What Wasn’t Said

Ezra 5-6

            Chapter 5 gives us a deep look at the controversy over the building of the second temple. Tattenai was not some local boss; he was the governor of the entire province. When he asked what you were doing and what your names were, you answered. And he dutifully referred the whole matter up to the emperor, Darius, and Darius, to his credit, looked into the matter. Cyrus’ decree, being found, was upheld. Permission was not just given to continue: resources were allotted to make sure the work was finished.

            And finished it was! Ezra notes the blessing of the Lord God and the cooperation of the Persian authorities, and he notes the celebration at the dedication of this second temple. (He also notes the celebration of the Passover; one gets the impression that ancient Israel went entire eras without celebrating their fundamental festivals…)

            Did you catch, though, what wasn’t said? Unlike Exodus 40:34 and 1 Kings 8:11, where the glory of the Lord filled first the tabernacle then the first temple, there is no indication here that the glory of the Lord filled the second temple. One also notes that there are no detailed descriptions of the second temple, either—not like in Exodus, Kings, and Chronicles.

            A scholar I deeply respect argues that Israel never felt like their exile ended, they never felt like all the promises of restoration had been kept. Politically they remained under the thumb of great powers for centuries. Their territory was just a fraction of what it once had been Their Davidic king was no king, except maybe in name. And religiously, their temple was a shadow of its former self, and the glory of the Lord never inhabited it. We’re going to have to wait a while to figure out why this matters, five hundred years in terms of Israel’s history, another nine months in terms of our reading schedule, until finally we come to the time of Jesus. Remember these things, though; they matter a lot eventually!