sermon 8-15-10

I want to continue going through the book of Ezra this morning. Unlike my other sermon series where I go through verse by verse I am going to simply hit the highlights and make application as I see it. You are welcome to read the text in its entirety at your leisure. What I am trying to do is look at the Old Testament text from a New Testament perspective so that we can learn from the examples that have been given us. Today we will begin with Ezra chapter 3.

In the first couple of chapters of Ezra we learn that over 40,000 people returned to Israel from Babylon when Cyrus gave permission to go back home. In verse one, we read: In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening. 4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.

Let’s stop there. From a New Testament perspective what these refugees did was center their lives on the work of Jesus. The Altar and the sacrifices are pictures of what Christ has done for us. So if we are going to rebuild the temple today we need to make sure that our Cornerstone is set in place. To use the metaphor of the body we need to make sure that we have our head on straight.

What does that mean? Well, it means understanding the right view of the world and how it works. If you begin on the wrong foundation then your understanding of what Jesus and the altar mean will be wrong and the house you build will not be what you intended. The biblical view of the world begins with “In the beginning God”. In the beginning there was only God, God was before the beginning. At one point in history God was all there was. And when God spoke his powerful words he created all that is. Every fact in creation is a created fact. From God’s perspective there are no accidents or mistakes. All that exists flows out of his spoken word.

He spoke and the material world was created and it was good. On the last day of creation of this age he made man who was also good. Out of man he made woman and she also was good. And he charged them both to take dominion over the earth, to subdue it, to understand it.

What we often times miss with regard to creation is that God doesn’t need any of it. He is self sustaining. In fact, the entire creation as we know it on this planet was made for us. It was made so that our eyes could see it, our ears could hear it, our senses could experience the reality. God doesn’t need eyes, or ears or a heart, or a brain. Can I explain that? Not on your life. But we are told that God’s ways are not our ways; we will never be God. However, we were made to rule the created universe under the authority of God. Adam was made king of the created world on the day he was created but like King Josiah that we read about in II Chronicles he had a heart for God but he was not wise. Just like the promised testing of wealth in Deuteronomy Adam and Eve were given everything they needed and then their hearts were tested. They were created into a covenant relationship with God. God laid out the stipulations of the covenant very clearly. In fact, God said, much like he does with us, you are free to do anything you like except sin but if you break covenant you will die. For us who are in Christ, it is if you break covenant you will be disciplined. Adam and Eve’s option for sin was centered around the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Paul in Romans chapter 7 writes: I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." 8But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

This is exactly what happened with Adam and Eve. The law was made clear to them. It was written on their heart. Did the law make Adam and Eve sin? Not at all. What it did was reveal the righteousness of God and correspondingly the lust that was in their own hearts. Sin took the opportunity through the commandment: don’t eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil to produce coveting of every kind in them.

I think James hits the nail on the head in chapter 1of his letter when he writes: 12Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

Unfortunately, the lust in their hearts lead Eve to be deceived and Adam to willfully follow after her. Their lust was conceived and it gave birth to sin and the minute that was done covenant was broken and mankind was subjected to death. The same law which was the path of life when it was obeyed became the path of death when they rebelled against it.
It is important to understand that a covenant with God is an eternal th
ing. Once it is broken it is broken for good. When Adam broke covenant he did so as the head and founder of the human race. We all broke covenant with God when Adam sinned because we were all in Adam. The theological term for that is to say that Adam is our Federal Head (in case you were wondering). This is the condition that mankind finds itself in at this point in history. Everyone is born in rebellion against God and his covenant. We are all born covenant breakers. If that is not true the Christ didn’t need to die on the cross and we don’t need to be saved from sin. Does that make sense?

When I say that this is the foundation upon which we can clearly understand the world around us I mean it. When people start trying to tweak the scriptures and say this is not important, that is not important then we fall off the foundation that allows us to rightly understand the world we live in. That is the place that most of our culture finds itself these days, off of the only foundation that allows them to see the way the world really works. Creatures of chance don’t need to be saved from anything. Accidents can have no meaningful life. If we came out of the slime then we can be no better than the slime and we cannot rule over it and take dominion. The earth is then our mother to be worshiped even though she can’t really do anything at all. Foundation is everything.

Let’s move on: Immediately after we sinned, God came looking for us in the garden and it was then he instituted a new covenant of life to provide redemption for any of the human race that desired to walk in life. Now this new covenant relationship was divided into two parts what we call the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both parts are covenants of grace. The difference is that the first part of covenant lays down the laws of redemption and looks forward to the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. The second part lays out the story of the coming of the lamb, his sacrifice, and the redemption of all of creation including the humans who want to be redeemed. Rebellion still runs deep in our hearts and the truth is that very few of those in rebellion want to give that up.

It is important that we understand that God saves us by the laws of redemption. If the Old Covenant, the Old Testament had not laid forth a lawful form of redemption there would be nothing but death in the world and in our lives. Because God gave us law by which we would be saved there is therefore only one way to be saved. When Jesus says he is the way, the truth and the life he is simply saying that he is the lawful redemption provided by God. By God’s own decree only a blood sacrifice can atone for our rebellion and cause us to be born again into a new covenant relationship with God. Jesus’ death and resurrection is not simply one option among many it is the only option by the decree of the one who made every fact that ever existed.

This is why the first thing the Israelites did when they went back to Jerusalem was to restore the altar and sacrifices. Remember, they had been given the law back after they had lost it, just before they went into captivity. They had had 70 years to get familiar with the first five books of the bible. They knew the story and they knew their only hope was in the sacrifice. They were looking forward to the promise of the seed who would crush the head of the serpent.

I want to read something about the sacrificial process that was written by a man named Vern Poythress in a book called The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses. It is an outstanding book and I would highly recommend it. Dr. Poythress writes: The sequence of events in sacrifice is also instructive to Israelites. In a typical case the process begins with the worshiper who brings an animal without defect to the priest. The worshiper has raised the animal himself or paid for it with his earnings, so that the animal represents a "sacrifice" in the modern sense of the word. It costs something to the worshiper, and a portion of the worshiper's own life is identified with it. The worshiper lays his hand on the head of the animal, signifying his identification with it. He then kills the animal at the entranceway into the courtyard, signifying that the animal dies as a substitute for the death of the worshiper.

You see because we are born in rebellion against God we need a substitute to die for us so that we can enter into a new relationship, a new covenant with God.

Peter writes in chapter 2 of his first letter: 4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” 8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

The scriptures call Jesus the chief cornerstone because without him there can be no new covenant building – there can be no salvation. That is how vital Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection are to the world. By the decree of God there can be no covenant relationship with God unless his blood pays for our sins. Unless you die in Christ Jesus on the altar you cannot not enter into the holy of holies, the presence of God – you cannot enter into the path of life.
Not only do those who returned to the land reinstate sacrifices they also begin to celebrate the feasts and festivals prescribed in the Old Testament. All of these feasts are, once again, pictures of Christ and his work. The main feast mentioned here in Ezra is called the feast of booths, the feast of tabernacles, or the feast of shelters. It is described along with the other feasts in Leviticus chapter 23. Let me read a bit of it to you.

33 And the Lord said to Moses, 34 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement. This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. 35 On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. 36 For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day. 37 (“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. 38 These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.) 39 “Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month, after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. 40 On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month from generation to generation. 42 For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. 43 This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

One aspect of the feasts in the Old Testament is that they all expand upon the concept of Sabbath, the concept of Rest. They are pictures of the multitude of ways that we are to find rest in Christ because in his sacrifice we find true rest.
This specific feast speaks of God’s providential care for his people as they walk in the wilderness, as they walk this world waiting for the journey to end. It lets us know that if we are in Christ Jesus God is with us wherever we go. He is our shelter from the Storm of life.
Of course that makes me think of Bob Dylan and so I will paraphrase him a bit: ’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and bloodWhen blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mudI came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form“Come in,” he said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

That is what salvation is all about, that is what Jesus dying on the altar as your substitute is for: to give you rest from your sins. Peace from being at war with God.

The most important thing that you can do as a Christian is learn to rest in Christ Jesus. We don’t do that very well in our culture. In fact, the further we get from Christ the less we can find rest. The fact that you can go to the store 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get anything you want is not a sign of progress: It is a sign of the lack of rest. It is a sign that we are still trying to be God. We want to be omnipresent so we carry our cell phones with us all the time. We want to be all knowing so we surf the web for information every chance we get. We want to be all powerful so we want to be able to buy whenever and whatever we can.

Salvation comes as we stop trying to be God and start resting in the fact that God is God and we are his creatures whom he loves and cares for every minute of every day. You begin to work out your salvation with fear and trembling when you quit trying to save yourself and learn to rest in God. Van Morrison sings: When will I ever learn to live in God? When will I ever learn? He gives me everything I need and more When will I ever learn? That is what our time in the wilderness is trying to teach us: to rest in Jesus the only true rest available to a broken, sinful people.
That is a very brief explanation of the importance of starting with the altar and living out the feasts in our day and age. Any questions?

Let’s pray. Dear Father, have mercy on us oh Lord. Teach us to rest. Teach us to receive our rest from you. Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name sake. Pour out grace and mercy upon us. In Jesus’ name we ask these things. Amen.
Let’s sing our final song and then I’ll give the benediction.
Receive the word of the Lord from Psalm 37: 1 Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. 2 For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. 8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. 9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. 10 Soon the wicked will disappear. Though you look for them, they will be gone. 11 The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity. Go in Peace.