Advanced Level, Block 8—Remnant Standing Properly
Week 74
Zerubbabel—Supervising the Work
Point to Emphasize: Do we as children admit that we need our parents to supervise and direct us?
Reference Reading: Ezra 1:1-8, footnotes 11, 81; 3:8-9; 5:14
Memory Verse: Obey the ones leading you and submit to them, for they watch over your souls… (Hebrews 13:17a)
Story Sample
To begin our time today I am going to read the proclamation that King Cyrus made after he captured the great empire of Babylon. We must realize what a monumental declaration this was for the Jewish people. Ezra 1:1-4 says, “Now in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, so that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia; and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and [put it] also in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus the king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of heaven given to me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him; and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel —He is God— who is in Jerusalem. And everyone who is left, in whatever place he sojourns, let the men of his place support him with silver and with gold and with goods and with cattle, besides the freewill offering for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem.” This changed everything for the children of Israel. No longer were they a people in captivity. They were free to return to their own land, free to go up to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the house of God!
Over forty-two thousand responded to this proclamation and went to rebuild the house of God. What a marvelous thing! But King Cyrus did not stop there. He had the wisdom to know that without someone to supervise and direct the returning people, they would each go their own way. So he appointed a man named Zerubbabel to lead and govern the people and the work. King Cyrus did not take a vote or ask anyone’s opinion in this matter; he appointed Zerubbabel and that gave Zerubbabel the authority to lead and direct. There may have been several people more qualified in building or in governing among those forty-two thousand AND there were probably quite a few who thought that they should have been the one appointed. Regardless of what some might think, King Cyrus had appointed Zerubbabel as the leader of those returning to Jerusalem and he expected all to come under this one’s authority.
Now let’s consider how this is relevant to us. The teacher appoints two captains for the teams in a math game or for an outside sport. Right away, at least a few in the class are thinking they are better than the appointed captains. They think that they are the ones who should be the captains and that the teacher’s choice is wrong. In the end, the best team is one in which all of the players cooperate together under the leadership of the captain.
Here is another situation. How about your reaction to finding out who will be your teacher this year? Do you think, “Oh no, they are too strict! I wish my teacher was ‘so and so’, who is fun and easy.” [Lead the children in a discussion using these examples. Maybe you can start the discussion by giving an example of yourself in this kind of situation.] We are always sure that we know better. We think we know who the better teacher is. But the fact is that we need to learn to accept the teacher who has been appointed over us.
The Bible does not mention anyone thinking or acting as if they were more capable than Zerubbabel. What the Bible recorded is Zerubbabel’s strong leadership among the people to rebuild the Altar of God, to lay the foundation of the temple, and to finish the rebuilding work. His strong governing over the situation is also mentioned. We could presume that the work of rebuilding went as well as it did because all those who returned from captivity accepted the authority of Zerubbabel. If the people had not taken the directions and supervision of Zerubbabel, there surely would have been chaos in the rebuilding work. Different ones would have carried things out in their own way. And nothing would have been accomplished in the end.
In our case, it is better to know now that we need to accept the authority of leadership and we need our parents to supervise and direct us since it will apply to us at every stage of our life. We will almost always have someone over us to direct and supervise us. As children who aren’t even teens yet, we should know that we aren’t mature enough to handle many things on our own and that we need our parent’s directions and supervision. And we should be able to admit this to our parents. But as I share this some of you may have a reaction within, ”Wait. I am not going to tell my parents that.” This kind of sharing rubs you the wrong way. You find such a resistance within. Well, God is much greater than King Cyrus and He has appointed the parents you have. You should be able to tell them that you need their guidance, supervision, and even direction in your life. I hope none of us would let any resistance remain within. I hope each one of us can talk to our parents concerning what we have considered from the story of Zerubbabel today.