Message 1
Scripture Reading: 2 Chron. 36:14-23; Ezra 1:1-5
In this message we come to the last three books of history in the Old Testament — Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
I believe that in eternity past God determined that, after the confusion of Babel, He would choose a man by the name of Abraham. After calling Abraham God spent many years to train him. Eventually, Abraham produced a son, Isaac. Isaac had two sons — Esau, whom God hated, and Jacob, whom God loved (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13). For many years Jacob was dealt with under God’s hand. Jacob produced twelve sons, and these sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.
When God called Abraham out of Chaldea, the land of Babel, He promised to give him the good land, the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1, 7), and He brought Abraham into this land. Abraham, therefore, was the first one of God’s chosen people to enter into the good land. Later, the twelve tribes drifted away from the good land to Egypt, where they remained for hundreds of years (Exo. 12:40-41). During this time in Egypt, the twelve tribes of Israel became a nation of about two million people. They were usurped, enslaved, and persecuted by Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They cried out to God, and He sent Moses to deliver them out of that land of slavery into the good land. God brought the people of Israel to Mount Sinai to train them and to give them the covenant, the testament, which included both the moral law and the ceremonial law. In giving Israel the law, God’s intention was that they would be a nation of priests.
When the people of Israel were about to enter into the land of Canaan, God charged them through Moses to slaughter all the Canaanites. He also charged them to destroy all the idols and everything related to idolatry. Joshua took this charge and he was faithful to it, but he was not faithful absolutely. Instead of slaughtering all the Canaanites, he allowed some to remain.
In the law given on Mount Sinai, God commanded the people of Israel concerning how to behave in relation to Him and in relation to one another. He did not want them to forsake Him, the fountain of living water, and hew out cisterns (idols) which are broken and which cannot retain water. He wanted them to love one another and not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to lie, and not to covet. They were to take care of others, even returning lost things to their owner. This was the kind of life that was ordained by God. It was a heavenly life lived by earthly people. A people with such a living could surely be called the kingdom of God.
However, after Israel entered into the good land, they were not faithful to God. The people of Israel failed God and eventually were divided into the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The kingdom of Israel became apostate; they forsook God and set up other worship centers in addition to the unique center at Jerusalem. The kingdom of Israel was captured by the Assyrians, and later the kingdom of Judah was captured by the Babylonians. At that time the city of Jerusalem was captured and was not returned to Israel until 1967.
At the end of 2 Chronicles, in God’s eyes the condition and situation of Israel were miserable. The land was usurped and taken over by pagans, and the people of Israel were given by God as captives to the heathens. Furthermore, the temple was burned and the wall of Jerusalem was torn down. The entire good land, the so-called holy land, was devastated.
When Jeremiah saw all this, sitting on the top of Mount Zion and looking down at Jerusalem, he lamented bitterly. All the leading ones and all the noble ones of his countrymen had been taken away to captivity in Babylon, and only the poorest of the people were left to keep the land. It is no wonder that Jeremiah lamented. Eventually, he himself was taken captive to Egypt and there he was put to death. What a pitiful situation!
Such a condition lasted for seventy years, as Jeremiah himself had prophesied. While Jeremiah was lamenting, God came in to comfort him with the word that the captivity would not be forever but would last only seventy years (Jer. 25:11). God assured him that the miserable situation of his country and his people, of the temple and the city, would last for just seventy years. Some of the captured ones, such as Daniel, would still be alive at the expiration of the seventy years. When Zerubbabel led the first return from Babylon to Jerusalem, Daniel was still alive there in Babylon. Therefore, God comforted Jeremiah by assuring him that just as He gave the people up to captivity, He would also bring them back from their captivity. God would bring them back, not as captives but as triumphant warriors.
Following 1 and 2 Chronicles, we have the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The book of Ezra is concerned with the return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, and the book of Nehemiah is concerned with the repair, the rebuilding, of the city. The book of Esther shows us how the omnipresent and omnipotent God became the hiding God in protecting His captured elect, who were scattered in their captivity.
Apparently God would not do anything for His people, for He is a God who hides Himself (Isa. 45:15). This is why in the book of Esther God is not referred to by any of His divine titles. In this book there is no explicit mention of God; the word God is not even used. Yet this book shows us that God is present in a hidden way, exercising His sovereignty in the wisest manner to preserve His elect. Because of this, His elect under the persecution in their captivity could survive and multiply, in order that one day they might be brought by God to their fathers’ land.
The first group returned under Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, of the royal family. He was appointed the governor of Judah by Cyrus the king. The second group returned under Ezra, a priest and a scribe. As we have pointed out, this return was made possible through the secret preserving care of the hiding God in their captivity.
God let His people be captured and then scattered in their captivity. He also let the holy land be usurped and occupied, and He left the city of Jerusalem to lie waste. Seemingly the omnipotent and omnipresent God was not doing anything for the people of Israel. Actually He was protecting and preserving them in a hidden way.
The situation is the same today regarding the Middle East. The decision concerning Israel does not rest with the politicians and statesmen but with the hidden God. One day the omnipresent and omnipotent God will appear as the Son of Man, who will come back to take possession of the earth. He will place His right foot on the sea and His left on the land (Rev. 10:1-2), indicating that He has come to take possession of the earth and the sea. This One who is coming back to the earth is Jesus Christ, the God-man. When He comes, other God-men — the overcomers — will be with Him.
We need to remember that all the history of the people of Israel is a type, typifying the New Testament believers as God’s elect. Israel, therefore, is a type of the church. The church was established by the Lord as the Head through His apostles in the first century. Yet by the end of the first century the church became degraded. This means that the church was captured.
Even among us, individually, whoever is defeated in the spiritual life has been captured. He will remain in captivity until he repents. Through his repentance he will be brought back. If we are captured, we are captured away from the enjoyment of Christ. But our repentance brings us back to Him, back to the enjoyment of Christ.
Today we are in a situation that is typified by the situation at Ezra’s time. Some of us have come back already, and others are still on the way.
We all need to be clear concerning three situations: the world situation, the situation of Christianity, and our situation in the Lord’s recovery. The worldly empires are the usurpers, and Christianity is our opposer. We in the Lord’s recovery should not consider ourselves as nothing. We know the world situation, we know the situation of Christianity, and we know the hidden God.
I have the full peace that we are in the hand of the omnipresent and omnipotent yet hiding God, who is exercising His wise sovereignty to protect us, keep us, and save us. We do not need to worry about who will oppose us or who will persecute us. We have to believe in this hiding God. He is wise and He is sovereign. He can do everything under His wise sovereignty.
