BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusਨਮੂਨਾ

Israelites return to the promised land. They’re building a new temple and are working on a new Jerusalem. This is the “happily ever after” end to exile, right?

Not exactly. In today’s reading, we see conflict sparking and the people’s motivation waning, as the temple reconstruction work slows to a halt. The trouble begins when descendants of the Israelites who had escaped the exile volunteer to help rebuild the temple.

That sounds like great news. The prophets foretold such a time, when Israel’s tribes would unite, including all other people groups, all to follow Yahweh (Isa. 2; Zech. 8). Maybe these other Israelites’ willingness to work together is a good thing, like a picture of God’s new Kingdom sprouting from the rubble of past Jerusalem.

But Zerubbabel turns up his nose at the offer, telling these would-be coworkers that they can have no part in reconstructing Israel’s temple. His contempt harms and offends, so they turn against Zerubbabel and the entire rebuilding project.

Eventually, the construction work gets back on track. However, it’s an anticlimactic introduction to life after exile, to say the least. Exile, it turns out, isn’t so much about where you live. It’s more about your state of mind—and the state of your own heart.

Already, the harmful ways of thinking about and treating one another that led to exile in the first place are starting to creep back in. Between the main lines of Ezra and Nehemiah’s story, the authors seem to be winking at readers, pointing out an important truth: You cannot make it home from exile just by relocating.

Watch today’s video to learn about the deeper meaning of exile in the biblical story—and how Jesus shows us the true way back home.

Reflection Questions

• Compare Zerubabbel’s dedication of the new temple (Ezra 6:14-18) to Moses’ dedication of the tabernacle (Lev. 9) and Solomon’s dedication of the first temple (1 Kgs. 8). What similarities and differences do you notice? How do the differences help you evaluate the new temple?
• Jesus is the way back home for all humanity. Read John 14:1-6 and John 14:16-23. Based on this passage, how does Jesus make a way for us to be at home in God while we live on Earth? How does Jesus make a way for God to be at home within us?