Grow and Glow
“This night could use a little brightnin’. Light up you little ol’ bug of lightnin’. When you gotta glow, you gotta glow. Glow little glow-worm, GLOW.” (The Glow Worm, Johnny Mercer)
Have you been hearing this little song in your head since yesterday? Sorry, not sorry!
Do you remember the words for GLOW? … God. Listen. Obedience. Wisdom.
I hope that it not only plays over in our HEADS, but it gets into our HEARTS.
By the way, did you know that INCHWORMS grow into a MOTH?
What good is a MOTH you might also wonder?
They are “important pollinators that are active after DARK; they help with seed production”.
Seed Production? Well, that is interesting. What does the Bible say about that, I wonder...
“Now the parable is this, the seed is the WORD of GOD.” -Luke 8:11
Like the exiled people, even In our day and age with all of the technology available, there are many in the world who have never heard or had the GOOD NEWS explained to them.
So, how can they rejoice?
Also, how can we REJOICE in the midst of our trials, opposition, and hindrances?
How will people respond if the SEED is not PLANTED and WATERED?
The overriding theme of the Exiled People is found in Lamentation 3: 31-32, “For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though HE brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.” They are under discipline, but not deserted!
Out of God’s great love, he does not allow their discipline to remain in desolation. He has come to start a “NEW GROWTH” and he calls servants to plant, feed, and water HIS people again.
We are nearing the completion of the book of Nehemiah in tomorrow’s reading, and so we will be reflecting on this overall far-reaching theme found in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The book of Ezra shows us the Return of the exiles with Zerubbabel in chapters 1-6. The focus is on the REBUILDING of the TEMPLE. In Ezra 7-10 we see the second group of exiles returned with the leadership of Ezra. The focus is on the separation of the people to be “Set-Apart” as a holy nation. They were not to marry or “be one” with those who had detestable practices with idols. In Nehemiah, we saw the RECONSTRUCTION of the Wall (Chaps. 1-6) and the REINSTRUCTING of the PEOPLE in Chapters 7-13.
Zerubbabel means “descended of Babylon” which indicates that he was born in Babylon. He was called and undertook all the obstacles, hindrances, and trials involved with the building of the Temple. It is very notable that his name is mentioned in Matthew 1:12-17, Joseph, the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus came out of the lineage of Zerubbabel.
Have you ever wondered why in the world they would build the Temple before building The Wall to protect it? After all the Grand Temple built by Solomon had been ransacked, raided, and desecrated, why would they build again without a wall?
The Temple was the center of the entire nation and of their worship. Notice that even when Ezra set out to lead the people home he did not ask men to protect them. He instead turned to God to protect them. So, first, they started with Zerubbabel and the building of the Temple, but what good is the outside of the Temple without the changed hearts who will fill the temple?
This is why we see Ezra, who was an excellent scholar and scribe, coming in to teach the people the ways of God so that they could learn how to worship God in the temple.
Next, we see Nehemiah, who was apparently of the tribe of Judah. He was raised in exile and became prominent in the Persian Court as a cupbearer which was a position of great trust, honor, and influence. His brother had told him of the condition of Jerusalem and Judea and that it all lay in ruin, and he was convicted to undertake the task. The king saw the grief and burden that had changed his appearance and stepped in to help. God gave Nehemiah everything that he needed to rebuild the wall.
The final step was to reinstruct the people of God to BE the PEOPLE of God.
Until now, the walls were right, but the people were wrong. God never honors things until the people that are related to those things are made right in HIS sight.
God’s repeated process looks like this...READ. RECEIVE. REJOICE in the WORD.
The inchworm turns into the Moth, the moth plants the seed, the seed brings a harvest… In order to see a GREAT HARVEST, it’s time to GROW & GLOW!!
This night could use a little brightnin’. Light up you little ol’ bug of lightnin’. When you gotta glow, you gotta glow. Glow little glow-worm, GLOW.” (The Glow Worm, Johnny Mercer)
