REBUILDING YOUR HEART, MIND AND LIFE DURING CRISIS
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* When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD’s temple had not yet been laid.
The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Ezr 3:1–6). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
*We rebuild/build our heart, our mind and our life during times of crisis, such as COVID-19 by:
1) remembering WHO GOD is
2) remembering Who We ARE
SONG…Our God by Chris Tomlin
*LET’S REMEMBER “WHO GOD IS”
1. He IS The Lord, the Lord...
Exodus 34:6-7
The New International Version (1984) The New Stone Tablets
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
(~ 1500 bc)
19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Ex. 33
Exodus 34:5–9.
On the mountain Moses experienced a new vision of the glory of God as Testator of the covenant. In fulfillment of His promise (33:19), God revealed His name (His character) to Moses. God told Moses that His name Yahweh (the LORD) means that He is a God of compassion, grace, loyalty (ḥeseḏ, love, twice in vv. 6–7), faithfulness (’ěmeṯ, “reliability”), and forgiveness.
2. He is the God who sees
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
for the Lord has heard of your misery. Ge. 16:11
Haggar realized that God saw her situation, and she was not alone...
3. He is the ONE WHO IS IN ULTIMATE CONTROL
Prov. 21:1
1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
Isa. 45:1-5......Cyrus 150 yrs prior to Ezra
Isa. 45:11 Cyrus
21:1. Chapter 21 begins (vv. 1–3) and ends (vv. 30–31) with references to the Lord. Verses 2, 8, 26, 28 of chapter 20 referred to kings. Now again the king is mentioned. The heart of the king is in God’s hand (cf. Ecc. 9:1) as are the plans of all people (cf. Prov. 16:1, 9). A farmer directs water by digging canals. Similarly the LORD directs the hearts of kings, as, for example, Pharaoh (Ex. 10:1–2), Tiglath-Pileser (Isa. 10:5–7), Cyrus (Isa. 45:1–6), and Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:21; Neh. 2:1–8). God is sovereign (cf. Prov. 21:30).
(4. He is The ONE who dispels fear, b/c He is in complete control
Ps 27:1
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
Ps. 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ESV
5. He is our help...
I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Ps 121)
We started this am by stating that for us to rebuild OUR heart,
if we will rebuild our heart, mind and life in a crisis, this crisis, we must remember
1. Who God IS
BUT...
The second part of the equation is JUST as important:
2. WHO we are
Ezra 3:1-3......they started work on the temple..
this Holy, majestic, God ordained temple!
1 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
THE TEMPLE WAS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE...
The Destruction and Reconstruction of the Temple
The Destruction and Reconstruction of the Temple
The Jerusalem temple said to have been built by Solomon was destroyed in 587/586 B.C.E., when the Babylonians captured the city, torched it, and exiled the Judean leadership to Babylon. Second Kings describes the final days:
“In the fifth month ... Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.” (2Kgs 25:8-9)
This event marked a turning point in Israelite history because it spelled the end of an autonomous or even semi-autonomous Judean state. It initiated a period, usually called the exilic period, that came to an end in the biblical record when King Cyrus of Persia conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C.E., subsumed that empire under his own rule, and permitted Judeans to return to the land and rebuild the temple (see Ezra 1).
The prophetic books of Haggai and Zechariah portray these prophets as urging the leaders and the people to rebuild the temple. Ezra 1-6 depicts their successful efforts to do so, despite opposition from some “peoples of the land” whose identity is not always clear. Most scholars date the actual completion of the restored temple to 516/515 B.C.E.
Ezra 3 depicts the beginning of the restoration, with the building of the altar and setting the temple foundations. According to Ezra 4, however, enemies interfered by reporting to the Persian king that the builders were a rebellious people. After these and other delays, the temple was completed in 516/515 B.C.E, during the time of the Persian king Darius (525-486 B.C.E.).
The Hebrew Bible does not describe the rebuilt temple, although Ezra 6:3 says that “its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The emphasis falls on its placement, that is, that it should be installed precisely at the place of the first temple. Ezra 3 contrasts this new edifice with its predecessor: “many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy” (Ezra 3:12; see also Hag 2:3, which notes that the restored temple is less grand than the former one).
Whether or not it compared favorably to the first temple, the restored temple marked a new epoch; it signified the renewal of Jewish life after the devastation of exile. Moreover, it signaled a new role for the people themselves. Whereas the first temple was credited to Solomon and was built with forced labor, the second temple was the work of the people themselves. Although it came into being under Persian royal auspices (see Ezra 1:1-4), the actual builders were the Judeans (Ezra 1:5-6:14), who also unilaterally vowed to maintain it (Neh 10:32-39). In the absence of a monarchy, the second temple came to occupy a greater place in Judean life than did Solomon’s temple.
Need to elaborate on the above.....
https://www.thecrosspensacola.org/new-blog/2019/11/10/gods-presence-in-his-temple-sunday-sermon-nov-10-2019
For the Jewish people of Ezra’s time, the temple was in Jerusalem but where is that temple of God today?
ICor. 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
2Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
3:3–6. Even though the returnees had fear of the peoples around them, foreigners who had been deported by the Assyrian Empire into Palestine, they built the altar, and offered burnt offerings on it (cf. Lev. 1; 6:8–13), starting on the first day of the … month (Ezra 3:6). These were the first sacrifices made there in 50 years—since 586 B.C. when the temple was torn down. Other sacrifices were offered in connection with all the appointed feasts, including, for example, the Feast of Tabernacles on days 15–21 of that seventh month (cf. Lev. 23:33–36, 39–43; Num. 29:12–39). The sacrifices showed that the people wanted to be responsive to the Law of God.
HOW ABOUT ME? AM I WILLING TO REBUILD GOD’S TEMPLE? TO MAKE IT HOLY AND PLEASING TO HIM WHO IS ABOVE ALL. WILL YOU COMMIT TO JOINING YOUR LEADERSHIP AS WE ALL COMMIT TO REBUILDING OUR INDIVIDUAL TEMPLES AND COLLECTIVELY RAISING THE TRINITY CHURCH AS A BEACON TO THIS PART OF FLORIDA?