EN2

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Michael Mott.
Zachary Hale.

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I feel like it's been.
A minute.

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It's been a minute.
Yeah, yeah.

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We recorded like a bunch of
episodes.

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I know.
And then you went on your

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Arkansas hiatus.
Yes, yeah.

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But I, I was at work.
I was, I was working.

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That's right for the pod.
That's right in Arkansas.

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I've got a couple episodes.
Hey, that's right, we got a

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couple of shout outs to Brian.
I have not listened to the

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episodes but I'm sure they are
like awesome.

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Yeah.
So we'll see those I think the

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first and 2nd Thursday of July,
if I'm counting right, which

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this episode's it would be
towards the end of June.

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So it won't be for the listener,
it won't be that far, but we're

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recording this at the kind of
middle beginning middle of June.

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Well, this, this happened.
This idea came like this was a

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popular trend maybe a couple
months ago.

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Did you see people like Ask AI
or ChatGPT to like roast a

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family picture of them?
I did see this and we actually

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submitted a picture.
Did you?

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Yeah, but.
He didn't do very well.

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I don't, I don't know.
I wasn't pleased with it.

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It was just like, Nah, well.
I'll let you be the judge.

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I had a conversation, said, hey,
you know, take tooth theology.

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And they're like, yeah, I was
like, can you roast?

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Take tooth theology?
And so I got a ChatGPT roast.

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All right.
Did you have to give it stuff or

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you just pulled it from the?
I should pull up the

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conversation.
I was like just made.

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I was like, Hey, do you know
take tooth theology?

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And it's like, yes, I was like,
tell me the host and said like

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Michael and Zach, tell me a
little and it would like pull.

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And I was like, what's some of
the episodes?

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So it was it was like
interacting with the right cool

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podcast.
And then I was like, you know,

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let's, let's give a roast.
And so this is what ChatGPT had.

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It's a take two theology because
apparently the first take just

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wasn't biblical enough.
The only podcast where two grown

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men sit down, hit record and try
to out Calvin each other for 30

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minutes straight.
Michael and Zach sound like the

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kind of guys who would cancel a
beach trip because, quote,

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Ecclesiastes just hits different
this week.

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These dudes are so reformed I'm
surprised they don't preselect

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who gets to listen to the
podcasts.

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Zach has the chill measure tone
of a guy who's been asked what's

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the deal with predestination one
too many times by a youth group

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kid named Tyler and Michael.
He brings the kind of energy

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that says I highlighted 5
commentaries just to dunk on

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your eschatology.
Their hot takes are so reformed

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they make John Piper it looks
like he's experimenting with

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progressive jazz.
Honestly the most controversial

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thing about the show is which
hosts sighs louder when someone

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brings up the nephilim.
And don't get me started on how

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they treat dispensationalism
like it's a theological rash

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nobody wants to admit they had
in college.

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Hey, I'm a dispensationalist.
Yeah, Yeah.

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Maybe he was thinking strict
versus, you know.

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Progressive Dispensationalist.
It's the podcast equivalent of a

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seminary class you didn't
register for but ended up

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enjoying anyway, mostly because
they occasionally throw shade at

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prosperity preachers like it's a
sport.

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Take to theology, because
nothing's so fun like parsing

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grief verb tenses over lofi
background music and the

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crushing weight of doctrinal
precision.

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Pretty good chat, pretty pumped.
In my in chat's defense too, I

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primed it a little bit.
It gave me one that was not

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funny.
It was not funny.

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And I was like, you need to make
this like spicier, like like a

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not mean, but like a little bit
more and then it and then it

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then it was.
Like gold?

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That's good.
That's good.

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So anyway, that is, you know,
chat's chat's roast of the Take

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Two podcast, which I was
actually impressed that it could

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pull.
It was like pull, I guess

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there's transcripts on YouTube
and stuff.

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It can pull like the John Piper
and you know some of these words

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and stuff.
Yeah, and we pretty we give

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pretty good.
I've actually been using chat,

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although I don't think chat can
talk to chat.

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Like, you know, for our
descriptions, I just give it all

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of our notes and say come up
with a description, I'll read

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through it.
But most of the time it's like,

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you nailed it.
That's that's fine.

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And I put that in there, which
is a little bit more detailed

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than what I did at the very
beginning, 'cause it was like a

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sentence for me, 'cause I'm
like, yeah, yeah, you.

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Can't be like, yeah, well,
that's that's good.

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So I was like, I was reading
that the first time I was like

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dying laughing.
So anyway, very nice.

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You know, I think it's a good
setup for a 5 or 6 episode

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series on Ezra Nemiah.
That's right.

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That's right.
Yeah, any, any, I guess we can

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maybe on a separate podcast,
we'll get into your Arkansas.

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Yeah, we can talk about some
stuff.

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That'd be good.
Yeah, it's great.

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Well, let's jump into Ezra
Nehemiah episode 2.

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Let's take it to the next level
from the hearts of the Low

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Country in South Carolina.
It's the Take Two podcast where

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we take theology to the next
level.

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Ezra Chapter 1, we're gonna
start today.

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Maybe we can give like a 30
seconds recap like the first

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episode.
We just kind of set the stage.

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Yeah, and since that time I have
read through Ezra and Nehemiah

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and watched the Bible Project
video.

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On it.
Because, you know, I don't know

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if you remember, but I had said
that Ezra was the one who was

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the cupbearer, but it was
Nehemiah.

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I went back 'cause I don't know
how I got those confused, but

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yeah.
But what I did not realize is

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that the beginning is is
basically talking about

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Zerubbabel.
That's how we've always.

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Pronounced it.
But they pronounce it the Bible

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guys pronounce it a little bit
different.

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Man, yeah, it doesn't start with
Ezra or Nehemiah.

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It's like 50 or 70 years before.
That I didn't realize it was a

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time gap like that.
But it's it's, yeah.

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So couple notes I wrote down
Ezra Nehemiah.

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It's really one scroll in the
Hebrew Bible, spans about 100

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years, written by one author,
likely Ezra.

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And I think that the main idea
is we're gonna see there's three

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parallel movements out that way.
Some people maybe say even more

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where these are all together for
a reason.

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The author is driving home a
point and we'll see this in

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today's podcast.
But each kind of section has a

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king, a different main character
with a different mission, and

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then maybe some opposition they
run into and then kind of mixed

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results, maybe some good, some
bad.

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But it is kind of weird 'cause
you think great leader and not

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saying they weren't good
leaders.

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Ezra, Nehemiah.
But it, it really does show you

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that men can do a lot but can't,
can't do everything.

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And you need the Spirit of God
to work or really you can't

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expect a ton.
So let's, I just have notes from

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when we were going over this and
impact.

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A lot of this is just text.
Some of this stuff.

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You'll see, Michael, as we're
working our way through.

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I bolded some places maybe we
should spend some time on, and

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then other places, especially
when Ezra Nami is a great test

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of pronunciation.
We'll skip over a lot of these.

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Names.
Oh my goodness.

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So I told you I read through it.
I did most of that reading,

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quote UN quote, using dwell.
Nice and you know, if you're

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reading those long chapters of
names, you can kind of like scan

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and it's like sign up, sign up,
sign up, sign up.

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But when you listen to someone
have to go through all of those,

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like be by is one of them that
you hear over and over again.

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There's also I I wonder how far
back these go.

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I we'll probably get into it,
but Aza is named in the list.

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Is that the Aza who reached out
and touched the Arc?

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Man, so interesting.
Yeah.

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I wonder.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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He was in the priestly line.
And it's one of those things

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we're gonna see this one, one of
the joys, like what I love about

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Ezra Nehemiah is it's, you know,
in the Jewish scriptures at the

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end of the Old Testament right
before Chronicles.

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And it really like is a
conglomeration of like all of

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these Old Testament texts, like
Ezra the scribe.

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We'll talk about him next time.
But he's, you know, kind of the

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poster boy for like scribes and
you know what people wanted to

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be even though it went wrong
because he was like so masterful

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at weaving all of these things
together so much.

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I think of Old Testament like
you, you can't just like walk in

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and know nothing.
You can.

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But you're gonna miss like so
much.

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We'll kind of catch that even
here.

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So let's we're gonna start at
the very beginning, Ezra,

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Chapter 1.
The goal today, maybe, is to

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cover the first six chapters.
And do I need to be ready to hit

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any of these, Jeremiah or
Daniel?

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Yeah.
So that would be great if you

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started getting some of those
passages together.

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And while you're turning there,
I'll start reading Ezra 1

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chapter 1 and it's begins in the
first year of Cyrus, king of

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Persia.
The word of the Lord by the

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mouth of Jeremiah might be
fulfilled.

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The Lord stirred up the spirit
of Cyrus king of Persia so that

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he made a proclamation
throughout all his Kingdom and

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also put in it writing this says
Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord

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God of heaven has given me all
the kingdoms of the earth and he

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has charged me to build him a
house at Jerusalem which is in

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Judah.
Even in those first 2 verses we

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we see you know Cyrus has
mentioned not the first time

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Cyrus has mentioned in the Bible
we see Jeremiah mentioned.

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Most people are like, OK, I know
Jeremiah talks about Jeremiah.

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What he said would be fulfilled.
So, Michael, if you want to read

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Jeremiah 2511.
It says this whole land will be

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a desolation and a horror, and
these nations will serve the

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king of Babylon 70 years.
OK, so you know, this prophecy

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of 70 years of exile that's in
Jeremiah shoes would have been,

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you know, somewhat familiar at
this time with it and and and

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these things.
So Jeremiah 2910.

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For thus says the Lord, when 70
years have been completed for

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Babylon, I will visit you and
fulfill my good word to you, and

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to bring you back to this place.
Nice so we it's not just even

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like one time in Jeremiah, you
know it's kind of spread

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throughout.
Are you able to grab Daniel 91

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and two I've?
Done so many sword drills, you

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know what I'm saying?
That's right, in the first year

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of the king.
Darius or Darius.

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Yeah, nice.
Darius, the son of a Hazarous of

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Median descent, who was made
king over the Kingdom of the

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Chaldeans in the first year of
his reign.

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I Daniel observed in the books
the number of the years which

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was revealed as the word to the
Lord, to Jeremiah the prophet

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for the completion of the
desolation of Jerusalem, namely,

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70 years.
So I know people were talking

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about it.
Daniel was aware of it.

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Daniel's not a insignificant
figure in Judah's history.

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So this is what's going on.
Cyrus has kind of come to be

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king.
And then you're probably, if

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you're listening, you're like,
man, what?

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What's like the one?
Well, one of the major texts

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that people know about Jeremiah
is Jeremiah 3131.

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So as Michael reads this, I
think this is good.

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This is the kind of stuff people
probably are thinking when,

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especially once Cyrus decrees,
you can build stuff.

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They're probably like, OK, 70
years is up and they're probably

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like, oh, this is what Jeremiah
was talking about.

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Go ahead.
The whole days are coming,

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declares the Lord, when I will
make a new covenant with the

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House of Israel and with the
House of Judah.

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Not like the covenant which I
made with their fathers in the

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day that I took them by the land
by the hand to bring them out of

225
00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,600
the land of Egypt.
My covenant which they broke,

226
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,400
although I was a husband to
them, declares the Lord.

227
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,080
I don't know how much you want
me to read but goes on to flesh

228
00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,720
out more than you shout out.
I, you know, I think most of us

229
00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,200
have heard this and it's, it's
just interesting, Like, to us,

230
00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,000
it makes a lot of sense.
We think of the new covenant.

231
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,680
If you were a Jew in this time
and you're like, OK, we served

232
00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:18,320
our time in exile.
God's gonna work with us again.

233
00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,320
It's it's probably a very
exciting time.

234
00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,000
We're gonna like, rebuild our
city.

235
00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,680
This is awesome.
A couple other places we wanna

236
00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:28,080
turn.
Are you turning to Isaiah?

237
00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:29,520
I'm already there.
He's already there.

238
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,680
Isaiah 4424 and 28.
Says Thus says the Lord your

239
00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,960
Redeemer, and the one who formed
you from the womb, and I the

240
00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,120
Lord and the Maker of all
things, stretching out the

241
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,640
heavens by myself, and spreading
out the earth all alone.

242
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:51,560
And then skip down to 28 Yes, it
is I who says of Cyrus, he is my

243
00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:54,880
shepherd, and he will perform
all my desire.

244
00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:59,680
And he declares a Jerusalem she
will be built, and of the temple

245
00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:03,680
your foundation will be laid.
Pretty amazing that Pretty Crazy

246
00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:08,280
by name Cyrus is mentioned
hundreds of years before, I

247
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,880
don't know, 3-4 hundred years
before maybe when Isaiah was

248
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,120
written that this prophecy is
like pretty, pretty on the

249
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,320
money.
That's, you know, Jerusalem.

250
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,880
We're going to build, build the
temple, build the foundation.

251
00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,360
So they they see all this stuff
coming together, pretty amazing.

252
00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:28,000
Let's look at, just a little bit
later, chapter 45 of Isaiah,

253
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,680
verses 1 and 4.
Thus says the Lord of Cyrus has

254
00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,760
anointed, whom I have taken by
the right hand to subdue nations

255
00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:40,600
before him, and to lose the
loins of kings to open doors

256
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,240
before him, so that the gates
will not be shut.

257
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,920
And skip down to verse 4.
For the sake of Jacob my

258
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:52,360
servant, and Israel my chosen
one, I have also called you by

259
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,520
your name.
I have given you a title of

260
00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,080
honor, though you have not known
me.

261
00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,160
I am the Lord, and there is no
other besides me.

262
00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,000
There is no God.
I will gird you, though you have

263
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,240
not known me.
It's it all of this is, is

264
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:08,520
amazing.
I think a theme that you're

265
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,960
going to see in Ezra, Nehemiah
is God's sovereignty.

266
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:12,560
We see it here.
God is sovereign.

267
00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:15,560
Even if someone who does not
acknowledge God, God is going to

268
00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,400
use.
We saw it in the first 2 verses

269
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,080
that, you know, the Lord stirred
up the spirit, He's going to

270
00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,040
stir up the people.
This is common language that we

271
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,240
see.
And you know, if we're doing a

272
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:32,040
little bit of history, Persians
do things a little bit different

273
00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,160
from the Babylonians.
And not that Cyrus had like the

274
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,040
best motives.
He is trying to like everyone

275
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:38,800
need to worship their God.
We want to make it good.

276
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,280
You know, he wants to get all
the favor from all the different

277
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,280
gods.
But seeing how Yahweh

278
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,760
orchestrated all of this, just
the set, set, the stage, you can

279
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,440
just imagine, you know, people
that are familiar Jews of the

280
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:52,680
day, they're just going to be
like pumps.

281
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,240
And I noticed when Cyrus is, I
believe it's Cyrus who's

282
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,960
referring to Yahweh, he calls
him the God of the heavens,

283
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:05,160
which in my mind, you know, I
think like Baal had a certain

284
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,640
domain and stuff.
So he's probably like, I want to

285
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,960
honor, you know, this God of the
heavens.

286
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,040
So it doesn't necessarily mean
he's a A, A yeah, yeah.

287
00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:17,600
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's a good point.

288
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,760
It's like, yeah, had probably
was endorsing gods of all sorts.

289
00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,440
And like you go, you know, it
seems like it was better to have

290
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,400
different, you know, people
groups and they could tax them

291
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,880
heavy and they could all ask
favor of their God.

292
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,440
So that that's the opening too
versus we'll start to move a

293
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,400
little bit faster you don't
want.

294
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,400
To spend like 10 minutes for
every two verses.

295
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,600
This.
Is going to be like a 25 part

296
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,960
series.
We get introduced to the main

297
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,720
character of this section.
Michael kind of alluded that

298
00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:49,920
it's not Ezra, it's not
Nehemiah.

299
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,120
Chapter 2 of Ezra has 70 verses
and you know, buckle up if

300
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,200
you're, you know, listening to
everything here.

301
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,320
But we get introduced to
Zerubbabel and also Joshua or

302
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:07,120
Joshua and they take a bunch of
people back to Jerusalem on this

303
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:08,720
journey.
You know what I was reading

304
00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,160
three to four months to make
this journey.

305
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,920
But when you look at the lineage
of the rebel descendant of

306
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,400
David, descendant of Jehoiachin,
the king taken captive in 597

307
00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,280
and then Jesua Joshua is the
last relative of the last high

308
00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,320
priest pre exile.
So they've got like descendant

309
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,440
of David, they got someone in
the priestly line, they got

310
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:36,560
42,000 people plus traveling
just all across the desert, all

311
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:41,480
across, everywhere, getting back
to Jerusalem after 70 years.

312
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,880
I thought this was interesting.
I don't know if you have Ezra on

313
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,560
right there.
Can you read chapter 2 verse 62?

314
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,840
These searched among their
ancestral registration, but they

315
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,520
could not be located.
Therefore they were considered

316
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,280
unclean and excluded from the
priesthood.

317
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,760
Is that what you're looking?
For no, it was not what I was

318
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,560
looking for.
Read verse 6363.

319
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,520
I typed it wrong.
The governor said to them that

320
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,480
they should not eat from the
most holy things until a priest

321
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,880
stood up with Urim and Thummim.
My understanding is this is the

322
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,000
last time we read those words in
Old Testament, and then they're

323
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,760
lost or, you know, whatever.
Yeah, so I hope it, you know,

324
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,520
don't want to steal, steal a
Thunder, but we're going to have

325
00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,920
the temple dedicated here.
Yeah.

326
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:31,720
Are we getting that far in this?
We.

327
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:33,800
We will, yeah.
At least the altar, I think.

328
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:39,960
I think the temple, yeah.
And from what I can understand,

329
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,000
there's no smoke or anything
that comes down.

330
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:43,520
Is that true?
I think you're right.

331
00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,320
Yeah, Yeah.
And we don't have, we have on

332
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:52,360
record people coming in and
defiling this temple and they're

333
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,920
not struck dead.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

334
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:56,800
Right.
That's exactly right.

335
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,560
Yeah.
So there's a sense in which I, I

336
00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,880
think that when the Babylonians
came in and plundered the

337
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:09,000
temple, that whatever presence
God had there was not restored

338
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,079
here.
And so then I also wonder, did

339
00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:16,720
God have, was he sovereignly?
I mean, I know in one sense he's

340
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:21,240
sovereignly over all dice
throws, but is he sovereign such

341
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,359
that he's making sure that these
dice throws are accurately

342
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,359
wedding out those who are of the
lineage and are not lineage?

343
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:28,960
Here, yeah, it's interesting
because like we don't hear

344
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,360
anything after this.
You would think maybe they would

345
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,000
consult these again, you know,
if it was like working for them,

346
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,160
you know.
Maybe like there are two

347
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,520
brothers and they roll the dice
for one of them and one of them

348
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,560
says yes, one of them says no,
and they're like God must not be

349
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,160
in the room and the thumb.
Anymore and then yeah, I, I, I

350
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,680
like that because that's kind of
what's going to happen.

351
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,680
Things aren't going to turn out
how they really want something I

352
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,560
do want to point out I did not
put this in the notes, but I was

353
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,560
I was reading, I was reading
some information, some

354
00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,080
commentaries about this.
There is talking about Ezra and

355
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,480
his masterful or skillful
composition of this.

356
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,480
You read through these first six
chapters and I guess and the

357
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:14,680
other movements too, you get
undertones of like the Exodus we

358
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,800
see.
We didn't read it, but it's like

359
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,360
all of their neighbors like gave
them gold and silver.

360
00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:21,520
It's kind of like, you know,
they plundered the Egyptians

361
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:23,920
like they were told to go home
with all this stuff.

362
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,080
Some of the language in Hebrew
is kind of the same.

363
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,280
There's a lot of illusions as
well to like the promised land.

364
00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,040
We'll see in a little bit.
So you can kind of see like this

365
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,840
build up like they're so excited
and I think it's just setting

366
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,480
the stage of the drama of what's
about to unfold.

367
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,840
So that's really chapters one
and two.

368
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,080
We did not read everything
because there are just a lot of

369
00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,880
just a lot of names.
The sons of Zatu, the sons of

370
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,000
Zakai, the sons of Banai, the
sons of Baby.

371
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:52,480
It just keeps going.
Everywhere.

372
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,480
And you know as you continue to
read the names will continue to

373
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:58,560
happen.
And I think that goes to, you

374
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:00,760
know, the historicity.
This was like a historical

375
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:02,200
account that people could back
checked.

376
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:04,640
Like people could read this and
be like, wait a second, was that

377
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:05,520
real?
You know what I mean?

378
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,440
And especially if Ezra was
trying to reestablish what they

379
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:13,440
had back when they knew, like
here is, you know, Aaron and his

380
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,880
sons and you know, the
Kohathites and all the different

381
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,120
tribes.
You know, he's trying to read.

382
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,000
He's I.
You probably have to have some

383
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:22,160
type of census in order to go
back to that.

384
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,280
That's a great point.
You'll lose like all credibility

385
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,440
if you're just pulling people
Willy nilly.

386
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,000
So we're going to move to
Chapter 3 and we're going to see

387
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,000
rebuilding going on 1st.
We'll see rebuilding of the

388
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,720
altar and then rebuilding of the
temple.

389
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,720
But you kind of see as they're,
you know, building things first,

390
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,840
what they, they first bring all
these structures, these rhythms.

391
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,680
They're like, hey, Feast of
Booths, let's do this again.

392
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:45,880
We haven't done this for a long
time.

393
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,840
Let's, you know, do some
offerings at the new moon.

394
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,960
Let's give money and and a lot
of this again is gonna remind

395
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,120
them of Egypt.
Like, you know, they're gonna

396
00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,640
start doing these, you know, in
the Exodus, all these different

397
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,320
feasts, they're gonna start
getting free will offerings for

398
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:03,640
the Tabernacle.
They're giving free will

399
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,440
offerings for the altar and the
temple.

400
00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:11,080
And we see all of these kind of
parallels, built the altar, knew

401
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,080
they needed to build the temple,
but kind of doing one thing at a

402
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,840
time.
And then they do build the

403
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,280
temple.
Zurba laid the foundation of the

404
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,120
temple in their second year
back.

405
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,800
And so really they get they get
after it pretty quickly.

406
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,880
They get back, they start
building these things, but

407
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:29,920
that's where things kind of kind
of change.

408
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:30,520
A.
Little bit, yeah.

409
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,120
So if you want to read Ezra 3
verses 10 through 13.

410
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,120
Now when the builders had laid
the foundation of the temple of

411
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:43,160
the Lord, the priest stood in
their apparel with trumpets, and

412
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,480
the Levites the sons as Asaph
with symbols to praise the Lord

413
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,880
according to the directions of
King David of Israel.

414
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:56,000
They sang, praising and giving
thanks to the Lord, saying for

415
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,560
He is good, for his loving
kindness is upon Israel forever.

416
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:02,680
And all the people shouted with
a great shout when they praise

417
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,040
the Lord, because the foundation
of the House of the Lord was

418
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:09,520
laid.
Yet many of the priests and

419
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,880
Levites and heads of the
Father's households, the old men

420
00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,120
who had seen the first temple,
wept with a loud voice when the

421
00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:21,960
foundation of this house was
laid before their eyes, while

422
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,640
many shouted aloud for joy, so
that the people could not

423
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,760
distinguish the sound of the
shout of joy from the sound of

424
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,560
the weeping of the people.
For the people shouted with a

425
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,360
loud shout, and the sound was
heard far away.

426
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,920
Yeah, great example of this
mixed results.

427
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,800
Like they just did 40,000 people
made it back, they built the

428
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,040
altar, you know, they laid the
foundation for the temple and

429
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,800
even see this call back for he
is good.

430
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,400
His steadfast love endures
forever.

431
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:47,960
That's like, if you don't know
anything about the Bible, you

432
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,080
probably recognize that, you
know, it's like kind of drawing

433
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,200
on this biblical tradition.
And then people are crying in

434
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,520
the same place where you can't
even tell the difference, who's

435
00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:01,720
crying, who's shouting for joy.
Kind of a weird scene, you know,

436
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,520
when you think about all of this
fanfare and.

437
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,040
Then I'm, I'm preaching in a
couple weeks and I'm like, I'm

438
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:09,720
getting motivated.
This should be my text.

439
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,800
I should preach from it because
this got, I think it got a lot

440
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,320
of ramifications for us today.
Oh, it's great.

441
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,720
This is this is honestly, it's
probably one of my favorite

442
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,000
things I ever talked through
with that like just the Ezra

443
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,200
Nehemiah, because it was like,
man, all of this stuff.

444
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,640
It is it's like not today, but
it is today in a lot of ways.

445
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,720
You know, it's like right there,
so good.

446
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,800
Now we hit some opposition
problems start to arise.

447
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,400
We see some adversaries oppose
some of the rebuilding.

448
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,720
So we're going to start in Ezra
4.

449
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:43,760
Michael again if you want to
read the first maybe 3 verses.

450
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,440
Now when the enemies of Judah
and Benjamin heard that the

451
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,440
people of the exile were
building a temple to the Lord

452
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,720
God of Israel, they approached
the rubble in the heads of

453
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,400
Father's households and said to
them, Let us build with you, for

454
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,520
we like you, seek your God, and
we have been sacrificing to him

455
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,200
since the days of.
This is why you want to read it

456
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,400
for this, for this verse, for
the days of Sr.

457
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,320
Haddon, the king of Assyria, who
brought us up here.

458
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,880
But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and
the rest of the heads of the

459
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,800
Father's households of Israel
said to them, You have nothing

460
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,200
in common with us in building a
house to our God, but we

461
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,960
ourselves will together build to
the Lord God of Israel, as King

462
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,560
Cyrus, the King of Persia, has
commanded us.

463
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:35,000
Kind of interesting if you're
just reading this at face value.

464
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,240
The text opens up saying these
are enemies, these are

465
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,480
adversaries, but they don't seem
very, very mean.

466
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,760
They seem like nice adversaries,
like, hey, let's build this

467
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,920
temple.
They're actually like living in

468
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,600
the same area.
Like, what's the big deal?

469
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,080
But Zerubbel, Jesuit, all these
people are like, no, have

470
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,040
nothing to do with us.
Get out of here.

471
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:56,560
Weird.
Not weird.

472
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:57,720
You know what?
What's your take?

473
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:04,240
I think, yeah, I, I think
there's wisdom in saying these

474
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,240
people are not aligned with us
and they shouldn't be present

475
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:13,400
with us at our worship and we're
not going to get pulled aside

476
00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,080
and distracted by people who
don't actually hold the same

477
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,720
values as we do.
And it's one of those things

478
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,840
you're going to see this theme
repeated kind of an each

479
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,160
movement too, where it might be
a judgement call and and but

480
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,720
you've got to make some of these
hard line decisions.

481
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,560
And you were saying you got to
build this credibility.

482
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:33,960
This this came from the line of
Jew.

483
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:37,240
You're trying to build this and
you know, a lot of people would

484
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:38,880
point to this and say this is
kind of, you know, the start of

485
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,800
the Samaritans maybe here.
You know what I mean with the

486
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,920
inner Breed.
So this is like weird, you know,

487
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,520
go to the news.
They can trace it all the way

488
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,280
back to here.
I mean, even before that with

489
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,680
the, you know, Assyrians and
that kind of thing.

490
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,880
But it's like that's like
already brewing way back here

491
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,120
and you can kind of see some of
that most likely at play a

492
00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,000
little bit.
Yeah, and I, I don't, we don't.

493
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,200
Maybe we have.
I'd have to go back and read the

494
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,200
end of Second Kings and or end
of Second Samuel in the

495
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,840
beginning of Kings.
I don't know if we have a record

496
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:16,400
of who built the temple, but we
know that that it was Levites

497
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,400
who built the Tabernacle, you
know, 'cause they brought all

498
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,080
those materials to them and the
gold and stuff and they finally

499
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,520
like, you know, stop bringing us
bronze or whatever we got.

500
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,200
We got too much stuff.
But I wonder if that's part of

501
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:30,200
what's in the back of their
mind.

502
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,160
Like, no, you're not set apart.
Like even your average.

503
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:34,640
Israel.
Israelites.

504
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,400
Not helping out and definitely
not someone who you know, stayed

505
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,520
around and, you know, didn't go
into captivity and and stay pure

506
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,680
like we did.
Yeah, I, I think, I think that

507
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:45,960
makes a lot of sense.
And so if you're kind of

508
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,480
tracking with Ezra, he kind of,
there's probably a lot

509
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,120
underneath this too.
We don't know.

510
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,320
He labels them as adversaries.
If you go to verse four, he says

511
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,920
then the people of the land
discouraged the people of Judah.

512
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,800
Their kind of true colors came
out where they weren't so

513
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,840
friendly anymore.
They made them afraid to build.

514
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,760
They bribed counselors against
them to frustrate their purpose

515
00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,960
all the days of Cyrus, king of
Persia, even until the reign of

516
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,520
Darius, king of Persia.
So you can see their true

517
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:13,720
colors.
And it wasn't like they did this

518
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,160
for six months.
They, they were probably doing

519
00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,160
this for 15 to 16 years, like
almost 20 years of trying to

520
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:24,680
frustrate and, and no, not good.
Things get a little bit tricky

521
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,680
here.
Ezra, 4/6 through 23.

522
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:31,120
It's a great example of, you
know, ancient writers and, and

523
00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,040
you kind of get, I think, I
think you read a lot of the Old

524
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:35,640
Testament, in particular, a lot
of the Bible.

525
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,280
There's a lot of questions that
don't get answered.

526
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,560
You're like, oh, man, I wish it
was more explicit.

527
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,280
Like, why did you know?
Why was Cain's offering

528
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:44,840
rejected?
We don't get like that explicit

529
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:46,280
answer.
You can like maybe draw some

530
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:50,120
conclusions or it's like, oh,
you look at King Saul and the

531
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,560
Amalekites and it's like he's in
trouble because they didn't

532
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,360
commit genocide.
It's like, well, some people

533
00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:56,320
like like they struggle with
that part, but you're like,

534
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,120
you're missing the point.
Why was Michael the best Angel?

535
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:01,480
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, you've got, you've got all

536
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:02,760
these questions we've all
thought about.

537
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,880
And here, Ezra, his main
emphasis is not this linear

538
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:11,120
chronology, but it's thematic.
He's trying to paint a picture.

539
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,240
And so this part is kind of
confusing if you're reading

540
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,960
along because it jumps way into
the future, like 5070 years in

541
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:18,720
the future, talks about
different kings.

542
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,360
You're like, wait, I thought it
was Cyrus.

543
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,240
Now we're talking about all
these different kings.

544
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,480
So just to be aware, if you want
to, you can even read verse 6.

545
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:29,760
You can kind of see it's like
the shift.

546
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,120
Yeah.
Now in the reign of of a

547
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:35,040
Hazarous, in the beginning of
his reign, they wrote an

548
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,280
accusation against the
inhabitants of Judah and

549
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,000
Jerusalem.
And in the days of Arda, Zexes,

550
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,480
Bishlam no and the rest of his
colleagues, you know this king

551
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,640
of Persia, the text to the
letter was written in Aramaic

552
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,760
and translated from Aramaic.
So it's like it jumps two

553
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,760
different king kingships there.
It's almost like it's like flash

554
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,760
forwarding in a movie just to
show you like the main ideas.

555
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,880
And I didn't take a deep enough
dive dive in this, but people

556
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,320
will say again, going back to
Ezra crafting this the first

557
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,720
movement chapters one through 6,
like start with an edict.

558
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,240
We'll get the chapter 6 that
ends with an edict almost

559
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,520
precisely to the word.
Like half of it's like in in

560
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,360
Hebrew, half of it's in Aramaic.
It's almost like he's like, it's

561
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,120
the I don't know if it's a
chaos, but it's very symmetrical

562
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,960
where he's just really trying to
prove a point.

563
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,320
So we're not going to read
verses 7 through 16.

564
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,240
I'll summarize really quick.
We get the names of leaders of

565
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,200
that adversaries that are
against these Jews.

566
00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:39,520
They essentially they write a
king to art exert you saying the

567
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,880
Jews are building a wicked city.
You know, the walls.

568
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:42,960
They're not going to pay their
taxes.

569
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:44,320
It's going to hurt the royal
revenue.

570
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,160
Look at their history in the
past.

571
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,520
They've kind of revolted against
people just read, you know, some

572
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:51,280
of their scriptures.
If this city gets built, it's

573
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,040
not going to be good for the
Persian Empire.

574
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,680
We're trying to help you out,
king.

575
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:59,000
And so in verse 17 through 23,
the king is looking into

576
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,120
everything and says, hey, you
know, they've got a point.

577
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,880
Judah has rebelled in the past
and that they crown their own

578
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,520
kings that they pay taxes to,
and so that that causes a wrench

579
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,240
in things.
And then verse 24 kind of draws

580
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,160
us back into the chronology of
Zerubbabel.

581
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,480
So all the work basically has to
stop.

582
00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:21,920
Verse 24 says then the work of
the House of God that is in

583
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,680
Jerusalem stopped and it ceased
until the second year of the

584
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:31,160
reign of Darius, king of Persia.
So we get all this progress and

585
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,680
then we get this just stop in
the work.

586
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,800
And that takes us to Ezra
chapter 5, which honestly is

587
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,720
about 16 years later.
While these people are

588
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,760
frustrating them, stopping
everything, the people really

589
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,840
aren't doing what they plan to
do in the beginning.

590
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,920
You want to read the first 2
verses of chapter 5.

591
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,960
It says when the prophets Haggai
the when the prophets Haggai the

592
00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,600
prophet and Zechariah the son of
Edu prophesized to the Jews who

593
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,360
were in Judah and Jerusalem in
the name of the God of Israel

594
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,200
who was over them.
Then the rubble, the son of

595
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,400
Shield Till and Yeshua the son
of Jazzadek arose and begin to

596
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,680
rebuild the House of God which
is in Jerusalem, and the

597
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,240
prophets of God were with them
supporting them.

598
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,400
So you open up Ezra like you
don't even read about Ezra.

599
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,040
You read about you need to know,
you know Jeremiah, you need to

600
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,960
have flashbacks probably to
Daniel and Isaiah.

601
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,080
And then you kind of have to
know Haggai and Zechariah, which

602
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,160
most people probably are a
little less familiar than what

603
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,240
their message was versus maybe
Jeremiah's message or who Daniel

604
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,000
was.
So it would behoove people.

605
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:42,920
Haggai is really sure you can
read that really fast.

606
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,320
Zechariah a little bit longer
has some kind of weird visions

607
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:50,200
in there, but talks a lot about
the temple.

608
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,720
I haven't read it recently, but
I even think it talks about a

609
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,040
temple where there's going to be
no walls.

610
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,000
And so it's kind of interesting
that Nehemiah follows that with

611
00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,280
walls.
It's like trying to make sense.

612
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,280
What is this fulfilling what God
has commanded?

613
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:05,600
But essentially, Haggai, if
you're going to boil it down, he

614
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:07,200
says you need to get your
priorities straight.

615
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,640
You've been scared.
You're worried about economic

616
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,600
prosperity more than God and his
glory.

617
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,200
And that's why actually your
crops haven't been good.

618
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,360
It's why things are life has
gotten harder.

619
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,720
Planting has not gone well.
Harvesting's been terrible.

620
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,920
Focus on what's important,
worship and serve God.

621
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,360
And then Zechariah is more about
this future, this New Jerusalem

622
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,800
is going to be amazing, which is
you read it, it's very

623
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,320
encouraging, but I can see it
also being very confusing.

624
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,320
You're reading that or they're
prophesying to you and you're

625
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,640
like, man, let's build this new
Jerusalem right now.

626
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,480
The King's coming, you know, and
it's like not there in your

627
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,160
lifetime, but you're hearing all
about it.

628
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:49,520
So anyway, we can look in verse
3 through verse 5 and we can

629
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,880
see, you know what?
What's the response by the

630
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,400
people, the Haggai and Zechariah
I'm.

631
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:55,080
Gonna read those?
Go for it.

632
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:57,320
I know why you have me read all
this.

633
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,880
At that time, Tatanai, the
government governor of the

634
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:07,000
province beyond the river and
Shavar, Bosa and I and their

635
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,080
colleagues came to them and
spoke to them.

636
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:13,480
Thus, who issued you a decree to
rebuild this temple and finish

637
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,200
the structure?
Then we told them accordingly,

638
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:18,760
what the names of the men who
were reconstructing this

639
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,360
building.
But the eye of their God was on

640
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,640
the elders of the Jews, and they
did not stop them until a report

641
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,440
could come from Darius, and then
a written reply by returned

642
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,400
concerning it, and the written
reply be returned concerning it.

643
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,640
Sorry.
So we meet this guy, this

644
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,640
Governor Tat and I or whatever
his name is right now, just like

645
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,520
an official checking in.
It's been 15 or 16 years, maybe

646
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,760
a new guy making sure
everything's like on the up and

647
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,640
up.
He writes a letter to King

648
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,760
Darius in verses 6 through 17.
He kind of recaps everything

649
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,240
saying, you know, did King Cyrus
actually make this decree?

650
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,040
Because that's what the Jews are
saying is going on.

651
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:57,160
Can they build?
We want to make sure

652
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:02,440
everything's on the up and up.
Ezra 6 one through 12 tells us

653
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,840
that, you know, they got word
back.

654
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,680
Cyrus did in fact give them
permission that Jews are good to

655
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,080
continue.
But not only that, another

656
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,120
pretty amazing thing.
It seems like the Persian

657
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,480
government's going to pay for
the building of this temple.

658
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,240
They're going to help out.
They're going to give animals so

659
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,800
they can sacrifice to Yahweh
with severe sanctions and

660
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,280
consequences.
Anyone who gets in your way, you

661
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:23,240
tell me.
And bad things are going to

662
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,000
happen to them if you actually.
Take a log out of their house

663
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,320
and pale it, and then their
house should be a dung.

664
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:32,200
Dung, refuse, dung heat back.
That's like amazing that a

665
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,800
Persian king is saying you get
in the way you're you're

666
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,800
there'll be no memory of like
your house don't get in the way.

667
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:45,640
So again, in verse 11 we read he
says if I make it agree that

668
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,320
anyone alters his edict, yeah,
it should be could be pulled

669
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,480
out.
Like you said, you can read, you

670
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:51,920
know, is Darius a good guy?
Maybe is.

671
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,760
Maybe it's not.
Maybe he just wants Yahweh to,

672
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:55,920
you know, have favor on him with
the midst of these other gods

673
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,480
too.
You can probably read something

674
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,880
like that into it.
And then we get to verse 13

675
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,440
through 18 and we see the temple
finished and dedicated.

676
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,159
I'll, I'll, I'll take a stab at
reading.

677
00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:12,920
I'll start in verses 14 and I'll
go through verse 18, It says.

678
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,880
And the elders of the Jews built
and prospered through the

679
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,320
prophesying of Hagiah the
prophet and Zechariah the son of

680
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:20,760
Edo.
And they finished their building

681
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,400
by the decree of God of Israel,
by the decree of Cyrus and

682
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,159
Darius and Artaxerxes king of
Persia.

683
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:27,840
And this house was finished on
the third day of the month of

684
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,520
Adar in the sixth year of the
reign of Darius the king.

685
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:32,960
And the people of Israel, the
priests and the Levites and the

686
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,560
rest of the return to exile
celebrated the dedication of

687
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,040
this house with joy.
They offered up the dedication

688
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,840
of this House of God, 100 bulls,
200 grams, 400 lamps, and as a

689
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,320
sin offering for all Israel 12
mil goats, according to the

690
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,239
number of the tribes of Israel.
And they set the priests and

691
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:49,199
their divisions, and the Levites
and their divisions for the

692
00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,679
service of God at Jerusalem, as
it is written in the book of

693
00:34:52,679 --> 00:34:54,639
Moses.
Notice how I did not give me any

694
00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:58,560
hard names to read.
You skip 13, I'll pick up before

695
00:34:58,560 --> 00:34:59,760
dude.
So yeah.

696
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:01,520
So I was just putting docs
together.

697
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,480
So back in chapter 3 when we
were reading, when they were

698
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,960
crying and alternately praising
and you couldn't tell the

699
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,080
difference.
That was just the foundation.

700
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,920
Not the whole, not everything.
So I'm guessing that by that the

701
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,160
foundation was smaller than.
Yeah, they're compared to

702
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:18,680
Solomon.
They're.

703
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:20,280
Like, this is not going to be
pretty.

704
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,800
Like this is cool, but man this
is kind of a shame.

705
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,680
And so then here we have the
completion of the temple and we

706
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,680
do have all the sacrifices, but
we don't we still don't have a

707
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,960
record of the Lord like
descending on it in.

708
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:34,440
An amazing.
Way you know, yeah.

709
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,920
Like, like, you know when
Solomon does it, like the hole

710
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:39,960
fills with with smoke and stuff?
Yeah.

711
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,040
And after this, they kind of
jump into Passover.

712
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,360
They've kind of been celebrating
these feasts again, probably

713
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:50,160
another allusion to, you know,
Exodus 12, you know, coming out

714
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:52,160
and Passover's instituted and
all these things.

715
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,800
So a summary of chapter 6, as
they finished the temple, they

716
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,920
dedicated, they celebrated it or
celebrated Passover.

717
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,920
So Ezra one through 6, to recap
a little bit, it's about 20

718
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,200
years length and total with a
huge gap in the middle due to

719
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:09,880
this opposition.
And you know, a lot kind of

720
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,720
baked in between God's
sovereignty, between all these

721
00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,720
prophets prophesying, all these
fulfillments.

722
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:18,600
And you know, we haven't talked
about Ezra or Nehemiah yet, you

723
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,640
know, just the ruble.
So there's a lot kind of packed

724
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:23,600
in that first movements.
Yeah, and this is the temple

725
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:29,920
that Herod will eventually not
rebuild, add on and make better.

726
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:31,240
That's exactly right.
Yeah.

727
00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:34,640
So you start talking more about
that second Temple period.

728
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:35,520
Yeah.
Where he.

729
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,400
Yeah, I think that's good.
Great.

730
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,960
Any closing thoughts on Ezra One
through 6?

731
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,280
I think that what we'll see
here, what we saw here and what

732
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,560
we'll see in the second and
third movements is this idea of

733
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:55,000
God letting people know this is
not what I had.

734
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,360
Like, this is not the end.
This is not like, don't get your

735
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,360
hope set up in this.
We're not trying to remake, You

736
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,920
know, you couldn't do it under
Moses and David.

737
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:05,080
You're not going to do it on
your own.

738
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,520
You need something different.
This is so.

739
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,440
It's almost like he's like,
yeah, yeah, this is not it.

740
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,240
I think he nailed it.
And it's like over and over and

741
00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:14,360
over.
I feel like the more you read

742
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,360
the Bible, it's like, I've heard
this before in a different

743
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,520
story, in a different place, but
it's like the same beats.

744
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,560
Don't put your help here.
Yeah, yeah.

745
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:22,160
And we need to hear that.
See first.

746
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,120
The Kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and then all

747
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:26,200
these things will be added to
you.

748
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:27,760
I like you.
I've heard that before.

749
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:29,280
Some somewhat important said
that.

750
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,360
Well, that's Ezra one through 6.
Go ahead, read Zechariah, read

751
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,280
Haggai, and then join us for
Episode 3.

752
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,080
We'll continue on in Ezra.
That's our take.

753
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:41,960
Thanks for listening to Take
Two.

754
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:45,280
Find us wherever you find
podcasts and on YouTube for

755
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,000
those who want to watch our
video cast.