Sunday School Lesson about Forgiveness

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Sunday School Lesson about Forgiveness

Introduction

A. The God Who Rebuilds

Most of us have watched a small child playwith building blocks. He or she takes great de-light in stacking a certain number, and then withone gleeful swipe scatters the blocks everywhere.Then the child gathers the blocks together anddoes it again—each time squealing with delightuntil boredom sets in. Then it becomes time tomove on to some other form of entertainment.Rebuilding scattered building blocks is onething; rebuilding a place of worship is quite an-other matter. Solomon's temple had been con-structed with great care and much effort. I Kings 6:38 records that this magnificent struc-ture took seven years to build. Yet once theBabylonian army had entered Jerusalem (following a siege of about 18 months), it required farless time to demolish what had been so carefullyerected and so prayerfully dedicated (1 Kings 8:22-61). Tearing down always takes much lesstime than building.

But God had other plans for the temple; de-struction would not be the final word. The sameprophets who spoke so passionately of God'scoming judgment on His people and His templewere just as passionate about the promise that aremnant would return and rebuild.

On one occasion, Jesus used the language ofdestroying and rebuilding to describe whatwould eventually happen to Him: "Destroy thistemple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John2:19). The text later notes, "But he spoke of thetemple of his body" (v. 21). The same languagecan be applied to what God can do with our bro-ken, sin-ravaged lives. What we have ruined Hecan rebuild, restore, and renew. Paul writes ofour bodies as a temple in which God's Spiritdwells (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). We are not ourown; we are under new management.

Whether the damage has been done to sacredstructures or to sin-marred souls, God is in thebusiness of rebuilding and restoring.

B. The Chronicles Factor

At first glance the books of 1 and 2 Chroniclesmay seem to be unnecessary additions to the OldTestament. After all, don't they cover the sameperiod of history covered by much of 1 and2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings? And why the ex-tensive genealogies that take up the first ninechapters of 1 Chronicles? (Those aren't exactlythe most thrilling portions of the Bible to read!)Most students of the Bible believe that thebooks of Chronicles were written after the Baby-lonian captivity and after God's people had re-turned home to rebuild their temple inJerusalem. (Their return is the topic of today'slesson.) It is worth noting that the final twoverses of 2 Chronicles and the first three versesof the book of Ezra are virtually the same. Be-cause of this, some have proposed that Ezra mayhave been the author of the books of Chroniclesas well as the book that bears his name. Cer-tainly Ezra was well qualified for such a task (seeEzra 7:6, 10).

Why would Ezra (assuming him to be the au-thor) compose such a record as that found in thebooks of Chronicles? Consider the following hy-pothetical situation: A congregation experiences an especially trying set of circumstances, such asa fire that destroys its sanctuary, a split of somekind, or a crisis within the leadership. The resultwould likely be a keen sense of loss of purposeand direction within the congregation. Questionswould surface, such as, "Where do we go fromhere?" and "What is God's will for us now?" Howwould a church in such a situation get the peo-ple back on track and restore a sense of directionand purpose?

One answer might be to call attention to thehistory of the congregation and review God'sfaithfulness over the years in preserving the peo-ple through other difficult times. By consideringsuch examples from the congregation's history,the people may be encouraged to continue to"fight the good fight." They would do what wasnecessary to see themselves through the currentseries of events.

A similar scenario confronted God's people fol-lowing the crisis of the Babylonian captivity andthe return to their homeland. They too must havewondered, "Where do we go from here? Does Godstill have a purpose for us?" For God's covenantpeople, them were other burning issues as well:-Is God's covenant still intact? Are the promisesmade to Abraham and David still binding?"The material found in 1 and 2 Chroniclesseems especially intended (through the guidanceof the Holy Spirit) to address these and othercrucial issues in the minds of those who werepart of the rebuilding effort in Judah. The ge-nealogies in 1 Chronicles 1-9 would not havebeen dull or boring to the original readers; theywould have given the postexilic generation asense of identity with their past. They wouldhave been encouraged by realizing that the linkwith the individuals and tribes mentioned inthese chapters had not been severed by the cap-tivity and exile.

There is a special emphasis in 1 and 2 Chroni-cles on the reigns of David and Solomon and alltheir achievements. This let the postexilic com-munity know that this was still a part of theirhistory and their identity. God was not finishedwith them yet!

C. Lesson Background

The conclusion of 2 Chronicles, from whichour text for today is taken, is a key part of the pre-viously mentioned encouragement to the postex-ilic community. As we learned from last week'stext, God's people had repeatedly spurned the ap-peals of His prophets to turn from their sins.Eventually, His judgment fell. God used the Baby-lonians to destroy the temple—believed by some

in Jerusalem and Judah to be indestructible. Thatbelief was based on a theory that God wouldnever allow His people to be overtaken by pagans(compare Jeremiah 7:4).

I. Decree Ordained(2 Chronicles 36:22, 23)

Did the destruction of the temple mean thatGod had turned His back completely on His cho-sen people? The end of 2 Chronicles provides theanswer, and it is a resounding nu! That the temple will be rebuilt indicates that God still has a purpose for His people.

A. God's Working (v. 22)

22. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by themouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, theLoan stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king ofPersia, that he made a proclamation throughoutall his kingdom, and to put it also in writing,saying.

Cyrus king of Persia is the human instrumentwhom God uses to keep His promise to bring Hispeople home. Second Chronicles 36:20 recordsthat Nebuchadnezzar exiled the remnant ofGod's people to Babylon "where they were ser-vants to him and his sons until the reign of thekingdom of Persia." Persia came to power in 539Bc through the series of events described in Daniel 5.

King Cyrus possesses a discernment and fair-mindedness that many rulers in the ancientworld lack. He understands that it will enhancehis reputation and get his reign started on a posi-tive note if he provides some measure of relieffrom the cruel tactics of the Babylonians.

Thus Cyrus demonstrates an attitude of diplo-macy and tolerance in his dealings with con-quered peoples. He gives these peoples a widelatitude in allowing them to practice their reli-gions. Thus it should be noted that what theScriptures describe Cyrus as doing for the Jews,he does also for other peoples: permitting themto return to their respective homelands. Therethey may reestablish themselves and be free topractice their religious beliefs.

Secular historians may view Cyrus's actions assimply the exercise of capable and discerningleadership. The Scripture, however, is clear inemphasizing that the Lord uses this policy ofCyrus to accomplish His own purpose. This is allpart of His plan as announced by the word of theLoon spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah. ThatWord, mentioned in the previous verse (v. 21, not in today's text), describes the captivity as lasting70 years (also Jeremiah 29:10). Cyrus is not actingalone; the Lord, the heavenly king, has moved theheart of the earthly king to implement a programof restoration for the Lord's people.

It is noteworthy that another prophet gaveSpirit-inspired insight into the Lord's master plansome 100 years before Jeremiah uttered hisprophecy. Isaiah prophesied not only before Per-sia became a dominant force, but also he prophe-sied even before Babylon gained such a stature!Yet Isaiah gave a message from the Lord thatspecifically named Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1).Thus, some 160 years before Cyrus conqueredBabylon and issued his decree, Isaiah's propheticperspective named that ruler as the man whomGod would use to fulfill His own plan.

B. Cyrus's Words (v. 23)

23. Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All thekingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God ofheaven given me; and he hath charged me tobuild him a house in Jerusalem, which is inJudah. Who is there among you of all his peo-ple? The LORD his God be with him, and let himgo up.

As noted previously, Cyrus allows other cap-tive peoples to return to their homelands—notjust the Jews. Thus the acknowledgment of theLord as the God of heaven, etc., should not beconsidered as a sign of any kind of conversion tothe God of Israel on Cyrus's part. That ruler usesequally grand language of other deities. For ex-ample, on the famous Cyrus Cylinder, unearthedby archaeologists, are inscribed these words:"Marduk, king of the gods [the leading deity of the Babylonian gods] . . . designated use to ruleover all the lands." [See (111t.5150: /12, page 112.)

Nevertheless, it is clear that Cyrus is indeedGod's instrument to carry out His purpose. Thisis also true of Caesar Augustus, a later rulerwhom God will use to issue a decree that resultsin Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem.Them Jesus will be born in fulfillment of proph-ecy (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6).

Following the claim to be authorized by theLord, Cyrus's decree continues by granting per-mission to any of the Lord's people to go up toJerusalem. There they can participate in the re-building effort. The Hebrew word translated asgo up occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament inthe context of another significant movement ofGod's people: the exodus from bondage in Egypt(see Exodus 3:8, 17; 33:1).

To go up thus has a special meaning for God'speople and gives them a sense of kinship withthe exodus event that established them as a"holy nation" (Exodus 19:5, 6). In a sense theycan consider themselves reborn as a nation. forthey are coming out of bondage in Babylon muchas they had come out of Egypt under Moses. Thepromise of God's presence (the Lord his God bewith him) was also a key source of encourage-ment during the exodus and subsequent events(Exodus 3:11, 12; 33:14-17; Numbers 14:9).

II. Decree Obeyed(Ezra 1:5-7)

The remainder of our printed text describesthe compliance of God's people with the decreeof Cyrus.

A. God's Action (v. 5)

5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers ofJudah and Benjamin, and the priests, andLevites, with all them whose spirit God hadraised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

This verse lists those who prepare to go upand build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (justas the decree had stated). The chief of the fathersare probably the leaders of the various tribalclans, or extended families, within the tribes ofJudah and Benjamin. These two tribes providethe primary makeup of the southern kingdom ofJudah, which the Babylonians had conqueredand taken captive.

Included in those who return are the priestsand Levites. Their spiritual leadership will benecessary in guiding and mentoring those whochoose to return. Sadly, some of these priests

Levites eventually commit sin by marryingwomen from outside the covenant people. Thismuses great distress to Ezra and others amongthose who return (Ezra 9:1-4).

In this verse it is also important to note theguidance of the Lord's hand in this series ofevents. Those who choose to return includeeveryone whose spirit God had raised. The sameGod who has "stirred up the spirit" of a paganking (Ezra 1:1) now moves among His people tostir them to action. This also means that the..me God who had brought the king of Babylonagainst His people (2 Chronicles 36:17) is nowworking for His people. He is fulfilling Hispromise to bring them home.

B. Neighbors' Assistance (v. 6)

6. And all they that were about them strength-ened their hands with vessels of silver, withtold, with goods, and with beasts, and with pre-cious things, besides all that was willinglyoffered.

Here one sees another parallel to the eventssurrounding the exodus of some 900 years be-fore. Exodus 11:2 records these instructionsgiven by the Lord to Moses: "Speak now in theears of the people, and let every man borrow ofhis neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor,jewels of silver, and jewels of gold." And now, asa kind of "second exodus" unfolds for God's peo-ple, all their neighbors assist them with numer-ous contributions and offerings. The beasts thatare provided most likely include animals thatcan be used for the various sacrifices required bythe law of Moses.

SKIPPING CHRISTMAS

Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington,Kentucky, recently took a different approach toChristmas: they encouraged skipping it (the badparts. that is). What triggered the new thinkingwas that the church staff was hearing people saysuch things as "I wish we didn't spend so muchon gifts" or "I feel like I have to buy gifts for somepeople even though I don't want to." So they tooka page from John Grisham's recent book, SkippingChristmas. (The book was made into the 2004movie Christmas with the Kranks.)

Crossroads's response to the laments was notto tell people that they shouldn't give gifts or putup Christmas trees. Instead, the church leader-ship decided that what it really needed to do wasto help people change their focus. The fivefoldemphasis was skip excess, find simplicity; skipobligations, find joy; skip rush, find rest; skiploneliness, find belonging; skip Christmas, find Christ. The foundational idea was to bring backthe joy that should be in a season that celebratesgiving ).

When the leaders of Judah and Benjaminbegan the task of rebuilding the temple, allwhose hearts were moved by God's gift of free-dom caught the spirit of the occasion and freelygave to the cause. They had found the true focusof giving: gratitude for what God had done. Wedetect no sense of "Aw, do I have to?"

Christmas is right around the corner. Howmany of us have that same mind-set?

C. Cyrus's Assistance (v. 7)

7. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the ves-sels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchad-nezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, andhad put them in the house of his gods.

Furthermore, Cyrus brings out the articles thatrightfully belong to the temple of the Lord. Thisshows his personal support for the return home.(See question #4, page 112.) Second Chronicles36:18, part of last week's printed text, describeshow Nebuchadnezzar carried these items toBabylon. That king's successor had used some ofthose vessels in a most unholy way (Daniel 5:1-4).Now these actions are reversed, as the templearticles are removed from Babylon and taken totheir original, rightful home in Jerusalem. Thiswill give the returning captives some sense ofcontinuity with the past when they are in a posi-tion to place the items in the new temple.The removal of articles from a conquered peo-ple's place of worship is a significant religiousstatement in the ancient world. It is interpretedas a sign of the superiority of the conqueror'sgods. In this case the Lord God of Israel, who hadallowed the Babylonians to remove the articlesfrom His temple, now allows the Persians tosend them back!

REBOOTING

One of the most famous lines in English litera-ture was uttered in Macbeth, which is one ofShakespeare's darker works. Evil piles upon evilthroughout the play. At one point Lady Macbethpushes her husband to kill King Duncan of Scot-land so that Macbeth might be king. With Dun-can dead Lady Macbeth goes back to the scene ofthe assassination and smears blood on guards(who had been drugged). This implicates them inthe crime.

But then her conscience begins to work. Shestarts sleepwalking, rubbing her hands as if try-ing to wash away the blood that remains. In thisstate she admits her part in the murder and ut-ters the famous words, "Out, (foul) spot! out, Isay!" Guilt over the murder is driving her insaneas her fevered mind tells her that there is noatoning for the evil she has done. In computerterminology her mind is desperately trying to"reboot," to no avail.

Many atrocities had been committed againstthe people of Judah by the Babylonians. Now,many decades later, Cyrus performs an act ofatonement for what his predecessor had done.

Does he feel a sense of shared guilt? We don't know. For whatever reason seems best to himpersonally, Cyrus is trying to "reboot" the situa-tion as he gives back the sacred vessels that hadbeen looted.

Perhaps we may be tempted to say "Not myfault" or "Not my problem" when confrontedwith the need to clean up someone else's mess.When that happens, stop to consider if Godneeds to "reboot" your thinking! .

Conclusion

A. "It's in There!"

A few years ago, a certain brand of spaghettisauce advertised its product by making the claim,"Homemade taste—it's in there!" The same canbe said of the idea of grace in the Old Testament.Most Christians associate that concept with theNew Testament. And while the doctrine of graceis most clearly expressed through the coming ofJesus, grace is not absent from the Old Testament.It is most definitely "in there." A powerful exam-ple comes from today's lesson.

As noted earlier, the books of 1 and 2 Chroni-cles were most likely written to encourage the re-turning exiles that God still had a purpose forthem and that the captivity did not spell "theend." Both the conclusion of 2 Chronicles andthe beginning of Ezra highlight the fact that Godtook the initiative in fulfilling His promise. He did that by moving the heart of Cyrus and thenmoving His people to take the necessary steps toreturn to Judah and rebuild. If ever there weredoubts in the minds of those who returned fromcaptivity concerning God's intentions, theyneeded only to look back and remember God'sgrace in using the right man at the right time toachieve His holy purpose.

Christians have a similar perspective, basedon what Jesus Christ has done for us through Hisdeath and resurrection. Sometimes circum-stances we encounter may cause us to doubt thevalidity of our faith. In those situations we canremind ourselves, as Paul did the Roman Chris-tians, that nothing "shall be able to separate usfrom the love of God, which is in Christ Jesusour Lord" (Romans 8:39).

That love—and that grace—were also revealedduring the Old Testament era. It was revealedfrom the time of Adam and Eve receiving thepromise of what the woman's seed would accom-plish (Genesis 3:15). Is grace found within thepages of the Old Testament? Make no mistake—it's in there!

B. Prayer

Father, where would we be without Yourgrace? We would be hopelessly lost. May wenever forget the difference that Your gracethrough Jesus Christ has made in our lives. It is adifference for eternity. Remind us of our respon-sibility to share that grace with others. In Jesus'name, amen.

C. Thought to Remember

God is still in the businessof rebuilding and restoring.

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