In our study of Ezra chapter three, we look at the implementation of the Word of God in the lives of those who had returned from exile to the city of Jerusalem.
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When the seventh month arrived, after the people of Isra'el had resettled in the towns, the people gathered with one accord in Yerushalayim.
After a period of time in which the people went to their own towns and built their own houses, they all came together in Jerusalem. It is just before this great gathering that the prophet Haggai was sent to the leaders in order to call them to focus the people on the work of the Lord and not their own homes.
Then Yeshua the son of Yotzadak with his fellow cohanim, and Z'rubavel the son of Sh'alti'el with his kinsmen, organized rebuilding the altar of the God of Isra'el; so that they could offer burnt offerings on it, as is written in the Torah of Moshe the man of God.
Ezra leaves out a portion of the events that occurred at this gathering but we see it in Nehemiah 8. This is where Ezra stood and read the Book of the Law. We see that, not only was it read, but it was put into action. The priests began by building the altar. This altar was a place of meeting between God and His servants and is a picture of Jesus Christ. We, likewise, need a place where we can gather with a group of God's people for worship.
They set up the altar on its former bases. Despite feeling threatened by the peoples of the [surrounding] countries; they offered on it burnt offerings to ADONAI, the morning and evening burnt offerings.
We see that this return to the things of God brought opposition from the people around them. This opposition did not stop the work and they worshiped the Lord with sacrifices. It is much the same with us today as, if you are focused on the things of God, you can expect opposition.
They observed the festival of Sukkot as written, offering daily the number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day, and afterwards the regular burnt offering, the offerings for Rosh-Hodesh and those for all the designated times set apart for ADONAI, as well as those of everyone who volunteered a voluntary offering to ADONAI. From the first day of the seventh month, they began offering burnt offerings to ADONAI, even though the foundation of ADONAI's temple had not yet been laid.
Even though they did not have a building yet, the people offered sacrifices and celebrated the feasts of the Lord. This was a picture of what was to come through Jesus Christ. He fulfilled all of these sacrifices on our behalf and gave us the meeting place of our hearts. Today, we often get caught up in a fancy building for a place of worship but, as we see here, it is not about the building.
They also gave money for the stone-workers and carpenters, as well as food, drink and olive oil for the people of Tzidon and Tzor bringing cedar logs from the L'vanon to the sea and on to Yafo, in accordance with the authorization granted by Koresh king of Persia.
Not only did the people worship God through sacrifices burnt on the altar but also through giving. The money was then used to pay the skilled workers that would build the temple. Some was given to the carpenters and we are reminded that Jesus was a carpenter and, just as these carpenters rebuilt the temple, Jesus was building the temple in the hearts of men.
In the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Yerushalayim, in the second month, Z'rubavel the son of Sh'alti'el, Yeshua the son of Yotzadak, the rest of their kinsmen the cohanim and L'vi'im, and all who had come out of exile to Yerushalayim began the project. They appointed the L'vi'im aged twenty and up to direct work in the house of ADONAI. Yeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmi'el and his sons, and Y'hudah's sons together directed the workers in the house of God; also the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their kinsmen the L'vi'im.
It is very interesting to note that God's people were supervisors in the building and not mere laborers or craftsmen. There are many today that act as if God does not use people that have not yet accepted Jesus Christ but, as we see here, that is not so. We do not know how many came to faith in God while building this temple but surely there were some. The same principle applies today; if we allow the lost to serve the Lord alongside us, they will hear about Jesus and some will believe and be saved.
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of ADONAI, the cohanim in their robes, with trumpets, and the L'vi'im the sons of Asaf, with cymbals, took their places to praise ADONAI, as David king of Isra'el had instructed. They sang antiphonally, praising and giving "thanks to ADONAI, for he is good, for his grace continues forever" toward Isra'el. All the people raised a great shout of praise to ADONAI, because the foundation of the house of ADONAI had been laid.
The people had a kind of ground-breaking celebration when the foundation was laid. There was singing and praise for what God was doing.
But many of the cohanim, L'vi'im and heads of fathers' clans, the old men who had seen the first house standing on its foundation, wept out loud when they saw this house; while others shouted out loud for joy - so that the people couldn't distinguish the noise of the joyful shouting from the noise of the people's weeping; for the people were shouting so loudly that the noise could be heard at a great distance.
Even as the younger generation was celebrating the work of God, the older folks were weeping and mourning at the loss of what used to be. This mourning was drowning out the celebration and much the same thing can happen in the local churches. Many times the old ways and traditions hold the congregation back from growing and celebrating the work of the Lord.
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