Ezra 3:1 – 13 Sacrifices Restored
“By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadaka and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God. They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.
They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to the LORD.
On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by King Cyrus of Persia.
Temple Restoration Begins
In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD. So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.
When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as King David of Israel had prescribed. And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD:
“For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.
But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully. The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.”
“Bravery is being afraid and saddling up anyway,” to quote John Wayne. Based on that standard, these recently returnees from Babylon are very brave! Even though they have re-settled in their traditional cities, the Israelites now come together in Jerusalem and the priests build the altar and begin making sacrifices out in the open. These people may be worshiping while watching for an attack by the local people, but they are worshiping anyway.
Who are the “people of the land” the returnees fear? When the Babylonians and Assyrians carried off captives, they brought in people from other conquered lands to work the farms and the vineyards. In the beginning, these people had no fear of God; however, after several attacks by wild animals, authorities brought back a few priests to teach the people about the God of Israel. Those people who had been resettled from elsewhere then combined worshiping God with worshiping their other deities. These people became the Samaritans, and their compromised form of worship helped separate them from the Jews who returned from captivity.
The Israelites begin by celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles and all the other feasts in their appointed times. The priests offer the sacrifices required by the Law of Moses. At this point, nobody is worshiping Asherah, Moloch, or any of the other pagan gods; exile has taught the Jews some bitter but valuable lessons. Living in Babylon, these people have seen first – hand a society that is not based on the worship of the One True Living God.
Next, the people begin building the temple. When the foundation has been laid, there is a mammoth celebration with singing, blowing of trumpets, and all kinds of other instruments. But mingled in the crowd are elders who remember the glories of Solomon’s temple before it was ransacked. The foundations for this temple are far smaller than that of Solomon’s, and the comparison is heart – breaking. So while the younger Israelites are rejoicing, those who remember the previous temple are wailing in grief for the loss of it. The noise is amazing, echoing through the valleys surrounding Jerusalem.
APPLICATION: When the Jews returned from exile, things weren’t easy at all. The Bible speaks airily about families re-settling in their towns and villages, but remember that after the Jews had left, other people came in and took over their houses and lands. Now the Jews were trying to re -claim those properties, and it’s likely that those holding them would not give up readily. How many times must those returnees have wished fervently that their ancestors had behaved themselves so that the exile would never have taken place! The friction that ensued when the Jews tried to reclaim their property might have fueled antagonisms between the Jews and Samaritans.
When the foundations for the new temple were laid, the younger people might have been thrilled. After all, they had only heard about Solomon’s temple but had never seen it. But for the elders who knew Solomon’s temple, this shrunken floor plan must have been a bitter disappointment. While the elders were pragmatic enough to realize that they had to tailor their building to the resources available, all they had to do was to look at the remains of Solomon’s temple to see that this temple would be minuscule by comparison. Ironically, it was gross neglect of Solomon’s temple that helped spur moral degradation of both Israel and Judah, resulting in successive waves of conquerors assailing the two kingdoms.
We can learn several things from this story:
- When God gives you a gift, take care of it! God gave the Promised Land to the Jews, and all they had to do to remain in it was to follow His instructions. But repeatedly, the Jews demonstrated that they had less fear of the Living God than did their pagan neighbors. The Jews refused to receive correction when God sent prophets, ignoring them and even killing them. How many times has God tried to get our attention, while we have made excuses and directed our energies and resources to entertaining ourselves and making our lives comfortable?
- If we are the ones tasked with rebuilding a situation, we need to take courage and do our best, even if our efforts result in something far smaller than the original buildings/organizations/foundations. Those who returned from exile went ahead in the face of local opposition to erect the altar, re – establish regular worship, and lay the foundations of the temple. The elders might have been weeping for what they had lost, but they were still helping anyway.
- Worship is always important, but even more so when we face opposition. There is never a time when worship is more necessary than when we are under scrutiny and criticism.
May God help us to worship Him daily, no matter how difficult our circumstances are, even if our knees are shaking!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow You closely all the days of our lives and to worship You, no matter what. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment