Thursday, October 21, 2021
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Ezra 3:10-11
And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. Ezra 6:16
When Redemption Feels Impossible
The Israelites had made a bad choice long ago in turning away from God. They were always straying from God and refused to simply worship Him alone. They were following after the gods of the peoples around them. Over and over, God judged Israel for this idolatry. Finally, we see the culmination of judgment in what is known as the Babylonian captivity. God finally allowed the entire nation to be conquered by Babylon and taken from their homeland into that country. They remained in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.
When the Israelites returned home, it wasn’t the same. It was not like they left it and restoration seemed imposible. Jerusalem was in ruins and the Jerusalem temple, said to have been built by Solomon, was destroyed in when the Babylonians captured the city, torched it, and exiled the Jewish leaders to Babylon. It seemed impossible to think that things could ever be the same again, and they wouldn’t. Just as with our own redemption stories, God has a plan, and His plan for our redemption often does not look like our plan. We see a different outcome sometimes and usually always – a different path through. Even though the temple foundation was laid and the building began, there were difficulties and obstables along the way, and the building ceased for a while. But our God is not deterred by obstacles! The building began again and the temple was finished eventually – and all the people of Israel rejoiced.
It took 70 years, but there was some good that came out of their bondage. One very significant impact on the nation of Israel when it returned to the land was that it would never again be corrupted by the idolatry and false gods of the surrounding nations. There was a revival among Jews that happened after they returned to Israel and began the rebuilding of the temple. God made the way for them to return and He made the impossible possible. He made a way for the temple to be rebuilt.
What feels impossible in your life? What area holds so much destruction that you cannot possibly see a way it can be redeemed? If you are like me, I struggle with the concept that I know He can, but will He do it? Will He redeem the parts of my life that are destroyed from my own doing? He did it for the Israelites, and He will do it for you and me too. They had to rebuild – brick by brick. It was not fast, but it was God’s way, and hearts were changed in the process. The process is always where the good changes happen. We want to skip the process sometimes but that is not how God operates. We want a quick fix, but a quick fix is a bandaid over a gaping wound that never heals. As hard as it is, trust the process of redemption. There will still be a beautiful story at the end, it just may look different than you thought it would.
