Day 203: Ezra 3- First Thing First

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.
 
Rebuilding the Temple
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. 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.
 
 
Meditation
What is the first step of restoration, resettling, and renewal? Restoring right worship of God.
 
Before the materials for rebuilding the temple arrived (7) the people built an altar to offer burnt offerings.  Abraham had done the same thing upon entering the promise land for the first time (Genesis 12:17). The altar represents the place where God meets with His people (Exodus 29:43). The returned exiles sought to set the altar “in it’s place” (3) “as it was written” (2,4). Obedience to God’s word is a right response to the restored presence of God.
 
The materials for the temple arrived from other nations (7), harkening back to king Solomon building the first temple (2 Chronicles 2:10, 15) and offering a taste of the future restoration when the wealth of nations will flow “into the bountiful place of God’s sanctuary” (Isaiah 60:11, 13).  As soon as the foundation of the temple is laid, using these materials, worship commences.  The occasion is celebrated with singing Psalm 136 (11) and marked with both shouting and weeping (12-13).
 
We have THE firm foundation on which to commence worship.  Jesus is the cornerstone that establishes His spiritual house of worship (1 Peter 2:4-6).  We are that spiritual house.  How much greater should our joy overflow in shouts of worship, that Jesus laid down His life in order to lay the foundation for our life, when we put our faith in Him alone!
 
We must restore worship in and through Jesus Christ as the “first thing” of redeeming the crisis and restoring our land.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why is worship central to the restoration of God’s presence and the experience of God’s promises for His people?
 
-What does it look like for you to restore right worship with the Lord through the person and work of Jesus? What do you need to remove and where do you need to repent?
 
-Singing, shouting, and weeping are associated with the restoration of worship and the temple. Take time today to shout or sing the words of Psalm 136 in the passage: “For He is good! For His steadfast love endures forever towards His people!”
 
Key Verse
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. 

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