Ezra 3:8-13 – Progress with God, don’t be waylaid by regrets

In our previous discussion, in Ezra 3:7, we are told the Jews who had now gathered in Jerusalem ordered timbers from Lebanon for the rebuilding of the temple. And in the second month of the second year of their return, Ezra 3:8 says they began the work of rebuilding the temple. Led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, their brothers the priests and the Levites, and those who returned to Jerusalem started the rebuilding. Levites 20 years and above were appointed to oversee the work. The priests led by Jeshua together with his brothers stood with the Levites to supervise the workmen engaged in the rebuilding program.

Ezra 3:10-11 say that when the temple's foundation was laid, the priests fully robed in their priestly apparel with trumpets, and Levites, the sons of Asaph with cymbals, stood ready praising the LORD according to the direction that King David had done previously. They thankfully lauded the LORD saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.”

A segment of the people who had returned saw the foundation of the temple laid, and responded with a great shout of joy. However, among them, many of the older priests, Levites, and leaders of families who had seen the grandeur of the previous temple, began to weep amidst the shouts of joy. Ezra 3: 12 tells us that there was a mixture of the shouts of joy and the bellowing of the cries of sadness that their joy or sadness became indistinguishable. There was a mixture of emotions among the returnees.

Lesson: we need a proper perspective to understand what God is doing in our lives. Be realistic. Face each day as it comes. When we put our hope in God, we learn to look positively at what God can do through us. But when we pessimistically compare what we see now and our success in the past, we tend to become melancholic. Optimism gives hope, and pessimism brings reticence. Optimism can help us to be excited and zealous in God. We should neither glory in our past successes nor wallow in past failures and regrets. Both can stifle our progress. Be thankful for good past experiences but don’t be overladen with past failures and regrets. Learn from the past, repent, align, and move on. Take the attitude of Paul, who said in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Ezra 3:4-7 – The importance of returning to God’s Word

Having successfully restored the altar, and offered burning sacrifices continually, Ezra 3:4-7 said that the people now boldly celebrated the Feast of Booth or the Feast of Tabernacle. Obviously, it was allowed by both Jeshua and Zerubbabel. Hence the people must have allowed it. They did it according to what was laid down in the ordinance.

Ezra 3:5 states that three things were carried out which were clearly stipulated in  Leviticus  23:34-42. Firstly, there was the continual burnt offering; secondly, there was the celebration of the new moon and regular feasts and festivals; and thirdly they allow the people to bring in their freewill offering.  

Since the start of the seventh month, they had been offering their burnt offering even though the foundation of the temple was not as yet laid. As it was needful to collect materials for the rebuilding of the temple, Verse 7 said that “They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa….” They did all these with the permission of Cyrus king of Persia.

Verse 4 said explicitly “They celebrated the feast of the booth as it is written….” What took place as described in these verses resulted because of the people’s return to the word. It suggests that they obey the word and did according to what had been prescribed. Think about it, the Jew's predicament resulted because they departed from the instruction of God laid down in the Law and ordinances by Moses. Now we see a return to obeying the word.  These verses underscore the importance of the word of God in our lives. We not only need to be familiar with it so that we will know what God wants us to do. More than knowing the Word, we need to obey by doing it.  When we obey the Word, we abide and remain connected with Him. John 15:7  says if we abide in Jesus and His words abide in us, whatever we ask will be granted to us.  

 

Ezra 3:1-3 – Set each day right at the altar of God

We learned From Ezra 2 that when the people of God first returned from Babylon, they each were living in their own cities. After seven months Ezra 3:1 says that they gathered in unity in Jerusalem. We surmised from this that they only started work after seven months. We are not overstretching to think that were being cautious and did not want to stir up needless opposition or hostility from the non-Jews occupying Jerusalem.  This account for why they did not jump straight into the restoration of the temple. In life, wisdom dictates that caution should be exercised whenever we embark on something. There is always a need to survey the ground and know the condition better before launching one’s work. This best explains why they took seven months before starting work.

Ezra 3:2 reveals that Jeshua and his brothers who were priests as well as Zerubbabel and his brothers began the work of rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. As the law required, they then offered burnt offerings on it. They did it according to the Law that Moses the man of God had prescribed.  Ezra 3:3 said that they were terrified of the people occupying the land and this fear drove them to rebuild the altar on the foundation. The “foundation” is referring to the place where the old altar stood.

Why were they fearful? Bear in mind that though Persia was the dominant power, the occupiers of Jerusalem were still idolatrous Babylonians and hostile opposers who worship their gods. Yet despite their fear, the Jews went on to rebuild that altar. In life, some people can be so petrified by fear till they are frozen. Or they can so fearful that they are driven to their knees to seek the Lord. Obviously, the fear drove the returnees to seek to right their relationship with the Lord their covenant God. So they built the altar and on it, they offered burnt offerings  to Him day and night.

One lesson to take away. Notice that on the altar, they offer their burnt offering day and night. There is a need for us to come to the altar of God daily too. Why? Because we need to live consecrated life daily. It’s also because we need daily strength from God to deal with our daily encounters in life.  Besides, there is nothing like beginning right with God each day and then having Him guide us through each moment of life.   

Ezra 2:64-70 - Give cheerfully to the work of God

In Ezra 2:64, the number of the returnees from Babylon was said to be 42,360 besides 7,337 male and female slaves and 200 singing men and women. This would add up to 49,897. However, the number of people given in Ezra 2:3-58 add up to only 29,818. How to explain this shortage? Those not from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were not included in the total number. It could also be that non-descendants of Abraham whom the Jews married were not added. Verses 66 and 67 said that these returnees had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.  

Verses 68-69 speak of some leaders who were when they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem offered gold and silver toward the restoration of its foundation. According to their ability, they brought them to the treasury for the restoration of the temple foundation. The amount indicated in verse 69 was “ 61,000 gold drachmas and 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.” Verse 70 says that all of Israel including the priests. Levites, the people, the singers, gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their cities and not in Jerusalem.  

Some of the people who arrived at the temple were inspired to give to the work. so verses 68 said, "Some of the heads of fathers’ households when they arrived at the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to restore it on its foundation.” This shows us how willing were these people to give to the work of God. In advancing God’s work, finance is an important component. Everyone should play a part in advancing the kingdom. We give God our time and talent, but we must also be generous in contributing our finance. But when we give, we must give cheerfully and willingly. For God loves a cheerful giver.      

Ezra 2:59-63 – Be sure don’t just presume

Among those returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, Ezra 2:58-60 tell us that there was a group of 652 people whose ancestry they could not ascertain. They were from three families namely Dalaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda. Hence, their status as Jews was in question.

Similarly, among the priests, Ezra 2:61-63 said that they were also three families of priests whose names could not be traced in the ancestral registry. They were the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and Barzillai. Thus they were considered unclean and not allowed to conduct priestly functions. The governor then decided they could not partake of the holy food until a priest could ascertain their status with the Urim and Thummim.

Interestingly, verse 61 elaborated on how Barzilai got his name. He was said to have married a daughter of the famous Barzilai who helped King David during Absalom’s rebellion. He then took on the name of his father-in-law.

For continuity, they needed to be sure that all returnees had Jewish heritage. The same was also for the priesthood, they wanted to be sure those called to perform priestly functions truly qualified for their tasks. Ezra 2:59-63 imply that being a true Jew or priest was more important than just being presumed to be one. So they took the pain to ensure that one was a true Jew or a true priest.

One lesson to take away: Being a true Christian and a true disciple of Christ is more important than just presuming oneself to be one. It is important that our identity as a Christian and a disciple of Christ be affirmed by our character. The way we conduct ourselves will show whether we are genuine disciples of Christ or not. Let us seek to be genuine disciples of Christ and don’t just presume that we are one, without truly being one.  

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ezra 2:1-58 – God is aware of what’s happening to us

The whole second chapter of  Ezra 2 contains a list of names of God's people who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity. They are categorized into seven groups in verses 2 to 58. Firstly, a group of twelve leaders (verse 2); secondly a list of the men of Israel (verses 3-35); thirdly, the priests (36-39); fourthly, the Levites (verses 40-42);  fifthly, the temple servants (verses 43-54); sixthly, the sons of Solomon’s servants (verses 5-57); and seventhly a mixed and miscellaneous group of people (verses 59-60).

Zerubbabel was the first to be mentioned in the list of leaders. This is an indication that he was the one who led this first wave of returnees back to Jerusalem. Strangely, Sheshbazzar though he was said to be the prince of Judah in Ezra 1:8 & 11 was not mentioned in this list. It is believed that he could possibly be Zerubbabel who led this wave of returnees from exile.

Three lessons we can learn from this listing of names:   

1.   The LORD God has a precise plan, and purpose, for His people. He believes and knows precise detail accurately. It is so encouraging to know that we worship this God. This should reassure and inspire our desires to serve Him.   

2.   In God there is continuity. The well-kept ancestry of Israel tells us that nothing escapes His notice. In the same way, He saw everything that had happened to us and nothing can happen to us in the future that will be outside of His knowledge and plan. We can safely and securely trust Him to take care of our concerns in life.

3.  Unlike ours, God’s revelation is holistic. He saw the end from the beginning, and everything in-between as well. Whatever is happening in the world should not petrify or overwhelm us because our God is at the helm. Instead, it should drive us to pray more and commit even more to Him.   

 

Ezra 1:5-11 – The importance of restoring worship

Cyrus’ decree was for all his subjects, including those from Isreal (the Northern Kingdom) who survived the Assyrian captivity. But Ezra 1:5 tells that only those leaders from the household of Judah and  Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites responded. Again it was God who had moved the hearts of these people to respond to the call. As for those people among those who had responded Cyrus urged them to be encouraging those who had set their hearts to return to rebuild the temple. Ezra 1:6 they heeded Cyrus' words, and they encouraged those who had responded by contributing “…articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering.” We are accumst9med to a similar situation that happened to the people of God during the time of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt. When their forefathers left Egypt, they had lots of contributions of silver, gold, and jewelry from their neighbors. Lessons to be learned here: firstly, when God calls us to a mission, He will ensure our provision. Secondly, for those of us who may not be called to the mission, we can certainly generously support and finance those who are sent out.      

When Nebuchadnezzar raided Jerusalem, he seized articles from the house of the LORD there and brought them back, and put them in the house of his gods. In Ezra 1:7,  Cyrus had the treasurer Mithredath, brought those articles out to be counted before Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.  Ezra 1:8-10 then enumerated the articles. They comprised “30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates;  30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles.” We are told in verse 11 that “All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400.” All these were brought back to Jerusalem from Babylon by Sheshbazzar and those exiles returning to rebuild the temple.

The life of the people of God evolved around the worship of the LORD. Hence the temple was central to their lives. Thus rebuilding the temple was to be the first agenda for the returnees. because the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar had left the temple in ruin. For us believers today, our lives must also revolve around worship. This being true, each one of us must ask: How is the altar of my life? Is it intact? If not, what are the things that are causing my worship to be in this state? Will I pay the price to rebuild it? There is no cost too big to have our worship with God restored. Make sure to do anything and everything needed to rebuild it. We need it more than anything in life.