Week #40 | The Gospel in Psalms, Malachi, Esther, and Ezra

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Psalms 136-137, 146-150; Malachi 1-4; Esther 1-10; Ezra 7-8

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

From Sorrow to Joy (Psalms 136-137 and 146-150). The Book of Psalms needs to be read, properly, as a narrative. In that narrative, the returning voice of the true and better David in Psalms 108-111 leads us into psalms of celebration in 112-119, and then songs of ascent to bring God's people up to Jerusalem in 120-134. Once there, the history of God's faithfulness is recounted in two historical psalms in 135-136. But then there is a sudden break. We are transported, all of a sudden, back to the darkest point of Israel's history, back to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity when Jerusalem was taken. Psalm 137 portrays in vivid detail the weeping and sorrow and anger of that moment in time. If you don't understand the flow of the narrative of the Book of Psalms, you will struggle with what to do with lines in Psalm 137 like "blessed shall he be who repays you... Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!" (Psalm 137:8-9). In its proper context, it captures the despair of those who lived through the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem. But then, after this sudden dark turn, we are all of a sudden greeted by the returned, strong, sustained voice of the new and better David -the Messiah- again, who leads us all the way from Psalms 139-145. Because of this new kingly figure in the line of David, the sorrow of Psalm 137 is turned into the joy of Psalms 146-150. Jesus, the true and better David, has arrived. He is our reason for celebration, and he is the one who brings joy out of sorrow. Praise the Lord!

The Gospel in Malachi. Malachi is a good choice to close off the Old Testament in the Christian canon, as it promises a messenger -Elijah- who will come to prepare the people for the arrival of God himself (Malachi 3 and 4). What would not have been clear to the Jews of the Old Testament was that this promise was the same as the Messianic predictions of the other prophets, and of the Psalms, throughout the rest of the Old Testament. When the Messiah comes, God will also come, because it turns out that the Messiah will be God in human flesh. The arrival of the Messiah is the arrival of God. This is just barely visible in other texts like Micah 5, or Isaiah 7-12, but here Malachi closes off the Old Testament by saying: "a messenger is coming who will prepare the way for the arrival of God." Nearly 400 years later, John the Baptist came--and prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus.

Esther is all about God, but it doesn't name him. The Book of Esther is a curious case. It is about the faithfulness of God and his providential protection. But, one of its literary features is that it doesn't ever refer to God directly. (This literary feature is ruined in Catholic Bibles, which include a number of additions to Esther that try to "help" by including extra sections where God is referred to directly.) The point is, we may not always see God at work, but even in the darkest times, he is active and guiding all things together.

The Arrival of Ezra in Ezra 7-8. Ezra 7 fast-forwards nearly 60 years from the previous chapter. Although the temple has been rebuilt, sort of, there is still opposition and things are not progressing on the ground as they should be. But from Ezra 7 on, Jerusalem will now have continuous government with both local semi-autonomous rulers, and local laws of its own based on God's law (Ezra 7:14, 25-26). This  took place in 457 B.C., and with Persian approval for Israel to operate by God's law and to set up local government according to that law, the clock starts running at this point for Daniel's prophecy of 490 years until the Messiah (Daniel 9)--a clock that will eventually run out in 33 A.D., when Jesus died and rose again, "to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy one" (Daniel 9:24).

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I won't lay out exact responses in this space because the possibilities are often endless. But it is worth it to think about application in the categories of worship, attitude, and actions. Does this reading direct me to God in worship and thanksgiving and praise, or does it direct me towards a change that I need to make here and now? If it's about a change that I need to make, is this something inward in my attitude, or outward in my actions? This helps to rescue application from just being a series of how-to tips, or one-size-fits-all instructions that go beyond what the Bible actually states. Sometimes, the most helpful application we can make is to get a different perspective on what's the most important thing, or about how we should respond inwardly to the things going on around us.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean