There’s an interesting exchange in the early part of Ezra. 42,000 Jews have returned from Babylon to rebuild the temple and some of the locals want to help:

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” (Ezra 4.1 – 3, ESV)

At first glance, the inclusive bias that we have today would say, “Why not let them rebuild with you?”

But let’s see what actually happened when they say, “We have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of the king of Assyria who brought us here.”

And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. But every nation still made gods of its own … They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods… (portions of 2 Kings 17.24 – 33, ESV)

They feared the LORD but also served their own gods…

This was about the people who resettled Samaria but no doubt the situation was the same for those living around Jerusalem.

What’s the great commandment? Love God with ALL your heart… Not “include God among the gods you worship.” That’s something we can all repent of!

What’s the minimum? What does the god of the land require? A sacrifice from time to time? And I can do what I want in between? Keep Sabbath but do what I want the other six days? Go to church on Sunday and tithe 10%? But the rest of my time and money is mine? That’s the way a lot of us live.

We want it quantified, to give God a portion. He wants it all.

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58.6, 7, ESV)

And one of the scribes asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12.28 – 30, ESV)