Ezra and Nehemiah

I cannot come down, for I am doing a great work 

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Hi folks, welcome back to another episode of Receivers. Um, I apologize greatly if you get some background music today. I am currently in the Salt Lake City International Airport. I don't know why I gave it its full name, but I did. So now we're gonna just begin. Um now Nehemiah and Ezra are two of the lesser-known um chapters or books of the Old Testament, mostly because they deal with a political situation and just they don't have like as good of a story, but I think there are some really good moments in it. So let's begin. The company starts with the Jewish people had been captives in Babylonia for about 70 years. They had lost Jerusalem in the temple, and many had forgotten their commitment to God's law, but God had not forgotten them. In fact, he had declared through his prophet, I will visit you and perform my good word to word toward you in causing you to return. True to this prophecy, the Lord made a way for his people to return to both Jerusalem and more importantly to their covenants. He raised up servants who accomplished a great work. A governor named Zur Zerubbabel oversaw the building of the house of the Lord. Ezra, a priest and scribe, helped the people turn their hearts back to the Lord's law, and Nehemiah led the rebuilding of the protective walls around Jerusalem. They met opposition, but they also got help from unexpected sources. Their experiences can inform and inspire ours because we too are doing great work. And like theirs, our work has much to do with the house of the Lord, the law of the Lord, and the spiritual protection we find in it. I love that, and I think that's the best kind of background for what's happening, and a really good summary of what we're about to read. We'll cover the three men um who are doing, each doing different works that basically set up the Jews to be able to come back to Jerusalem um and live there until the time of Christ, especially the rebuilding of the temple. Now, um, what is happening in Ezra 1 is we basically get this background, which is Babylon now is not um run by the by the Babylonians, right? We have the Assyrians who were destroyed and then who took over Israel, the kingdom of Israel, then we have the Babylonians who came and destroyed Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Judah. And now we have the Persians. So the Persians come from the Iraq area, and they come and they have destroyed um the Babylonians, and now they've taken over. And the Persians have a really different tactic than the Babylonians and Assyrians, who would destroy the people, right, and take them away from their homeland, scatter them, basically, but the Persians actually had a very um different approach. Their approach was way more about being fairly um accepted, uh like um accepting of the religion of others, allowing them to go back to their homeland, and basically they were just overlords who let you do what you do, but you pay them money. But you pay them money, and that is what is happening there. But with all of this happening, um, this is really good actually for the Jews, because um a king called Cyrus is like, wait, if I just send you guys back, I'll give you some money to rebuild your temple. That way you're also in debt to the king. I mean, that's maybe more of a cynical way of looking at it. But the way that the the the Bible tells the story is that Cyrus actually found maybe he was reading some of the Jewish stuff, and he found um some people think he maybe found the prophecy of Isaiah. No, this is for people who believe in prophecy, which I do. Um, that he found the prophecy of Isaiah that actually mentions a person named Cyrus, and he was like, I want to fulfill this prop the prophecy of bringing the Jews back to the temple. And so that is what he did. That is he sends a group of Jewish elite, right? Because they had penetrated, not even penetrated, they had just been a part of the elite, um, even from the time that they were taken away by the Assyrians into Assyria, right? They had always held high positions in the government, I think, Daniel. And so he sends some of them back and he gives them the task of rebuilding the temple. Um Zerubabel would be the one who was over the rebuilding of the temple. Why is this important? This is important because it's called Zerubbabel's Temple. Um, and it's much smaller than the Temple of Solomon, it's not as um well decorated, doesn't have as much gold, all of those different types of things. And this will become important until later. But I love this lesson about Cyrus helping the Jews because we learn from this um something that I'm very passionate about, which is that the Lord works through everybody that he can. He doesn't just work through members of the church or even Christians, right, or people that believe in him, but he works through many different people, through the light of Christ, through the Holy Ghost, right, to bless the world and to accomplish his purposes. And so I just would like to think of people that you know in your life who maybe aren't members of the church but have caused you to come closer to him, who have made you um also just brought about the purposes of God, brought about good works and good things. I mean, I can think of countless charities, right? Um, or I can just think of, I mean, I'm I, you know, went to Italy on my mission. I have a very strong love for the Catholic faith and all that they do, and because of that, um, I just see the good works that um the Catholic Church does, particularly Pope Francis as one of my heroes, because he really stuck up and and stood up for the middle man, sorry, the middle man, the little man, um, and made sure that we thought of taking care of the poor and the needy. Um, and I just love that. And so that's just an example, right? Of the people who maybe aren't in the church, maybe even haven't made covenants with God, but can still bring about his purposes. Next we have um so the the the fact that the the house of the Lord is one of joy. And we read in Ezra 3, 18 what they did to celebrate um this building of the house of the Lord. And they brought forth, you know, they had people killing, you know, they had sacrifices, they had um songs that were playing, they were really celebrating all of the good things that the house of the Lord could bring. They were so excited to have this house of the Lord with them. And another thing um that might be a little bit interesting though, as you go through it, you read that um there was a little bit of controversy, which is that um even though some people had come back, right, um, that exiles had come back in order to build the temple and to live in it and to establish the land, once again, we learned that the Samaritans that were there, right, so that's the group of people who um were a mixed race of uh Jews that were able to stay mixed with the people that were brought in by Babylon, they want to help build the temple and to worship God, to worship Jehovah, because that's what they've been doing. But the Jews say, no, no, no, no. This is kind of the beginning of the tension of uh we just see this racial tension um continue in the time of Jesus, right? And so this is kind of where it begins because of their rejection of people that they didn't think um couldn't do it. And we know um that this is also, I mean, Jesus, when he's talking to the woman at the well, he says, hey, salvation is of the Jews, um, which is an interesting play-on word since salvation is literally Jesus, so Jesus is of the Jews, meaning he was born into them, but also in that he's teaching, hey, you are tea you are still worshiping Jehovah, um, but the Jews are the ones who hold the priesthood keys, right? Um, and maybe having it messed up. Messed up is the wrong word, um, but maybe over time through misunderstanding, um, don't have the fullness of the truth. Um, but they reject them, and because of this, the Samaritans kind of start up uh um an anger and a rebellion, not even a rebellion, but a a movement against the Jews building the temple, even though they've been commissioned by the king. And so um the Jews' enemies from a long time ago, uh the Ammonites and people around them are saying, hey, the the leaders come up to Zerubil, they come up to Ezra, they come up to Nehemiah, and they say, Hey, we don't want you to be building this. Um, we're gonna try to stop you. Why? I mean, building a temple can create political power in and can, you know, people have to travel there, people can worship there, and that can potentially be a dangerous thing. One of my favorite prayers that they have in the building of the temple comes in 311, in which they say, For he is good, right God, for his steadfast love, his hesed endures forever towards Israel. And all the people responded with a great shout, No, praise the Lord, because of the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. They're just so happy about it, even being laid. Then they just say that this is a this is a show of the hesed of the Lord. He forgave them even when they were not faithful to him. He remembered them even when they had gone far away from from him, both physically and uh spiritually, and he remembered them. And the Lord remembers us, he remembers all of the works of his hands, right? Um, and so this is what we can see there. His hesed endures forever, especially to those to whom he has made this covenantal promises. And so in Ezra IV, um, this is where the resistance kind of builds up. But again, they are able to do that. Um and um right with the help of Zerubbabel and Ezra, and they set up places. Also, the Persians help them. We have Darius, we have, oh gosh, let me look up the name one more time of uh one of the kings of Babylon who also helped them. Or sorry, the kings of Persia who also helped them. Artag um Arta Xerxes. And they just they help them, right? Again, the Lord puts people, good people, in various places to help his work be accomplished. And again, if it was just the Jews who are doing this, or just the covenantal people, it wouldn't have been able to come to pass. And so that is the thing, is that with this interfaith work, we need people of all faiths in order to help us build the kingdom of God. That is the reality. Um so then the temple is dedicated in Ezra VI. Um but before they're doing this, they're also they're banding together, they're staying up day and night, they're calling many groups of people to come and help them, even from the farmers, not just the elite that are doing this, but everybody is helping to build this temple. Um everybody in the Jewish faith um that has been there is helping. And again, we need everybody. And so then we also have the fact that Ezra is there during this celebration of the temple being dedicated, and he reads out the law to them. It's a re reading of the law or renewing of their covenants that they are making, and he translates it from Aramaic, which is what would have been spoken, to Hebrew, which is what the law would have been written in, and so that they can all understand, they set up their tents, right? They're listening to the law being read. Very, very similar once again to King Benjamin um and his re-establishment of the law, or his his setting up of the people of Nephi as covenantal people. And remember when King Benjamin is doing this, he's taking people from all walks of life, all of whom were of the house of Israel, but he gathered them all in, and that's what they're doing too, right? They're taking taking everybody that they can of the house of Israel and gathering them in together at the house of the Lord. And this is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies that we will get into later. But the temple is a place of gathering, just as it is in our life, right? The temple is a place where we can go, each of us, and be gathered in with people whom we might not always associate, all the other patrons, and as well, it helps us gather in our ancestors as we perform ordinances for them. It also gathers us to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Along with that, though, we get the concept that Ezra and uh when he's teaching them as the priest, he doesn't want them to mix with the other people. And when I've read this, it always has kind of stood out to me as a little tough to read, especially when you compare it to Isaiah. And it's like, okay, well, why aren't we mixing? And I think it teaches us two elements of the gospel. Number one, everyone is invited. I mean, we read in Second Nephi, right? He denieth none that come to him. And yet, there is an element which is yes, but if you want to participate at the highest points of Christ's gospel, which is the celestial kingdom, then you might have to change. You might need to repent a little bit more. You need to become like him and do the things that he's asked us to do. Now, if you don't want to do that, that's okay. We have two other kingdoms of glory, which you can be, you know, which, and it's also between you and the Lord. But that is the reality, is that there are things that we have to do that are given to us by God, and that is what Ezra is teaching us, right? We need to follow the law, it can help us become better. Following the law of God is not just a prescription that the Lord gives us, but it's rather something that there are guidelines that he gives so that we can truly become like him. And we can partake fully of his goodness and of his hesed that they sing about in these chapters. Next, um, along with Ezra, he also calls for them to celebrate the festival of tabernacles, which in which you build tents basically outside, and you remember what the Lord did for the people as they came out of Egypt. And again, it's very interesting because this ties back to what King Benjamin did, as he had the people live in tents and look towards the temple. He's doing this at the temple and he's teaching them about the law. And in the temple is where we learn and where we can practice fully the law of God. It's where we make special covenants to follow certain commandments. We can learn, and in the temple, too, we realize that everyone is wearing white. And as I thought about this one time, I was like, why is everybody wearing white? Yes, it's uniform, yes, we all look pure, but also white is the color of everything else. It literally reflects every single light, it reflects each of us, it reminds us that we are all the same, that we are all equal in the eyes of God, and that we can all become like Him and holy. Right? Um and in Ezra 7, 27 it says, Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who put such a thing as into the heart of the king to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and who extendeth to me steadfast love before the king and the counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord was upon me. And we can all take courage as we know that meaning the hand of the Lord was upon him, meaning meaning he was called. And we are all called for a specific purpose, and the Lord wants us to help him. And then they are all gathered in families to the temple, they're they're organized by their family units, and again, this is important because at the temple we also gather each other as families. Ultimately, we're all the family of God, but we start with our ancestors, right? We have that promise of the spirit of Elijah where we're gathering in our families and our ancestors so that we can be with them forever. So everything is pointing back to the temple, and again, um, again, uh Ezra says, you know, do not mix into families, and it's like, okay, this is a little bit rough in Ezra 9, which we don't read as part of the company, but again, I think it's an important element to be like, okay, this is still something he said. Why? Again, this was a specific commandment at a specific time, we don't have that anymore. But the reality is that Ezra's probably also looking back on all the mixed marriages that Solomon had, or that the other kings had, that ultimately led them away from the Lord. Now, we invite everyone to come to the Lord, and no one is denying, but sometimes we need to make sure that we have good influences in our lives. I've noticed just these past couple of weeks as I've been on Instagram and YouTube and all of those things, just how many different voices there are. And what voice are we listening to? What voice am I listening to? And you know, and I love this, like uh Ezra's prayer that it gives at the end of Ezra 9. I love it like, for we are slaves, yet our Lord has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love. Even though we are unworthy and we have done bad things, he still offers us to, he offers to us this hesit, this steadfast love that never goes away. And the people um are there as they're celebrating this temple dedication and all the things. And actually, the people who had seen the temple before, the old people who had lived in Babylon and then had come back, see the temple and they cry because they're so sad that it doesn't look as beautiful as it once did. And yet they rejoice that they have the temple again. And so it's a little bit of mixed feelings, um, you know, as they realize what they could have had and what they have lost, while also realizing that the Lord has given it to them again. And I love this because I love the idea that there can be mourning, both for our sins or for the bad things and the bad circumstances that we've been in, but also rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord that he has saved us, each and every one of us, that we will be resurrected and be able to live with him again. But we can feel both happiness and joy at the same time, and that is what um Ezra 10 is teaching us. Then we get into Nehemiah. Now, remember, Ezra was a priest, so he was more about the law and thinking about the law and what it meant to practice priesthood, and priesthood being an order that helps lead us to Jesus Christ. Now, Nehemiah is a political leader, and he comes, he's called by Darius to build the wall of Jerusalem. Why? Because it's a defensive thing, right? But it also brings back Jerusalem its its importance. And so he comes in, and Nehemiah receives all kinds of um people trying to stop him, mostly, like I said, from the governors of the Ammonites and other groups around that are like, hey, we don't want you to be doing this. Why? Because it makes Jerusalem a political threat potentially for them. And so they say, hey, don't do this. Hey, we want to come talk to you about this. And Nehemiah says, What is the uh the quote for this week? And it's found in Nehemiah 6, verse 3. So let's pull that up really fast. And Nehemiah 6, verse 3 says, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you? And I remember David Butler pointing this out as a great quote, which is, will we come down to other people who might be trying to distract us away from the work that we've been doing? I think it's interesting. These people weren't really mocking him, but they were trying to distract him so that he didn't get what was done. And I think that is the way that the devil works in our lives these days, that's he tries to distract us a lot. And there are a lot of distractions, like I was talking about, a lot of voices that point us in many different directions. But can we focus on the work that the Lord has called us to do? And he has called each of us to something different, and we need to trust that the Lord has different purposes for for each of us in our lives. Um, as children of the covenant, it is to bring other people into that covenant. And again, you know, why would you why are you trying to stop my work? You know what? I'm just gonna do it. I'm not gonna come down, you know, I'm not gonna be distracted. And I I'm not perfect at this. I'm not a I'm not a great Nehemiah that I say that. But as I read it, I'm reminded that we need to not allow the world to distract us. But remember that what we are doing is eternal and a great work. And it can be small, it can just be saying hi to somebody or smiling at them or making them feel loved. But like President Nelson said, every time we do anything to anyone on either side of the veil that helps them bring them closer to Jesus Christ and making covenants with him, then we are gathering Israel. And that is what we each can do and what we are each called to. And finally, in Nehemiah 8, we get everybody being gathered together, and this is when he read, when Ezra reads from the scriptures and reads the words of the law and where they are celebrating, right? And bringing all these things unto them. And then Nehemiah, you know, uh, and Ezra kind of say these beautiful things in Nehemiah 9, where Ezra says, You are the Lord, you alone. You've made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas, right? So they're reminding them of the creation. You are the Lord, the one who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur. He's giving the history of them, right? And what they've done with Pharaoh. And again, this is similar to what we do in the temple. We learn about the creation, we learn about what the Lord has done for Adam and Eve, right? And about these people. And we can also reflect each week as we partake of the sacrament, what the Lord has done for us each week, and how we can turn ourselves more to him, which is represented by the temple, right? The temple represents Jesus Christ because he took upon himself the tabernacle or temple of clay, and his spirit was in this tabernacle of clay on earth, and he brought people closer to God, and that is what the temple is, right? And we learn the law, not because the law is great and mighty or has that the law is intrinsic in itself to save us, but because the law points us to Jesus Christ, and that is what the Book of Mormon teaches as Nephi's kind of grappling of what was the law for, and layman and lemon as well. The law is to point us to Jesus Christ. The law does not save, but as we read it, it can point us to Jesus Christ. The temple is not safe, but it points us to Jesus Christ and lets the power of him be in our lives. And um, I have just seen that in my life as I've tried to focus on the temple, and I'm not perfect at it. But as I've been there, it brings me peace. The temple brings me peace. Reading the scriptures bring me peace and remind me of what Jesus Christ has done for me. And I'm grateful for the special times that the Lord has allowed me to feel of his spirit and remember how good he is in his hesed, in his steadfast love. But he never forgets any one of us, and he wants us all to come home to him. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Sorry about the probably horrible audio this week. Um, but uh yeah, that's what that is, and it is what it is, and we'll probably have it bad for next week as well. But uh then I'll then I'll be back and we'll get better audio. So thanks for your patience. Talk to you next week. Bye.