If you’re following the reading schedule you’ll notice that Psalm 137 is on the schedule for today. I covered it back with the fall of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 39. It just made more sense to me to put it there.

So… on we go to Ezra 5-6.

This is such a happy story!

And it illustrates the important role of the prophets to encourage with the Word of the LORD. The people had become fearful and discouraged, but…

“At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jehozadak responded by starting again to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them and helped them.”
‭‭Ezra‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We haven’t seen the “trifecta” functioning together like this in a long while.

🤔 What’s the trifecta?

Prophet, Priest, and King.

The Jews are being allowed to set up a colony within the dominion of the Persian Empire. They aren’t allowed to have a king on the throne of David. But, if they had been allowed to have a king, that man would’ve been Zerubbabel, son of Shealteil, prince of Judah.

🤔 Wait – didn’t you say that he was an ancestor of Jesus?

Yes.

😯 So Jesus is…a royal?

Yes.

😅 Oh yeah, I knew that.

Of course you knew that. We know it but we don’t. We read about poor Mary and Joseph and their humble status and Joseph being a blue-collar carpenter… and even though we technically know that Jesus is “the Son of David,” it sometimes slips past us that, if the Davidic Dynasty had continued, Jesus would’ve been born in the palace of King Joseph, not in a manger of Carpenter Joseph.

😯 So when Pilate wrote on the sign, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” that was literally true? Not just spiritual or symbolic? Jesus was the rightful heir to David’s throne?

Correct.

😲 Whoa…

Yeah. So we have Zerubbabel the uncrowned King and we also have Jeshua son of Jozadek, the High Priest. And I REALLY like this guy because, besides Joseph and Joshua and David, he’s probably the clearest (but least-known) prophetic picture of Jesus in the OT. But we’ll get to him in Zechariah 3.

Besides the unofficial king and the high priest, we have 2 men functioning faithfully in the office of Prophet: Haggai and Zachariah.

😐 Hag Guy?

🤓 No. It’s Hag E.I. Right? Like Magnum P.I. But without the short shorts, Ferrari, and mustache.

Actually… it’s…

🤓 Oh look… she’s learned how to add stickers to pictures.

😑 Ho boy… There’s no recovering from this.

🤓🤚🏼 Ooo! You can put ME in a picture! Maybe draw a little pointer stick in my hand like I’m a professor teaching Hebrew…

🙄 Don’t encourage her.

The last time I can find that prophet, priest, and king actually worked together was when the high priest Hilkiah found the long-lost book of the Law in the neglected temple. He took it to King Josiah, who then called for the Prophetess Huldah who gave the king instructions from the LORD, (2 Kgs. 22). This partnership of prophet, priest, and king led to the last revival in Judah more than a century before. And it’s interesting that in both instances – Josiah and Zerubbabel – the assembling of prophet, priest, and king led to the celebration of Passover. Of course, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of all 3 offices.

• He is “the prophet like unto Moses” (Deut. 18:15-18, John 1:1-18, Rev. 19:10)
• He is our “Great High Priest” (Heb. 4:14-15, and really, Hebrews chapters 4-10)
• He is “King of kings” (1 Tim. 6:15, Rev. 17:14, 19:16)

With the 3 offices working together, the construction of the temple begins again. The official letters fly back and forth and the Imperial Librarians are sent to search the archives for the documentation to verify the Jews’ claims. And they do.

🤓 Yay for organized librarians! 📚

Based on Cyrus’ original decree, King Darius I (the Great), issues a new decree. Not only may the Judeans proceed in the building of the temple for the High God of Heaven, but it’s going to be paid for with tax-payer money. The Jews are not to be disturbed. They are to be given anything they need; even meals for the construction crew and sacrificial animals.

And because its the ancient world, this order comes with a polite warning:

“Those who violate this decree in any way will have a beam pulled from their house. Then they will be lifted up and impaled on it, and their house will be reduced to a pile of rubble.”
‭‭Ezra‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

😐 The threat of being impaled like a marshmallow is a great motivator. But I’m ok with not bringing it back.

And look at the curse Darius places:

“May the God who has chosen the city of Jerusalem as the place to honor his name destroy any king or nation that violates this command and destroys this Temple. “I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be obeyed with all diligence.””
‭‭Ezra‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I suspect that this carried supernatural weight. Who “destroyed this Temple?”

🤨 The Romans.

☝🏼🤓 In 70 AD.

Right. And what happened to their nation?

🤓 We learn about it in history books.

Exactly.

Who was behind the destruction of the “Temple” of Jesus’ earthly body?

😐 Is this an open-book quiz?

Sure.

😐🤓 (reads John 2:13-22)…

🤓😐 The Jewish leaders.

Right. And when was their nation destroyed?

🤓😐 70 AD.

And who attempts to destroy the LORD’s New Temple, the Church?

🤔 The Devil?

☝🏼🤓 The Antichrist?

And what happens to them?

😐 Destruction.

🤓 The Lake of Fire.

Right. I think Darius may have been prompted by the LORD to make a prophetic declaration.

---

Here is the opening of Cyrus’ original decree:

“In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem. ‘Let the Temple be rebuilt on the site where Jews used to offer their sacrifices, using the original foundations. Its height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet.’”
‭‭Ezra‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Anybody remember what else we read about recently that was 90ft tall?

🤓🤚🏼 Oooo ooo! I do! The golden statue set up by Nebuchadnezzar.

Right. That’s about 6 stories tall. Here are some other things that are 90ft tall and wide.

Here’s an artist rendering of what “Zerubbabel’s Temple” (as it is sometimes called) might’ve looked like:

In the next several posts we are going to look at the messages from the prophets, Haggai [Khag-gah-ee] and Zechariah.

What was it they said that roused up the distracted and discouraged people to finish building the temple?

Let’s find out.

I bet it could help us distracted and discouraged saints today.