Ezra 6:16-17 "And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, (17) And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel."
The book of Ezra is a very interesting book to read. There is history contained
in the book as the people of Judah had been carried away captive into the land
of Babylon. Many events took place during the 70 years of their captivity
including the Persians taking over. Even more important than the history of
that time, we read in Ezra 1:1-2, "... the LORD stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom,
and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged
me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Yes, we see the
power of God moving even those who held them captive to carry out His will. We
see this same power exhibited in both of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. God's
power is without limit of people or geographical location.
As you read through the book, you will see the hand of God is upon the people
as they made their way back to Jerusalem. The hand of God is mentioned 8 times
in those two fairly short books. It was a time of hard work as the people went
back to reconstruct the temple and then to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.
BUT, the hand of the Lord was upon them in every way. He worked all the details
concerning providing the materials and the manpower to complete the work. Even
more than that, He put within the hearts of the people to have a "mind to
work." We can look at the completed task and think concerning the people
who put their hands to the work, but when the rebuilding of the temple was
complete, the people saw the hand of God upon them and they "kept the
dedication of this house of God with joy." Not only did they dedicate the
temple in their hearts, but they then gave the best they had as sacrifices unto
the Lord. True joy comes to us as we look back upon a time in our lives
and realize we were able to complete that task at hand because the hand of the
Lord was with us. You see, He promised never to leave us nor forsake us. That
isn't only by being present with us; rather, it includes His power, wisdom, and
glory to do the work. I include both Ezra and Nehemiah today because both their
works were in the same time frame. When the people concluded the work of the
wall and then restored true worship of the Lord, they came to this conclusion:
"The joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) Do you
have the joy of the Lord this morning? He promised to be with you. "Thou
wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right
hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm 16:11)