Ezra

Do you remember the people have completed building the altar?   Today in Ezra 3:8-13 we learn about the building of the foundations of the temple. 

 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. 9 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.
10 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. 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. 12 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, 13 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.

In the first part of this passage we find a lot of organization going on. Zerubbabel and Jeshua made a beginning of it all.  They appointed the adult Levites to watch over the work on the house of the Lord.  Then Jeshua along with Kadmiel and their male family members supervised the workmen in the house of God.   Busy people keeping other folks on track with what needed to be done. 

These men were all very busy working that it didn’t take long and the foundations for the temple were laid.  The priests came out with their trumpets, the Levites with their cymbals… praising the Lord.  They sang a song of Praise “for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel“.

Can you just see their excitement?   

The first step is done!  The foundations are laid, that hard, back-breaking work of laying it all out, clearing away rubble and uneven ground is FINISHED!!!   Praise the Lord!!!!

But along with the joy, along with the praise, was the sound of weeping. This weeping done by the old men who knew what the first house of the Lord had looked like. Knowing this was a poor substitute.  They wept with the knowing.  So with the joy, was sorrow mixed in. 

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. 12 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, 13 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.

I can almost hear it you know?  The shout for joy that ran across the land…a sound so loud you could hear it from miles away.  And if I had listened closely, the weeping, the sorrow would have been known as well. Oh that sorrow, that longing for what once was.  

It happens you know?

It happens that great things can happen, you can see the Lord at work, and at the same time have immense sorrow.  Joy doesn’t take the sorrow away, but it does mingle with it, making it indistinguishable.  God is still seen at work, helping his people, in through their sorrow. Helping them see the promise of a new start.  It’s a good thing eh?   To have that promise?  Otherwise we could get so lost in the pain, and that’s not a good thing is it?

This passage reminds me of that eh?  To see the past, to recognize it for what it is, but to also see GOD at work NOW.  Right now.  To see the saving he does, to see the help he offers, to rejoice in hard work accomplished, and the promise of a new day to come.  WOOT WOOT!  🙂

 

Today we are reading from Ezra 3:1-7.  You can read the rest of this series here. 

When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 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. 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. 4 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, 5 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. 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. 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.

The seventh month came, so the people gathered together.  Their purpose?  To build the altar.  This Altar was dedicated to the God of Israel.

This altar became the spot for burnt offering, the feast of tabernacles, regular offerings, the offerings of the new moon and all the different feasts of the Lord.   This altar, the altar of the Lord, the central focus of the people. 

This they built even before the foundation of the temple was laid.

Why did they build it?  “For fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands“.

You know I read those words… and I can totally see the mix of emotions in the people.  The fear mixed with awe.  The fear of their neighbours because they had no wall to defend them, but oh… to have that central part of who they are back… to be able to worship God and give sacrifices to him again… that joy and wonder and awe and fear all mixed together.     Just set back and think of how it would have been.

That sense to, of a first accomplishment, to know they were truly back, and the work was underway.  

They didn’t forget their primary purpose though, because we read this: But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 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.  The king of Persia (Cyrus) had given them money or goods to use in trade, and so they used it for the purpose intended.  The city of the Lord would be rebuilt, the temple would stand again! 

God was in their midst again, sacrifices and offerings could be made.  The fear was real, but so was their faith in God. So their joy must have been great!  (don’t you think?  or do you think I am reading something into the passage that doesn’t belong?)  I just have a hard time seeing the continued sacrifices as only a result of fear, there would have been joy in that too right?  The feast of tabernacles is a time of remembering all that the Lord had done for them in the past… a remarkable remembering… there HAD to be joy in that.  I look at my own life and see what God has done and there is joy in that remembering.  God did so much more for the people of Israel than in my short life…so much more to remember and celebrate.  Don’t you think?

So yes, fear was a motivator…but the celebrations were great.

I sit here and think you know…how easy it is to let fear be a motivator, how easy it is to just sit and mope within that. But the Israelites didn’t do that.. and neither should we.  Remember what God has done.  Celebrate that.  Have your own feast of Tabernacles bringing to mind all he has done. See the goodness of the Lord.

Today we are looking at Ezra 2.   Rather than type out the entire chapter, I thought I’d share an audio version for you.  🙂

 

Do you remember that Cyrus, king of Persia had issued a proclamation that a house was to be built for the Lord in Jerusalem?   And those of the people who wished to return could and there were those who did so.  They were sent on their way with “30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels;  all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400“.

In today’s chapter we learn about the people who went.  There were a lot of them. 🙂  I’m seriously not going to go through all the numbers.  The people who came didn’t just go generally to Jerusalem, but to the towns they came out of.    The men came (assuming with their families), the Levites came, the temple workers, Solomon’s servants, the priests, the singers, and the gatekeepers.   All these people answered the call, the proclamation that the house of the Lord be built. 

I am sure that if I knew the houses and lines of the people of Israel intimately all these names would make sense and would mean something.  Kinda like I can talk with mom about dutch people in the reformed church and she’ll go “oh, I know them and that one and… that’s interesting.” but if I talk about the same people with someone outside of the Dutch tradition and I get blank stares.    KNOWING family history, KNOWING a people’s history, helps you to know the intimate details which helps lists like this make more sense. 

In lieu of me understanding these intimate details, all I can say is …that’s a goodly amount of people.  I wonder what percentage that was of the entire group.  But all these people, they heard God’s Call through Cyrus’ proclamation and they up and left.  Taking with them needed supplies, including animals.

 

 

So I’ve been trying to figure out what book of the bible to do next.  I’ve done two New Testament books, so hubby suggested I work on an Old Testament one, but which he had no suggestions.  …Just choose something short eh!  🙂   I thought about Job since I’m listening to to study on him, but thinking Ezra maybe instead.  

Today let’s embark on Ezra 1.

 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever 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 rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

The Lord had a plan that he had set in place through Jeremiah.  So that plan would come to fruition, Cyrus, in the first year of his reign made a proclamation.

This proclamation was also put down in writing. I’m guessing that was important.  If you have something to say just say it.. but in those days if you wanted it remembered you needed to have it written down.  This proclamation was written down.

That proclamation:  The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever 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 rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Now Cyrus… was the king of Persia right?

Do you notice what he does here?  He acknowledges God!  He is aware that God has given him the power that he has.  And tells us this “God told him to build in a house in Jerusalem”.  He is not only to build it, but to let the people GO there (to Jerusalem in Judah) who wanted to help build the house.  These travellers are to be assisted on their way with money, goods and critters.  Freewill offerings for The house of the Lord should be sent with them.  

I don’t know why…cause I know God can do as he wishes… but it surprises me that God would arrange for Cyrus to do this.  🙂   I know… I shouldn’t be, but I am. 🙂  This secular king… heedful of God.  Just sits with me.

Anyways, the rest of the chapter tells us that people rose up.  Got ready to go.  They were aided in their journey.  So the proclamation had a good end result. 

I know I’m being shorter than I often am with my devotions… but honestly I’m sick.  I’m tired.  but I also wanted to spend some quiet time with the Lord.  Glad you were able to join me.  🙂