Reset rebuild

<p>RESET REBUILD</p> <p>We shared last week about Israel returning home to Jerusalem after seventy years of being in bondage in Babylon, and now the 50,000 exiles are under the leadership of Zerubbabel who was in charge of the rebuilding of the temple which was destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar had demolished the city of Jerusalem . The first thing that they did was the rebuilding of the altar of sacrifice which launched them into a new future. I likened this reset for God’s people at that time to the reset we can prepare ourselves for at this moment in history Everything had come to a standstill for them –There are parallels in this story in Israel’s experiencing of a reset of their place as God’s people in the Earth, and the Church’s experiencing of a coming reset of taking its place as a witness for God in the Earth today.</p> <p>The next thing for Zerubbabel to do was to survey and lay down the foundation of the temple. There was not only no foundation and no temple there was no real city, and there were no walls – and that meant they were open to enemy attack, and they had to learn how to deal with that. Pressures that came from having to re-settle had drained their energies, and comparisons to stories of the glory of Solomon's temple began to breed discouragement that they could never rebuild this temple as glorious as that one, if at all.</p> <p>Where do you start? It is hard to get started when there is discouragement. But they knew they had to just start. They were facing a time of enormous change but they had started with the right project – the altar of sacrifice, and then came the temple foundation, and after that there would be the temple. It was going to be hard work, and that never changes because hard work will always be hard work, but what does change is our faith. That is based on knowing that God is with us and God is for us, no matter what comes against us. Zechariah who was a prophet of Judah at the time was directed by God to encourage and instruct Zerubbabel.</p> <p>Zechariah 4:2-10 "