Ezra 3

Welcome to the Daily SOAP from New Hope. This is Michael Heaton, your guest host for today. We will be reading from Ezra Chapter 3 and will be focusing on verses 8- 13. If you have not already done so, please take the time to read the entire chapter to get the full context. I will be reading from the NIV version of the bible.

Today in our passage we are going to learn that building God’s kingdom is a group effort. It is not built by one or two exceptionally gifted people. Every single believer has a role to play. Every single believer is to be a worker in God’s kingdom.

Ezra 3:8-13

8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah[a]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

So, what does this mean? What can you take away from this scripture? How can I apply this in my life today?

Application 1. Leaders don’t try to do everything yourselves.

I know for my self that I sometimes get caught in this trap that I can do the task better and that it requires more work to teach someone how to do it. This may be true in the short term but a parent or leader who tries to do everything themselves will burn out and you won’t finish the project. On the front side it does take effort to train up someone but in the long term it is necessary to grow the kingdom. Jesus was a great teacher and yet he did not do everything on his own. He trained his disciples and sent them out in pairs. His own ministry lasted three years but he equipped his disciples to go out even when he was gone. Whether you are a parent, a life group leader, an evangelist, a disciple maker, or a leader in your ministry, you should seek to equip those around you for the work. Through this way God’s kingdom can multiply.

From our scripture reading  we get the sense that there was a large-scale involvement. There was an atmosphere of expectancy. that God was working and would honor their commitment. We get an intense sense that no-one was sitting on the sidelines; everyone played a part as he or she was able. It wasn’t a spectator sport; with a few players on the field and everyone else in a comfortable seat observing. Some people were “at the front”; others were “behind the scenes”, but they were all involved in the same endeavor.

This leads into Application 2 which is help your leaders by joining the work. Over 40.000 people came back with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem. Not all were masons or carpenters, but they all worked on the rebuilding of the temple. The person serving in the background is just as important as the people up on the stage. It is not about us or our glory. We are a team. There are so many people serving that we might not even know or see. But God knows. God knows and appreciates each one. Whatever you do for Him counts and even if know one else sees, God sees.

Whatever your gifting is, if you are using it to build God’s kingdom, know that it is not in vain.

And if you are not actively building God’s kingdom, I want to encourage you to join the roster of kingdom workers today. And if you are using the excuse that I do not know what my gift is I can tell you a secret. The secret of finding out your gifting is simple. Start working on God’s kingdom. If a person is not working for Gods kingdom no one can possibly tell what they would be good at working at.

Let us pray

Thank you, Lord for the Old Testament leaders and their examples of service. May we as leaders have wisdom and discernment as we lead. We pray that our hearts would be directed first to you, and that we would recognize where our true help and strength come from. Help us all to have a spirit of wanting to help our leaders. We ask that you continue to pave the way for strong, faithful men and women to serve your people. We ask you for the outpouring of your Spirit to raise up those you’ve chosen to lead. We serve you with Joy.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen