THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE HOLY

the story of the Restoration (ca. 538 BC)

Found in: Ezra, Nehemiah, Lamentations, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah 55-66, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel, Obadiah and Jonah

The prophesied return to their land after their exiles became a reality when the Persian King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and issued a decree allowing any exile from Judah or Israel to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. Those who did were devastated to find Jerusalem in ruins, as recorded in Lamentations. What’s worse, they were confronted by the Samaritans, a mix of former Israelites and Babylonians. The Samaritans were seen as impure because of their mixed blood. The Samaritans in turn mocked the pure “Jews” (short for Judeans). The Samaritans tried to sabotage the rebuilding of the temple, fighting the Judeans in spite of their common ancestry. It was at this time that God raised the prophets Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah to inspire the Judeans to keep rebuilding. 

The dedication of the new temple was part of a reform led by the Levite scribe Ezra. As the Laws of Moses were rediscovered they were being reinforced with a vengeance. Existing marriages with foreign women were abolished, and the violation of rest on the Sabbath was punishable by death. Since they had lost their promised land by disobeying the laws of Moses, it was time to purify the Jewish race. 

The prophets continued God's messages of hope: a branch of David would be raised to remove the whole nation’s guilt; they would be a new kingdom which would stretch beyond its previous borders; God himself would be the king of the whole world; He would “send out his word", and it would "not return empty.” Ironically, as foreign marriages were being dissolved to purify the race, the prophets were also announcing that God was now going to invite all the nations to worship Him! A new covenant would fulfill the previous ones made with Moses and David. Jerusalem would become God's bride, the City of God. 

This time of restoration was also a time of reflection expressed in wisdom writings and poetry. Job, a play, addressed the question of why the good suffer, concluding that what God allows is not always understandable, but that in the end those who are good will be more than justly rewarded. Ecclesiastes, written before belief in resurrection, taught that it was wisest to trust in God's laws even in the face of life's apparent meaninglessness. And the Song of Songs was a secular romantic song included in the scriptures for the way it reflected how passionately God loves his people!

Inspired by prophecies of better days to come, the rebuilding continued. 



Notes:

By the time of the Restoration there are three centers of Judaism: one in Egypt (exiles from the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests; one in Babylonia (the captives taken there), and a third in Judea (those who returned under King Cyrus). Our story  now focuses on this third group.

The restoration of the Mosaic Law is called deuteronomic ("second law”) which is where the book of  Deuteronomy gets its name.

Also during the restoration is the popular tale of a prophet Jonah who gets "escorted" by God (via the inside of a fish!) to the city of Nineveh, where he calls the people to repent of their ways or be destroyed. Heeding the warning, they repent and are spared,  much to Jonah’s surprise.

Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, announces that one day the difference between the upright and the wicked will be made clear, and that before that “Day of the Lord,” the prophet Elijah will reappear.

Review questions:

Why the animosity between Samaritans and Judeans?

Where did the term "Jew" originate?

What does “Deuteronomy” mean?

Now this here’s a story about a chosen people 
who were like a house. 
No, more than that. 
They were like a doorway to an even larger house.
A mansion, if you will.

Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt 
when you kicked us out of our land.
The prophet said somethin’ ‘bout a shoot in Jesse, 
a lion lyin’ down with a little lamb.
The good are bad and now the bad are holy. 
They’re the warriors that you anoint. 
But ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point.

Now how did the whole mess get started? 
Oh yeah:
Well, the king of Persia took us off the hook 
with his decree in 538. 
We got back home and saw our city ruined, 
lamented hard, and don’t appreciate 
Samaritan mutts are tryin’ to kick our butts. 
We’ll turn our plowshares into swords!
And when this is through your people swear to you 
we’ll keep the laws that we ignored! 

Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt 
when you kicked us out of our land.
The prophet said somethin’ ‘bout a shoot in Jesse, 
a lion lyin’ down with a little lamb.
The good are bad and now the bad are holy, 
they’re the warriors that you anoint. 
But ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point!

Now what came next? 
Oh yeah:
Well, Nehemiah and Zechariah 
and Haggai all inspired our lives. 
Ezra found a copy of the Law of Moses 
and we divorced all our foreign wives, 
‘Cause we don’t wanna lose the land again, 
so this time we’re gonna keep it clean.
It’s time to rebuild the promise that we killed 
and keep the Law to the extreme!

Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt 
when you kicked us out of our land.
The prophet said somethin’ ‘bout a shoot in Jesse, 
a lion lyin’ down with a little lamb.
The good are bad and now the bad are holy, 
they’re the warriors that you anoint. 
But ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point. 
Yes we did!

Now listen: 
One day God would be the king of the world 
and not confined just to Israel.
Instead of a whore we’ll be a brand new bride. 
It’s prophesied now, listen well!
The book of Job and Ecclesiastes 
and the Song of Songs display 
that suffering, vanity, and romance, too, 
are all a part of the Yahweh way. Yes sir!

Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt 
when you kicked us out of our land.
The prophet said somethin’ ‘bout a shoot in Jesse, 
a lion lyin’ down with a little lamb.
The good are bad and now the bad are holy, 
they’re the warriors that you anoint. 
But ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point.
Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point.
Ya left a permanent bootprint in our butt, 
I think we got the point!