Today's Scripture Reading (September 28, 2023): Ezra 4
When I was a lot
younger, I had a Mormon friend who was the "gatekeeper" at the Church
of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints Temple in Cardston, Alberta, Canada.
It was a pretty important position. I should admit that "gatekeeper"
is my term, not hers. Her job was to sit just inside the Temple's front door
and check the credentials of everyone who entered the building to ensure they
were credentialed and permitted to enter. It was an esteemed position, and once
a month, she made the trip to the Temple to do her job.
At the time of this
interaction, I worked at a Drug Store, and our desks were across from each
other in the back room, just off of the store's pharmacy area. And, as we sat
and worked, we often discussed religion and what each of us believed. One of
the comments she would often make is that we have faith in the same things. The
message was we are on the same side, so why not come to my side?
The problem with her
statement is that it is untrue and not just on my side. There were some profound
differences between what she believed and what I believed. The evidence was
that despite her claim that we believed the same things, she didn't think I
would go to heaven because of my beliefs, and she would never have been able to
let me into the Temple that she guarded. We didn't believe the same things.
Several years ago, I
preached a three-week series on the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam. I felt I had a reasonably good handle on Judaism and Christianity
but spent much time researching Islam's roots. One of the things that I learned
was that before Islam, Muhammad's people existed as a loose collection of
tribes, often warring with everyone, including each other. Muhammad looked at
the Christians and Jews and saw a unified force. The Prophet believed that he
and his tribes were Ishmael's descendants and heirs to Abraham's promise through
the Patriarch's oldest son. But the other Abrahamic religions had a book. The
Jews had the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, commonly called the Old Testament,
and the Christians had the New Testament. Muhammad was in awe of these "People
of the Book." In the earliest Islamic beliefs, Muhammad maintains that the
descendants of Ishmael should exist in peace with the People of the Book. But
Muhammad also wanted a book; he wanted to be like us, People of the Book.
No matter what you
believe about the Qur'an, it is the Book for which Muhammad had prayed. However,
the relationship between Islam and the People of the Book deteriorated. And so,
later prophecies teach violence to all who stand against Allah, including the People
of the Book. It is a path that seems to be a constant in life. Enemies at first
want to prove they are like you, but if that fails to get you to move to their
side, then they turn to violence.
The
words of the opponents of Zerubbabel and Joshua are essential. "Let us
help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to
him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."
The claim is substantial because it moves past the Babylonian Exile to the
Assyrian Exile. In 721 B.C.E., Assyria defeated Israel and took them into captivity.
In Christian jargon, Israel became the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Except that
they weren't really lost, just watered down. Some people had been taken, but a
steady stream of foreigners had been put in their place. The Israelites that
remained married the foreigners and the genetic code of the Israelites was
mixed with these foreigners. And not just genetics; they became religiously
mixed.
Esarhaddon,
King of Assyria, reigned from 680-669 B.C.E., half a century after
Assyria's destruction of Israel and more than two centuries before the events
of Ezra 4. And so, the enemies of the returning exiles came to Jerusalem with
the message that they were like them, moving in the same direction, and wanted
to help. But the truth was that they weren't on the same side, and all these
people wanted to do was be present to sow discontent into the people of the
returning nation. It is an old strategy. And one we still use today.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Ezra 5
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