We follow the story after Judah’s exile, focusing on God’s faithfulness in the post-exilic period through Haggai, Ezra, and Nehemiah. After Babylon falls to Persia, Cyrus decrees in 538 BC that a remnant can return and rebuild the temple; opposition halts the work until Haggai calls them back, and the temple is finished in 516. Decades later, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, returns to rebuild Jerusalem’s ruined walls amid mockery and resistance. When the wall is complete, the people gather to hear Ezra read the Law, celebrate, confess sin, and renew the covenant in writing. We note how this restoration still exposes humanity’s ongoing bent toward unfaithfulness and points to the need for Christ and the cross, including Haggai’s promise of greater glory and peace fulfilled at the temple in Jesus’ life and sacrifice. We close by applying God’s “long game” faithfulness personally, praying for trust in his purposes and ending with the Lord’s Prayer.

00:00 Setting the Theme

01:13 Haggai Bridges the Gap

01:39 Return and Rebuild

03:07 Nehemiah Rebuilds Walls

04:22 Ezra Reads the Law

05:20 Covenant Renewal

06:27 Pointing to Messiah

07:05 Why We Need Christ

08:33 Haggai Temple Promise

10:07 Old Testament Through Cross

11:05 Personal Application

12:32 Closing Lords Prayer

Welcome back to another episode of In Light of The Cross,

2

and today we're gonna be talking

about what happens after the exile

3

that the prophets had told about.

4

So we discussed the prophet's last

episode Today we're gonna follow

5

up on what occurs after that.

6

So as we begin, let's just take

a minute and think about God's

7

faithfulness, because we're

gonna see that in this episode.

8

But I want you to begin by

just asking God to show.

9

You, his faithfulness in your own life.

10

And, we'll combat to

that theme at the end.

11

But even now, just ask God to open

your eyes and your heart to that.

12

So take a minute to pray and

think, and, ask God to reveal

13

what he wants you to know.

14

We are talking about Ezra and Nehemiah and

the post exile period, the Postic period.

15

And Nathan, I think You're gonna do the

heavy lifting on this one, I believe.

16

Speaker 2: I'm gonna try.

17

So our, our bridge between

the prophets and Ezra and

18

Nehemiah is really with Haggai.

19

Speaker: Yeah.

20

I love that.

21

I love that book of Haggai.

22

Speaker 2: Yeah.

23

You, preached through Haggai,

uh, a couple months ago, right?

24

Speaker: Yeah, a few months ago.

25

Speaker 2: So I'll get into

Ezra and Nehemiah here in a

26

second, but explain to us.

27

Explain to us Haggai and the way that,

uh, that, that book, that prophet, really

28

fits into the whole narrative here.

29

Speaker: Sure.

30

Well, if you remember from what we talked

about last time, the people of Israel,

31

the southern part, the people of Judah.

32

Had been exiled into the kingdom

of Babylon, that was in 5 86

33

BC was the final exile in 5 39.

34

Babylon is conquered by the Persian

Empire with their emperor, Cyrus.

35

The next year, 5 38, he gives a decree

that the Jewish people can go back to

36

their land and rebuild the temple, and

his motive is that they will pray for him.

37

But of course we understand in this

that God had already prophesied this.

38

He moved the heart of that emperor.

39

God is sovereign over all the

plans of people, even what seems

40

like the most powerful people.

41

so a small group heads back In about

5 36 BC and they began rebuilding the

42

temple and they start rebuilding the

temple and they face some opposition.

43

so they stop and then 15 years later,

Haggai appears on the scene, says,

44

Hey, get working on the temple again.

45

God wants us to be done.

46

they go ahead and start rebuilding.

47

And then in five 16 the

temple is completed.

48

So by five 16 you have a small group

of people living back in Jerusalem.

49

Small group of Jewish people, and the

temple's rebuilt, but they're pretty bad

50

off the city itself is mostly destroyed.

51

There's no walls, there's no

gates, and they're very vulnerable.

52

And that's where you have a period

of silence until a few decades later

53

when you have Ezra and Nehemiah.

54

Speaker 2: Yeah, so about 80 years after

Cyrus gives that first decree that,

55

um, the Jewish people can return to

Jerusalem, the book of Nehemiah begins,

56

and Nehemiah is cup bearer for the king.

57

And one day, uh, his brother comes up

to him and says that, Hey, those who

58

have survived the exile are, are back.

59

But The wall of Jerusalem is broken down

and its gates have been burned with fire.

60

So that's Nehemiah one, three.

61

And Nehemiah begins to weep and

he's fasting, trying to figure

62

out what to do about all this.

63

And um, he ends up going before the king

who notices his sorrow and the king says,

64

Hey, I'm gonna actually support your

journey so you can go back with a group

65

of people and, uh, rebuild that wall.

66

And so Nehemiah leads a group of people

back into Jerusalem and they rebuild,

67

the wall, and he organizes all of it.

68

And they face a lot of opposition

from outsiders who are mocking

69

them and all this stuff, but

they ultimately rebuild the wall.

70

And it's, it's one of my favorite

stories, and the whole of scripture,

71

because of the opposition and the

way that Nehemiah leads them through.

72

But what's so interesting

and so beautiful to me.

73

Is that, um, there in chapter eight of

Nehemiah, after the wall is rebuilt, it

74

says that all the people came together as

one in the square before the Watergate.

75

And they told Ezra, the teacher of the law

to bring out the book of the law of Moses,

76

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

77

And so what you see.

78

Yeah.

79

After this period of exile in which

there has been all of this human

80

sin and brokenness and, and the

consequences that have come from that

81

is this returning to the land through

this man, Nehemiah and the people

82

come together and what do they do?

83

They sit down and they listen to the story

of the way that God has worked through

84

all of them, and then they celebrate.

85

They, read, they listen to the stories

that we've been tracing, Genesis and

86

Exodus, Leviticus, numbers in Deuteronomy,

and, they celebrate with the feast.

87

And then in chapter nine it talks

about how they all gather together

88

and they confess their sins.

89

Speaker: Yeah.

90

Beautiful.

91

Speaker 2: You see the way they spend

time reorienting themselves to God through

92

this covenant that they make with God.

93

And then at the end of chapter nine.

94

they make this agreement so they,

they renew their vows, so to speak.

95

It says in, in 9 38 that in view of

all this, we are making a binding

96

agreement, putting it in writing,

and our leaders, our Levites and our

97

priests are affixing their seals to it,

98

Speaker: so they renew the covenant.

99

I like how you put that.

100

They renew their vows.

101

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's, this period

where they, once again, through the

102

leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah,

through the scripture, um, see

103

their own sins in the ways They

failed to live up to the covenant.

104

And just like what we've been talking

about throughout this whole podcast,

105

they, they model this confession of sins

and this desire to walk in faithfulness.

106

And so the story, um, while there's so

much more to unpack is neat because it

107

pulls through a lot of these, theological

threads that we've been seeing.

108

You know, we talked early on about

the promises of Genesis chapter three.

109

Uh, that there would be one, one

of the descendants of Adam and

110

Eve who would crush the serpent.

111

And then we've been waiting to see,

who this Messiah character would be.

112

And Nehemiah and Ezra don't do

it perfectly, but they're kind of

113

type that we've been talking about.

114

They, they point to Christ and that

they lead the people back to the land.

115

And they help restore a covenantal

faithfulness among the people.

116

And they bring about the protection.

117

They help them live as the

people of God by helping them,

118

uh, be faithful to the law.

119

Speaker: and then after this, they

keep the law perfectly for generation

120

after generation And they all

lived happily ever after, right?

121

Speaker 2: Not quite.

122

but that's, the other thread, isn't it?

123

That

124

Speaker: right

125

Speaker 2: there is an unraveling that

comes, through sin because this humanity

126

of Adam, as the New Testament authors

put it, is broken and they need to have

127

new birth into a new kind of humanity.

128

Speaker: Yeah.

129

there's something about the

Adam DNA that keeps coming

130

back to unfaithfulness to God.

131

Speaker 2: Yeah.

132

So it demonstrates the need for

the cross that in Christ, when

133

we put our faith in him, not only

is our sin problem dealt with.

134

we are restored into

relationship with God.

135

We are adopted into the family of God.

136

Speaker: Yeah.

137

It demonstrates the need

for a new kind of human.

138

Speaker 2: Absolutely.

139

And, and then also that idea that

repentance and confession are things

140

that need to be practiced regularly.

141

Speaker: Sure.

142

Yeah.

143

Speaker 2: Because even, even

though we are in the family

144

of God, I remember, a couple.

145

Days back, we were talking about Egypt.

146

It's, you said that line that it's easy

to take the people out of Egypt, but it's

147

hard to take Egypt out of the people.

148

Speaker: Right.

149

Speaker 2: And so here you see

that same principle that, before

150

Christ returns and this side of new

creation, we are still just enveloped

151

in this world of, of brokenness.

152

Speaker: Yeah.

153

That's for sure.

154

one other aspect of

this story that I love.

155

Is back in Haggai where we first began

this episode in chapter two, God says

156

to the people, you who are old recall

what Solomon's temple looked like.

157

That's the one that got destroyed when

Israel was invaded by Babylon in 5 86 bc.

158

Doesn't this new one look like nothing?

159

Compared to that one, and it didn't.

160

It was smaller.

161

It didn't have the gold, it

didn't have the beauty of the

162

fully dressed stones of marble.

163

it didn't have the magnificence, but

God says, I will make this temple

164

more glorious than the first, and

in this place, I will give peace.

165

So God's looking past all the

failures that he knew would come

166

in the generations, the generations

before and after Zer in Nehemiah.

167

And he is looking to a time where in this

temple he would bring glory and peace,

168

and of course it's here at this temple

where Jesus would be dedicated as a baby.

169

It was here in the area of this

temple where Jesus would do his

170

teaching and it was here in the area

around this temple that he would.

171

Willingly offer himself as

a sacrifice for the world.

172

So you see that beautiful thread of God's

faithfulness through the generations.

173

That prophecy wasn't fulfilled

for another 400 years, but

174

it was beautifully fulfilled.

175

Speaker 2: I love that.

176

You see you.

177

You just see this whole thread.

178

You see the way God has

been moving throughout every

179

page of the Old Testament,

180

Speaker: right?

181

Speaker 2: And by way of summarizing

what we've been saying for weeks now,

182

the Old Testament is this story of

human brokenness and human sin and

183

failure, but also that scarlet threat

of God's faithfulness and grace.

184

And you see that here in a way that

points to Christ and that it's,

185

uh, of the same kind of thing, but

also that contrasts Christ because.

186

It's, it's imperfect,

187

Speaker: right?

188

Speaker 2: It doesn't solve the

ultimate problem, the, the sin and death

189

that we have, uh, apart from Christ.

190

Speaker: Yeah.

191

Yeah, and that's what seeing the Old

Testament in light of the cross does.

192

It's not just that Nehemiah was a

great leader, he was, but the overall

193

point of the story, the narrative,

is that God is raising up a leader.

194

God is saving his people because he

still has good plans for them and

195

ultimately for all mankind through

Jesus, who would again, come into

196

that land that they're helping to

reestablish and into that temple.

197

Speaker 2: Beautiful.

198

So as we move to a time

of application here,

199

Speaker: I think a good way apply

this theme is to come back to

200

that idea of God's faithfulness.

201

He is playing the long game.

202

And he is working in ways that

we don't see or understand to

203

bring about his good purposes.

204

But God never gives up on his good

purposes either cosmically or personally.

205

So I invite you to spend a few

minutes just thanking God for

206

that, but also inviting him to,

show you and give you reassurance

207

that he is working for your good.

208

As it says in Romans 8 28.

209

It doesn't always look like that.

210

It sure didn't look like that at

various times in Israel's history,

211

but that's what we claim by faith.

212

So I encourage you to spend a few

minutes right now thinking through

213

that, asking God to show you his

faithfulness, asking God to help you

214

celebrate that and live in peace in that.

215

All right, and we are gonna

close with the Lord's prayer.

216

Jesus taught us to pray this way.

217

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

218

Your kingdom come, your will be

done on earth as it is in heaven.

219

Give us today our daily bread

and forgive us our debts as we

220

also have forgiven our debtors.

221

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

222

Amen.