Readings:
Ezra 4-6
2 Timothy 4

Ezra 4-6

The people who’d been living in the land the last 70-100 years are now resenting the returning exiles. This is understandable, but these pagans take things a step further and try to thwart the will of God and supplant it with their own. This is never a good idea.

The adversaries of the Jews write a letter to the new king of Persia, and they claim that Jerusalem is being rebuilt in order to have protection from the Persians because they intend to rebel against them. Due to this letter, the king has the records searched and find no charter granting Jesus any rights or privileges so he orders the rebuilding to cease, assuming they really are planning to revolt.

Construction is halted for 20 years and spurred on by Zechariah and Haggai they begin to build once again. The Persian officials step in and ask for their permits, essentially. When they can’t be produced the order to stop is once again given by the local Persian officials but it’s ignored by the Jewish leaders and workers. Another letter is sent to the king to determine what is to be done.

This second letter has adverse effects on the people who sought to prevent the temple from being rebuilt. Darius finds the original decree and not only do they get to finish the temple, but the local Persian treasury is told to pay the costs.

2 Timothy 4

Paul warns that people will follow false teachers because they tell the, what they want to hear. They won’t seek out what is true, but instead go after what makes them feel good without forcing them to change their beliefs and actions to line up with God’s will and laws. How often do we hear of Christians that shop around for a church to align with their values and beliefs, but that’s opposite of how it should be. We should align our values with the truths revealed by Christ and through his church.

Paul knows his time is running short, and he looks forward to his impending execution as a liturgical sacrifice. He has no regrets as he says he ran the race to the best of his abilities and done all that he could with the time he was given. A very stoic attitude towards death, I pray to have that much composure when my ticket gets called.

He finishes off this letter with a few different points of advice and instructions regarding different people involved in his ministry and some that Timothy might run into in his part of the world.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Ezra 7-10