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The Devil’s Playbook
Christ Church on March 14, 2021
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Notes on Reformation

Christ Church on

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Ezra & Nehemiah

Introduction

Many of us recently read through Ezra and Nehemiah in the Bible Reading Challenge, and these books have a lot to say to us about the work of Reformation, which is what we are about.

The Text

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia… Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah…” (Ezr. 1:1-2)

Summary of the Text

Ezra and Nehemiah take place after the 70 years of exile foretold in Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10), beginning around 539 B.C. While modern Bible commentators tend to date Nehemiah much later (100 years!) because he calls the king “Artaxerxes,” I’m inclined to read that as a throne name (like “Caesar” or “Pharaoh”) because Nehemiah refers to Ezra the Scribe being there with him (e.g. Neh. 8). Ezra also references Nehemiah (Ez. 2:2), which verse incidentally also mentions Mordecai, strongly suggesting that the “queen” in Neh. 2:6 is none other than Esther (making Ahasuerus, Darius, and Nehemiah’s “Artaxexes” all the same king). Regardless of how one takes the chronology, the books record the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra) and the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah), the blessing of God on their work, the challenges they faced, and provide us a number of lessons on the work of Reformation.

Worship First

The goal in both books is the rebuilding of the temple and the city (Ez. 9:9, Neh. 12:27, 40), but both books make it clear that worship is central and drives the whole project. This is why we have said for years that worship is at the center of what we are about, but the reestablishment of faithful worship is always related to (re)building cities (Tit. 1:5, Rev. 21:2).

Ezra describes the reestablishment of worship in two stages: first is the altar (Ez. 3:2-6), then the rest of the temple (Ez. 3:10, 6:15). In the New Covenant, the altar roughly corresponds to evangelism and conversion (Mt. 28:19). True worship is in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23), which means that the only kind of worship that God receives is the kind offered with clean hearts and lips (Heb. 13:5). And the only way to have a clean heart is by the blood of Jesus Christ washing it clean (1 Jn. 1:9). The temple roughly corresponds to corporate worship (1 Pet. 2:5). When people gather together for worship, there must be an order that everyone can follow. We see in Nehemiah’s covenant renewal service many of the same elements of worship we use: there is a platform/pulpit where the Scriptures are read (Neh. 8:4), there is time for explaining what the Scriptures mean (Neh. 8:7-8), all the people stood for the reading (Neh. 8:5), the people respond with “Amen” (Neh. 8:6), and worship includes lifting hands as well as kneeling/bowing down (Neh. 8:6). Worship is ordered according to Scripture not according to our preferences.

Expect Enemies & Detractors

“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel; then they… weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in the building, and hired counsellors against them to frustrate their purpose…” (Ezr. 4:1, 4-5). There is also a progression of resistance in Nehemiah: from grief (Neh. 2:10), to scorn (Neh. 2:19), to indignation and threats of violence (Neh. 4:1, 8). They not only sought to work political trouble, but they also successfully turned some prophets against the work (Neh. 6:10-14), including the corruption of the High Priest (Neh. 13:7-8). Jesus told His disciples to expect the same: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake” (Matt. 5:11). “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Lk. 6:26). Paul warned the Corinthian elders that “savage wolves will come in among you” (Acts 20:29). “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Heb. 12:3, cf. 1 Pet. 4:12). The presence of enemies is not a sign something has gone wrong; it’s a sign we’re doing something worth fighting.

Varying Degrees of Understanding

In the work of reformation there will be those who don’t fully understand what we are up to, but who are still trying to help. “And next unto them the Tekoaites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their lord” (Neh. 3:5). This is like the time the disciples saw someone casting out demons who was not with them, and Jesus said to leave him alone: “he who is not against us is on our side” (Lk. 9:50). Likewise, Paul rejoiced that the gospel was being preached even by those who did so out of envy and strife and selfish ambition (Phil. 1:15-18). Others will really put their backs into the work: “After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest” (Neh. 3:20). Paul was a Johnny-come-lately, but he saw that God had allowed him to far outstrip all the other apostles in terms of work accomplished (1 Cor. 15:10). We should glory in our varying gifts, and not worry too much about the messiness of people.

Marriage

Both Ezra and Nehemiah end addressing marriage problems (Ez. 9-10, Neh. 8:23-31). Marriage and family are not just one of the things that Christians do, it is right at the center of human civilization. It is always high stakes, but when you are trying to rebuild a civilization, you cannot be working off of different sets of blueprints and this relates more broadly to the problem of worldliness (Js. 4:4, 2 Cor. 6:14-18). Many people object to the idea of applying biblical law to society, and they often point to Old Testament laws that sometimes allowed for the death penalty for adultery (Lev. 20:10) or a rebellious son (Dt. 21:18-21). The problem with this objection is that it assumes the relative insignificance of the family. But marriage and family are like a civilizational nuclear plant, and God’s sanctions match that volatility.

Conclusions

Ezra and Nehemiah remind us that our task is to build on Christ the solid rock, the only foundation stone that can never be moved. But another way to say this is that Christ is the Chief Builder. We want to build what He is building, and nothing else. Otherwise all of our work is in vain (Ps. 127). But if the blessing of God is on it, nothing can stop it. How do we seek that blessing? Clean hearts, full of joy worshiping the Lord. That joy is only possible if we are walking in the light of forgiveness and fellowship (1 Jn. 1:4-7). And that joy is our strength (Neh. 8:10).

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Surveying the Text: Ezra/Nehemiah

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

We have before us the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which were probably one book originally. Moreover, it is also quite possible that Chronicles/Ezra/Nehemiah was originally one book. As we consider this, it would obviously be helpful for you not only to read through these books, but also through the book of Esther, as well as the books of Zechariah and Haggai. In order to get the blessing from these books that we would like to get, one of our first responsibilities is that of getting oriented. That will include the surrounding territory.

The Text

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 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 . . . (Ezra 1:1).

Overview

So let us stop at the first verse and ask the questions we need to ask to keep from getting disoriented. It is also necessary to explain that on matters of biblical chronology, there is almost always considerable disagreement, and so it is necessary for me to explain what chronology I am following—even if I do not take the time to try to prove it in exhaustive detail. And so we begin with Cyrus. Who is he?

Pagan Kings

The modern Iranians are descended from the Persians, and we will begin by getting straight on their kings from this period. We will start by using the Greek names for them, which are the most common.

Cyrus reigned from 539 to 530.
Cambyses II reigned from 530 to 522.
Darius I reigned from 522 to 487.
Xerxes I reigned from 487 to 466.
Artaxerxes Longimanus reigned from 465 to 425.

The period stretches from 539 B.C. to 425 B.C. During this time, the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon and Salamis, Pericles reigned in Athens, the Greek tragedians flourished, Socrates taught, Cincinnatus was dictator in Rome, and the Buddha and Confucius both lived and died.

Throne Names

We have the difficulty of identifying persons who sit on thrones when we have to take account of the fact these rulers often used throne names. We know this readily in other circumstances. If someone today were to refer to “Caesar,” a natural question would be “which one?” The same is true of “Pharaoh.” One of the things we have to deal with is the very real possibility that Darius and Artaxerxes were throne names. Other throne names in the Bible would be Ben-Hadad (Jer. 49:27;Amos 1:4) or Abimelech (Gen. 20,26 , Ps. 34 ). So the assumption here is that the shift from Darius to Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 does not represent the reign of a different king, but rather a change in the name used for him.

The Operating Assumption

My operating assumption here as I deal with the chronology of these books is that the Persian kings named “Darius, Ahasuerus, and Artaxerxes in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther” are all the same man. In doing this, I am following James Jordan in his monograph on the subject. I am not following the chronologies of the standard evangelical world here because there seems to be too great a willingness to make biblical statements conform to what we (think we) know about secular history instead of the other way around. And in my mind, this has ramifications for the doctrine of biblical inspiration and infallibility.

Most Bible commentaries assume that the Artaxerxes found in Ezra 7 and following, and in Nehemiah, is Longimanus. This dates the latter part of Ezra between 465-25. But since the book opens with Cyrus, the beginning of the book is many years before this (539). If Ezra 1-6 occurs in the early years of Darius, this brings us down to 516. Then at Ezra 7, we have to skip 57 years, coming down to 459, the seventh year of Artaxerxes. Then Nehemiah takes us even further down to the 33rd year of Artaxerxes, 433 B.B. The standard view stretches the events of these two books over the better part of a century. What I am assuming here is that we need to telescope them, and that it all pretty much happened in the reign of Darius. This makes Ezra and Nehemiah contemporaries.

But most Bible chronologies take Artaxerxes (of Ezra) to be Darius. As we study this, remember that Christians of good will differ, and the confusion about these identifications is ancient, even going back to Josephus and apocryphal books.

Just a Few Examples

I said earlier that the matter of biblical infallibility and sufficiency is really at stake, and wanted to give just a couple examples of this sort of thing.

Ezra: “And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them. And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward” (Neh. 12: 36-37).

Nehemiah: “Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city; Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah” (Ezra 2:1-2; cf. Neh. 7:7). Unless the writer is trying to confuse us, we should assume that a different Nehemiah would be identified as such (as is done in Neh. 3:16).

Mordecai: In the verse quoted above, look at the third name after Nehemiah—Mordecai. Why would this not be the great Mordecai of Esther 10:3? How many Jews would have this Persian name (which meant “man of Marduk”)?

All this leads us to a short chronology for these books instead of a long chronology. But far more is at stake than simply dates. What matters most is whether we really trust the Word of God in all details.

The Tasks

Assuming them to be (roughly) contemporary, let us consider the task of Ezra (perhaps the first Pharisee) to be the rebuilding of the altar and the Temple. The task of Nehemiah was the rebuilding of the city walls and gates. Both of them had to do what they did against great opposition, and formidable challenges. Why would God do it this way? Because we tend to think that Ezra and Nehemiah were building something for God, when it was God that was building something for God. He was building Ezra and Nehemiah. He is doing the same thing today.

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