Faithful even in judgment

“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests ... and the Levites ... took their places to praise the Lord....  With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: ‘He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.’  And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.  But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud ... while many others shouted for joy.”  Ezra 3:10-13

When God judges, there are consequences.  When God forgives, there is restoration.

How many times have we experienced restoration ourselves?  More to the point, how many times do we need to test and prove God’s faithfulness to restore?

Israel had been in exile for over 50 years when God moved in the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to build a temple for him.  Obeying the God of his captives, Cyrus extended an open invitation to any of the Jews scattered throughout his realm to “go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel ...”  (Now, there’s a mission trip for you!)

Having first built an altar for worship and sacrifice, the volunteers then got to work on the temple.  And when its foundation was laid, there erupted great ... emotion.  All shouted praises to God, but it then quickly became a matter divergent perspectives.  To the younger folks, the completed foundation was hope strengthened, vision sharpened, for they who had never known a temple for the God of Israel could now see it becoming a new reality.  But those who had been around to see Solomon’s temple, long since destroyed, now “wept aloud.”

Why?  Why the weeping in the presence of promise and hope fulfilled?  Was it nostalgia, a wistful yearning for days gone by, a fond embrace of what they once knew?  Was it pent-up pain released in these aged souls born into freedom, that bright light then dimmed by oppression and captivity?

Or did these broken, now-wise souls agonize over the rebellion that brought judgment to Israel and Judah in the first place?  If only they had honored God’s law and kept their ways pure!  What could have been had they not hardened their hearts to his voice!  If only they had not tried to reduce God to a knock-off brand in a Devil Wears Prada world.  And compartmentalizing their God in the name of social relevance?  What were they thinking?

Restoration didn’t need to be, for judgment didn’t need to happen.  The temple didn’t have to be razed, nor its foundation destroyed.  As God said through his prophet, Isaiah, long before the exile:  “To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’  All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations – a people who continually provoke me to my very face ... (Isaiah 65:1b-3a)”  Had they only listened!

Today’s temples look a lot like you and me, for every believer is “a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19)”  And we temples are built on an immovable rock, “for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)”  We will not be razed; our foundation will not be destroyed.  Which is encouraging, because we stand out in a culture where people still pursue their imaginations and provoke God to his face.

Amid the chaos and confusion, above the shriek and the shrill, may our world hear unmistakably the clear, assuring voice of God calling from and through his temples, “Here am I, here am I.”

[Read today's lesson, Ezra 3:7-13, in NIV or The Message.]

Live and Learn

It is good to learn from past mistakes. That fact that any sufferings or difficulties we endured were not in vain, but taught us a lesson is a good thing. It would seem that for now, the exiles who returned to their homeland were starting off on a good note. They built an altar and began to worship God. They did not fall into their old habits; the ones that brought them to defeat.

They realized the importance of obeying God and loving him from the heart, not out of habit. They knew the previous 70 years of captivity were a result of their rebellious ways. They came to see their selfish and sinful hearts did not benefit them.

The returning Jews built an altar as one of their first official acts; symbolizing God's presence and protection. They did this before the new temple had been constructed.

Ezra 3:6 (NIV)
  On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD's temple had not yet been laid.  

Think of a lesson you learned the hard way.  Were there consequences even though you really did learn a lesson?  Probably.  Were they fun to go through?  No way!   A lesson learned is time well spent even if there were penalties involved.

We all learn from our mistakes, which is one reasons we allow our children some freedom as they venture through life.  We know they will not always do everything just right, but they will learn and grow from the experiences you allow them to have.

All the time the Israelite people were in captivity, God loved them. When we are feeling the brunt of our actions and weeding our way though whatever punishment doled out, God loves us too.  But He loves us too much to let us stay the way we are.

Ezra 3:1-6

The Story - Chapter 19 - Ezra 3

It seems we are getting off on the right foot this time.  The Jews built an altar for worship as one of their first official acts. They are ready to serve God alone, seeking only His guidance and wisdom.  When I begin my day in this manner, there is more promise before me, more enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

Ezra 3:3 (NIV)
^"Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices." 

Does verse three have your attention?  Who were these people the Jews feared?  Life Application Study Bible says, The Assyrians forced foreigners to resettle in the northern kingdom of Israel after the defeat, a common practice intended prevent future uprising by conquered peoples.  But, the Jewish people are faithfully moving forward with the plan to rebuild the temple.

Ezra 3:11 (NIV)
^"With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid."

There were mixed feelings as this plan was coming together.  Those who had seen the temple before its destruction realized it was not as stunning in appearance.  They mourned that loss.  But the others, those who only heard stories of the splendor and opulence felt joy at this accomplishment, but, "No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away." (Ezra 3:13)  

Today, I have to think about this last sentence.  I think there is more to these words than I am hearing right now.  Perhaps there is a mixed blessing, sort of the same feeling we have when we explain the reason for our tears.  The moment is experienced in different ways for different people. Our feelings are often attached to our experience and our perception of the moment.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

Read  Ezra 3 here

Listen to  Ezra 3 here