Israel was God’s home.
Their temple was God’s house.
But when both were invaded by more powerful nations,
God’s abducted people were filled with doubts.
Had God’s presence left his land and these temple stones?
Would they, as an exiled people, ever return to rebuild God’s house so God could come home?
The only answer they had when they were exiled and alone was found in their story.
The story of how God always wanted a home where he could live with his people and dwell with them close.
And so, decades later, God moved on the heart of the world’s most powerful king to
send those who remembered the story to go back to their land and rebuild those temple’s stones.
God was moving his people back home. His promises were irrefutable.
And among those leading the people back was a man named Zerubbabel.
He and his people returned to an uninhabited and inhospitable Israel.
The temple was destroyed, the foundation unsuitable.
God’s home was in ruins and in desperate need of materials.
So, the returning exiles got to work clearing and re-laying the foundation of the temple.
Israel was building a house so God could come home.
But they were not alone.
Opponents and enemies had moved into the neighborhood.
They didn’t want Israel rebuilding their home and reclaiming their nationhood.
So, they wrote letters claiming treason and treachery telling their ruler if Israel is allowed
to continue reconstructing once the temple is built, they will rebel, instating their own king.
But despite their slanderous letter writing, Zerubbabel and the exiles finished their home building.
God’s house was rebuilt, so now he could come home.
God’s presence could return, and Israel would no longer be alone.
But God’s presence did not come back.
And the joy of laying the foundation was mixed with cries and moans.
Yet, the story still held out hope.
So, God again used a king to send another Israelite to go and make sure those living
near God’s house were keeping the laws that governed God’s home.
And when Ezra, an expert in God’s household codes, came to Israel,
he exposed that those living around God’s house were practicing spiritual polygamy.
For, Israel brought foreign wives with their foreign idols into God’s territory.
In God’s house, with false deities, they were practicing spiritual adultery.
So, Ezra told them they needed to not just rebuild God’s house but restore God’s family.
Ezra told God’s story.
He read God’s hope in hopes that Israel would clean house so God could come home.
And in response, Israel divorced their foreign gods and became faithful to the God they had disowned.
But despite the massive repentance and obedience Israel had shown,
God’s presence did not come back, and Israel was still alone.
But as with Zerubbabel and Ezra, the story still held out hope.
So, God sent a final exile from the hand of the king
to go push back the enemies with which Israel had wrestled and brawled.
He allowed Nehemiah to return home and rebuild his city’s walls.
These walls would not only keep physical threats out of the city but would also stop spiritual threats from coming close.
For though they had built God’s house, God had still not come home.
But when the walls were finished and their enemies overthrown,
then God could come back, and they would no longer be alone.
So, Nehemiah finished the walls despite his opponent’s attacks.
They restored Israel’s defenses and pushed their enemies back.
This was the final step that would prove to be superior to every other rebuilding effort that had so far been inferior.
But to his grief, Nehemiah’s walls were not enough to protect God’s home,
Ezra’s teaching was not enough to revive God’s home, Zerubbabel’s temple was not enough to bring God home.
For Israel opened back up to foreign gods, which Nehemiah’s walls had closed.
They broke the laws of God’s household of which Ezra spoke and defiled the very foundation Zerubbabel had laid in hope.
So, Nehemiah drove them out.
Nehemiah cleaned house before God’s throne in hopes that since their works weren't enough to bring God home,
then instead of remembering Israel's deeds, maybe God would remember his own.
If God couldn’t come back because of Israel’s sins, could he come back for the sake of Nehemiah alone?
That is the hope the story of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah holds.
That, though, we cannot build a proper house for God,
perhaps one person could so God could come home.
And the good news is God did come back in Jesus alone.
However, when God finally came home, when what Israel waited for was finally there, the people didn’t care.
For like Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, Jesus too came to
an Israel in need of repentance and ruled by spiritual opponents.
But instead of rebuilding, Jesus said what Israel built would be torn down.
The house she constructed would have to fall for what they built was never enough.
But what Jesus would do would be enough for all.
Jesus would complete the story.
For he was conquered by our enemies outside the walls Nehemiah constructed,
he was exiled though we broke the household codes Ezra instructed,
he was destroyed as a better temple than the one Zerubbabel inducted.
There was nothing Israel or we could do to bring God back home.
But as Nehemiah wished, God would come to us because of Jesus alone.
For all of us have lived this story.
All of us have been like Israel unable to build a house fit for God’s glory.
And in our exile, our opponent's attack and prod.
Like the people of Israel, they tell us no effort, reform, or leader could ever bring us back to God.
They tell us we will always fall. Nothing we do could be enough.
They say we will always be shut out. God’s presence could never come to us.
But what our opponent doesn’t realize is that that is the point of this whole story.
That though we could never be enough, Jesus is and brings us God’s glory.
For, Jesus is not like Zerubbabel, Ezra, or Nehemiah.
For what he built actually did bring God’s presence back.
For he did not build a house so God could come home,
but it is God’s presence himself come to rescue us from our enemy’s attacks.
Jesus brings us out of our exile and near him never again to be alone.
Through Jesus’ cross, he built a house to bring all who dwell with him home.
Hey, I’m David.
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