Day 267: Indifference and Apathy

Introduction to RETURN (with Jeff Cavins)

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah

Author and Date:


Audience:


Main Themes:

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


Ezra 1-10 The Assyrian conquest, deportation, and essential destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel occurred in 722 BC. This was followed by the Babylonian conquest and exile of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which took place in stages between 597 BC and 587 BC. While the Northern Kingdom would never recover, the Judeans were reprieved a generation later by King Cyrus of Persia, who defeated Babylon and liberated the Jews, allowing them to return to the Promised Land. Ezra, a priest, and the governor Nehemiah played important roles in re-establishing the religious life of Judah in the post-exilic period. Many of those exiled in Babylon had been influenced by the pagan practices there, and the impoverished people who were left behind in Judah experienced a dearth of leadership and were left despondent over the destruction of their Temple. The returning Jews, which included Ezra and Nehemiah, wished to rebuild Judah and restore the proper worship of God according to their traditions. (CCC 312, 324)


Ch 1:1-4 This book begins with an expanded version of the final passage of 2 Chronicles: King Cyrus of Persia not only allowed but encouraged the people of Israel to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple. Although a pagan, Cyrus is known to have rejected religious beliefs and practices among the people he conquered. Still, these generous overtures were divinely inspired and once again demonstrated how the Lord can work even through unbelievers in order to achieve his holy will.


Ch 1:5-11 At the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, Jehoiachin was king of Judah. By the time it ended, it appeared that Shesh-bazzar (Shenazzar) was heir to the throne, being made governor over Judah. Shesh-bazzar was of the house of David and possibly a son of Jehoiachin, and the one later referred to as Zerubbabel. The Davidic line continued uninterrupted through his surviving descendants. The return of the exiles bears some similarities to the Exodus from Egypt, except that King Cyrus of Persia consented to the Israelites’ departure and even gave them back the gold, silver, and Temple furnishings that had been pillaged by Nebuchadnezzar. The identity of the People of God remained intact amid the most vexing trials, analogous to the Church today. (CCC 62-63, 203, 781-782, 1539, 1612)


Ch 2:1-63 This comprehensive list of the returning households demonstrates the continuity between the Judah of old and the new Israel after the exile. 


Urim and Thummim: These were akin to lots or dice that the priests sometimes used to answer the questions they asked of God. It would appear from this passage that some returning families and individuals could not provide proof that they were indeed sons and daughters of Israel, and so the Urim and Thummim were to be consulted to judge such claims. To belong to the people of Israel was essential for full participation in the Temple worship. 


THE “TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL” are the former northern tribes. In the time of Christ, the Samaritans had descended from a remnant of those lost tribes, whose beliefs and practices diverged from those of the Jews and consequently created friction between the two groups. Very few Samaritans survive to the present day. 

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


The Book of Haggai

Author and Date:


Audience:


Main Themes:

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


Haggai 1:1-15 Haggai’s prophecy coincided with the time of Ezra and the prophet Zechariah in the latter half of the sixth century BC. All three men were instrumental in rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians at the time of the exile earlier that century. The Jews who returned home after the exile found the infrastructure of Judah in disarray. In addition to the restoration of the Temple, it was urgent that proper worship be reestablished without any admixture of pagan rituals. The reconstruction of the Temple served as a powerful sign of the conversion of the people of Israel. Haggai’s prophetic message directed both to Judah’s governor, Zerubbabel, and to the high priest, Joshua, spelled out the urgency to rebuild the Temple. 


Ch 2:1-23 This call from God to erect a new Temple came with messianic overtones: God would “shake all nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come in” (2:7). Few if any Jews living at that time were alive when Solomon’s Temple was standing and, therefore, had not experienced its former splendor firsthand, yet the Lord said the “latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former” (2:9). This new Temple, which would exceed the magnificence of the former, is Jesus Christ himself and his Mystical Body, the Church. The teaching on Christ’s Mystical Body is expressed in the Prayer of Consecration at the Ordination of a Deacon, which reads in part: “Almighty God...you make the Church, Christ’s body, grow to its full stature as a new and greater temple.” (CCC 592, 809, 1197, 1543)


Ch 2:10-19 The instruction that only ritually clean Jews could participate in the rebuilding of the Temple was to reinforce the notion that this new edifice signified the presence of God among his people and was, therefore, the most sacred of places. This ritual purity, therefore, made the workers aware of the sacredness of their work and its connection to prayer and worship. 

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


THE RETURN

(*Walking With God: A Journey Through The Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins)



Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. We thank you. Thank you for bringing us back to the story. Thank you for bringing us back to this place of RETURN, this opportunity that the people of Israel had to come home, to go to the Promised Land, even though it was a foreign land to so many of them. We ask you to help us because you know that we know that you have made us for two worlds. You made us for this world and you made us for the next world. And that while this world during this life is our home, this is not our permanent home. You have made us for another home. You have made us for another world. It is a world that is foreign to us and oftentimes we are indifferent to it. But Lord God, in this story of Return, we ask that you please not only remind us of the story of your people, but also remind us of our destiny. That while we live in this world, we are made for another world. While this world is currently our home, it is not our final and ultimate home. Give us a longing for that home. Give us the will to fight for that home and bring us home, ultimately by your Grace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”