#AtoZChallenge: Zerubbabel

Zerubbabel is the guy who started rebuilding the temple (and finished it) after the long Jewish exile. His story’s scattered in across Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah, so you don’t really get a clear picture of who he is and what else he does, except rebuilding the temple and being the governor of Judah, and also, apparently an ancestor of Jesus.

The thing about Zerubbabel is that there is quite a clear demarcation of his life - before the temple and after the temple, and most of this is mentioned in Haggai, one of my favourite books of the Bible because it (sort of) mentions my birthday. Anyway, the main idea behind the book of Haggai is that the Jews aren’t prosperous because they’ve focused their attention on building wealthy homes for themselves (though evidently not quite successfully) and forgotten about rebuilding the Temple — which was why King Cyrus let them return to Jerusalem in the first place. It isn’t entirely their fault because there was strong opposition and several kings in between forbade it, but now there’s a new king and God has decided that it’s time. The current king, Darius, is led to find the old verdict, commanding the Temple to be built, and so he allows it. So the temple gets rebuilt and eventually, worship is restored in Israel. And from that day when the temple was founded, God releases His blessings. In a general blessing of the nation way, but also in a specific word for Zerubbabel, with God declaring that he is chosen, and will be made like a signet ring (a mark of authority).

Whilst this story is based upon the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, I think the same principle holds true - when you put God’s house first and honour Him in your worship, God releases His blessings over you and your life.

Our churches aren’t quite desolate or abandoned, but there is much more to do in building the house of worship. Your role as a worship leader, as a priest in God’s house, is an important one. God is seeking to fill His House with glory - and you will be a part of that as you spend your life building it.

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About the book:

Jane Hays has been told all her life that it’s dangerous to be out in the forest past sundown. At fifteen, she’s quite sure that it’s all old wives’ tales... yet, why does her village bar the gates every night? Why do they even have gates? When she is caught in an unexpected rainstorm on her way home, Jane ignores all the warnings and seeks shelter in a cottage in the middle of the forest. Soon, she is caught up in a world of magic and beauty – and in the storm of the Fairy Queen’s wrath.

The Fairy Queen is out for blood. There have been intruders – human intruders – in her domain and she will stop at nothing to find them and kill them. After all, it is only fair. She is only seeking retribution for the death that humans leave in their wake.

But Jane isn’t all that she seems to be. And the events of the night aren’t as innocent as they appear.

A tale of magic, fairy creatures and family, Coexist is a novella for the young and the young-at-heart.

Get Coexist on Amazon or Smashwords. Check out Book Depository or Createspace for paperbacks!