And So It Begins...

Seek unified obedience in submission to God for His glory, not a good luck charm.

Ezra 3:1 “When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.”

Unified initially, after they’ve made it to their own towns, meeting together in Jerusalem.

Where once the people had been scattered in judgment, now God reunites them in His mercy.

Unity is no small matter in Scripture. Later, the people will be gathered in unity when Ezra expounds the Word of God, Jesus prayed for His followers to be unified with Him and the Father, the people were gathered together in unity when the Spirit descended in Acts, and Paul commands the people to protect unity. Why do we treat it with such passe?

Ezra 3:2 “Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they 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.”

Jeshua is a priest and Zerubbabel from the line of David. Is it unrealistic to expect this to read or to have been experienced in the context of messianic overtones? I think it should read as messianic expectations running high.

An altar was some type of structure where offerings and sacrifices could be made to gods. Many times these altars were made of stone. Jeshua and Zerubbabel built this altar for the sake of making burnt offerings, and their desire is to obey the Law of Moses.

It seems the restoration of worship is at the forefront of Israel’s endeavors.

Exod.20:25 “If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.” and Deut.27:6 “you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God,” are in mind here. There is even the evidence of grace in the uncut stones, for even the things which God commands and expects from His people, He also perfectly provides. If an altar is needed, an altar perfectly provided by the Lord can/will be built.

Ezra 3:3 “They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.”

The word for fear here refers to a terror inspired either by other humans (Pr.20:2) or by animals (Job 39:20).

The returning remnant has quickly forgotten how YHWH has provided and led them to this moment. As is often the case, it is so easy to become “grace amnesiacs,” quickly forgetting what the Lord has done. So, it is with the fear of others burning in their mind that they make haste to complete the altar.

Burnt offerings were completely consumed by fire; nothing was left to be eaten by the priests. It is symbolic of being totally devoted to God and completely accepted by God.

Ezra 3:4-5 “And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord.”

The Feast of Booths or “Festival of Shelters” or “Feast of Tabernacles” was a harvest festival that commemorated Israel’s sojourn and God’s provision in the wilderness.

There seems to be here an intentional link between Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness and YHWH’s provision, and Israel’s sojourn in captivity and God’s faithful provision for their return.

The Feast of Booths was used by Solomon at the dedication of the original temple, and Hezekiah observed the celebration as part of his reformation. This seems significant given the fact that the response of the people mirrors the celebrations when Solomon completed the temple and Hezekiah brought reform. See notes on 10-11 and the peoples’ celebration.

Freewill offerings were also made. Some people responded not only with what was required, but with a freewill expression of gratitude as well.

At this point, it seems Israel is diligent to obey the Word of the Lord. What is unclear, especially given the context, is whether they are keeping the Law out of genuine devotion to God or fear of judgment and removal from the land again. After all, vs.3 notes their fear of the peoples of the lands, but makes no mention of the fear of the Lord.

Further, there seems to be an aspect of Israel’s past failure creeping in already. Jeremiah 7:1-15 shows how Israel lived how they wanted to live and only treated the temple as a sort of good luck charm. Their mantra was This is the temple of the LORD, but God warned them that those words were deceptive (Jer.7:4). Jesus even quoted from this portion of Jer. when cleansing the temple (Jer.7:11). Is Israel falling in to the same trap as before? Is this not an attempt to sway YHWH through self-righteous practices? There is a reminder that we can get the actions right and the motivations be completely off base.

What about us? Do we treat obedience as a sort of good luck charm?

Remember the steadfast love of God that remains faithful even when we are fickle.

Ezra 3:6 “From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.”

Notice this seemingly odd note. In the midst of all of the conversation about worship being restored, Ezra reminds us that the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. The Talmud instructed that special permission was need for these offerings to be made because Lev.17:3-4 forbade sacrifices from happening outside of the temple.

Is the Talmud trying to correct that action in retrospect? There is no Urim and Thummim here too determine God’s will on the matter. Is this another hint that even while returning, things are not “perfect?”

Ezra 3:7 “So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.”

This should bring to mind the building of the original temple, because Solomon had done the same thing.

As salvation history progressed, Isaiah prophesies (Isa.35:2 - “The glory of Lebanon shall be give to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.”) concerning the “glory of Lebanon.” Will this generation of Israelites see this glory (a similar idea also appears in Haggai 2:9)?

There are intentional inclusions to make the reader think of the the original temple. We should look for those similarities, and pay special attention whenever the narrative deviates!

Ezra 3:8 “Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord.”

Here is another connector to the original temple. Solomon began construction on the original temple in the second month (1 Kings 6:1).

Originally, the age limit for the Levites was thirty (Num.4:3) or twenty-five (Num.8:24). Why the lowering of the age? It could be because so few Levites returned from exile.

However, it seems legitimate to ask -- at what point does pragmatism cause a problem theologically? Throughout the record, there is a tension between what should be and what actually is. The Israelites seem to be doing the best they can, but are continue missing the mark in some way or another. In this, there is grace that is certainly evident, but the narrative is also being driven beyond what is taking place in Ezra’s day.

Ezra 3:9-10 “And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel.”

This seems reminiscent of when David celebrated the preparations being made for the Solomon to build the temple.

The laying of the foundation is somewhat analogous to what Solomon did in 2 Chr.3, prefigures Jesus’s body as a temple in Jn.2:19-21, the church as the temple of God in Matt.16:18, 1 Cor.3:16, and 1 Pet. 2:5, and looks forward to the new temple of Rev.21:9-22:5.

The scene in 1 Ch.16:4-6, when David brings the ark into Jerusalem, shows the Levites giving thanks while the priests blew trumpets.

Ezra 3:11 “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever 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.”

The word “good” isn’t just a common term of praise or approval. It’s rooted in the creation account, speaking of the pleasure of a Creator who rejoices in what He has made. It is this Creator who is also rich in steadfast love. The word is chesed and characterizes YHWH’s divine, covenantal love toward Israel, a love that is unchanging in its “faithfulness in spite of the poverty and fickleness of the human response.”

This note of refrain has been hinted at throughout the opening chapters of Ezra, and here it is stated plainly. I believe, given the full context of Ezra-Nehemiah, and given the prophesies of Haggai and Zechariah and their note of unfulfilled expectations (an invitation to consider how the story plays out), we are to understand not a full fulfillment of all that Jeremiah prophesied. Rather, we should see the gracious steadfast love of God toward His people even in the midst of their continued struggles with disobedience and God moving salvation history toward its fulfillment in Jesus. Oh the grace of God that is evident, His kindness that is meant to lead us to repentance (Rom.2:4), even in times like the Israelites were in.

This verse is the CLIMAX of chapter three, and the verses following, which should serve as the denouement, actually do not resolve the chapter, but leaves the reader only with more questions.

There was a great ceremony that marked the dedication of Solomon’s temple. There was a glorious celebration when Hezekiah cleansed the temple. Here, the work is just beginning, and the people praise God.

Continually pursue God’s will, refusing to exchange “best” for “good.”

I can’t help but wonder...both Solomon’s and Hezekiah’s celebrations came when the work was done. Here, the people are celebrating for just starting the work. Sure, there is something to be celebrated when you are repairing the temple that had laid in ruins for seventy years, a temple that was meant to be the center of worship but was unattended to because disobedience led to exile, but it seem premature. Could this be what will eventually fuel the complacency of working on their own homes while the house of the Lord still lays in ruin (see Haggai 1:4 - “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”)?

Ezra 3:12-13 “But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.”

The obvious question here is why did some, specifically those who had seen the first house, weep? Make no mistake about it, these were not tears of joy. The word used here denotes freely crying due to sadness or distress.

There is a fascinating realism about this passage. On the one hand, there is ecstatic praise come from some. Yet on the other hand, there is a lamenting weep. The assembly that was first gathered together in unity, as one man (Ezra 1:1), is now showing signs of tension.

Further, the scene seems to resemble a moment of chaos rather than a unified chorus of praise. I’m reminded of Paul’s logic when discussing tongues and prophecy in 1 Cor.14, and he notes how worship should be orderly because “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” When you also add to the picture Haggai 2:9b, “And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts,” the scene becomes all the more puzzling. While some scholars are puzzled on the odd ending of chapter three, it seems rather clear that we are still looking forward.