The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - America’s Desperate Need For Prophets & Princes.

00:00:00.000 please stand with me for the reading of God's word our text for today is Ezra

00:00:08.120 chapter 5 verses 1 through 5 I'll read our text in its entirety when I finish

00:00:13.080 reading the text I'm going to say this is the word of the Lord at which point I

00:00:16.400 would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to God one

00:00:20.820 more time our text for today is Ezra chapter 5 verses 1 through 5 the Bible

00:00:25.340 says this,

00:00:55.340 Tatanai, the governor of the province beyond the river, and Shethar-Bazanai and their associates

00:01:02.960 came with them and spoke to them thus, who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish

00:01:10.620 this structure? They also asked them this, what are the names of the men who are building this

00:01:16.320 building? But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them

00:01:22.720 until the report should reach Darius, and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

00:01:30.020 This is the word of the Lord.

00:01:32.460 All right, please be seated.

00:01:35.680 To provide some background, history, and context by way of introduction,

00:01:40.980 I'll rely on Matthew Henry, the late great Puritan,

00:01:44.020 who I've been using for the most part throughout this series in the book of Ezra.

00:01:48.620 He says the following,

00:01:49.740 we left the temple work at full stop. Henry's referring to the fourth chapter of the book of

00:01:57.680 Ezra. So in the fourth chapter, we left the temple work at full stop, but being God's work,

00:02:03.540 it shall be revived. And here we have an account of the reviving of it. It was hindered by might

00:02:10.000 and power, but it was set a going again by the spirit of the Lord of hosts. Now here we are told

00:02:16.160 how that blessed spirit warmed those cool-hearted friends and excited them to build and cool those

00:02:23.000 hot-headed enemies and brought them to better tempers, for though they secretly disliked the

00:02:29.400 work as much as those in the foregoing chapter, yet they were more mild towards the builders.

00:02:36.600 I've written the following. The building of the temple was paused for at least nine years,

00:02:41.240 some argue perhaps even up to 15 years or longer. Although the temple was left unfinished,

00:02:48.740 Israel still possessed and used their altar and tabernacle. One final quote here from Matthew

00:02:54.820 Henry, when we cannot do what we would, we must do what we can in the service of God. Okay, so there's

00:03:02.840 a little bit of context for you. I'll go ahead and break that down and put it into English if

00:03:07.040 you felt like it wasn't comprehensible. Basically, at the end of chapter 4, what we saw is that

00:03:14.200 a letter was sent to the Jews in Israel, particularly Jerusalem, that told them that

00:03:21.180 they had to stop this rebuilding project. So if we back all the way up to the beginning of the

00:03:26.460 book of Ezra, chapter 1, the Jews had been in exile for 70 years in Babylon. And yet, overnight,

00:03:34.200 there was a change in rulership, a change in the kingship. The king of the Persians as well as

00:03:43.200 the Persians and the Medes, I believe, they took over. It was Darius and also Cyrus. They took over

00:03:53.400 Babylon, which was Nebuchadnezzar, and within the first year of Cyrus, because Darius was older,

00:04:01.580 And so he was at a point where, you know, they had this partnership, these two nations.

00:04:05.940 They sacked Babylon, removed Nebuchadnezzar, and Darius was going to retire in his old age,

00:04:11.160 or at least pull back from some of his ruling. 0.86

00:04:14.700 And so it was Cyrus who was younger, Cyrus being over the Persians. 0.83

00:04:19.780 He's the one who now has full reign in Babylon. 0.75

00:04:23.040 And within the first year of his reign, he's the one who God stirs up his heart. 0.83

00:04:27.320 The text isn't explicit to say that Cyrus becomes saved, that he's born again or regenerate.

00:04:34.740 But either way, even if he's an unbeliever, God still stirs up his heart and moves upon him by his spirit in such a way that causes Cyrus to determine that it would be good and right to release the Jews from captivity after this 70 year exile in Babylon. 0.52

00:04:53.280 so that they might go back to their native land in Israel and rebuild the ruin of Jerusalem.

00:05:00.200 And then at the end of chapter 4, so skipping 4 now, 0.67

00:05:03.260 what we saw is that throughout the book of Ezra there's multiple shifts in power. 0.80

00:05:08.800 And so Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar was bad.

00:05:12.480 He was holding them in captivity. 0.93

00:05:15.160 But then Cyrus was good, or at least benign. 0.98

00:05:20.740 He may not have been a Christian prince. He may not have been a Christian himself, but he was willing to do things that positively affected the house of Israel.

00:05:32.940 And so he allowed them to go back to their homeland, leave captivity, leave their exile, begin rebuilding.

00:05:38.880 But then later, as they're kind of in the middle of this building project in Jerusalem, rebuilding that former glory that had been placed into rubble and shambles, all of a sudden there's a new king and Artaxerxes who says, no, you need to stop.

00:05:57.920 And he decides that you need to stop because there were bad faith actors in Israel watching this project of the walls being rebuilt, the temples being rebuilt, the whole city of Jerusalem is being rebuilt. 0.99

00:06:10.560 And so they wrote to this new king and said, you need to shut this down because Israel, if you consult the annals of history, you'll find that Israel has a reputation of opposing kings and princes and kingdoms, which is true.

00:06:26.200 And so he does a little bit of homework, but he's not thorough. 0.90

00:06:30.760 And he finds, well, yeah, Israel, you know, when Israel, if it's rebuilt,

00:06:34.960 and back in the day when Israel was in its prime under King Solomon and these kinds of things,

00:06:40.500 Israel didn't pay, it wasn't a province of any other pagan empire, but it was its own empire.

00:06:46.520 They didn't pay tribute to pagan kings.

00:06:48.960 Instead, people paid tribute to them.

00:06:50.900 And so Artaxerxes decides to go with these bad counselors and say, yeah, this project needs to stop.

00:06:57.680 We can't let Jerusalem be rebuilt because it is, the text says, it's a rebellious city.

00:07:05.660 And the whole truth is that Israel and particularly Jerusalem was a rebellious city, but it was a rebellious city to wicked kings.

00:07:13.680 It was a rebellious city to kings and nations that hated Yahweh and hated God's people and wanted to practice pagan rituals and rebel against the one true God.

00:07:26.780 In that case, yes, Jerusalem was a rebellious city, but it was not rebellious in a wicked way, but simply rebellious against rebels of God.

00:07:38.980 So rebelling against the true rebels, those who were at enmity with God.

00:07:44.400 And so I've used multiple illustrations as we've worked through this book of the Bible, you know, like with COVID.

00:07:49.880 Christians are not supposed to be naturally rebellious to civil magistrates.

00:07:55.300 Christians aren't supposed to be antagonists. 0.98

00:07:58.460 Christians are not supposed to be a pain, an incessant, you know, pain for those who are civil rulers.

00:08:05.260 But if the civil rulers on a particular issue and at a particular time are choosing to be overtly rebellious to God and his commands, well, then, yes, Christians practice civil disobedience in those cases.

00:08:20.660 So at those times, Christians do look like rebels, but not because across the board that Christians are inherently rebellious.

00:08:29.220 Christians inherently should be the most productive and respectful and benevolent and generous citizens in any kingdom.

00:08:39.960 But that assumes that the kingdom is generally oriented towards God. 0.73

00:08:46.760 If the kingdom and the king has rules that are completely contrary to God's law, well, then, yes, in that case, Christians will look like rebels, right? 0.91

00:08:58.120 People would say that Paul, he was known as one who stirs up riots.

00:09:04.260 The Apostle Paul was not lawless.

00:09:06.820 The Apostle Paul was not a rioter.

00:09:08.460 but the Apostle Paul, in a context of a people that were incredibly hostile towards the truth

00:09:16.300 of Christ, in that context, he looked like a writer, not because he was rebellious himself,

00:09:22.980 but by simply preaching the truth and being faithful to God in a context of people who hated

00:09:28.340 God and who their own livelihoods, like in Ephesus, for instance, depended on a hatred of God

00:09:35.140 and idolatry and fashioning idols and all these different things.

00:09:38.700 In that context, Paul looked like one who stirred up riots,

00:09:42.440 but he was not the rioter.

00:09:44.340 It was everybody else hating him that was causing the riot.

00:09:48.520 It's the same as Jesus.

00:09:49.560 Jesus was not a rioter.

00:09:52.700 Jesus was not unhinged.

00:09:55.060 But in his context, with the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees and Sadducees

00:10:00.600 and scribes and religious rulers of the day, 0.52

00:10:03.280 Jesus amongst the Jews in the first century, Jesus looked like a writer because Jesus was, 0.88

00:10:11.600 you know, just looking for trouble. No, Jesus looked like a writer because the Jews in the 0.99

00:10:17.740 first century hated God. That's what Isaiah says. He came to his own, but they received him not.

00:10:24.400 They crucified the Lord of glory. They hated their own Messiah. They rejected the Christ. 0.71

00:10:29.540 so the jews in that context more than the romans and that's not to say anything positive about the

00:10:35.640 romans i'm not sitting here you know pro pro romans um i'm just saying that uh you know that 0.78

00:10:41.600 pilot was like i don't feel like he's that bad of a guy can we just get over this it's the jews who

00:10:48.100 said no kill him well it's not going to be on my hands that's fine let the guilt be on us and our 0.57

00:10:54.540 children. So in that context, when you're in the midst of people who hate God, like first century

00:11:03.560 Jews hated God, then if you preach the things of God, whether you're Paul or whether you're Jesus

00:11:10.440 or whatever it is, or back with Ezra, if you're rebuilding the temple, whatever it is, if you're 0.94

00:11:15.360 living in obedience in a particularly hostile context, hostile to God, then you will look like

00:11:22.620 a writer. And so these are the things that are going on. So you've got the Babylonians. They

00:11:28.060 take Israel captive for 70 years. There's a shift in power. Babylon is sacked and overthrown.

00:11:34.160 And so then you have the Medes and the Persians. You've got Cyrus as the Persian king. He's a 0.95

00:11:38.380 little bit younger than Darius. This is a different Darius. It gets even more confusing,

00:11:43.700 but an older Darius who's about to retire. So Cyrus, he becomes the main guy in power.

00:11:48.640 God moves on his heart. Maybe he's a Christian. Maybe not. Either way, God is sovereign and 0.99

00:11:53.460 directing his decisions. He chooses to release the Jews from captivity after 70 years and send 1.00

00:11:59.660 them back and resource them from his own treasury to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple and the walls. 0.96

00:12:06.440 They begin to do that. But then the people who are living in Israel, seeing them start this 0.94

00:12:11.120 rebuilding project, they get upset about it. So then they write to a new king once Cyrus

00:12:16.540 is either maybe he's dead

00:12:18.920 or maybe he's been removed from power.

00:12:20.780 The text isn't incredibly clear.

00:12:22.420 Or maybe he's just stepped back

00:12:24.160 and given some provinces to some other rulers.

00:12:26.480 Sometimes there might be an emperor,

00:12:28.360 but then the emperor says,

00:12:29.880 okay, but you're over this area

00:12:31.780 or you're over that area.

00:12:33.660 Like, I don't know, like Dune.

00:12:35.600 You know, people, maybe you've seen Dune,

00:12:37.460 but, you know, maybe you're the emperor

00:12:38.800 of the whole galaxy,

00:12:39.840 but, you know, you give the Harkins,

00:12:42.320 you know, the province of Dune,

00:12:44.940 You know, and they're over the spice, you know, whatever. And so that's that's their domain. So whatever it might be, you know, you've got Cyrus and he backs away.

00:12:55.260 And Artaxerxes, whether he's the number one king or whether he's just over this province of Israel, he comes into power.

00:13:01.900 The bad faith actors in Israel who don't like the rebuilding project because they're on the king's payroll.

00:13:07.560 That's a key factor. The text says in chapter four, they they eat from the king's table. 0.99

00:13:13.480 They're paid by the king's salt. So they don't like Israel gaining power and being rebuilt because because then Israel will become its own sovereign entity. 0.79

00:13:23.980 It will become autonomous. It likely will not remain a province underneath this this rule of the Medes and the Persians. 0.68

00:13:33.560 and therefore those who are in Israel and have their homes will be cut off

00:13:37.900 and no longer be a province and no longer be on payroll from this king.

00:13:43.100 And so they're trying to stop the project.

00:13:44.960 So they say, well, look to the historical records. 0.60

00:13:47.960 You'll find that Jerusalem is rebellious.

00:13:50.340 And Jerusalem, in the truest sense, was not rebellious, 0.80

00:13:53.280 but it was rebellious whenever there were other pagan opposing kings that hated God. 0.61

00:13:58.540 Then they looked rebellious in that context.

00:14:00.880 So anyways, that's that's some of the history that catches us up to speed.

00:14:05.380 And at the end of chapter four, Artaxerxes, he he obliges with these bad faith actors in Israel who say, let's stop the project, the rebuilding of the temple and the rebuilding of the walls.

00:14:17.480 And so then he writes back and says, OK, put an end to it.

00:14:20.960 But he says that the whole project needs to stop, not just the rebuilding of the temple, but the rebuilding of the whole city in its entirety.

00:14:29.340 Rebuilding of houses, rebuilding of businesses, the rebuilding of the walls, and the rebuilding of the temple.

00:14:35.360 That's where chapter 4 ends.

00:14:37.120 Chapter 5 is now picking up at least nine years later.

00:14:41.680 That's what most historians believe is that it's nine years later, maybe a little bit longer.

00:14:48.340 But all of a sudden, they're starting to rebuild again.

00:14:52.020 And the thing that the catalyst that gets Israel motivated once more to begin rebuilding after nine years, having previously stopped, is prophecy.

00:15:04.840 And so that's the first point that we want to pick up with today is that prophecy builds the church.

00:15:11.660 And beyond just the church, prophecy builds the kingdom of God.

00:15:16.140 It's prophecy that's the fuel in the tank

00:15:19.340 that pushes the kingdom further.

00:15:23.600 So in your notes, I've written this.

00:15:25.540 There's two ministers and two magistrates.

00:15:29.800 That really, it's these four guys

00:15:32.260 that are mentioned in the text

00:15:33.560 that calls Israel after nine years to say,

00:15:36.700 okay, that's it.

00:15:37.360 We're done with this hiatus.

00:15:39.480 We're done pausing.

00:15:40.900 It doesn't matter what Artaxerxes

00:15:42.880 or anybody else has said.

00:15:44.300 we're going to push forward we're going to do what we know the Lord has called us to do

00:15:49.300 we're going to rebuild Jerusalem I've written the following Israel had two faithful ministers that's

00:15:55.860 Haggai and Zechariah who encouraged the people to start building the temple again these two men

00:16:01.820 began to prophesy for God during the reign of Darius the kingdom of God is built by prophecy

00:16:08.160 that is by hearing the word of the Lord and responding in obedience when God sends prophets

00:16:15.440 among his people we should not assume that it is always for the purpose of judgment

00:16:19.820 sometimes it is for the purpose of blessing back to the text so that you see it there this is verse

00:16:27.280 one Ezra chapter five verse one now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the son of Edo prophesied to

00:16:34.980 the Jews who are in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

00:16:41.180 Okay, so that's the first thing that we find in the text is two ministers, two prophets who begin

00:16:46.580 to prophesy. And by way of necessary inference, we know that at least the general, the general

00:16:54.640 nature, what are these prophetic words being given? The general nature is this prophetic word

00:17:00.720 is to start building, to stop the hiatus, stop the pause, get back to work. So that's the first

00:17:07.960 catalyst is two ministers, two prophets begin to prophesy, build. But that alone is not enough.

00:17:15.380 There's another side of the coin. There's another half of the story that is equally important.

00:17:22.280 And that is that we not only have in the sovereignty and mercy of God two ministers

00:17:26.740 who prophesy to god's people but also two magistrates who lead in obedience you have the

00:17:34.360 two prophets the two ministers who say this is what you need to do get to work they give the

00:17:41.180 commands from the word of the lord that's the two ministers through prophecy thus saith the lord

00:17:46.920 but then you have the two magistrates who obey the prophets who hear the word of the lord and

00:17:53.520 put it into action and began to lead the way by way of example. They began to actually obey the

00:18:02.000 prophetic word of the Lord and began to build. And the people are responding to both. The people are

00:18:08.680 stirred up and motivated by both. The prophets, that is the ministers of God, prophesying his word,

00:18:15.440 giving God's commands. And then the magistrates, these Christian princes who began to obey the

00:18:23.440 prophets obey the ministers and the word of the Lord and begin to set an example of what leading

00:18:28.980 in obedience to God's word looks like. And the people, they hear God's word from the ministers

00:18:34.700 and they see obedience to God's word from the magistrates and then they follow suit. And I

00:18:41.540 believe that that's a universal principle. That's not just something unique in Ezra chapter 5.

00:18:46.380 That is something that we can find throughout all of Old Testament history in the case of Israel.

00:18:52.020 but we also find this throughout church history. With the last 2,000 years of the spread of

00:18:57.220 Christendom, this is how God works. When God is ready to bless and expand and grow a nation,

00:19:05.020 he sends prophets to speak his word. He sends ministers. They preach God's word. And then

00:19:12.960 magistrates who live out God's word, who actually set an example of obedience. And the people begin

00:19:20.620 to follow. And all that being said, I'll land the plane on at least this first point here

00:19:26.420 by saying this. When God raises up prophets in the land, when God raises up ministers who

00:19:34.020 proclaim his word, which includes commandments and the threat of judgment, if people choose to

00:19:41.260 disobey those commandments. When God does this, thus saith the Lord, this is God's word. He says

00:19:47.360 to do this. If you don't do this, this is his judgment. This is the consequence. We should not

00:19:53.020 assume that when that happens, when God raises up preachers, we should not assume that God's only

00:19:59.880 purpose in doing so is because God wills within his sovereign will that that nation would be

00:20:07.280 decimated by God's justice. We should assume that if anything, we should lean towards the

00:20:16.880 possibility that god is sending prophets so that that nation might actually repent and be blessed

00:20:22.500 jonah assumed jonah assumed that he was being sent to nineveh right to proclaim a message of

00:20:30.500 judgment 40 days yet 40 days and nineveh will perish and then jonah assumes he goes outside

00:20:39.080 of the city and sits up on a high hill so that he can watch the fire and brimstone he's assuming

00:20:44.980 that God sent him as a prophet to declare God's word, God's commandments, and the threat of

00:20:52.500 judgment if there's disobedience to God's commandments. And he assumed that the purpose

00:20:57.100 in all of this was that Nineveh would fail and that God would maintain his justice as he poured

00:21:03.700 out his judgments on a disobedient city. But Jonah was wrong. That's not what happened. God actually

00:21:13.000 moves on the hearts of the people of Nineveh, even the king of Nineveh, and they put on sackcloth and

00:21:19.560 ashes and they call a citywide fast and God spares the city. And Jesus even says later on, lest we be

00:21:28.220 tempted to think that it was all just pomp and circumstance, that it wasn't authentic or genuine

00:21:33.620 repentance. Jesus says as he's pronouncing woes on certain cities in Israel, saying it'll be more

00:21:40.880 tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will for you, O Tyre and Sidon. And Jesus also says 0.50

00:21:46.840 that the sons of Nineveh, that they will rise up in the day of judgment and that they'll be on 0.95

00:21:53.820 Jesus's side condemning these Jewish cities. So he's saying Nineveh, good guys. Israel, bad guys. 1.00

00:22:04.780 which really is the story of the entire Old Testament.

00:22:08.180 Just spoiler alert for those of you who haven't read it. 0.89

00:22:12.940 But Israel is the bad guy. 0.88

00:22:15.400 It's like, what? No. 0.98

00:22:16.740 Yes, Israel is the bad guy. 0.97

00:22:17.980 God in his sovereignty chose the most stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn people on planet Earth

00:22:23.840 in order to show you and I, true Israel, how gracious he really is.

00:22:30.640 I mean, that is the Old Testament.

00:22:31.940 God doesn't choose the best on a merit-based system.

00:22:37.960 God chooses the worst. 0.55

00:22:40.780 He chooses the most arrogant, most rebellious, 1.00

00:22:43.760 most wicked, most idolatrous 0.97

00:22:45.700 to show us how incredibly gracious and merciful He is.

00:22:52.520 Nineveh gets one prophet and they repent.

00:22:56.100 The whole city. 0.96

00:22:58.080 The whole city repents.

00:23:00.880 And centuries later, just in case it was in question,

00:23:04.020 the quality of their repentance,

00:23:05.740 Jesus says, yeah, that was real repentance.

00:23:08.960 But you, O Israel, not so much.

00:23:12.820 Not so much. 1.00

00:23:15.920 And then we have the Christian church 0.83

00:23:18.120 these last 2,000 years.

00:23:20.900 And we see that the Christian church has thrived. 0.98

00:23:24.380 She's filled with problems. 0.97

00:23:26.860 We, like Israel, in many ways,

00:23:28.540 We have our own sin, our own arrogance, our own rebellion.

00:23:33.360 But the Christian church, for the most part, is certainly an upgrade from the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. 1.00

00:23:40.540 And the Christian church, at least for these past 2,000 years, is predominantly, not just a 51% majority, a simple majority, but predominantly made up of Gentiles. 1.00

00:23:52.760 It's the Gentile nations 0.99

00:23:54.260 that have flocked in to Mount Zion 1.00

00:23:56.480 who have come to Christ,

00:23:58.780 who have recognized God's mercy,

00:24:01.080 His love, His truth,

00:24:03.000 His forbearance through His Son,

00:24:05.040 Christ Jesus.

00:24:08.880 So when prophets are raised up by God

00:24:11.320 to speak His truth,

00:24:13.040 to pronounce His commandments

00:24:14.360 and the threats of His judgment

00:24:16.180 if there is disobedience,

00:24:17.920 we should not assume

00:24:19.400 that God has purposed this

00:24:21.840 because he's already made up his mind

00:24:23.880 to destroy that people

00:24:25.580 or to judge that people.

00:24:27.440 We should assume that God is incredibly merciful

00:24:30.580 and even if it's the bottom of the ninth

00:24:33.000 or the 11th hour, like Nineveh,

00:24:35.940 that God is raising up prophets

00:24:37.600 because he might actually plan

00:24:40.560 to be so merciful

00:24:42.200 that he might stir up the hearts of the people

00:24:44.880 that they truly repent

00:24:46.560 and that the nation is spared.

00:24:50.120 And I think that that should be our default assumption

00:24:52.420 when it comes to these United States of America.

00:24:56.600 Would God, and these are two different,

00:24:57.980 we have to be able to speak in theological categories.

00:25:00.420 Would God be just and within his rights

00:25:02.800 to destroy our nation today?

00:25:05.220 Of course, of course. 0.80

00:25:08.460 Our nation has murdered over 70 million babies

00:25:11.760 in the last half century.

00:25:13.820 And that's not even close to the actual number.

00:25:17.120 That doesn't even begin to take into account

00:25:19.860 abortion with pills.

00:25:23.900 God would be well within his rights.

00:25:27.580 If God destroyed the whole,

00:25:28.940 if the whole nation literally fire and brimstone,

00:25:31.460 it was set ablaze and everyone burned alive today.

00:25:35.120 The only thing that we could say is,

00:25:37.320 wow, he was patient.

00:25:38.440 I can't believe he waited that long.

00:25:42.280 It wouldn't just be, wow, he's just.

00:25:44.140 We would have to say that was just and merciful.

00:25:48.900 The fact that he delayed his justice for so long.

00:25:53.320 And yet, so we're not speaking about,

00:25:55.140 well, we're assuming that God won't send judgment

00:25:58.920 because it wouldn't be just.

00:26:01.640 No, that's not what I'm saying.

00:26:03.700 I'm saying, I'm assuming that God is raising up prophets

00:26:07.020 in this hour, ministers to speak his word

00:26:10.840 so that the people might repent,

00:26:12.780 Not because that would be the right thing for God to do, the just thing for God to do, the moral thing for God to do, but because that would be an even greater mercy on God's part.

00:26:24.560 And when I look at the character and nature of God, I am overwhelmed by his mercy.

00:26:31.960 He is an incredibly merciful God.

00:26:35.120 He is slow to anger, abounding in love.

00:26:38.300 He keeps steadfast covenant to the thousandth generation.

00:26:42.780 See, God is far more holy than you and I, and therefore he has a far less tolerance for sin.

00:26:50.100 But at the same time, he's also far kinder and far more merciful than you and I.

00:26:58.540 So God raises up prophets, and we should assume as God's people, as the church, that when he sends prophets to the land to preach a message of repentance,

00:27:06.880 we should assume that he's doing so because the people might repent and because the Lord wants

00:27:13.680 to still his wrath and grant blessing and mercy instead. All the while knowing theologically

00:27:21.220 that that may not happen and if it doesn't happen the people don't repent and God does

00:27:26.520 send judgment it would be perfectly just of him to do so. So Israel had two faithful ministers

00:27:32.620 Haggai and Zechariah, these are the prophets who speak the word of the Lord. And as I've already

00:27:37.780 said, this second paragraph under Roman numeral number one, Israel also had two faithful magistrates.

00:27:44.000 That's Zerubbabel, who was their chief prince, but also Joshua, who was their chief priest.

00:27:51.920 And these two immediately took the lead in the work. These great men were not insulted. Notice

00:27:57.640 this. They were not insulted or offended by the commands of the prophets. Instead, with humility

00:28:03.820 and joy, they led the people in obedience by example. This is what we need. And I think that

00:28:11.060 this also serves as a sign when there's great hope for a people, for a nation, for a city,

00:28:19.520 whatever it might be. When God sends prophets, that's one thing. And again, as I've already said,

00:28:25.200 See point A, when God sends prophets, faithful ministers, not false prophets, peace, peace, when there is no peace, prosperity, gospel, garbage.

00:28:35.900 No, not that.

00:28:37.200 We've had false prophets for decades in America.

00:28:41.040 But when God begins to raise up faithful ministers, true prophets who speak his word, we should assume that he's doing so because he's about to send grant repentance.

00:28:53.040 Repentance is a gift.

00:28:54.040 It's not conjured up by man.

00:28:55.740 It must be granted by God.

00:28:57.500 So when God sends true prophets, not false ones,

00:29:00.660 we should assume, if we have to assume one or the other,

00:29:04.140 our default propensity, leaning,

00:29:07.220 should be that God is sending true prophets

00:29:09.220 because he intends to grant repentance

00:29:11.120 so that he might send blessing.

00:29:13.920 Knowing that he may not do that,

00:29:15.920 and if he doesn't do that, he's just.

00:29:19.240 But assuming that that's his purpose in doing it.

00:29:21.580 So if God sends prophets,

00:29:23.080 we're assuming people might repent

00:29:26.040 and God will send blessing, right?

00:29:29.240 That's what we're assuming.

00:29:30.420 But there's not necessarily a ton of confidence.

00:29:33.480 This is when you can become a lot more hopeful,

00:29:36.520 when you can become a lot more confident,

00:29:38.860 when God sends prophets

00:29:40.140 and then he sends politicians,

00:29:44.500 when God sends ministers and then magistrates,

00:29:49.660 when when the land has unfaithful magistrates unfaithful politicians and unfaithful false

00:29:59.960 prophets false ministers and things are bad but if god begins to shake things up a little bit and

00:30:07.040 you start seeing some true ministers pop on the scene some true prophets that's one thing it's

00:30:13.300 already hopeful but then if you start seeing some true not just true prophets but some true princes

00:30:20.380 some true politicians some true ministers but also some true magic magistrates and the magistrates

00:30:27.260 here they don't just ignore they actually acknowledge the prophets and they say this guy

00:30:32.700 preaching this this guy preaching that i hear you and i'm not too big for my britches i'm not taking

00:30:40.900 offense. I hear you. I know that's right. And I'm going to lead the way in humility and obedience

00:30:47.800 to God's word. When that starts to happen, then what you can expect is, well, you can expect

00:30:56.760 things to begin to be rebuilt. You can expect blessing from the Lord. You can expect that the

00:31:04.280 temple might be restored, I think, which represents the church, that the church would come into a

00:31:10.020 greater degree of vibrancy, that the church would come into a higher level of maturity and health.

00:31:16.100 But not only the church, it's not just that the temple is restored, but you can expect

00:31:20.140 all the houses to be rebuilt. It represents the family, the bedrock of any nation, that the

00:31:26.080 household is restored and the household is strengthened. You can also expect, this is a

00:31:31.580 freebie, but that the walls will be rebuilt. Can I get an amen? Southern wall, right? That one's a

00:31:37.620 little on the nose. But I think that metaphorically, prophetically, that this represents

00:31:41.940 a nation's defense, that the nation becomes less vulnerable to its enemies. It doesn't have to be

00:31:49.880 a literal wall. In the case of our nation, I do think it includes a literal wall. I think we need

00:31:54.400 both. So all that being said, it's hopeful. If God's raising up prophets, and I say all this

00:32:00.020 to say this as some direct application here for our place and our time, our day, I do think God

00:32:05.820 descending prophets. I do. And I don't think it's just our church. I think we're just one tiny cog

00:32:11.000 in the machine, just one thread in the tapestry, one small piece of the puzzle. There you go. Three

00:32:16.440 different analogies. Yeah, I think we're just a small part. If it was just us, you know, like

00:32:22.820 the Elijah, you call it the Elijah complex. I'm the only one left. You know, God says, well, I

00:32:27.940 actually I've reserved 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal or kissed, worshipped at the

00:32:33.740 Asherah polls. In other words, Elijah was replaceable. God had reserved many faithful 0.72

00:32:40.220 men. And so too, with Covenant Bible Church, we're not the only ones. We are not the only church.

00:32:45.940 God is raising up more and more churches and more and more Christians and more and more ministers

00:32:51.600 who have courage and who want a muscular Christianity, not just a feminine, weak

00:33:01.700 faith that rolls over and plays dead, constantly shoots itself in the foot, but a real Christianity

00:33:12.220 as we've seen in ages past. And that is catching on like wildfire. And there will be course 0.66

00:33:20.960 corrections needed just for the record. Anytime there's a new movement in the spirit of God,

00:33:26.420 There are excesses. There are over, you know, over corrections. The pendulum often does

00:33:35.220 overswing. It goes too far. And those things will have to be addressed in time.

00:33:43.280 But you have to have wisdom and prudence. You need to know what time it is. You need to know

00:33:49.980 when there's actually been an overcorrection

00:33:52.640 and when that needs to be addressed.

00:33:56.300 If you hear from a minister, right,

00:33:58.460 if, I'll put it in plain terms,

00:34:01.120 if you've had 130 years of dominant feminism 1.00

00:34:05.880 and then you've had 15 minutes 1.00

00:34:10.820 of a correction to the divine feminine

00:34:16.880 and you immediately hear ministers

00:34:19.520 concerned about the correction

00:34:21.340 and saying it might be an overcorrection.

00:34:25.880 Sourdough, you know, sundresses.

00:34:30.140 Those guys just ignore them.

00:34:33.780 They're a joke. 0.84

00:34:36.540 Do not listen to those ministers. 0.99

00:34:39.300 They're a joke.

00:34:42.600 There really is such a thing as overcorrections.

00:34:46.300 There really is such a thing

00:34:47.620 as excesses in one direction

00:34:49.760 to overcorrect, overcompensate

00:34:52.660 for all the excesses in the previous direction.

00:34:55.700 That's true.

00:34:57.080 And those do need to be addressed.

00:35:01.500 But when you have 130 years of rank rebellion

00:35:05.480 against the Word of God,

00:35:06.780 and then you've had 15 minutes

00:35:08.620 of possible repentance,

00:35:12.200 and you immediately start going after

00:35:14.960 the potential over-excesses

00:35:16.780 excesses in the last 15 minutes of what might be repentance, then you just, you've lost the

00:35:23.920 thread. You just, you're out of touch. Thank you for your service. God bless you. It's time,

00:35:30.020 it's time to retire. It's time to die the hero, right? Lest you live too long to be the villain.

00:35:39.180 Your time has passed. Maybe you were a faithful minister in neutral world, right? Or maybe you

00:35:45.760 were a faithful minister, even if you're old enough, in positive world. But you're not a son

00:35:51.640 of Issachar. You don't know the times. You don't know how to lead the people of God in negative

00:35:56.100 world. And that's where we now live. Right? Ligonier Cruises, for the title of the cruise

00:36:04.820 is suffering and persecution. Can you imagine? Isn't that funny? You're going on a cruise

00:36:12.220 to be taught by world-class theologians

00:36:18.180 eating the best food,

00:36:21.000 having the best time on a cruise.

00:36:23.500 And the topic, the theme

00:36:24.800 that you're going to be taught

00:36:26.480 for this conference on a cruise ship

00:36:28.540 is suffering and persecution.

00:36:34.500 But, you know,

00:36:35.600 I mean, if we want to talk about

00:36:37.200 cosplaying and LARPing,

00:36:38.640 you know I think that's I think we nailed it I think we found our prime example

00:36:44.720 but now you know it's like well maybe the traditional family model and maybe patriarchy

00:36:52.220 and hierarchy within society and within the church and within the home and maybe women

00:36:59.900 not in any one particular way there are multiple ways of faithful expression but in general 0.93

00:37:05.360 women seeking to have a domestic feminine role,

00:37:10.680 a quiet and gentle spirit.

00:37:12.560 That's 1 Peter 3.

00:37:14.060 A quiet and gentle spirit,

00:37:16.540 which is pleasing in God's sight.

00:37:18.720 Not the beauty that fades, outward beauty,

00:37:21.900 but an imperishable beauty of the heart.

00:37:25.080 And what is that?

00:37:25.880 It's defined by a quiet and gentle spirit.

00:37:30.360 The woman is not,

00:37:31.560 she's not putting on face paint. 1.00

00:37:34.260 and charging into battle. 0.57

00:37:39.060 I am woman, hear me roar.

00:37:41.720 That's not quiet and gentle.

00:37:43.960 Men are called to do that.

00:37:45.920 Not every single second of every day,

00:37:48.140 but that is part of the purview of being a man.

00:37:51.200 War.

00:37:52.580 It's not. 1.00

00:37:53.920 It's not part of the feminine domestic call for women.

00:37:58.560 Ever. 1.00

00:37:59.920 Ever.

00:38:00.780 Well, what about Deborah?

00:38:01.740 Deborah literally says to Barak 0.96

00:38:07.000 the general, I'll go with you

00:38:09.480 but it's going to embarrass you

00:38:12.140 it's going to be for your shame 0.51

00:38:14.580 this is an indictment against you 0.87

00:38:17.080 and all the men of Israel 0.99

00:38:18.420 you think of even like jail and the tent peg 0.80

00:38:23.480 she kills a guy, drives a peg 0.99

00:38:27.060 through his temple, through his skull 1.00

00:38:28.840 that's a warrior 1.00

00:38:30.920 Yeah, but she does it in her kitchen. 1.00

00:38:37.540 I like to think she was probably barefoot. 1.00

00:38:41.820 Probably making sourdough.

00:38:45.800 So the point is that, sure, there are a couple exceptions.

00:38:51.800 We have a gun in our home.

00:38:53.180 If I was on a work trip and someone was trying to break down the door, 1.00

00:38:58.420 of course, I would want my wife. 1.00

00:39:00.360 to grab that gun and do what she needs to. 1.00

00:39:04.200 But that would be an exception. 0.85

00:39:06.840 That's not the rule.

00:39:08.680 That's not the rule.

00:39:10.320 I mean, that's part of the problem in our society today

00:39:12.680 is the reason why we have so much mediocrity

00:39:16.240 and so much sin and rebellion and all these things

00:39:19.820 is because we've made the exception the rule.

00:39:23.900 That's what we've done.

00:39:25.540 Men should be strong.

00:39:26.900 Well, what about, you know,

00:39:28.000 one man who happens to be a quadriplegic.

00:39:31.500 Okay, never mind. 1.00

00:39:32.680 Everyone should be weak.

00:39:34.760 What? 0.98

00:39:37.600 That's just, that's silly. 1.00

00:39:39.900 That's absolutely asinine. 0.99

00:39:44.240 So, when God begins to raise up prophets 0.97

00:39:47.460 who know what time it is,

00:39:49.220 they begin to call out the idols,

00:39:51.240 and here's the key,

00:39:52.340 the idols of that day.

00:39:54.520 not the idols of yesterday

00:39:58.060 that have already been brought down.

00:40:02.180 So if the prophets in the land are saying

00:40:05.060 racism is bad

00:40:07.080 again, the irony is so thick

00:40:15.020 I can almost choke

00:40:17.000 but you want to talk about cosplaying and LARPing

00:40:20.320 and pretending

00:40:20.900 what do you call someone who's dressed in armor with a sword right dressed up as a knight and

00:40:30.280 and there's a dragon that's blowing fire and decimating entire villages and then there's

00:40:38.780 another dragon that was slain by a previous generation of knights and its carcass is

00:40:46.400 laying out in the middle of a field it's been rotting for 50 60 years and as one dragon at large

00:40:55.720 alive and well is terrorizing a village you've got a guy who's dressed in full armor with swords

00:41:03.880 over at this other dragon that's been dead for half a century with its rotting carcass and

00:41:10.060 they're kicking it and slashing around and saying on guard what do you call that if not cosplaying

00:41:17.540 if not larping and that is precisely what it is to be a prophet who decries racism in 2024

00:41:28.980 for. That's what it is. You are pushing back on an idol that toppled half a century ago

00:41:41.920 that requires no courage and that if you decry that particular idol, you only stand in society

00:41:51.440 to benefit.

00:41:54.480 If you want to know,

00:41:56.620 if you're trying to discern,

00:41:58.220 then what are the idols

00:42:00.780 that are alive and at large today?

00:42:04.880 All you have to do,

00:42:06.320 it's very simple,

00:42:07.560 all you have to do

00:42:08.380 is just see what offends people.

00:42:14.460 See what makes them angry.

00:42:17.020 What are you not allowed to say?

00:42:20.900 Right?

00:42:21.440 Like, what is the thing that if you say that, you, you know, Stripe kicks you off of their platform?

00:42:31.040 Like, I know five guys who just in the last couple days were kicked off of, they can't use Stripe anymore.

00:42:41.340 And all five of them, it happened after they tweeted a certain something.

00:42:47.980 And boom, gone.

00:42:49.360 what is the thing

00:42:52.360 that if you do this 1.00

00:42:53.880 your wife can't open a bank account

00:42:56.900 with Wells Fargo 1.00

00:42:58.460 or Bank of America

00:42:59.420 I have a friend like that

00:43:02.420 what is that thing

00:43:05.500 I'll give you a hint

00:43:08.780 it's not racism

00:43:09.600 it's not decrying racism

00:43:12.700 that will put you in zero danger

00:43:15.400 absolute zero danger detected 0.75

00:43:18.440 If Amazon is putting black squares on their platform

00:43:23.120 in the month of February,

00:43:26.460 then you know that that is not

00:43:29.680 the biggest problem of your day.

00:43:32.800 You're 50 years too late. 1.00

00:43:36.960 But just try feminism for a moment. 1.00

00:43:41.020 Say, you know, God loves all people, 0.97

00:43:44.500 regardless of ethnicity.

00:43:45.800 it. Just put that out there. And that's true.

00:43:50.220 And then say, a woman should submit to her husband. 1.00

00:43:54.260 And put that out there. And see how they do. 1.00

00:43:58.180 And then you know, okay, this dragon's dead.

00:44:01.960 This dragon's breathing fire. Real simple.

00:44:06.680 Really simple. So,

00:44:09.020 when do we know that revival, not that God owes it to

00:44:13.780 us, not that we're entitled, not that it's a guarantee, but when do we know that revival may

00:44:19.280 be coming? When God raises prophets who speak against living dragons, not dead dragons of

00:44:26.880 yesteryear, but living dragons today. That's when we begin to know God might be up to something,

00:44:33.360 and we should assume it's not just for the purpose of judgment, but for the purpose of

00:44:37.420 blessing that he might grant repentance to the people. But then we can take even more confidence,

00:44:43.080 more hopefulness, when in addition to prophets, God raises up princes. In addition to ministers,

00:44:50.860 he begins to raise up magistrates. And these magistrates, they listen to the ministers who

00:44:56.720 proclaim the word of the Lord. And rather than taking offense, they actually have the humility

00:45:01.580 and the fortitude to lead the way in obedience to God's word. And when those two things happen,

00:45:08.880 The prophets come first, the princes come next, and the people then follow.

00:45:16.420 Prophets, princes, people.

00:45:20.820 And that's what we see throughout church history.

00:45:23.540 That's what we see in the nation of Israel during their good times, which was about 25 to 33 percent of the time.

00:45:31.780 But they did have some good times.

00:45:34.180 But it was prophets and princes and people.

00:45:36.640 And by God's grace, we may see that in our nation.

00:45:40.900 God would be just to judge us.

00:45:45.020 But God is merciful and he may save us.

00:45:48.900 We will see.

00:45:50.240 Last thing in our text, we have two ministers, two magistrates,

00:45:55.360 and then lastly, two new adversaries.

00:45:59.040 In your notes, I've written the following.

00:46:00.500 The new adversaries of the building of the temple are here named Tatnai

00:46:04.760 and Shethar Bosnai.

00:46:08.660 The previous governors we read of in chapter 4

00:46:11.920 were likely displaced at the beginning of Darius's reign. 0.53

00:46:16.020 This is a new Darius. 0.94

00:46:17.620 As is the usual custom, 0.98

00:46:20.240 these new adversaries were still enemies

00:46:23.020 of the building of the temple.

00:46:24.860 They weren't fans,

00:46:26.160 but they were far more reasonable than their predecessors.

00:46:29.320 When it comes to political strategy,

00:46:31.860 it is worth noting that not all of the church's enemies are equally wicked and unreasonable.

00:46:39.040 Okay, this is controversial. Not everyone's going to agree. And to be clear, I think that this is a

00:46:45.280 matter where it's important for the Christian to go with conscience. I don't think that you should 1.00

00:46:52.920 sin against your conscience. This is something that from careful study of the word of God and

00:46:58.600 through much prayer and much wise counsel from other believers, followers of Jesus, you should

00:47:05.260 make up your mind and how you're going to think when it comes to the political arena. Now, real

00:47:13.080 quick, just I have to give this disclaimer. I know most of you are aware of this. But when I say

00:47:17.900 follow your conscience, I'm not saying, you know, when it comes to voting, you know, you follow your

00:47:24.580 conscience and you could vote GOP or Democrat. I'm not saying that. If you vote Democrat,

00:47:30.980 you're in sin. And if you don't repent and you're a member of this church, you will be under church

00:47:35.440 discipline. It's that clear. You cannot vote for baby killers. It is a sin. It will not be

00:47:43.360 tolerated. Maybe once upon a time in your grandma's republic, but C.A., Sons of Issachar, know the

00:47:50.260 times that is not. It's 2024. The entire Democrat Party, every single one of them, is united on

00:47:58.080 repealing Roe. They are united on abortion full term all the way up to birth. Many of them pushing

00:48:05.000 for partial birth abortion. So if your conscience, when I say your conscience, I'm saying within the

00:48:13.740 realm of prudence and reason, that which is defensible by the word of God. Voting for a

00:48:20.220 Democrat is indefensible in 2024. So if your conscience is saying, vote Democrat, well, then

00:48:26.640 your conscience is dulled. Your conscience has been so dulled by the world and by sin,

00:48:33.120 and you need your conscience to be sharpened and shaped by the word of God. And so you should not

00:48:39.820 follow your conscience until you grow in the Lord and grow in maturity. So what I'm talking

00:48:44.640 about is political strategy for those who understand we want righteousness. How do we get

00:48:50.860 there? We want righteousness. How do we get there? This is the last point from the text, and I'll

00:48:58.040 draw out a couple of practical applications and then leave it there. Let's go back. This is verse

00:49:03.380 three. Okay, so verse one, we saw the two prophets, ministers, Zechariah and Haggai. Verse two, we saw

00:49:10.840 the two magistrates, Zerubbabel and Yeshua. And verse three, now we're seeing two new adversaries.

00:49:19.600 Says this, at the same time, Tatanai, the governor of the province beyond the river of the Shethar

00:49:26.380 and Shethar-Boznai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus,

00:49:34.400 who gave you a decree to begin to start building again, to build this house and finish this

00:49:40.160 structure? They also asked them this, what are the names of the men who are building this building?

00:49:46.880 But the eye of their God, that is the God of the Jews, was on the elders of the Jews and they did

00:49:52.480 not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter 0.63

00:49:58.220 concerning it. In chapter four, the adversaries of the Jews in this rebuilding project, there was

00:50:06.120 no rhyme or reason. There was no tolerance. There was no reason that could be appealed to. It was 0.62

00:50:12.660 just stop by force at the threat of the sword. Just stop. You may not lay another brick. You

00:50:19.920 cannot continue to build. But notice with this, verse 5, the last verse in our text, but the eye

00:50:26.480 of their God was on the elders of the Jews, meaning God's, this is speaking of God's benevolent eye,

00:50:33.080 his eye of blessing, his eye of protection and provision, that the eye of God in a favorable

00:50:39.960 sense was not with the adversaries who were trying to stop this rebuilding project, but rather with

00:50:45.680 the Jews, the elders of the Jews, and therefore they did not stop them. Now we're going back to

00:50:52.400 the, not the elders of the Jews, but the adversaries. These adversaries did not stop 0.96

00:50:56.760 the Jews until the report should go to Darius and Darius give his response. Now that is very, 0.62

00:51:04.920 that is notably better. That's an improvement, a noticeable improvement from chapter four in

00:51:11.760 the adversaries then. Remember, between chapter 4 and chapter 5, that's why we gave the context

00:51:16.300 at the very beginning, at least nine years has passed. So there's been nine years where the

00:51:21.620 building project has been paused, and now there's some new characters in the story.

00:51:28.180 And one of the things that I want you to see is there's a new administration.

00:51:33.180 So there's Darius now, Artaxerxes, the guy who said, stop this project. I've looked at the

00:51:39.380 history books, you know, and I looked at, I looked on Wikipedia, you know, I did my research

00:51:45.000 and, and turns out Jerusalem was a rebellious city that doesn't pay tribute and I'm shutting

00:51:50.680 it down. All right. That's Artaxerxes. That's done. He's either died or been removed or this 0.73

00:51:56.460 has happened or that is. Now we have Darius. Okay. And Darius is, he's either just over this

00:52:01.880 province. It's, it's, it's a little bit unclear and there's debate about who exactly he is,

00:52:06.280 But this is not the Darius who was teamed up with Cyrus when they took over Babylon, which at this point would be multiple years prior.

00:52:15.280 So there's a new king or a new prince over this particular province of Israel.

00:52:20.420 And he, with this new leader, comes a new administration.

00:52:25.260 Now, this Darius guy, there's nothing from the text.

00:52:27.720 And as we go on in future weeks

00:52:29.160 and read more of chapter 5 and chapter 6,

00:52:31.500 you'll see that it's not clear

00:52:33.620 that this Darius guy is a Christian

00:52:36.700 or that he's completely committed

00:52:38.420 and devoted to Yahweh or any of that.

00:52:42.120 But he's better than Artaxerxes. 0.69

00:52:46.380 So it's not that Darius is the true Christian prince, 0.87

00:52:50.380 but he's better than Artaxerxes. 0.95

00:52:54.280 And therefore, with a new leader,

00:52:56.280 comes in, you know, with a change of power,

00:52:59.280 comes in not just that one guy,

00:53:00.720 but his new administration.

00:53:03.280 When the top guy shifts, switches,

00:53:06.620 then that guy has all of his guys,

00:53:09.020 and they come in.

00:53:09.900 And who are his guys?

00:53:11.080 Well, we get two names in verse three,

00:53:13.100 Tatanai, the governor of the province

00:53:15.460 beyond the river,

00:53:16.740 and Shethar Bozenai and their associates.

00:53:19.860 And what do we know about these guys?

00:53:21.900 They want the rebuilding project of Israel,

00:53:24.760 the rebuilding of the temple

00:53:25.760 and all these things to stop.

00:53:28.140 But so did the last administration in chapter four.

00:53:31.320 The difference is both administrations,

00:53:34.860 both of these groups of civil rulers,

00:53:37.860 both of them are not pro-Israel, people of God.

00:53:42.580 Apply that to us, the church, the New Testament church. 0.91

00:53:45.820 So both of them are against the church, the people of God. 0.88

00:53:48.280 And both of them are against the church rebuilding,

00:53:51.040 strengthening its position

00:53:53.920 in tangible, physical, practical ways

00:53:56.700 rebuilding the temple

00:53:58.260 rebuilding the walls

00:53:59.680 rebuilding the households

00:54:01.000 but both administrations

00:54:03.040 are not pro-Yahweh

00:54:05.940 they are not pro-Israel 0.94

00:54:07.500 they are against Christ 0.99

00:54:09.120 and against His church 0.55

00:54:11.240 but they are not equally against Him

00:54:14.820 the first group in chapter 4

00:54:18.380 under Artaxerxes

00:54:19.920 they at the threat of force

00:54:22.860 that is the sword

00:54:23.920 say stop immediately

00:54:25.460 before we even get an answer

00:54:26.920 from Artaxerxes 0.58

00:54:27.680 you will not lay one more brick

00:54:30.060 and then this other

00:54:32.440 with Darius

00:54:33.380 new administration

00:54:34.400 yeah we hate the church

00:54:36.220 in our heart of hearts

00:54:37.060 I think of Romans 8

00:54:38.540 the mind of the sinful man

00:54:39.720 is hostile

00:54:40.400 it's not neutral

00:54:41.080 no one is neutral

00:54:41.940 towards Christ

00:54:42.660 no one is merely indifferent

00:54:44.260 if you're not born again

00:54:46.720 the mind of the sinful man

00:54:48.760 per Romans chapter 8

00:54:49.860 is at enmity with God.

00:54:51.500 It's hostile towards God's law.

00:54:53.240 He does not submit to God's law, nor can he.

00:54:56.380 Okay, so these new administration

00:54:58.800 with this new leader, Darius, replacing Artaxerxes,

00:55:02.440 they are still in their heart of hearts.

00:55:04.500 They don't want Israel to be rebuilt.

00:55:06.920 They don't want the temple to be rebuilt. 0.70

00:55:08.900 They don't want the walls to be rebuilt.

00:55:10.980 They don't want the households to be rebuilt.

00:55:13.120 They don't want Yahweh to be worshiped.

00:55:15.100 They don't want Israel, the people of God, to prosper.

00:55:18.040 They don't want any of it. 1.00

00:55:19.020 They're hostile towards God as any unbeliever is. 1.00

00:55:23.500 But in terms of their outward manifestations 1.00

00:55:26.560 of that inward hostility towards God,

00:55:29.620 they are only willing to display lesser degrees

00:55:34.720 of hindrance towards the people of God

00:55:38.060 than the last guys were. 0.70

00:55:41.040 Now, Israel, just for the record, 0.88

00:55:42.640 to make it painfully practical for us,

00:55:44.800 Israel in all of this doesn't get a vote.

00:55:47.320 right they're just they're a province it's the king right that's their type of government it's

00:55:53.600 the king whoever the top guy is he's a guy who gets to appoint all the middle management and

00:55:58.780 the middle management they're the ones who are enforcing all these rules and all these laws

00:56:02.180 and that's just the way it is however right hypothetically let's say in this scenario that

00:56:09.920 israel did get a vote and let's say that israel in terms of population there was enough of them

00:56:16.860 to where they could actually sway an election

00:56:20.440 and they could stick with Artaxerxes for another term

00:56:24.960 who says, not one more brick.

00:56:30.520 The house of God will never be restored on my watch.

00:56:35.340 Or they could cast their vote for Darius 0.97

00:56:37.800 who is also not a Christian, 0.91

00:56:40.760 who we can only assume is living inconsistently

00:56:44.280 in his own personal life doesn't obey the law of God.

00:56:48.180 In many of his policies, it doesn't align with the law of God.

00:56:52.920 But Artaxerxes, you lay a brick, you lose your head.

00:56:57.880 Darius, in my inward being, I hate Christ. 0.66

00:57:02.700 Outwardly, though, whether it be apathy

00:57:05.280 or whether it be this, that, or the other,

00:57:09.480 whatever.

00:57:10.460 If the Christians rebuild, okay. 0.99

00:57:16.300 Yeah, if Israel has a vote, you vote for that guy. 0.98

00:57:20.980 You vote for Darius over Artaxerxes. 0.88

00:57:24.960 And you've compromised your ethics by doing so.

00:57:28.400 No.

00:57:29.840 You simply realize what time it is.

00:57:32.900 You recognize that you're at war.

00:57:35.880 And you understand political strategy.

00:57:38.680 and the way that the church is built

00:57:42.260 is not the same way

00:57:44.960 that we exercise political strategy warfare

00:57:48.300 in the civil realm.

00:57:51.080 All of it, at the end of the day,

00:57:53.000 should be guided by the word of the Lord.

00:57:56.660 Absolutely.

00:57:58.620 But there is an argument,

00:58:00.440 and again, this is what I'm saying

00:58:01.800 is submitted to conscience.

00:58:03.680 I'm not saying that your conscience

00:58:05.100 gets to decide Biden or Trump.

00:58:07.280 If you decide Biden,

00:58:08.680 You're in sin, C point A.

00:58:11.100 And if you don't repent,

00:58:12.220 you will be kicked out of this church.

00:58:14.720 Okay?

00:58:15.380 But I'm saying your conscience can,

00:58:19.260 I do think that this is a reasonable Christian argument

00:58:21.380 that can be made from the word of God.

00:58:23.260 I could see how your conscience would say,

00:58:25.860 I just don't think I can vote for anyone.

00:58:28.800 Or I'm going to have to vote third party.

00:58:30.980 I want to go on the record publicly as your pastor

00:58:33.860 and saying, I disagree with that political strategy.

00:58:36.680 i think that that is a degree of of idealism that we simply cannot afford when the enemy is at the

00:58:46.520 gate so i would strongly urge you not to however i do see how that is a defensible position in the

00:58:54.680 word of god and and if that's your decision you don't you don't have to express that out loud you

00:59:00.500 don't have to tell anybody, but if you did, you would have my respect, my sharp disagreement,

00:59:06.000 but my respect. However, I just, I think that a strong argument can be made from our text today,

00:59:14.280 and I always try to make it relevant and practically applicable to our place and our time.

00:59:18.520 I think from our text today, there's an argument to be made that Darius is better than Artaxerxes.

00:59:26.980 Neither one's great. 0.67

00:59:28.720 Neither one is really pro-church, pro-Israel, pro-Yahweh.

00:59:33.500 But one outwardly, they're both inwardly hostile towards God.

00:59:37.960 But one, Artaxerxes, outwardly is going to enforce every measure he has to hurt Israel.

00:59:45.880 And the other is going to be at least outwardly, inwardly hostile towards God.

00:59:51.900 But at least outwardly, a little bit more reasonable, a little bit more tolerant, a little bit more patient. 0.74

00:59:59.880 And therefore, practically speaking, that is the better scenario for Israel.

01:00:04.840 And as we read on in the future chapters of the book of Ezra, we'll see precisely that. 0.71

01:00:10.200 That under Darius, Israel is going to prosper more than they did for the last nine years when they couldn't do a thing with Artaxerxes. 0.81

01:00:19.020 And I think that there's an argument to be made there. 0.77

01:00:21.900 and worthy of your prayerful consideration

01:00:25.300 in tandem with the word of God.

01:00:28.120 Let's pray.

01:00:28.660 Father, thank you for your word.

01:00:29.840 Bless it to your people.

01:00:30.920 Help us, Lord, to apply your word to all of life.

01:00:34.640 Help us to be prudent and wise

01:00:38.560 and scripturally bound.

01:00:40.360 In Jesus' name, amen.

01:00:51.900 You

The NXR Podcast - March 11, 2024

THE SERMON - America’s Desperate Need For Prophets & Princes.

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