Restoring Joyful Worship

June 30, 2013 Background Scripture: Ezra 1:1 – 3:7 Lesson Passage: Ezra 3:1 – 7 Psalm 51 is David’s prayer to God after he committed a dreadful sin. It is a petition for God to restore unto him the joy of being saved. It seems obvious from the prayer that David experienced the absence of that joy. Note that David did not request to be saved again only that he may once again rejoice in the knowledge that he was one of the saved. In our lesson today, the nation of Israel had grievously sinned against God and was now scattered in the land of their captors. After repentance had taken place, God allowed many of them to return to Palestine—the land of promise. Zerubbabel led the first expedition of almost 50,000 persons back into Palestine where they repopulated many of the cities. During the years of captivity, many of them had continued to worship God. We can observe from the books of Daniel and Esther that the most devout of Israel continued to worship God in Babylon. However, the psalmist noted in Psalm 137 that rejoicing in the Lord in a strange or foreign land was all but impossible. So there is a biblical record that some of the people of Israel continued to worship God in captivity but without rejoicing as in days prior to their captivity. Just as a repentant David had prayed for the restoration of the joy of being saved, national Israel was now in need of the same thing. Also it should be noted that worship was originally established as a national event for Israel rather than individual devotions. Several times during the year all males of Israel were required to present themselves before the Lord en masse. Therefore, joyful worship for Israel would entail more than a few devout individuals praying several times a day while facing towards Jerusalem from a foreign country. Proper worship for Israel required all individuals to come together at the place God designated for them to gather. As the nation of Israel began to repopulate Palestine, their local leaders (especially Zerubbabel) saw the opportunity for them to restore national worship as before. In fact, this is the reason Cyrus king of Persia had offered the opportunity for them to return to their land. Cyrus had instructed them to return to Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem. He stated that God had directed him to do this. The historical record in the book of Ezra focuses on setting up the altar and rebuilding the temple which had been destroyed by the army of Babylon under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. The steps taken by Israel to restore national worship were simple and according to the Law. The people gathered together at Jerusalem. Zerubbabel and the priests set up the altar and they offered sacrifices on it according to the Law. They went on to observe the annual feasts that were specified by the Law. The people gave offerings that were required to secure materials and labor for the construction of the temple. Although the nation was far from the glory days prior to their captivity, they had taken the necessary steps to begin the process of restoring joyful worship in Israel. Robert C. Hudson June 24, 2013

Worship in the New Creation

June 23, 2013 Background Scripture: Isaiah 65 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 65:17 – 25 If I could just do it all over again, things will be better the next time around. If only I could get another chance, I would approach life differently. How often have we had these thoughts and at times even verbalized them? Our physical existence in this world teaches us that there really are no second chances to do things over. We may have opportunities that allow us to handle new situations better but the old ones will forever be in the past—mishandled, messed up, or whatever the case may be. Here in this world, we are bound to live with the consequences of our past errors and sins. But the prophet Isaiah tells of another time and place where there is the opportunity to start all over again. Past sins and errors are remembered no more and life truly is better. The scope of Isaiah’s prophecy is enough to earn him the title of greatest of the writing prophets. Isaiah’s prophecy has a scope as broad as the entire written scriptures. In today’s lesson, we read in the book of Isaiah something that is found in only one other place in the bible, i.e., the book of Revelation. Over seven hundred years before John’s Patmos vision, Isaiah had prophetically seen the new heaven and the new earth. It is a remake of the original creation. It is there where sin has been banished and joy has replaced sorrow. Man’s labor will once again be fruitful and cause the ground to yield its fullness without thorns and thistles to make him weary. God will be in the midst of His creation ensuring continuous joy and fullness of life. God will remove the memory of the painful past that so often haunts us. Violence will not exist in the new creation—not even among the beasts of the field. The beasts of the field will be in harmony as they live and eat together without fear or contempt for one another. In such a state of society, God will do according to man’s heart because man will no longer have evil thoughts. Man will again reflect the image and likeness of his creator. Worship will not be scheduled or in a certain place. Man’s life will be to God’s glory. Man’s overflowing joy will radiate continuous worship of his heavenly Father. Isaiah’s vision of the living creatures showed them continuously worshiping and serving whereas Isaiah’s vision of man shows him living a sinless life of joy. Just as the living creatures worshiped the glory of God, man will reflect God’s glory as he was created to. Man’s life will be a continuous reflection of the glory of God. God’s very image and likeness will be seen in man even as it was before man’s sinful fall from grace. The skillful Potter would have reshaped the clay and removed all impurities from it. Now those earthen vessels will be without blemish. Spiritual maturity would no longer be a goal to aspire to but a life to live. Worship for man will not be identifiable apart from living. No one schedules his life. He just lives. Robert C. Hudson June 5, 2013