Darius and Jerusalem

Synopsis     Ezra 6:15-7:10     6/16/2020 

The Israelites completed the house of the Lord six years after King Darius began his reign. Afterward, they dedicated the new Temple. And then they set up the priest’s schedule according to their clans. Then, at the appointed time, the community celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  

Years later, a new king named Artaxerxes ruled over Persia. He became aware that an Israelite named Ezra was exceedingly wise and knowledgeable in the law of God given through Moses. And so, he sent him to Jerusalem to administer the region. 

Darius and Jerusalem 

The king of Persia saw value in restoring the Temple in Jerusalem. And so, he supported the effort to rebuild and to ensure that it was properly staffed and operated.  

Good and Synthetic Community 

Synthetic communities are those founded on some sort of social contract. And all of us on earth live in some sort of synthetic community. But as believers, we primarily live in the context of authentic community. 

Now, under many historical circumstances, synthetic communities usually enjoy the good that the authentic community produces. Good tends toward stability. For this reason, in many synthetic communities, participation in the authentic is actually encouraged.  

If this is your liberty, then celebrate. And exercise your freedom to worship God by the way you act – in the way that you love – in the good that you do.

  
“Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.” Rom 13:1