Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20101017.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Ezra: Following God For Reconstruction After Group Defeat
Part IX: Joyfully Heeding The Lord In "The Day Of Small Things"
(Ezra 6:16-22)
  1. Introduction
    1. We can be tempted to view the value of our service for God by its size or beauty, but that is a big mistake.
    2. Zechariah 4:10a KJV counters this evaluation of ministry, asking, "For who hath despised the day of small things?" This question was asked by God's prophet when the returned Hebrew exiles lamented the fact that their rebuilt temple was not nearly as big or as grand as the past temple of Solomon's era, Haggai 2:3.
    3. Ezra 6:16-22 provides us an example of God's blessing and approval of righteous efforts in such a "day of small things," an example we must heed if our Biblical service for God seems to be insignificant to us:
  2. Joyfully Heeding The Lord In "The Day Of Small Things," Ezra 6:16-22.
    1. We learned in our last lesson that when the people of Israel heeded God's call to return to the work of rebuilding the temple (Ezra 5:1-2), and when they were opposed by foes but continued their work with the Lord's added motivation for doing so (Ezra 5:3-5), God worked so that emperor Darius forced Israel's foes to help support the work and stop afflicting the Hebrews until the work was completed, Ez. 5:6-6:15.
    2. This great turn of events resulted in the people's joyful dedication of the rebuilt temple, Ezra 6:16.
    3. However, the Ezra 6:17 record of the offerings given at this dedication "were on a much less lavish scale than those at the dedication of the Temple of Solomon, which involved more than 200 times as many oxen and sheep (1 Kings 8:63)." (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Ezra 6:17)
    4. This lesser offering was given because, in Ezra 6:17, "(t)he people were much poorer and fewer in number at this time" than the populous, wealthy nation of Israel had been in the time of Solomon, Ibid.
    5. However, the returned Hebrew exiles offered sin offerings, one for each tribe, offerings noticeably absent in the first temple dedication in Solomon's era, 1 Kings 8:63-64: in Solomon's time, Israel had not just come out of apostasy, disobedience and divine discipline, so there was no need for a sin offering where the returned exiles in Ezra 6:17 wanted to confirm their repentance before the Lord following national apostasy, judgment by exile and their sin in temporarily ceasing to heed God's call to rebuild the temple!
    6. Nevertheless, the current nation's true repentance and return to doing God's will made this event entirely acceptable to the Lord, and this is evident in the record of events in Ezra 6:18-22 (as follows):
      1. At the dedication of the rebuilt temple in the month of Adar, the last month of the Hebrew year (Ezra 6:15-16; Ibid., ftn. to Exodus 12:2), the people obeyed God's words through Moses, assigning the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God in the temple, Ezra 6:18.
      2. When the time for Passover arrived the next month, the people observed it in obedience to Scripture, observing it on the fourteenth day of the first month of their year, Ezra 6:19 with Exodus 12:1-2, 6.
      3. This celebration was marked by the Scriptural purification of the priests and Levites together who slew the Passover lambs for all of the people, for their tribal kin, the priests and for themselves, Ezra 6:20.
      4. Even the people had Biblically separated themselves from the corrupt pagan practices around them, so they ate the Passover meal in true holiness unto the Lord, Ezra 6:21 NIV.
      5. Then, immediately following Passover in the days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the people all observed it for its seven days with joy in their hearts, Ezra 6:22a with Exodus 12:15 with 12:6 and 18.
      6. This joy arose from God's own work to turn the heart of the king of what once had been Assyria, the enemy nation that took the first part of Israel captive (2 Kings 17:5-6), that king now being Persia's Darius, forcing Israel's foes to help them finish rebuilding the temple, Ezra 6:22b with Ezra 5:3-6:16!
Lesson: Though the nation Israel was much smaller in population and in wealth than she had been in Solomon's time, and though the rebuilt temple and temple dedication was thus much less visually and financially impressive than was the temple and temple dedication of Solomon's era, God's clear help of Israel when she obeyed Him in rebuilding the temple caused her rich joy and full acceptance by God!

Application: If our heart is right, we heed God and He shows His approval in our lives, may we not be dismayed if our work seems humanly small or insignificant! Let us not despise the day of small things!