Ezra CH 3

Bible Class

Okay so Ezra CH 3

Last night I didn’t start studying until very Late

sometimes thats just how things go with children

but Last night I started preparing for chapter 4 and then realized I needed to do chapter 3

So here we are Ezra Chapter 3, a very amazing, insightful and applicable chapter

But before we get into chapter 3 I think its important to point out something from chapters 1 and 2

You see when it comes to ministry its safe to say that ministry itself does not exist with- out the body of Christ

I think our church is a great example of the Body of christ coming together to serve one another to Help point people to christ

Over the last few weeks we have seen that with the devastation that the fires have caused

we have seen the response from the Body and how willing they are to rebuild what once was and to help people get a foundation back into there life

driving a van , cooking burritos, handing out supplies, praying with people are all just some of the many examples of the body of christ coming together to serve people , to point them to the Lord

to Help people build a foundation,

what was lost here on earth is temporary but a foundation that is rooted in God is eternal

but all of it takes people who are willing to Lead and willing to serve!

I am blown away at how many people have come together to serve. Its encouraging and faith building ,

with that being said lets go back to chapter 1 really quick

you see King Cyrus was allowing the people that were in exile to return to their home in Jersualem

and he also was commanded by the Lord to build His new House/ the temple in Jerusalem

starting in vs 2

Ezra 1:2–4 NKJV

2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

ill read vs 4 again because this is important

Ezra 1:4 “4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.”

Now lets look at the end of chapter 2

Ezra 2:68–70 “68 Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses, when they came to the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God, to erect it in its place: 69 According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for the work sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly garments. 70 So the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.”

the reason i bring this up is because when we read these two little sections before we get into chapter 3, we see that God uses people and their resources to grow the Kingdom of God

its not a sin to raise money or to take offering from people especially if it is to grow the Kingdom of God

you see i shared the little story with you guys earlier about the relief work because when Francel teaches ch 4 you will see that the enemy loves to try to Hinder the things of God ,

I share this with you because this whole image popped into my mind as I Started going through this last night but this man on Sunday ,

i think most of you probably seen or heard the story, was totally trying to discourage the Men that God was using for the fundraiser,

he was telling them that fundraising for disaster relief was wrong and that they were all basically a den of thieves

and then after that happened Jason and I got a front row seat to how the enemy was using this weirdo to totally disturb the work that God was doing

we got Jerrod riled up, Sal riled up, everybody was on alert thinking this guy was gonna UFC somebody,

but i was tripping out when i was reading this because God uses people and resources for his Kingdom, anybody who tells you otherwise is crazy

this man that was stirring the Pot was crazy. God uses people and resources to grow His kingdom, without it it wouldn’t grow

Anyways , I just wanted to share that because now we can get into chapter 3

Most of your Bibles should say Worship Restored at Jerusalem

Im going to say that this is more of a devo than a study

So resources, God uses them, now chapter 3 we see them get used !

So starting in vs 1 of Chapter 3

Ezra 3:1–2

1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel( Shee-aall-teeeaaal) and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

okay so now the temples foundation is beginning

but take note who God uses to build this foundation

its a Man named Jeshua, actually a very young man , what we would call a young adult today

He was around 20-30 years old, not very specific but if we look at vs 8 it says that He was around the age of 20

but this young Man obviously very young, was tasked to build and restore the temple of God

He was a leader in charge of rebuilding this temple at this very young age

now i find that very encouraging in our society today where as young men you are considered young and dumb

Gods word is very contrary to that belief, that comes from the world , because God uses young men to lead through out His word , and right here is an example

Another example that I can think of is actually Lance Cook , How many of you know his story ? ( Expound )

How many of you Know Jason steads Story , or any of the OLD guys at this church ?

Many of them at one point of their life were young men that had a heart that was willing to step up and Lead

Now look at them they are the ones leading our church and raising up the next generation

the whole point here is that God lays his foundation sometimes with Young willing servants !

I mean another perfect example is the story of the Prophet Samuel

He was raised in the temple as a little guy and from a young age God used Him !

1 Samuel 2:18–21 “18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home. 21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”

First Timothy 4 says

1 Timothy 4:12“12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

Its very simple in our walk with the Lord especially at a young age, God is either gonna use you or lose you ! Step up when no one is willing to step up, Lead when no one is willing to Lead

The Kingdom of God needs young Leaders not young Bums !

Ezra 3:3–7 NKJV

3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. 4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. 7 They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

My second little point here out of these 4 verses

it says that fear came upon them because of the people of those countries

Look at their response to fear

Fear, many of you know is a Liar, it is from the Pit of Hell and Satan uses fear to cripple Gods people into being NPC’s for his Kingdom (explain to Jason)

Their response to fear is to worship the Lord through sacrifice

if you guys remember, this is before Jesus died on the cross so sacrifice was a form of worship to the Lord and the only way to be forgiven of Sin

So This is a question you can ask each-other after,

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO FEAR ?

Now i remember when i worked on base in the military, some of the guys were just such christian Haters

many of them were actually believers at one point

but they hated seeing me pray at every meal and they would literally pick on me for the dumbest stuff

but after a while it caused me to fear going into the station because i didn’t know how to deal with it

but i remember getting to a place in my walk where i would literally take off go into my little room even if i had 2 minutes and i would Open my bible and read through the Proverbs

and every time I would do that it would be like instantly, the fear i had to deal with these guys would be wiped away and after a while It taught me to worship the Lord in times of fear

sometimes our minds like to mess with us and make us think that those are the worst times to try and worship the Lord, but that is not true

there is never a wrong time to worship the Lord

Moving on

Ezra 3:8–9 (NKJV)

8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.

9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites.

again God was laying the foundation with young Men that were willing to be leaders !

Ezra 3:10–11 (NKJV)

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel.

11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

So now the foundation has been Laid and people are excited singing for the New work that was being done (Expound)

Ezra 3:12–13 NKJV

12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

How many of you think change is Good ? How many of you know that new things are necessary to Grow ?

these old men here in these last few verses were crying along side the people that were excited

its very conflicting because, i’m sure we have all watched God move in certain ways and in certain circumstances but that doesn’t mean that its always going to be the same

God does new things and the things he does are not always the same

its up to us to not get caught up in the past , even if its a good past !

These old men were remembering the former glory and it was blocking their view of what God was going to do

we can use this here as a little bit of encouragement to be okay with what God is going to do

we can reflect on what God has already done but we gotta be open with what God is going to do

Being involved in ministry in the short time i Have been, has really taught me to be okay with change

being in the military taught me to be okay with new things and change

we don’t ever want to get so caught up in what was that we become stagnant

you guys have all heard the old guys talk about what the past was like and how God used Chuck smith in Tents

all of that is great but guess what , its over its time for a new Generation to come in and take the Lead

Look ahead and embrace what God is going to do in your future

He’s still the same God that is going to bless you and He’s still the same God that is going to take care of you.

Don’t be crying over the past

End it