Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Royalty in Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 48 - The Secret of Success in God’s Work
God continues to encourage His people that their labors to build His Temple are not in vain. And neither are ours today.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
Genesis 3:24
Exodus 13:21
Hebrews 12:25-28
Ezra 6:13-17
Zechariah 2:10-12
OVERVIEW
It may seem like it’s the fourth quarter and the Devil’s got the ball on Israel’s one-yard line and time is running down. God’s people arrived back from captivity and started to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple when out of nowhere comes a whole lot of opposition. God’s enemies are set on destroying His people and it may look hopeless, but God’s not done yet!
OPENING ACTIVITY
This is a forced decision-making game. People must choose one of the two options given.
Create a Zoom poll, a Google form, or simply ask for a show of hands when you read off the choices for your youth group.
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
Everyone gets to make choices. Some choices are difficult to make and others are easy. When Ezra came back to Jerusalem, he could have chosen to listen to the detractors and taken the safe way out and not done any building. However, he knew how God had dealt with His people in the past, so he chose to be faithful to God. In today’s lesson we will look at a few ways God has chosen to protect people and places He loves.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Genesis 3:24.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
QUESTIONS
Read Exodus 13:21.
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
QUESTIONS
Read Hebrews 12:25-28.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe . . .
QUESTIONS
Read Ezra 6:13-16.
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
QUESTIONS
Read Zechariah 2:10-13.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
God used many different methods to protect the things and people He loves. Pillars of fire, flaming swords, walls of water, rumors of wars, salt, earthquakes, hornets, and the list goes on and on. It is important to understand that God is always on the side of His people. Sometimes we make choices that put us outside of His protection, but His protection is always there. Lot’s wife made it safely outside the danger zone when she chose to look back. David numbered the people available to be soldiers and God punished him for a lack of faith. Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. In all of these instances, God was ready and able to protect His people, but His people chose to walk a different path. How are the choices you are making placing you in a position for God to surround and fight for you? How does it feel to know that the God of the universe wants for you to choose His kingdom that He is making new for those who love Him?
FOLLOW UP
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
Talk is cheap, especially when action is needed. With an election about to happen in the United States, there’s lots of talk. But what will the action actually be? Those whose primary hope is in politicians are certain to be disappointed.
And yet talk can inspire. Words do count. God sent words through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to inspire the exiles who returned to Jerusalem to go back into action to rebuild the temple. Words from detractors had slowed progress and the legal battles initiated by words had stopped construction.
Our two Bible passages today send two messages. From Zechariah 2 we have an inspiring message from God through Zechariah for the people to move forward rebuilding the temple because God’s glory and presence will make this the centerpiece of the earth. Our passage in Ezra locates the documentation of words that made the rebuilding of the temple possible. This rediscovery received even stronger resolve by King Darius for the people to get back into action.
Are you more of a person of words or a person of action? How do you respond to verbal messages? How do you respond when the action stops? Consider both words and actions in our two Scripture passages today about the rebuilding of God’s temple.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to be present to speak to us and through us. And we want that same Holy Spirit to spark us into action as we live out God’s message in the coming week.
Big Stuff
Describe a time you really, really wanted to go to church.
Read Zechariah 2:1-13.
Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’
6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.
7 “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.
10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
Read Ezra 6:1-22.
King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:
Memorandum:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, 4 with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:
Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
Completion and Dedication of the Temple
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
1. Why would Jerusalem have more people than could fit (Zech. 2:4)?
2. What makes Jerusalem “the place to be”?
3. In what ways is your church like Jerusalem?
4. What’s most amazing about the decree to rebuild the temple (Ezra 6)?
5. For worship, rank from 1 (most important) to 9 (least important):
___ Facilities.
___ High quality programming.
___ Consistency.
___ Having special programs.
___ Being with lots of people.
___ Heart-felt involvement.
___ Feeling close to God.
___ Skilled worship leader(s).
___ Coming for the right reason(s).
6. What makes a worship experience special?
7. Who provides spiritual encouragement for you?
8. What do you need to build in your own life right now? What needs to be built in your church right now?
SUMMARY
The prophetic messages inspired the people to action. The process of checking the records showed authorization to rebuild the temple. And King Darius gave even greater impetus by financing it and calling off the distracting enemies of God’s people. It was as though God had caused the miracle of the decree in the first place, and then renewed it with even greater strength the second time. In other words, what God had done in the past, He can do again. And He can do it with an even greater push.
APPLICATION
What has God done in the past that you wish He would do again now? Are you willing to use words and/or actions? Here are some application ideas for you to put into action, or they may spark other words and actions on your part.
