“A LITTLE REVIVING”
A. B. Parker
The brethren will know that these verses occur in a chapter in which Ezra refers to himself as being overwhelmed—“I sat overwhelmed until the evening oblation” (Ezra 9: 4). Having arrived at Jerusalem he found that many of the people had been unfaithful and had taken wives of the nations, having disobeyed Jehovah’s commandment that they should maintain separation from the people of the land.
We do well to cultivate the acquaintance of Ezra, getting to know something of his depth of feeling. He was a very priestly man raised up of Jehovah. He would be such as Zechariah refers to (Zechariah 3: 7, 8) “these that stand by” and “men of portent”. Indeed, the king of Persia refers to him as “an accomplished scribe of the law of God”, Ezra 7: 12. He wrote the books of Chronicles, as far as we know, and as we read those books, comparing them with the books of Samuel and the Kings, we can see, from touches he gives, that he had gained spiritually through being with God in circumstances of discipline and governmental pressure.
This chapter also lets us into his depth of exercise. It contains the remarkable expression that Jehovah had given His people “a little reviving”. Years ago Mr. Taylor asked the brethren to take note of that scripture as bearing on the present day.
We need to be preserved, dear brethren, from
being high-minded. When Ezra wrote 2 Chronicles, he told, in detail, how Rehoboam, after Jehovah had divided Israel because of Solomon’s breakdown, strengthened his kingdom (Judah and Benjamin) and God helped him. But when he became strong he turned aside from the commandments of Jehovah. Jehovah was angry and was minded to deliver up Judah, but He sent Shemaiah, the prophet, to Rehoboam, and he and the rulers humbled themselves. God graciously spared them, saying, “I will grant them a little deliverance”, 2 Chronicles 2: 7.
When we consider that Judah represents the remnant that is recovered from Babylon later, we can see how frail is the line of fidelity. The ten tribes, carried away beyond Babylon will not be recovered until the millennial day. Judah and Benjamin are seen as in the recovery to preserve a lamp for David’s sake, and Ezra was in the light of this when he wrote the book of Ezra and said that Jehovah had ‘given us a little reviving’.
We speak of 2 Timothy 2 as our charter in the day of breakdown. If we connect it with what we have been saying it will help us to realise that a remnant is being preserved for Christ’s sake. He sits a Man at the right hand of God, with the feelings of a Man, and in consideration for Him God will preserve a remnant, that He may have companions. He shall be, and is, anointed with oil of gladness above His companions (Hebrews 1: 9). In view of all this let us keep humble, that we may be preserved through the problems and difficulties of the testimony.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the beasts whose blood was taken into the holiest were burned without the camp, “Wherefore also Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered without the gate—therefore let us go
forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”, Hebrews 13: 11, 12. But in that section it is asserted that “we have an altar”. It is good to take account of what we have, dear brethren. We must go on in humility. There will be no recovery of the candlestick publicly.
There was no ark when the people were recovered from Babylon. God is not re-establishing His seat of public government in the assembly. That has been transferred to the four great monarchies of the nations. Not that there is not government in the assembly, but it is not the seat of public government. You may well ask, What do we have? Well, primarily, we can experience what Jesus said, that “where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, Matthew.18: 20. We can claim the Lord’s presence as we gather to His name, but we cannot claim any public position. It is the day of “a little reviving”.
Ezra refers to things which we have. He was greatly concerned lest they be lost to the people in his day and we should be concerned, equally, as to the present moment. But Ezra says,
“Now for a little space there hath been favour from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape”. Thank God, there is a remnant! There are those with whom we can walk. In our spirits we would link on with the work of God wherever it is, because the approach to the service of God, as set out in Ephesians, relates to our being fully able to apprehend with all the saints “what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge”, Ephesians 3: 18. The Spirit of God would help us to embrace, in our spirits, the great principle of the one body. After the recovery from Babylon the people did not offer two goats for a sin offering, as applied to Judah and Benjamin only, but “a sin-offering
offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel”, Ezra 6: 17. They were, in principle, bearing the iniquity of the sanctuary for all Israel. And so should we, even though the number with whom we can walk is small.
Not only is there a remnant with whom we can walk, but, as Ezra said, “… and to give us a nail in his holy place”. Do we value that? His holy place is the sanctuary. It is the place where the pure table and the shewbread are, where the candlestick is, where the golden altar is. We have all that, dear brethren, but only Ezra tells us that we have a nail in His holy place. Much can be said about the holy place—about the typical meaning of the furnishings, the shewbread representing the saints as supported by Christ, according to divine purpose in the presence of God; the candlestick representing Christ as the source of light in that holy environment, so that we need not walk in darkness, but in the light, as God is in it, and can have fellowship with one another; we can spread our matters before God and get the divine answers to all our problems. Then there is the golden altar, signifying our approach to God in prayer. But Ezra tells us there is a nail there. What a comfort! for there are many matters for which we pray that God may not be prepared to answer immediately, and faith would hang such matters on that nail until it is His time to answer them. In Revelation the prayers of saints are said to be preserved in golden bowls, for many of them were uttered in a previous dispensation, but the day is fast approaching when God will have His angels take down those bowls, so to speak, and the prayers will be answered. And He will answer our prayers, too, if in faith we have hung them on the nail in His holy place. They will be answered according to His
will.
Then we have Ezra’s word that God had extended mercy to Judah before the kings of Persia.
Think of the way God has been favourable to us through government. The government of this land is especially favourable to the saints, protecting them and making way for the outgoing of the glad tidings. There are lands where this is not so, but we can give thanks to God that we have favour “before the kings of Persia”, so to speak.
Then he says, “to set up the house of our God and to repair the ruins thereof”. O, dear brethren, we have had to do some repair work. We humbly acknowledge that we have made such repairs necessary, and we need much help to continue in this work, that the house of our God may be free from defilement. In Nehemiah’s day one of the chambers of the house was set aside by the priest to hold the household stuff of Tobijah, one of the enemies of the people of God. Nehemiah cast the stuff out! We need energy to allow nothing that would bring in defilement, that the house of God may be a sphere for the complacent dwelling of God amongst us, a “habitation of God in the Spirit”.
Finally, Ezra says, “And now, what shall we say, our God, after this?”. What shall we say, dear brethren? May we let these things sink deeply into our souls and affect our spirits. Let us lift up our earnest prayer to God that we may truly appreciate the little reviving He has given us; that we may find the Spirit’s gracious help to keep humble; that we may endeavour to go on together walking in the light that shines from the candlestick; that we may increasingly enjoy the presence of God, cleansed from all unrighteousness and acceptable to Him.
Substance of word in meeting for ministry, Plainfield, N.J.
2 March 1976