamt of returning the golden days of King David and King Solomon as they rebuilt the city and the temple. After living under pagan rule and around unclean people, they wanted to be pure and holy. They didn’t want intermarriages as their foreign spouses might turn away their hearts from Yahweh. They denounced working during Sabbath and they upheld the importance of charity, such as helping the poor and giving what is due to God. They wanted the Jews to follow the Law strictly.
Sadly, they just couldn’t. They could not bring back the “Glory days” or be as faithful to God like Moses or King David. They couldn’t do it on their own. One-Man-Team does not work. One man or a few people can be passionate and committed to God. However, they could only account for themselves. Each must guard their own hearts and discipline one’s mind and body.
This put a lot of stress and pressure on them. They couldn’t be the same holy, chosen people without the complete devotion from each one and if they did not exclude others deemed impure or unholy, which is why the leaders had to prohibit others from joining their efforts. They also had to remove people from their communities.
Did they fail as leaders? Short Answer: Yes but they tried their best. They led with the best way they could think of and that is going back to what their forefathers did, which is proclaiming the supreme authority of the Torah.
I couldn’t blame them. The people they led were exiles and had been accustomed to foreign practices or cultural norms. Probably, most of them had no personal experience of how things were used to be and that they just heard tales of what it was like.
They failed as leaders but the people also failed them. The Jews didn’t want to be led at all. They said they were committed but didn’t push through with the agreement. They were flaming with passion at the start but later on, that dedication dies out (In Filipino, we call this “ningas cugon”.)
Unreliable and deceitful as they were, I could understand their situation. If they really pushed through with cutting off intermarriages, that would result to family separation and possibly, children growing up with no mom or dads around. Moreover, with all those years living subjected to foreign rule in a foreign land, they were so eager to start all over again in their own home. They are no longer wanderers or unwelcomed expats. They will no longer fear eviction or discrimination. I could imagine them working double time even on Sabbath to make up for all the loss they had endured during the exile.
Does their circumstances excuse them from not following the Law? No.
Yet, although I am not God, I think He thought these things through. He knows that these are very tricky, difficult situations that the Jews placed themselves in (They were reaping the consequences of rejecting God). He also knows that humans fail miserably in following the Law, even if they were the chosen people - distinct from all other nations - or had witnessed wonders etc. We could not stick through. As many other Biblical scholars assert, we have a cold, stone heart. And God could just have left it that way and allowed us to suffer the consequences of our actions, which is death.
However, God is really super duper good. He intervened. He shows us compassion and mercy by sending Jesus to save us and to offer us His unconditional love. Through Jesus, we will be able to repent and realize the truth of His love. Praise God that He is not like us! He forgives and remembers our sins no more so that we can be in a new, lasting, loving relationship with Him.
Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law. He reconciles us to the Father despite our wickedness or unfaithfulness. On our own, we cannot be reconciled to God. No matter how much we try, like how Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah tried, we are drowning in sin and its compounding, devastating effects. Jesus is the only way we can be in the Father despite our circumstances, our past, and all others. Jesus paid for all of it with His precious blood.
The Good News of the Gospel always makes me teary-eyed. How amazing and powerful that love is. God deserves all the glory and praise. Thank you Father God! Thank you Jesus!