I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Due to the opposition of the surrounding peoples, work on rebuilding the Temple was stopped for some time, until the second year of King Darius’ reign in Persia. At that time two prophets began prophesying in Judah and Jerusalem. They inspired the leaders of the people to resume work on the Temple. When the regional officials of the Persian Empire learned of this they came to investigate. They asked the Jews who had given them permission to do this work and demanded the names of those involved. The Jews responded that King Cyrus had ordered the reconstruction of the Temple. The regional officials sent a letter to Darius requesting that the claim be investigated and that Darius issue a ruling on the matter. After an extensive search of the Persian archives, King Darius sent back a reply that King Cyrus had indeed ordered the Temple rebuilt. Darius ordered the regional officials to not interfere with the Jewish efforts to rebuild the Temple. In addition, Darius ordered that the full construction costs be paid out of the taxes collected for the Empire, including the costs to support the priests living at the Temple. This latter was done in order that the priests might offer sacrifices and prayers on behalf of Darius and his sons.
The Jewish people were much encouraged by this news and by the prophets who had inspired them to resume work on the Temple. The reconstruction of the Temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius’ reign. Upon completion of the Temple, they held a massive celebration dedicating the Temple to the worship of God. A little over a month later they celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the Temple.
While discussing the Passover celebration conducted at the restored Temple there is an interesting phrase: “The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their immoral customs to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.” This stands, for me, in contrast to the earlier rejection of help from the people living in the land when the returned exiles first began rebuilding the Temple. I don’t think one can make much from either passage because there is insufficient information about what happened. However, I would point out that successful completion of God’s work involved embracing all of those who chose to join in dedicating themselves to serving God.
Paul continues his commentary against division in the Church by asking who Apollos is? Or who he himself really is? This is a rhetorical question because Paul immediately answers it. They are both merely God’s servants, doing the work which God assigned to them. Paul planted the seed of the Gospel and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made the plants of faith grow. It is not the one who plants, nor is it the one who waters, who is important. Rather it is God, who makes the seed grow, that is important. The one who plants and the one who waters work together to serve God’s purpose.
Now Paul changes his metaphor (and to a degree the message he is giving). He tells them that, by the grace of God, he was the one who laid the foundation of the faith of those in Corinth. Those who are building on that foundation need to be careful because there is no foundation on which to build aside from Jesus Christ. And here Paul tweaks his metaphor a little further and changes focus from those on the outside (himself, Apollos, Peter) to the individual. We can build on the foundation using many different types of materials of varying durability and quality. On judgment day what we have built will face testing, as if by fire. If we have used quality, durable materials, what we have built will last and we will be rewarded. But even if we have used inferior materials and what we have built is destroyed, as long as we have built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, we will be saved, even if in the latter case it is as if we had passed through a wall of flame.
All of those who truly follow Jesus are, together, God’s Temple. Anyone who destroys the unity of the Church will face God’s wrath. If we think of ourselves as wise, we are fools. The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. We should not seek to boast of the wisdom we have acquired from listening to the teachings of a particular teacher. Rather we should listen to all who base their teaching on Jesus Christ and learn the wisdom which God intends to reveal to us through those teachings. The key aspect is making sure that the teachings are based on Jesus. Some of those teachings will be of higher quality and more enduring than others, but all can be useful for building a structure for worshiping God.
The psalmist calls for “heavenly beings” to honor God. The translation notes for the NLT says that the Hebrew translated as “heavenly beings” literally means “sons of God”. To me that says that the psalmist is telling those of us who are following Christ, whom Paul says are the children of God, to honor God for the glory of His name and worship Him for the splendor of His holiness. If we wish to be in God’s Temple, to be part of the Church, which is God’s Temple, then we need cry “Glory” when God speaks.
A wise ruler removes the wicked from among his subjects, because, sooner or later, they will bring about his downfall and that of his nation. Our very spirit provides the light which allows God to see into the very depths of our being so that He can understand what drives us.