Month: August 2019

God’s Promise:
Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel warned the Israelites about the coming exile; but they also told the people that God would be faithful and that they would return and rebuild the temple. Isaiah even named Cyrus as the ruler who would authorize this, [check Jer 31, Ezek 40, and Isaiah 44].
Who returned: 
The second chapter is basically a census of the Jews who returned to Palestine with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. The total is approximately 50,000 out of the roughly 2 million Jews then living in Babylon. Evidently the majority had sufficiently adapted to life in the pagan city they chose their current situation over the hardships of travel and dangers of a land they no longer knew.

Political Resistance:
Chapter 4 recounts the resistance of non-Jews (moved into the area by the Babylonians) to rebuilding the temple, including a series of letters to the Persian rulers and their response allowing the rebuilding to go forward.
The “foreign” wives:
Evidently many of the men in the first group of returning exiles married women from the local tribes, in violation of the Mosaic law [Deut 7:3] in one of the harshest incidents in the Old Testament, Ezra decides that all the men who had foreign wives and their children must be sent away [the roster is at 10:18-44]. This zealotry for the letter of the law grew over time to the point that the Pharisees of Jesus’ time had basically made the law into an idol – worshipped for its own sake rather than as the expression of obedience to God.

3 When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. ² Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. ³ They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening. ⁴ And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day, ⁵ and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the sacred festivals of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foun-dation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. ⁷ So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia.

⁸ In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work on the house of the Lord.
⁹ And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviahd along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.

¹⁰ When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; ¹¹ and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 
¹² But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

4 When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria who brought us here.”
³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, “You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, ⁵ and they bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.  NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. Where do these events take place? Who are the leaders of the Israelites? What are their roles with the people?

2. What is the first task the people undertake? Why is this an important task? What do they do when they finish the work? What direction do they follow? Why are these rituals important to the Israelites?

3. What project do the people start next? Who is doing this work? What all is involved in this effort? Who authorized this project?

4. Who are some of the people involved in this project? Who are the leaders? Who are the supervisors? Why do you suppose the writer names all these workers?

5. What happens when the first part of the work is finished? Who is involved here? What pattern do the people follow for the celebration?

6. How do some of the people respond to the project? What do they compare the current work to? Why is it different than the original?

7. Who else tries to get involved in the project? How do the Jewish leaders respond? Why did they respond as they did? What do the other people do in turn?

Get Personal:

What practices or rituals do you have in your faith life? How did you choose them? How do they help you in your relationship with God? 

3:2. Zerubbabel — was the grandson of the last king of Judah and heir to David’s throne, but served as a governor under the Persian ruler.
Build the altar — during their captivity the Jews realized their situation was due to their disobedience to God’s commandments, so they made sure they could sacrifice according to the Mosaic Law to atone for their sins [Deut 27:6-7]. In addition, Cyrus’ decree specifically said they were to return to “rebuild the house of the Lord,” [1:3].
3:3. In dread — the Jews’ fear of the people the Assyrians had moved to the area after the fall of Jerusalem was another reason to get right with God as soon as possible.
3:4. Festival of booths — also translated “tabernacles” or “tents” – it follows the Day of Atonement when the high priest sacrifices for the sins of all the people [Lev 23:26].

3:6. Foundation of the temple — once the ritual of sacrifices was established the leaders turned their effort to rebuilding the temple.
Food, drink, oil — Solomon provided similar provisions to the workers on the original temple [2 Chron 2:10].
3:10. Directions of King David — the priests followed the same ritual as when David brought the ark to Jerusalem.
3:12. Seen the first house — some of the people could remember the splendor of Solomon’s temple and they wept when they saw the basic, less ornate appearance of the new one.
4:1. Adversaries — people the Assyrians had brought in to work the land, they became the Samaritans of Jesus’ time. The Jewish leaders rejected their involvement in favor keeping the temple worship “pure.” The adversaries then tried to stop the work through intimidation and political pressure [vv. 4-5], but Darius, the king, directed that the work on the temple should be completed [6:6-12]. 

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³ For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and the cast images. ⁴ In his presence they pulled down the altars of the Baals; he demolished the incense altars that stood above them. He broke down the sacred poles and the carved and the cast images; he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. . . .

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ They came to the high priest Hilkiah and delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They delivered it to the workers who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workers who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house.  . . . 

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to the secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord”; and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. ¹⁷ They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workers.” ¹⁸ The secretary Shaphan informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah: ²¹ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found; for the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us is great, because our ancestors did not keep the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

²² So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (who lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. ²³ She declared to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me,
²⁴ Thus says the Lord: I will indeed bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. ²⁶ But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. ²⁸ I will gather you to your ancestors and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” They took the message back to the king.  NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. What is unusual about the king of Judah? How was he different than most other kings? What did he start doing as a teenager? Why did he take these actions? How do you suppose the people reacted to these programs?

2. What did he do after the land and house were clean? Who all was involved in this program? What did they do first? Where did they get the money for this project? Why was it necessary [see Notes]? 

3. What happened while the project was getting started? Who made the discovery? Who did he tell about it? Who brought it to the king? What happened next? How did the king respond when he heard the reading? Why do you think he reacted this way?

4. What did the king do about the discovery? Who did he involve? What task did he give the group? What was the king most concerned about?

5. Who did the group go to for answers to the king’s questions? Why did they go to this person? Where was she? How did she answer the group’s questions?

6. What did she say about the Lord? What did she say about the curses? What did she say about the people of Judah? What did she say about the king?

Get Personal:

How does God remind you of his expectations for your life and work? How do you usually respond to these nudges? How does God help you follow his direction?

34:1. Josiah — reigned over Judah from 640 to 609 BCE, a time when there was no strong power in the region.
34:3. Purge — stamp seals (recording official transactions) of this time period show a shift from fertility symbols to simple identification of the person making the seal.
Sacred poles — symbols of the fertility goddess Asherah worship.
34:8. Repair the house of the Lord — in ancient time the ruler was responsible for maintaining the “house” of the deity, to ensure continued support from the god and blessings for the people.
34:9. Money — often there was a temple tax and/or use of conscript labor.

34:14. Found the book — in many cases the builders would include a “cornerstone” box with copies of official documents (or building plans).
The law — Deuteronomy for sure, and perhaps other parts of the Torah.
34:19. Words of the law — included the king’s responsibility to maintain and study the law [Deut 17:18-20].
34:22. Huldah — there are not many female prophets, but there are some – such as Deborah [Judges 4-5] and Anna [Luke 2:36-38].
34:24. Curses — the consequences of ignoring the law are spelled out in Deuteronomy 28:15-24 [there is another list at Leviticus 26:14-20].

After the Persians defeated the Babylonian army and took over the empire Cyrus instituted the policy (later followed by Rome in its empire) of religious toleration. He (more likely his descendant, Artaxerxes) allowed the Israelites to return to Palestine. Ezra led the refugees and, with Nehemiah the priest, organized rebuilding the city and the temple.

Because of the extent of the Persian empire (basically from the Mediter-ranean Sea to central India) the Middle East was relatively peaceful. And because of the emperor’s protection the Israelites were able to complete their task and reinstitute temple worship and sacrifice.

15 David built houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David commanded that no one but the Levites were to carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever. ³ David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ Then David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with one hundred twenty of his kindred;
⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred twenty of his kindred; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with one hundred thirty of his kindred; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his kindred; ⁹ of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his kindred; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with one hundred twelve of his kindred.

¹¹ David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.

¹³ Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God burst out against us, because we did not give it proper care.” ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as the singers to play on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise loud sounds of joy. [Verses 17-24 is a list of singers and musicians to accompany the Ark]

²⁵ So David and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. ²⁶ And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers; and David wore a linen ephod. ²⁸ So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord  with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.

²⁹ As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing; and she despised him in her heart.

16 They brought in the ark of God, and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before God. ² When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord; ³ and he distributed to every person in Israel man — and woman alike — to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴ He appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶ and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to blow trumpets regularly, before the ark of the covenant of God. NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. What is David doing now that Jerusalem is his capitol? What does he want to bring to the city? Who does he use for this project. Who else is involved in this work?

2. What families does David recruit for the project? How many people are involved? Why do you think he wanted so many?

3. What preparation must the priests and Levites complete? What causes David to be so careful about following the directions regarding the ark? How did the Levites carry the ark?

4. What else did David provide for the project? Why do you suppose he added these people to the procession?

5. Where did the ark move from? How did the Levites acknowledge God’s help? What did David do during the procession? How was he dressed? Who else was dressed this way? How did one person react to David’s actions?

6. What happened when the ark got to Jerusalem? What did David do as part of the ceremony?

Get Personal:

What is your mental image of being involved in God’s plan? How do you balance respect for God with the joy of being one of his partners in building his kingdom?

15.1. Houses — as king, David would have provided housing for his extended family [14.3]. He lived in a house of “cedar” [17.1] which signified luxury.
Tent — the ark of the Covenant had been housed in a tent (“tabernacle”) since its original construction during the exodus. David actually planned to build a permanent temple for the ark, but God had a different plan [17:3-15].
15.2. No one but the Levites — the first time David tried to move the ark he did not pay attention to God’s instructions [check Numbers 8:5-24] and a person died as a result of touching the ark to steady it [13:9-11]. This time he is careful to do things properly [check 15:11-15].
15:16. Loud sounds of joy — David correctly saw this project as a celebration of God’s power and gifts in unifying the kingdom under him.
15:27. Fine linen . . . ephod — David evidently dressed similarly to the priests.

Ephod — part of the priest’s ceremonial dress – evidently a linen “apron” of sorts worn over the linen robe [details at Exodus 28:6-14].
15:29. Michal. . . despised — Saul’s daughter probably misinterpreted David’s dancing as exhibitionist (she undoubtedly disliked the man who defeated her father).
16:1-3. Blessed — David treats moving the ark as the religious event that it was.
16:5. Asaph — a leader of the musicians and author of several of the Psalms (note that the writer thought the musicians were important enough that their names are included).
16:7-36. Hymn of Thanksgiving — [you are right: it is not included here, but you should read it on your own]. This is actually a compilation of three Psalms: 105 [vv. 8-22], 96 [vv. 23-33], and 106 [vv. 34-36]. Like contemporary authors, David used his creative efforts in different ways for different purposes.

2Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

² Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷ Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸ Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” ¹⁰ He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” ¹¹ As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.” ¹⁷ But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, Do not go?”

¹⁹ Now the people of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” ²² So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is involved in this incident? What is happening to them? Who is the leader here? What does he suggest the other person do? How does that person respond?

2. Where are these two going? Who else is involved? What do these people contribute to the situation? How do the two respond?

3. What “test” is involved between the two men? Why do you suppose the one is testing the other? How does the younger man respond?

4. How do the two men get across the river? What is significant about this method? Who else used a similar approach [see Notes]?

5. What does the younger man ask of the older? How does he respond to this request? What happens next? How did the younger man react to these events? How might you have reacted?

6. What does the younger man do next? How does he get back across the river? How do the other men respond? What do they want to do? How does that turn out?

7. What do the people of Jericho ask the prophet to do for them? How does he solve their problem?

Get Personal

Do you have someone you consider a spiritual mentor or teacher? How has God used this person to enrich your faith?

2:1. Gilgal — there were several towns with this name, probably one seven miles from Bethel.
I will not leave you — Elijah has been Elisha’s spiritual father and mentor; he tests Elisha’s loyalty 3 times [check vv. 4 and 6].
2:2. Bethel — a longstanding spiritual site since the time of Jacob [Gen 28:10-22].
2:3. Company of prophets — there actually was a training guild for those who wanted to become a prophet.
Do you know — evidently the prophets-in-training had been informed about Elijah’s departure; Elisha responds, “don’t remind me,” [the same exchange as v. 5].
2:4. Jericho — about 12 miles from Bethel.
2:6. Jordan — the river was 5 miles east.
2:8. Mantle — an outer collar or cloak, the symbol of the prophet’s ability to speak for God.
Water parted — God also parted the Jordan so Joshua and the Israelites could

cross into the Promised Land (Elisha will cross back the same way in v. 14).
2:9. Double portion — the amount for the first-born heir – Elisha is asking for the leadership status as Elijah’s spiritual heir [check Deut 21:17].
2:11. Chariot of fire — an unusual image for the Old Testament, though fairly common in other religions of the region.
Whirlwind — usually associated with God’s activity.
2:17. Send them — Elisha relents and allows the prophets to look for Elijah (but he does say “I told you so” when they return).
2:19. Water is bad — Jericho is in a very fertile area, but something happened to a major water source – so one of Elisha’s first miracles is to restore the water’s purity (Jesus’ first miracle also dealt with water – into wine). Salt is a preservative but normally makes water bad, but here it miraculously purifies the water.