Renewal - by His power, for His glory

Back to the book of Ezra, after our break about praying God's promises back to Him and seeking answers, renewal, and revival....
We saw that in the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, God spoke to His people and promised that they were going to return to their home. He told them that they would be "gathered" from the scattered reaches of the kingdom that conquered them; He also told them the name of the ruler who would send them back: Cyrus.

How in the world was this going to happen after the passage of seventy years? Wasn't this an impossible task? The captives had spent almost seventy years in service in Babylon. The temple had lain in ruins for all those years. Stones tossed about, trees and shrubs growing inside the areas that had once been used for worship.... homes nearby with no roofs, masonry walls crumbling from lack of maintenance....how could things be restored? Surely it was a lost cause?

It's true that the Jews didn't have the resources to restore things, even though a royal proclamation allowed them to return. But God took care of all of this . . . He moved Cyrus to write it into the proclamation that the people of Babylon should contribute to those who would return to Jerusalem. Cyrus himself brought out the Temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had pilfered. The tallies in the first chapter of Ezra are significant:

Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.9 This was the inventory:

gold dishes	30
silver dishes	1,000
silver pans	29
10 gold bowls	30
matching silver bowls	410
other articles	1,000

11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:7-11)

Scholars have hypothesized that the named articles are the larger ones, adding up to 2,499 artifacts, and that the 5,400 number is the tally of all the items returned.
When God promises, He will supply the means to meet those promises! God even made sure there was a grandson of the Jewish kings available; Sheshbazzar is the Babylonian name for Zerubbabel, the godly grandson of the ungodly king Jeconiah.

Whether we are talking about the renewal and restoration of the Temple, or the renewal and restoration of a human soul, God's power is sufficient to make His promises be fulfilled. He will make things happen.
And they will happen to fulfill His purposes.
The purpose of the temple had always been to display God's glory. That place had been destroyed because of the sins of His people. Now, in Ezra and in other books, God is referred to as "the God of heaven." Of course, that points to the fact that God is sovereign over all; but scholars tell us it also may hint at the fact that His glory was not being revealed on the earth at this time. Perhaps it was His purpose to manifest His glory through a rebuilt Temple where His restored people could worship Him. We know that His glory was definitely revealed in the rebuilt temple when Jesus, our Messiah, appeared there and Simeon said:

For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,And the glory of Your people Israel. (Luke 2:30-32)

We may not realize it, but God's purpose today is the same - He wants to reveal His glory through a renewed people. He wants our holy lives and our witness to reveal His Son, Jesus Christ, to all people.
I guess that is really the key: spiritual renewal is not totally for us. It's not simply so we can live happy, fulfilled lives and neglect the rest of the world. Spiritual renewal is for God's purpose, so that His glory can be revealed to all; so that all people have the opportunity to be saved; so that all can have life eternal, happy with Him.

As we study Ezra, we are going to see what a renewed, holy, worshiping, witnessing community of believers can look like. And then we are going to be challenged to make that happen in our world. It has to start on an individual level....God has to renew each one of us. If our hearts are stirred, it's because that stirring comes from God, just as He stirred Cyrus to allow the people to return and rebuild. At the same time, when we feel that stirring, it's our responsibility to see the Lord:

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)

God can greatly use us when our hearts are tuned to His "frequency."

We also need to be willing to be inconvenienced, in order for spiritual renewal to happen. It won't be like packing up and returning to a ruined city, like the Jews did. But we may have to get out of our rut and make some changes. We have to be willing to give up the comfortable life of Babylon and get involved. It may be something as simple as turning off the cable tv and spending more time reading our Bibles. It may be determining to have prayer each morning before we actually start our day. It will definitely mean doing things differently than the status quo.
Are you sensing the need personally for renewal? Get alone with God as soon as you can. Spend time looking at His promises. Pray them back to Him. Trust that He has the power to make the changes happen.
And always, always, give Him the praise as we change for His glory!