My Bible reading this morning included a few chapters of Ezra. Now, I can’t speak for anyone else, but the idea of reading through the book of Ezra does not bring excitement to my soul. In fact, I confess to reading through many of the Old Testament books with a sense of sheer determination, as though they were something that must be endured for my own good. You know, like getting shots, or eating cabbage. Painful, but beneficial. (I apologize now to OT scholars and cabbage lovers. :))
This negative reaction really isn’t fair since, with the exception of a few chapters that give endless lists of rules or genealogies, the Old Testament is full of exciting stories and practical applications. However, my grin-and-bear-it attitude often causes me to miss this.
Back to Ezra. Ezra starts out with the king of Persia sending the Israelites back to Jerusalem after being in exile. They return to what appears to be a desolate city and a destroyed temple of God. In chapter 3 verse 8, in the ESV, “Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord.”
That phrase, “made a beginning”, leaped out of the page and struck me with force. As I began to ponder what that meant, I looked back at the beginning of Ezra to let what was happening really sink in. In other translations, that phrase reads as “began the work”.
The Israelites had been set free from captivity to return home. They returned to find much work in front of them. Even the beginning of the verse shows that things didn’t get off to a quick start, since it took two years after they returned before they “made a beginning”, or “began the work”.
How many of us, for whatever reason, need to make a beginning, need to begin the work? How many of us have been held captive to something, and then set free? For all of us who are Christians, all of us know what this means. How many of us, after being freed, still haven’t made a beginning? In my mind, the applications for this phrase are limitless. What is the work that needs to be done, where to do we need to start over? Is it in our finances? Is it in how we are raising our children? Is it in our personal relationships? Is it in our spiritual disciplines practice? Is it in how we are taking care of ourselves and our surroundings?
So often, so very often, we feel too far gone to begin the work. Too much has happened, too much time has passed, too much destruction has come. What a blessing for us that we have the book of Ezra to look to for an example. With the Lord’s help, we are never too far gone. What has been destroyed can be rebuilt.
Where do you need to make a beginning today? Where do you need to intentionally start over and begin the work? When the Israelites went to work rebuilding the temple, they had a game plan. They were organized and purposeful. If there is an area that you need to begin the work, make certain you take this to the Lord and make a plan for how to accomplish the work. And then by the grace of God, make a beginning.