Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 11, 2012 Read – Ezra 4 & 5 Chapters 4 & 5 continue to story of the rebuilding of the Temple and reflect just how difficult an undertaking that was. Resistance came from those who already were living in the land. Just who were these people? Likely some of them were the descendants of the “poor” people who had not been deported to Babylon in the exile. We don’t know much about what happened to them after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Now seventy years have passed since the Babylonians had begun the deportation. We simply don’t know their story. Had they attempted to remain faithful to the LORD? Had they taken on some of the characteristics and beliefs of others around them? At the beginning these people who had not experienced the exile ask to join with those who had returned in the rebuilding of the Temple. They base their request on the claim that they worship the same God. Those who had experienced the exile refuse their offer and refuse to let them help. A major question for us as readers is to contemplate whether or not the response of the returning exiles to exclude those who had never experienced exile from the community was right or not. What might have happened if they had welcomed those who had remained in the land into their fellowship? Was there something special about have been an exile? What was God’s desire? It is clear from reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah that the people who had been in exile thought that exclusion was the right answer and that God was “on their side” about that. But what if that really wasn’t true? There are other voices in the Old Testament that dare to proclaim another point of view. While the book of Ruth is important because it tells the story of David’s grandmother, the book is also important because it goes against the grain and welcomes a Moabite woman into the people of God. It may well be that the story of Ruth gains its prominence at this very time. And the book of Jonah, which we have also talked about earlier, is a clear statement against exclusion – exclusion even of a hated enemy like the Assyrians. On an even grander level the prophet Isaiah clearly envisions the inclusion of gentiles within the people of God. We may remember that at his very best moment, when the first Temple was dedicated, Solomon envisioned people of all nations finding a place within this house. The challenge of exclusivity was and continues to be a difficult issue for God’s people. It was the problem of exclusivity that separated the Pharisees from Jesus at many points in the story. Our reading of Ezra and Nehemiah invites us to contemplate that challenge.