00A.03 Ezra 3
Ezra 3:1-13 The first day of the 7th month was a significant date. According to Numbers 29:1, this was the time of the feast of trumpets. In fact, we find three feasts are relevant to this chapter:
the feast of trumpets (Ezra 3:1 - compare with Leviticus 23:24)
the feast of new moons (Ezra 3:5), and
the feast of tabernacles (Ezra 3:4).
It is beautiful to see the significance of these feasts. Wonderful unity is displayed, all the people gather together in Jerusalem on the first day of the seventh month. This is exactly the meaning of the feast of trumpets. It foreshadows a time when the people of Israel, now dispersed all over the globe, will be gathered together again.
Second, there was the feast of the new moon at the beginning of that month. Oh, how the moon of Israel had ceased shining during the 70 years of captivity. What sort of testimony had they given? God had brought them out of Egypt to the Promised Land, and they left Him and gave themselves up to idolatry. But now, we have a new beginning. It is not yet the time of the full moon, but a thin stripe appears on the firmament - the new moon (Psalms 81:3).
Finally, the feast of tabernacles is celebrated (Ezra 3:4). This was a feast of joy. It involved dwelling in huts made of fresh twigs and leaves. It was impossible, of course, to celebrate this feast in the wilderness. Where should they have obtained the fresh branches in the desert? Clearly, it was a feast that was connected with the land of Canaan. And this joy of the land is restored to them. Even today, God wants to grant us a revival of our heavenly position: seated with Christ in heavenly places - are we enjoying the feast of tabernacles in this way?
It is interesting that the first thing the returned remnant did was not to build themselves houses, or to build a big city wall, not even to rebuild the temple. Their very first priority was to rebuild the altar (Ezra 3:2). Building the altar speaks of the recovery of worship. How empty their lives must have been in Babylon, without altar, without sacrifices for their God, and without worship. And again, this is a feature of revival, and God wants to restore this today to anyone who has lost the privilege of worship. In Christendom, as noted earlier, many have replaced worship meetings through performances and so forth but it is still possible today to approach the Father, and to speak to Him of the things concerning Christ which we have learned to appreciate.
Note another feature of this revival: the repeated confirmation that everything was done according to the Word of God:
their aim was to offer burnt offerings ’as it is written’ (Ezra 3:2)
they celebrated the feast of tabernacles ’as it is written’ (Ezra 3:4)
they offered daily sacrifices ’according to the ordinance’ (Ezra 3:4)
and even their worship is conducted according to the old pattern ’after the ordinance of David, king of Israel’ (Ezra 3:10)
What is needed among the people of God today is not so much innovation, but a return to the fundamental principles which were there from the beginning, a return to the Scriptures (although this may well be an innovative idea to us if we have got used to traditions or to types of ’worship’ that aim to please people, not God). If there is a genuine revival it will be marked by the discovery of the Scriptures (Josiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc.). Not that the Scriptures could not have been known before, but through negligence they had been forgotten. The altar was set ’upon its bases’ (Ezra 3:3). There was only one place where the altar could be, according to the mind of God. It was where Abraham had offered his son Isaac (this is how God viewed it, Hebrews 11:1-40), the threshing floor of Ornan where the judgement was halted after David’s sin (1 Chronicles 21:15-18; 2 Chronicles 3:1), and the place where around 550 years after the time of Ezra 3:1-13, the ultimate sacrifice would be offered.
Setting up the altar in its place was the right thing to do, but why was it a good defence strategy? It says "they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries". The only protection of this weak remnant (without army, city wall, etc.) was full confidence in the God Whom they built the altar.
It is beautiful to see that they began on the very first day with their sacrifices (Ezra 3:6). There were continual sacrifices and also free will offerings. The beginning was made. They had an altar, but not yet a temple, not even the foundation. But their generosity extended to the preparations for the building of the house as well (Ezekiel 3:7). At the same time, the remnant humbly relied on the decree made by the heathen king Cyrus. In the second year, the Levites were appointed, the building work started, and finally the foundation of the Temple was laid. What a recovery God had granted! After 70 years in exile, they had now recovered worship (the altar) and the foundation for the Temple was laid. There was singing, there was praise for God. But at the same time there was weeping. So much so that ’the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people’.
How could this be, and who was right? The younger ones were shouting for joy because they saw what God had recovered to them. But the older ones, who remembered the magnificence of the Temple of Solomon, were saddened by the comparison of what they saw now with that which had been in the old days. Are not both feelings justified in their place? Considering the glorious beginning of the church on the day of Pentecost, thinking of the thousands converted then, and the powerful testimony of the early believers (Acts 2:1-47, Acts 3:1-26, Acts 4:1-37), are we not saddened by what we see today? On the other hand, we have the right and duty to take account of the things God has recovered to us. There is much ruin, fewness of numbers, etc, but the altar is there (we can worship), the new moon is there (we can give some light), the feast of Tabernacles is there (we have a heavenly position to enjoy), and the foundation of the house of God is there (we can gather to the Lord’s name). Truths which had been forgotten about for centuries have been re-discovered from God’s Word, e.g.
- the truth of the rapture - the truth of the unity of the body of Christ - the distinction between Israel and the church - the literal interpretation of Old Testament prophecies
- etc.
Bearing this in mind, there is indeed cause for joy, even today.
Years later, Haggai confirmed the merits of both, weeping and rejoicing. On the one hand, he said regarding the current building in progress ’is it not as nothing before your eyes’ (Haggai 2:3). On the other hand, he pointed out that this same house would be filled with greater glory than the first (Haggai 2:7 - New Translation). The millennial glory of the temple would exceed that of Solomon, and in God’s eyes there is only one house of God. Likewise, the future glory of the assembly (Revelation 21:1-27, Revelation 22:1-21) will exceed its first glory in the days of the Acts. And the weak testimony we see today is identified with this church which Christ will present glorious unto Himself.