Ezra 3
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Continuing our study on Ezra and Nehemiah we are going to jump to . if full of information regarding the numbers of people and offerings given for the rebuilding of the temple.
I believe has much richer content for us to see and apply to our lives.
At this point the Jews have returned to Jerusalem and are getting settled in. The first thing we see is the sacrifice restored.
I. The Sacrifice Restored
I. The Sacrifice Restored
Follow along as I read verses 1-7
Ezra 3:1-7
And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord.
From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
In verse 1 you will see we are in the 7th month. That is known as the month Tishri and is sacred to the Jewish culture. On our calendars it would be between Sept and Oct.
The first day of the month it opened with the feast of trumpets. This marked the beginning of the Jewish new year while also serving as a day to rememeber when God revealed himself on Mt. Sinai. It began a the 10 days of awe where the people pentint people would humble themselves and prepare for the day of atonement.
The feast of trumpets was a day that the Jews used to remember when God revealed himself on Mt. Sinai. It began a the 10 days of awe where the people pentint people would humble themselves and prepare for the day of atonement.
The day of atonement or Yom Kippur as it’s more commonly known today is the most sacred holy day on the Jewish calendar.
In short, Yom Kippur is the day that shows what Christ would do for the people.
Then there is the Feast of Tabernacles, shelters, or booths. Pastor Davidson taught a great 2 week series on that a few months ago and it was extremely enlightening.
Sukkot, the Feast of Booths, commonly goes by another name, “The Season of Our Joy,” for joy predominates on this holiday more than any other. Jewish people around the world construct sukkot (singular: sukkah), frail huts or booths that remind us of God’s provision and our dependence on Him. Sukkot is a memorial to remind us of the building of booths during our ancestors’ wanderings in the wilderness: “The Feast of Tabernacles was an annual reminder to the people that God is the Great Shepherd who has chosen to ‘tabernacle among them,’ to protect and bless them wherever they wander.”
So this month is one that the jews would want to be able to observe as they rejoice for being back in their homeland.
With that in mind Joshua, Zerubbabel, and the priests worked together to restore the altar in order to sacrifice to the Lord.
Notice verse 3
And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
They feared those that were around them. But they didn’t rebuild the wall first. They feared what would happen to them but they didn’t raise up an army. They had fear in their hearts for what would happen to them and the first thing they took the time to do was to restore the altar and sacrfice to the Lord.
Why?
Because they knew that the way to not just survive but to live victoriously wasn’t by taking care of their enemies and their problems it was by trusting in God to take care of them. It was by first getting themselves right with the Lord that they would be able to overcome.
Jesus had to tell Peter this same thing after he cut off a Roman soldiers ear.
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
God will provide, God will protect, the question is do you trust him enough to?
I mean these people didn’t even have the temple built yet. They didn’t have the ornate structure for God constructed. The gold, silver, and furnishings hadn’t been put in place and these people had the audacity to begin sacrificing to God...
Warren Wiersbe wrote about this
it’s not the external furnishings but what’s in the heart that concerns God the most
Wiersbe, W. W. (1997). Be heroic (p. 21). Colorado Springs, CO: ChariotVictor Pub.
It’s not about what we look like, it’s not about what the facilities look like, it’s about having a heart for God and a desire to see Him glorified.
Joshua, Zerubbabel, and the Levites had the sacrifice restored and then they had the Temple Rebuilt
II. The Temple Rebuilt
II. The Temple Rebuilt
Someone read verses 8-9 for us tonight
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.
Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Now we are in the second month of the following year. The people have been gathering supplies for around 7 months, much like Solomon did.
Notice the Unity that was amongst the people during this time.
Verse 1 “The people gathered as one man in Jerusalem”
Verse 9 “together”
Verse 11 “sang together” We will get to why they are singing in a moment
During this tumultuous time the Jews had put their focus back on God and are now unified in the direction they are going. They have decided they will live for the God, trust Him with their nation, and be unified together around their faith in Him.
This so important for a church. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church but the seed of discord can grow from within and break apart what God is doing.
It’s my prayer that each of us would be like Paul described in
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
The people are unified and rebuilding the temple. You know they went to the site of Solomon’s temple. I wonder what they saw. Maybe a pillar still standing that wasn’t toppled over. Probably some greenery that had overgrown the place that wasn’t cared for.
I bet they saw the foundation of the Temple was cracked and now unusable.
They had to answer the question David posed in Psalm 11:3
If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do?
If the foundations is broke, cracked, what can the righteous do? Any guesses? Lay the foundation again.
That’s exactly what they were doing. They laid the foundation and then the People rejoiced
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.
III. The People Rejoiced
III. The People Rejoiced
Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Follow along verses 10-11
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
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 noise was heard afar off.
The foundation is laid, the priests dressed up, they played musical instruments, they sang praises and thanksgiving to the Lord. The people gave a shout of praise. It was like an old school tent revival in this place. White hankeys were out and everything. It was an amazing time for these Jews. It was the first milestone in life returning to normal for their culture back in their homeland.
But not everyone rejoiced…Some were rattled by the new foundation that was laid.
Let’s look at verses 12-13
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
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 noise was heard afar off.
The people who had seen Solomon’s temple were weeping. They couldn’t believe the difference between the two temples. They saw this new foundation as something less than what Solomon had. I can only imagine them not liking what it looked like. They didn’t think it would be enough, they didn’t think it was right, they wanted things to be like it was in their day. They wanted the temple they had known...
Now in Ezra we don’t see a response from God or anyone else but in Haggai we find God speaking to Zerubbabel about this.
Turn in your Bibles to
While your turning and before you read, let me give you context to Haggai
The prophet Haggai recorded his four messages to the Jewish people of Jerusalem in 520 BC, eighteen years after their return from exile in Babylon (538 BC). seems to indicate that the prophet had seen Jerusalem before the destruction of the temple and the exile in 586 BC, meaning he was more than seventy years old by the time he delivered his prophecies. From these facts, the picture of Haggai begins to come into focus. He was an older man looking back on the glories of his nation, a prophet imbued with a passionate desire to see his people rise up from the ashes of exile and reclaim their rightful place as God’s light to the nations.
In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying,
Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; And be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; And be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts:
According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, So my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Here is an older man, who saw Solomon’s temple, having to write to Zerubbabel and to the people what God is saying about their response to it.
The people were crying, they were upset. Imagine how that made Joshua and Zerubbabel feel. Leaders trying to do great things for God having people languish over the things their trying to do because they didn’t like it.
God writes to them here and provides comfort. Look at
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; And be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; And be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts:
God told them no matter what is going on, know that I”m with you and what you are trying to accomplish.
Then I believe these last verses are to the people
According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, So my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
he tells them look, I got this.
All that you have to fill this place with is mine. I will fill this house with my glory. Even more so, I will take this temple and make it greater than Solomon’s. I will give peace in this place.
What can we take from all this?
As we saw the first thing the Israelites did was to restore the sacrifice, let the first thing we do when we have to get back to God or face a trial or trouble is to establish the sacrifice. Establish the spiritual focus of your life and then with God take care of the tasks at hand.
They rebuilt the temple because the previous foundation cracked. The new temple didn’t look like the old one. Hey, sometimes in your life your foundation can crack. A relationship can get hurt, you take step backwards instead of forwards in your spiritual life and now you need to lay a new foundation. First, don’t be afraid of a foundation that looks different than what you had before. Be afraid of trying to rebuild on a cracked foundation. Second, don’t do it alone. there were a team of men building the foundation for the temple. Allow other Christians to bare your burdens together and bring in others to help you rebuild your foundation
As the people rejoiced over the new foundation I ask you to rejoice in the foundation that is beginning to be laid here at Liberty. If you find yourself in the mindset of those that were weeping and didn’t like what was happening, please turn to and read the Lord’s response. Unity is so important and if you find yourself not feeling unified with the body of believers in, let me know. Don’t sow discord, come talk to the one person who can try to overcome the issue.
PRAY
