The Bible in 100 Pages by Phil Moore

Author:Phil Moore [Moore, Phil]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw
Publisher: Monarch Books
Published: 2014-06-19T23:00:00+00:00

1 There would be no triumphant return for the ten northern tribes of Israel, so from this point in the story the surviving Hebrews are normally referred to as Jews – that is, the survivors of Judah.

2 Kuyper was Dutch prime minister from 1901 to 1905. He said this in his inaugural address at the opening of the Free University of Amsterdam in 1880.

PART 9

DISAPPOINTMENT

EZRA, NEHEMIAH, HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH AND MALACHI

538 BC TO 432 BC

God doesn’t always do things our way. If you haven’t worked that out yet, then I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. God is God and we are not, which means he does things his way even when it confuses, frustrates and disappoints us. Following God is incredibly exciting, but it is called a walk of faith for a reason. God is honest about this in Part 9 of the Bible. This final part of the Old Testament is a massive disappointment.

It might have been easier for the Jews if things had not started out so well. In 538 BC, Daniel reads the words of Jeremiah 25 and 29, and he discovers that God prophesies that the Jewish exile will only last for seventy years (Daniel 9). He does some quick sums in his head and calculates that, since he was taken to Babylon in 605 BC, there are only three years left to run before a miracle of deliverance. He starts fasting and praying and, at the start of Ezra, his prayers are immediately answered. King Cyrus of Persia decides that it is time for him to send the Jewish exiles home.

The first four chapters of the book of Ezra are incredibly exciting. The Babylonians had wiped out much of David’s dynasty and much of the family from which the high priests were always chosen. King Cyrus reverses their policy by seeking out Zerubbabel, heir to the throne of David, and by appointing him governor of Judah. This is the Old Testament equivalent of the moment in The Lord of the Rings when the ranger Strider is suddenly revealed to be Aragorn son of Arathorn. God’s big Jewish story gets back underway and, what is more, King Cyrus tracks down Joshua, who is heir to the high priesthood, and appoints him to lead alongside Zerubbabel. Together, they lead over 40,000 Jews back to the Promised Land and start rebuilding the Temple. King Cyrus not only returns the golden vessels which the Babylonians stole from the Temple; he also pays for the building work out of Persian funds! This is what the Jews have been waiting for. They finally feel they are experiencing the God of the Bible.

They lay the foundations for the Temple and rebuild its altar so that they can start offering blood sacrifices to God again. Everything is going well when disaster suddenly strikes. The Samaritans who have settled in the land while the Jews were away lodge a formal complaint to King Cyrus. The Persians call a halt to the rebuilding in 535 BC and the Jews are forced to wait for another fifteen years.

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