Priotity of the Altar

Introduction - Open to Ezra 3

Recap Series

The Israelites have gone back to Jerusalem from the exile

This was initiated by God, funded by God and led them to worship when they arrived

Today Priority of the Altar

We have priorities in our lives. Sometimes they are evident. Sometimes we can say they are one thing, when in fact they are something else. For example, many people will say that God is the most important thing in their lives. But if you look at time, time devoted to the Lord, that doesn’t say that He is the most important thing in their lives. But it actually goes deeper than just time. If I were to say that I love my wife, and that I spend a lot of time with her that proves that to be true, yet that time is spent doing only what makes me happy, is it my wife that I am loving, or my wife that I am using to make myself feel loved? I believe that we may be that way with the Lord. The time spent with him is not out of love for him, but a self help, self love, blessing seeking way. My prayer is that in this text, we can see where our priority should be as we worship the Lord.

Ezra 3 (CSB)

1 When the seventh month arrived, and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.

2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.

5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.

8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were twenty years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house.

9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

10 When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph, holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.

11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.

12 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, but many others shouted joyfully.

13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

We should run to the altar above all else, but nothing in this life will compare to eternity with Christ.

The Altar Comes First (Ezra 3:1-6)

Everyone has an order of how they eat their food. Maybe you never admitted it, but there are things that you have just always done. Some people go for the dessert first. They want to make sure that they have enough room for the pie at the end. I mean who wants to fill up on vegetables when there is pie to eat. Others will eat what they do not care for first, then finish with what they like. Personally, I like to try and mix it up. Have a little bit over everything the good to go with the bad. But I always try and end with what ever I like the most.

I know that this illustration goes much farther than just how we eat. I believe that this is what we do with church also. In fact our entire life with Christ. We like to make sure that the parts we enjoy are the parts that we prioritize. Maybe for you it is the reading of the word. Maybe it is jut talking to Jesus, or singing praises. Unfortunately, I rarely hear us as believers say, “I love repentance!” You know the confession of sin, wow! What fun is that?

Ezra 3:1–6 (CSB)

1 When the seventh month arrived, and the Israelites were in their towns, the people gathered as one in Jerusalem.

2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.

5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

Altar is the first thing built. Okay, maybe you noticed that was the seventh month after they arrived. Yes, they went back to Jerusalem, back to the surrounding areas and set up their homes. Then, at the beginning of the seventh month they gathered together and began to build the altar. The text even says that they were of one mind. Like this was the plan all along. They were to set up their homes and meet back at the end of the harvest. See the seventh month on the Israel calendar is not July like it is for us. It would fall in late September and early October. So at the beginning of the seventh month they come together in one mind to build the altar to the Lord. Notice, they do not have the temple built. As we read in the text, the altar even comes before the foundation of the temple. This might not sound like a big deal. But if you study the old testament, especially the law and the appointed feasts, you begin to realize how big of a deal this is.

The beginning of the seventh month according to the Law of Moses, specifically in Leviticus 23, the first day of the seventh month was to be a sabbath rest, right after harvest. On the tenth day of the month was the Day of Atonement. Then on the fifteenth day of the month began the Festival of Shelters (Booths, Tents, Ingathering) and it ran for seven days. Notice how they observe these days. On the first day of the seventh month they gather, then they build the altar, and then observe the Festival of Shelters.

The observance of God’s law was the priority of the returning Jews. Which it should have been. Their disobedience was the very reason that they were exiled. Their disobedience was the reason they were separated from God. Our disobedience is the reason that we are separated from God. Because this was so important to them, it requires us to dig a little deeper and understand why. What was so important about this particular month, this particular order. After coming together they built the altar and according to the Law of Moses. Being the seventh month, they would be observing the Day of Atonement. That is a big churchy word, atonement. Maybe you have heard it before, and never really knew what it meant. Who wants to ask what some of those words mean, especially when people throw them around like everyone should know them. Atonement is the biblical doctrine that God has reconciled sinners to himself.

As sinners, we are not simply at odds with God, but deserving recipients of the wrath of God. In order to reconcile this, there must be a sacrifice. Something that will pay our debt. In the Old Testament, this would be blood sacrifices that the priests would perform on the altar, specifically on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest would bath himself from head to toe, then would offer a sacrifice for himself and his family, to make sure that they were clean before God prior to sacrificing for the people of Israel. Then a sacrifice would be made for the people of Israel. Blood from the sacrifices would be taken into the holy of holies, the mercy seat of God and the sins of the nation would be atoned for, or reconciled.

The amazing thing about the Jews that returned is that they did this before anything else. They did this even though they were in fear of the surrounding people. Meaning, they had a fear of the Lord greater than the fear of others. Can we honestly say that this is true of us? I am sure that we would argue that we are free to worship and we do so without fear. That is true of us here, not necessarily everybody around the world. But that is not exactly what I mean. You must understand that the biggest part of the day of atonement was that everyone had to humble themselves and confess their sins. When we think of putting God first, we think of coming to church, we think of reading our bibles, we think of prayer time. These are all good things. But the first thing that we must do is humble ourselves and confess our sins. This is where I believe that we take the sacrifice of Jesus for granted. We acknowledge that continue to sin. We know that we have a sacrifice that is once and for all, yet we fail, I fail, to daily acknowledge and confess my sin. As such, we fail to repent regularly for our sins. The day of atonement was a solemn time. It was a time of mourning because of their sin. We as believers in Jesus Christ should be ever mournful of our sins because we know above all else the price that Jesus had to pay because of our sins.

The day of Atonement is followed by the first of the big festivals, the Festival of Shelters. Maybe your translation says the of booths or tents, it might even say ingathering. This is a festival where the Jews would build temporary shelters that they would live in for seven days. They would bring food offerings to the Lord. First fruits from the harvest. This is one of the three festivals that the Jews were to travel back to Jerusalem for. This was a time to celebrate and remember how God has provided for them. But not just in that day, that summer’s crop, but dates back to when God provided for the Jews coming out of slavery in Egypt. Living in temporary shelters as they wandered through the desert as God provides for them. A time to remember what God has done in the past, and how God continues to provide.

What we see is that the Temple is meaningless without being right with God. I know that sounds a little harsh. To be honest, I reread those words and thought I should change them. But it is true. If we are worshipping without the forgiveness of our sins, then we are worshipping for ourselves, not for him. There is a time that we are to celebrate the the things that God has given us, but we must be right with God first. Your worship will be much sweeter when we come in the forgiveness of Christ.

The Foundation is Missing Something (Ezra 3:7-13)

Have you ever looked at something and thought, it is missing something. I run into this when I cook. I will make something, Heather and the kids will tell me that it is amazing. Remember how you did it for next time. I don’t ever remember. The problem is that I do not actually measure anything out. I put in a little of this and that and it is never the same. So, we sit at our table and say, “It is good, but it is missing something.”

Ezra 3:7–9 (CSB)

7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.

8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were twenty years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house.

9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

There was a great attempt at constructing this temple the same way that it had been done in the past. Why not? That temple was amazing and after it was dedicated, the spirit of God came and dwelled in the temple. I am sure that this is what they would like to have happen again. So, lets do things like we did then and see if we can get the same results. Want to take a guess what festival was going on when King Solomon dedicated the first temple to the Lord? Yes, the Festival of Shelters. The same one that they celebrated first with the rebuilding. So, they order supplies, the same way from the same places that Solomon had obtained them.

Fourteen months after their return they begin on the foundation of the temple. When I first read that I thought, that seems like a long time. But nothing moves quickly when a church decides to do something. But if you actually think about the time, it was not that long. Seven months in, they build the altar, and now, seven months later, they have obtained all the supplies they needed to begin working on the foundation. Seven months, that is pretty quick. That is how long President Biden has been in office. We may picture the Jews doing something else, other than working on the foundation, but realistically I think this is moving pretty good.

But the way that the temple was built was not the only thing that they repeated. Even the smaller things like the way the priests dressed was observed. The trumpets blasting were all done prior to the nation of Israel splitting into two nations. Prior to the nation of Israel worship of multiple gods. Prior to the evil practices that would get them kicked out of the promise land. Of course they would want to repeat these things.

We are not any different. We attempt to repeat the same events and services over and over when we see one that went really well. We try to do music a certain way, or a certain kind of speaker. Services at certain times or places. All of these things are good things. I think that when we do things we should try and get the best that we can. But these things alone do not make great events. Just like, repeating the things that Solomon did to prepare the first temple will not make the second temple the same.

Ezra 3:10–13 (CSB)

10 When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph, holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed.

11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid.

12 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, but many others shouted joyfully.

13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

So there it is. The altar is complete, the foundation is complete and people shouting with praise! People are very excited to see what it happening. Look what is being accomplished. Please do not misunderstand me. They are here because the Lord brought them here. We talked last week how the Lord initiated all of these things. The Jews did not get here because of themselves. Everything may look great, but those that have been there before realize that there is something missing.

It says the “older” ones who had seen the first temple wept loudly. I want you to get this picture in your head. Here we have people shouting in praise because they have been brought back to Jerusalem. And then we have older religious leaders who had seen the previous temple weeping loudly.

I have had to ask before, when Heather was crying, are these happy tears or sad tears. People ask if I make up stories that I tell about myself. I do not. I tell truth, and hopefully it will make people feel sorry for Heather and pray for her.

When you read this text, that is the first thing that popped into my mind, “Are these happy tears, or sad tears?” They are sad. They are looking at the temple foundation and they are mourning. Why would they mourn when they see this foundation. I will give you a couple reasons that I believe they are mourning. First, they realize that this temple is not going to be as glorious as the first temple. Not that this temple was not going to be nice, but it was not going to be the same. But second, and more importantly, I think that they realized that the spirit of God was not there. When Solomon dedicated the first temple, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies and the spirit of God dwelled on the Mercy Seat. There is no mention of the Ark. There is not mention of the Spirit of God. So as beautiful as they could make this temple, it would never measure up. I mean think about coming to church here on any Sunday. We can do things to pretty up the church with decorations and flowers. We can have our comfortable chairs. But imagine trying to have our worship service without the Holy Spirit present with us.

But God had other things in mind. Listen to what he told the prophet Haggai;

Haggai 2:3 (CSB)

3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?

Haggai 2:9 (CSB)

9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

The Lord incarnate, Jesus Christ would walk in this temple. He would teach in this temple. He would physically be seen and heard, not by one person for everyone, but for all to hear. Not only that, but he would offer a sacrifice once and for all.

We Must Run to the Altar

I think that this is one of those chapters that is easy to read and maybe not see how we apply it to ourselves. You might notice that we no longer make these sacrifices. Many people are happy about that. It was a bloody, terrible process. The reason that we no longer make these sacrifices is because we have a great high priest, according to Hebrews 9-10, that didn’t simply make a sacrifice for us, but instead, offered himself up as the perfect sacrifice. As such, this was not something that he had to do over and over again, but instead was once for all time. Now, having risen from the grave, is sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf. Now, we as believers are not to schedule a day out of the year that we humble ourselves and offer an atoning sacrifice. We live each and everyday as a living sacrifice, according to Romans 12:1.

So how do we do that, how do we live each day as a living sacrifice to God? This is where some preachers will give you four steps to live for God, or three ways to live in the Spirit. I am just going to give you one, repent. Repent daily. You see, when Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross he cried out it is finished. At the moment of his death the ground shook and the veil that separated the rest of the temple from the Holy of Holies was torn. Now, we have access to the Father. We, who have had our debt paid by the son, can now enter into the presence of the Father without fear. We can go on humbling ourselves in repentance for our sins and know that the price has been paid. We can have confidence that we will not be cast out. Instead of weeping for our sins we rejoice knowing that if we are faithful to confess, he is faithful to forgive us our sins, according to 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 (CSB)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So as we see the reconstruction of this temple, the mixed emotions by those who are there. May it stir our hearts to praise the one who has provided a way for us. May we run to the altar of God knowing that the father is waiting to forgive us and shower us with his love.