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Ezra: Prophecies Fulfilled

CONNIE: Is God still in control, or has He just set the great clock of time running and left us all alone? Join us today as we look at some amazing prophecies that reveal God's hand, still working in our world.
Giving God's trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I'm Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I'm Lonnie Melashenko.
Today we open a rather obscure book of the Bible, but we'll find some fascinating things there. We call our program "Ezra: Prophecies Fulfilled," because the book of Ezra is an essential link in helping us to understand some of the most important prophecies in the Bible.

CONNIE: Ezra is not an easy book to understand if you just sit down and read it straight through, because of the way it's put together. It recounts events that happened over an 80-year period, but not all in order. We'll tell you in a moment about some help we have posted on the Internet if you'd like to understand it better.

LONNIE: But right now, we're bringing in the big guns. Professor William Shea is widely recognized in the world of biblical studies--he's an expert especially in the area of history we're talking about, and Ken Wade spoke with him recently about Ezra, its place in history, and its place in helping us understand some very important biblical prophecies.

CONNIE: Let's listen.

KEN: Dr. William Shea, welcome to our program today.

BILL: Thank you Ken. It's nice to be with you.

KEN: Well you know Dr. Shea, I look to you as one of the leading experts on biblical history, and how all of these stories fit together, and as were talking today about the book of Ezra. That's probably a challenging book for a lot of people to understand.

BILL: It is, it stands at the end of what we might call Old Testament history. It's one of the last books of the Old Testament written, and it basically comes from the six and fifth centuries B.C., this was the period of the Persian kings.

KEN: Right and this would put us where in relationship to the history of Israel and Judah?

BILL: Well they had 4 centuries of kings from David to Zedekiah, and then they had 70 years of Babylonian exile, when the people were swept of the land by king Nebuchadezer.

KEN: Right, to Babylon. But now you're talking to me about Persian kings.

BILL: Now these are the kings that sent the Jews back to their provinces of Judah, used to be the kingdom of Judah, now under the Persians it's a province of the Persian empire.

KEN: So the Persians under Cyrus came in and conquered Babylon, and Cyrus is the one then who sets them free to go back to their home country.

BILL: That's right. It seems to have been his general policy, because he sent peoples to other countries also, along with the Jews.

KEN: Right. It's almost like he sends them back to say prayers for him.

BILL: Yes, right in the first chapter we have the vessels of the temple that he sends back with the Jews, Even though they had to rebuild the temple later, and he makes offerings for the sacrifice and so forth.

KEN: But the things that we find recorded in Ezra are actually a fulfillment of a prophecy aren't they.

BILL: Yes they are. The prophet Jeremiah, who comes from an earlier time, and Jeremiah in what we call chapter 25, gave a prophecy that the Jews would be in exile for 70 years.

KEN: Now does that work out? Does the math work out?

BILL: Yes the math does work out. The first of the three waves of captives went in 605, and the Jews get back to their land by 536.

KEN: So when you count the years inclusively you get 70 years there don't you.

BILL: That's right.

KEN: There's another prophecy that refers to the 70 years as well isn't there?

BILL: Yes, its in Zechariah chapter one, and that one takes it from the destruction of the temple, to the rebuilding of the temple.

KEN: Which was once again a 70-year period wasn't it?

BILL: It works out, it goes from 586 down to 516.

KEN: So Ezra stands at the end of one series of prophecies, I guess the end of one era, but the beginning of another era, and another important prophecy is tied to the book of Ezra, isn't it?

BILL: Yes, They're both found in Daniel chapter 9 at the beginning of the chapter Daniel is praying and he is reading the scroll of Jeremiah,

KEN: Right.

BILL: and he has been in captivity for that whole 70-year period of time, and knows its time for the Jews to go back and rebuild.

KEN: Now Daniel is in Babylon just as Ezra started out from Babylon, and the people who went back to Jerusalem started out from Babylon right?

BILL: That's right. There are actually two returns. 50,000 people in the first two chapters go back under a governor named Zerubabel and, a priest named Joshua. And then a century later, another 5,000 to 7,000 go back with Ezra.

KEN: Right

BILL: So the book really divides into those two sections of those two returns of the Jews, and they get back to Judah, the first time they get back they rebuild the temple, and the second time they get back they start rebuilding the city.

KEN: So now we tie that into the book of Daniel which is written in about the same time period, and there's a prophecy looking forward from that time in Daniel that gets tied to Ezra isn't there.

BILL: Yes, that's the 70 weeks of years that reach from the time of Ezra himself, down to the time of the Messiah.

KEN: Now what a lot of people don't realize who maybe have studied Daniel, is that if we didn't have the book of Ezra, we wouldn't have one of the greatest prophecies. One of the greatest time prophecies we wouldn't even understand it would we?

BILL: That's right. It's Daniel that puts in the stake at the beginning of that 70 year period.

KEN: Or Ezra you mean that puts in the stake.

BILL: I'm sorry, I'm getting confused between the two books. Ezra gives the stake at the beginning of Daniel's prophecy, that's what I meant to say.

KEN: And Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks is probably the most fascinating time prophecy in the Bible isn't it?

BILL: Yes it is. In answer to his prayer the angel Gabriel came to Daniel and told him, Yes your people will return, they will rebuild, but beyond that there will be the coming of the Messiah.

KEN: Yeah, And even points, you can do the math, you can find the exact year of the baptism of Jesus, if you understand Ezra and Daniel can't you?

BILL: That's correct. He comes at the end of the 70 weeks, and His baptism occurs in 70, I'm sorry 27 A.D., and his crucifixion in 31 A.D., which is a part of the 70th or last week of the prophecy.

KEN: And so all 70 of those weeks a lot of people understand those prophesies differently. They think that maybe the 70th week is still to be fulfilled. There's some fictional books out there now that take this 70th week, and put them down at the end of time, but literally if we understand Daniel and Ezra we find that wrapping up around the time of Jesus don't we?

BILL: Yes that's right. If you add up the second segments of the prophecy you have 62 weeks and 7 weeks and 1 week it makes 70 complete, but if you put a gap in between the 69th and 70th week you don't have 70 weeks. You have 2000 years plus the 70th week.

KEN: Well Ezra is a very important book then to help us understand all of these things, and I thank you Dr. Shea with your expertise in these areas for sharing with us today.

BILL: It's been a pleasure talking with you Ken.

KEN: Thanks again, bye now.

BILL: Bye.

Wow! I never thought of Ezra as being that important of a book in the Bible, but it really stands at the center of our understanding of prophecy.

Particularly in relation to one of the most amazing prophecies--the one in Daniel 9 that pointed forward to the exact time of the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
The stories in Ezra point out clearly that God knows what is going on in this world, and that He is still in control.

There's a classic poem that makes that very point--it's been turned into a hymn as well. The poem, written by James Russell Lowell, is titled "Once to Every Man and Nation," and we've dug back into our classic Voice of Prophecy recording library, and found something really wonderful to share with our listeners today.

Back in 1955, HMS Richards, the founder of the Voice of Prophecy, did a series of recordings of dramatic readings--poetry, Scripture, and stories, and "Once to Every Man and Nation" was one of the poems he recorded, with a musical accompaniment--Al Avilla played the tune to the hymn as he read the poem.

Let's listen to this dramatic reading right now, HMS Richards, founder of the Voice of Prophecy, reading "Once to Every Man and Nation.

HMS RICHARDS: "Once to Every Man and Nation"

Once to every man and nation Comes the moment to decide,
In strife of truth with false-hood, For the good or evil side; Some great cause, God's new Messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
Twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses,
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.

By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calvaries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.

Through the cause of evil prosper,
Yet tis truth alone is strong;
Through her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above His own.

Doesn't that give you a sense of confidence to envision God behind the scenes--whatever happens in the world, He's backstage--behind the curtain--the Director, and He has a script with a great ending that He's working out.
I love that imagery of God working in history--working through people who listen and respond to His directing. People like Ezra, whose life and work we're looking at today.

Ezra was a man with a real sense of history. It's likely that he was the author not only of the book that bears his name, but also of the books of Chronicles that tell about the history of Israel and Judah.

And he may have played a major role in seeing to it that other books in our Bible were preserved and passed down to our day as well. He's known as the first great scribe--the founder of the line of scribes who preserved the Word of God for us.

But when you bring that up, it raises another question in my mind. You call Ezra a scribe--the founder of the line of scribes--interpreters of the law.
I think I know where you're going with your question. Because by the time we get to the New Testament, Ezra's descendants don't get very good press in the Gospels. They, along with the Pharisees always seem to be opposing Jesus.

Yes. And really, you have to wonder how Jesus would have responded to Ezra if the two men had lived in the same day.

Well Connie, that's one of the ideas I'll be considering in my message today as we look at the life story of Ezra, and at the book that bears his name. But before we get to that, I want to focus our attention once again on Ezra's relationship to the great prophecies of the Bible, and to remind our listeners of something very special that we have available for them.

It's our brand new prophecy Bible course--part of our Discover Bible School. This revised and updated course has only been available for a few months, but already hundreds of people are studying it and learning to understand the great prophecies of the Bible like they never have before.

And it's easy to enroll, isn't it?

Not only that, it's free. People can do the lessons right on the Internet at our web page at VOP.COM, or they can call or write and ask for the first lesson to be sent to them. And let me tell you, these lessons are beautiful as well as fascinating. They're illustrated with full-color pictures, and written in an interesting, compelling way that draws you right into the great prophecies of the Bible.

And a person could just call our regular toll-free number to enroll in this course?

That's right, and the number is 1-800-872-0055.

We'll give you our mailing address a bit later in the program, but right now let's listen to Lonnie's message for today, "Ezra: Prophecies Fulfilled.

Ezra: Prophecies Fulfilled

How do you respond to a report like this one that "hit the fan" recently: James Dobson's organization, Focus on the Family, revealed the results of a survey they had done concerning pornography on the Internet. They asked people whether they had ever visited a sex-oriented website, and found that about one in five would admit to having done so. But the thing that caught my eye about this report was the response of people who considered themselves born-again Christians.

Being a Christian calls us to a higher standard of morality, but the survey revealed that the percentage of Christians who had visited sex-oriented sites on the Internet was almost as high as the percentage of the general population.

This report is just one among many that has come out recently regarding the level of morality among Christians. Unfortunately, it appears that what Christians say about their religious beliefs all-too-often has very little impact on how they live.

Now, let me ask you this: How do you respond to that. Do you think the church needs a good scourging--a good cleaning up. Are you ready for some good old "hell-fire and damnation" preaching to straighten people out--maybe scare them into better behavior?

Or, do you take a more lenient stance?. Do you tend to focus more on the mercy and grace of God and say, "Let's not dwell on people's sins, let's focus on their good points. Let's be like Jesus, who always looked for the best in people."

Well, today as we look at the book of Ezra, we're dealing with a man who was very concerned about sin in the camp. And believe me, he wasn't afraid to let his feelings be known. Notice how he reacted when he heard about sin among the people in Jerusalem:

So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished (Ezra 9:3, NKJV).

That's a pretty strong reaction, wouldn't you say? Ezra was literally tearing his hair out!

Now, we've already talked about the historical background of the book of Ezra a bit, but let me just take a moment to put this in its context. The book of Ezra tells about two groups of Jewish people who went from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city that had been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar. The first group went in 536 BC and set up an altar there and began offering sacrifices. They finished building the temple about twenty years later. A second large group, under the leadership of the scribe Ezra, came from Babylon about eighty years after the first group.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, Ezra learned that over the past 80 years, the first group of settlers had begun to intermarry with people of other nationalities who lived in the area, and he became very distressed over this news. He was so upset that he called an assembly of all the people and had a committee appointed to deal with the issue. This group interviewed all the people who had taken foreign wives and made them promise that they would divorce them--in order to keep the race pure.

Much of the book of Ezra concerns itself with purity and separation from paganism.

In fact, when the first group of exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon and began building the temple, some of the people of the land came and offered to help. "Let us build with you," they said (and here I'm quoting from Ezra 4:2) "for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."

Now, I don't know about you, but I think that if I were involved in a church building project and a group of Hell's Angels rode up on their motorcycles and offered to carry some lumber and pound a few nails, I'd welcome them with open arms and hope that while we were working together, I could maybe get them interested in joining a baptismal class or small-group Bible study at the church.

But that's not how the leaders in Jerusalem reacted to the foreigners who wanted to work with them. Here's their response in Ezra 4:3: But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, "You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

Now, that may sound like exclusivism, maybe even chauvinism to you. The Jews basically said "No, you can't worship our God with us." And to understand that, we need to remember where they were in history. They were refugees returning from exile in Babylon, and part of the reason they ended up in captivity in the first place was that their ancestors hadn't remained faithful to God. They had mingled the worship of the Lord with worship of other gods.

The returning exiles didn't want that sort of thing to happen to them. They wanted to remain pure in their devotion to the Lord. So we shouldn't be too critical of their reaction.

But we do need to balance that with what Jesus taught while He was on earth.
You see, the people who came and wanted to worship God with the Jews were Samaritans, and the division and animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans had its roots at that time.

When Jesus came to earth, He literally went out of His way to try to heal some of that rift. He made a special trip to Samaria and entered into conversation with a Samaritan woman. In that conversation they discussed whether the temple built by the Jews in Jerusalem or the temple built by Samaritans near Sychar was the right place to worship, and Jesus made it clear that everyone who comes to God in spirit and truth is welcome (see John 4).

Jesus extended an olive branch where His ancestors had brandished spears and swords. Jesus welcomed the Samaritans and people of every race to come and worship God in spirit and truth. He welcomes all of us today, no matter what our race or color or religious background. He invites us to come to Him.

So, does that mean that the message of Ezra is outdated--somehow superseded by the teaching of Jesus?

No, of course not. The Bible is a whole, and when we take all its parts together, they form a wonderful balance. Ezra's concern for purity is an example we ought to take seriously today. There IS sin in the camp. There IS impurity in the church. And yet we tend to just go on with business as usual. We say little about the things that are weakening and polluting the church, hoping that if we don't mention them, they'll just go away.

Where are the preachers like Ezra, who will fast and pray and kneel in humiliation before the Lord, confessing the disgrace that is in the land because of sin? Where are the people who will join with Ezra as we read in Ezra 9:4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive. (NKJV)

Do we tremble at the word of the Lord today, or do we just let it float right over our heads without even furrowing our brows?

The book of Ezra comes to us from a time when the prophecies of God were being fulfilled in a literal and powerful way. Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 years of captivity came true, and so did Zechariah's. People saw the hand of God working. They felt His power in their lives.

Friend, we need that experience today, don't we. Even if it means we have some serious cleaning up to do in our individual lives, or our church's life. We want the power of God to work again. We want to see prophecy fulfilled.

emember, Ezra stands in the middle--between the prophecy that ended in his day and the one that began to be fulfilled in his day--pointing forward to the coming of the Messiah.

And that same prophecy points forward right down to today, and assures us that our Messiah will come back again--and soon! To take all of us out of exile in this old world, to the true, New Jerusalem.

Friend, we extend the olive branch of Jesus to the world, reminding everyone that Jesus wants to welcome you into His kingdom. But we mustn't forget the message of Ezra--it is Jesus' message too: God wants us to be pure, to be separate from sin. Ready to live in the kingdom of God.

"Touch Your People Once Again", Ponder Harp and Jennings, from The Best of Ponder Harp and Jennings CD