“Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:13, ESV).
Did you know the book of Revelation has its own set of Beatitudes that pronounce blessings similar to the ones in from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5? But, in Revelation these seven pronouncements of blessing are stated in several places throughout the book:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another” (Zechariah 7:9, ESV).
In 518 BC after reconstruction of the Temple was started but before its completion the people of Bethel sent representatives to Zechariah in Jerusalem to ask whether they should continue to perform ritual fasts commemorating the destruction of the Temple since the Temple was now being rebuilt.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6, ESV).
The foundation of the temple had been laid after the initial return of the Jews from Babylonian exile, but powerful opposition prevented any further progress on rebuilding the temple for over fifteen years.
In a vision Zechariah saw a golden lamp stand supplied by a never-ending source of oil from two adjacent olive trees. When Zechariah inquired of the Lord what this meant, Zechariah was given a message addressed to Zerubbabel, the governor, who along with Joshua the high priest had been charged with the task of rebuilding the temple upon the Jews return from captivity.
“For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:10-11, ESV).
Some people try to turn the source of evil in the world, Satan, the devil, into a fairy tale. But, the Bible makes it clear that he exists and that he hates those who have been saved by the blood sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross. He hates Christians so much that he accuses them before God 24/7.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand” (Zechariah 4:10, NLT).
When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned to Judea, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians nearly fifty years earlier. But when their efforts to start rebuilding the Temple were opposed and resisted by neighboring nations and internally by the current inhabitants of the land, the repatriated Jews became discouraged and the Temple continued to lie in ruins for almost twenty more years.
“So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God” (Nehemiah 6:15-16, NLT).Nehemiah Chapter 6 recounts the extraordinary political intrigue taking place behind the scenes attempting to prevent Nehemiah and the Jews from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
“But because I feared God, I did not act that way.” (Nehemiah 5:15, NLT).
Nehemiah was the cup-bearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes (465-424 BC). The cup-bearer was a trusted confidant of the king.
When Nehemiah heard about setbacks in the reconstruction of Jerusalem, he requested the king’s permission to return to Judea. Artaxerxes made Nehemiah governor of the province of Judea for twelve years.
“Now, the Lord of hosts says this: ‘Think carefully about your ways'” (Haggai 1:5, HCSB).
The work of rebuilding the Temple had ceased for about ten years by order of King Artaxerxes of Persia (Ezra 4:24). Near the end of this ten-year cessation period, Haggai the prophet received a message from God to incite the repatriated Jews to complete the rebuilding of the Temple.
“So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, on September 21 of the second year of King Darius’s reign” (Haggai 1:14-15, NLT).
Many of the Jewish exiles returned to Judea after Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, issued a decree permitting people who had been conquered and deported by the Babylonians to return to their homelands.
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel” (Revelation 8:3-4, ESV).
The tabernacle and temple sanctuaries in the Old Testament had two altars, one for bloody sacrifice in the courtyard and the other for smoky incense inside, adjacent to the veil into the Most Holy Place (see Exodus 27:1–8; 30:1–10).
Steve's Bible Meditations 