Ezra chapters 1-6 (part 2)

Now, we're going to step down to the end of this chapter. You'll notice those references to going up, or references to up. When it's the work of God in the heart of this king, the Lord stirred up.

When it's the word to this king, or from this king, let him go up. When it's the will of those who heard this proclamation, verse number five, then rose up. Verse number 11, we get the wealth that they had, and they gave it.

Verse number 1 of chapter 2, we have the way of those who returned, and now they went up out of captivity. One of the things I'd mention before coming to verses 5 through verse number 11 is this. You'll notice what Cyrus did.

He made a proclamation. That means this, he sent heralds through the land, and as the heralds went through the land, they came to some of those locations where the Jewish people were living, and they proclaimed it, but he did more than that. He actually put it in writing.

You say, why is that? Why is that even mentioned here? Because you see, before we get to chapter 6, this is going to be questioned, and one of the things that's formative and foundational is this. The law of the Median Persians, it alters not. Now this has been placed into writing.

Having been placed into writing, it's been put into the storehouse. God has it in writing for a future day that this land belongs to them, and they can go back. Now, we don't.

Let me just say this. We can't agree with everything Israel is doing today. Israel is in the land without the Lord.

We have to keep that in mind. So what Israel is doing presently in the land without the Lord, it's a people in apostasy. We can't agree with everything they are doing, but beloved saints, the Old Testament, it affirms some of those passages like Leviticus 25, Leviticus 26.

The land has been given to them in stewardship. This passage, a heathen king, he's going to acknowledge the land belongs to them. God has given it to them.

So we keep that in our minds, that the Bible has given the legal mandate that this land has been given to this people. So now in verse 5, we have two tribes mentioned, Judah and Benjamin, then we have the Levites and the priests, and all whose spirit God raised up to go build, and so on. So again, just a portion of the whole nation, right? Now, it was a move of God.

It was a spiritual movement of God for recovery of testimony to his name. Now, how would that apply to assemblies and assembly testimony? I'm thinking historically. So we have principles historically, Brother William, that this not only has happened here with regard to the nation of Israel, but God has actually done this historically when it comes to assembly testimony.

God worked, and as God was working, there was man of wherewithal, there was man of knowledge. God worked with them. Along with them, there were priestly men, there were men who were servants, and they themselves went up to establish something for the glory of God.

And we, we are in their debt. We have to admit today that when it comes to assembly life, we are standing on the shoulders of giants. The big thing is this, we could lose it, and we need to be very careful with that.

We need to be just very careful with the privileges that God has given us from a former generation. Now, we don't want to speak about losing it, we want to speak about gaining it. Here we're in recovery mode, and we want to get that focus as we move on.

The interesting thing is Cyrus, then he gives a great deposit. You'll notice that we've mentioned here the atmosphere historically, the change of empires, the awakening nationally. That's what our brother William has touched in verse number five.

And then the accountability personally, because what Cyrus does is, he brings forth some of the vessels that had been taken from the sanctuary. They had been taken down with the nation in 586 BC, they had been placed into the temple of Marduk, which was in Babylon, and there they were in the temple. Now, Cyrus, he gives the edict, he proclaims it, he gives it in writing, and now they're bringing the vessels back as they are coming back, back to the sanctuary of God.

Perhaps, John, you could just say something about the conditions they were leaving, and why this was such a, this was such a sacrifice, actually. The conditions that they were leaving in Babylon, and they were going to, and it's because of the place of the name. Excellent, that's very helpful.

We get the idea that when they were going back to this land, we have the idea that they're coming back to the land of Israel as it is today. That's not the case. It was a province.

It was a province of Persia at that stage. At that point, it was divided into four. At the top of the land of Israel, it was governed by Syria, and from Syria, then, there was government by Samaria.

Then, at the bottom of the land, it was a portion that was given to Edom, or I Jemeah, and here are these people coming back, and they're coming back to a very small part. You say, how big was it? It's estimated that it was approximately 20 miles by 20 miles. Some of our brethren have called it postage stamp.

You say, why would they ever come back? They're leaving Babylon. I mean, think of everything they have in Babylon. You think of the alluvial plains of Babylon.

There's been three generations in Babylon. They have established wealth in Babylon. They're doing well.

Prosperity is abounding in Babylon, and now they're being called back, and they're going to leave all of that prosperity, and they're going to leave some of their family members, and they're going to leave people who are telling them that they're crazy to go back to this place. The reason why they're going is this. This is the place.

This is the place of the name. This is where the Lord's presence is, and it's God who is calling them back, back from Babylon. As far as the people going back, in verse 3, was there any limit to the number that could go back? No.

Right, so I think that's important, and we're going to read now of the willing heart, and the free will, and all these aspects of the heart of the individual. So the whole nation could have had the opportunity to go back. So there's revelation from God, Brother Brandon.

The revelation of God has been made known. The revelation of God in the Scriptures is clear for everyone to see. God has moved the heart of a heathen king to change.

The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. He's moved all those circumstances. The proclamation has reached them.

Who there is willing, go, go. We'll give you. He's actually going to give them, going to make sure that there's funds for them, a free will offering.

Verse number 4, there's going to be beasts that they're going to be able to take up for sacrifice. All of these things, some of their neighbors are going to give them. He's going to make sure the vessels are given to them, so that sacrifice can be resumed, so that sanctuary worship, everything's in order.

And the thing that is depending on now is this, who's going to go. Now that's what, that's the crux of it here, beloved saints. In these Bible readings, we will miss everything.

We've touched dates, and we've touched some of those things that need to be touched. But what we need to touch this Saturday morning is this, who is willing to put their best into the service of God in this generation? We're looking at young men, young women here across this audience, and the focus is on us in this era of assembly testimony to be willing, as they were willing, to go back to the place of the name. So the other, the other thing is, you've got three layers then.

You've got the foundation, the voice, the Word of God, the drawing power of the Spirit of God. Good. You've got exercise then that has to be borne out in the hearts of the people.

And many of them were very casual. They were comfortable back and back in there, right? They had built houses, they had planted, they had it made, right? And it's very affluent in a sense. But the last thing is, they had to be willing to work.

And that's the other thing, work. And that is what we don't want to do, right? And they had all the resources, and I was appreciating that, looking at this, because I hear people say, assemblies, you know, there's no gift, there's no resources, there's no, we're not talking about now physical resources, because an assembly must have spiritual power, right? So all these things were present. But when those things were present, Frank, that you've just mentioned, then we noticed there were precious things recovered.

There was gold and silver and so on, and the vessels of the house of the Lord. Now when that applies to us, when there's that spiritual exercise, when there's reliance upon God, prayer, the Word of God, precious things will be recovered, right? Very good. Now, one of the problems that has come up is this, that actually there's a list of some of these precious things.

This is the number of them, 30 chargers of gold, verse number 9, a thousand chargers of silver, 9 and 20 knives, 10 or 30 basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, 410. And then we come to verse number 11, all the vessels of gold and silver were 5,400. You get some of the skeptics of the Bible and they say, but look, sure the numbers don't add up.

The numbers weren't intended to add up. All that God has done is this, He's given an indication of what was being brought back. He's given some of the sort, some of the kind of the vessels that is being returned.

And as He gives the indication of some of the different things that are being returned, then He gives the total of everything that was brought back, that's just at the end of verse number 11. One of the most interesting things to notice is this, God notices the smallest detail. See in assembly life, God notices the smallest detail.

There's sisters here, and there's sisters in this Bible reading this morning, and they're thinking, the brethren don't know, they don't notice what I do, the Lord does. You say, where do you see the smallest detail here? Just look at verse number 9, 9 and 20 knives. You say, whoever counts the knives? Do you count the knives in assembly life? Well, the Lord counted them here when it was the sanctuary.

He was going to make sure that every single detail is noted, and it's a wonderful thing as these people are coming back. I was desperate, brother John, to ask you about the spiritual significance of the 29 knives. I was in my mind before you even raised it.

I think the point is this, 280 verses, is it in the book of Ezra? And something like 111 of them are full of names and registers and catalogs of individuals, people, or bits of silver or knives. And the point you've just made is this, if God cares about 29 knives, and I know it's stewardship, but if God cares about that, he cares about us as individuals. They're not used to cut one another up.

None of that stuff in assembly life. Even in the tabernacle, the Moriahites, who were responsible for the framework, they had to count the pegs, the tent pegs. Every tent peg had to be accounted for.

So I take it from that, that God is interested in the details of assembly testimony, not just in what we do, that's a very valid application, but the details of the pattern that he has given, I use the word advisedly, in his word regarding the assembly. But also that he doesn't want anything lost. That's the point.

That will come out actually when we get to Brother Dan's reading later on this afternoon. Now, we are going to have to move on here. I've just taken a look at the time.

We're moving into chapter 2, just a slight overview of chapter 2. Chapter 2 is a list, and it's a list of those who returned. There's another list that actually corroborates this in the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 7. The interesting thing about it is this, this list divides into a number of sections. You'll get verse number 2, we get the princes, and the Lord notices the princes that returns.

Then when you're in verse 3 through verse number 35, you'll notice the people. The greatest number of verses here is actually just taken up with the ordinary people who returned, because the Lord has his eye on just the ordinary people as much as the princes. Then from verse number 36 of chapter 2 to verse number 42, we get the priests and their partners.

Priests, Levites, and porters. Then from verse number 43 to verse number 58, we get the Nethanam, the servants, and the children of Solomon's servants, those who persevered in service. And then at the end of chapter 2, you will notice that there's a list of those, and they couldn't provide their genealogy.

And it's not so much the princes, or the people, or the priests, or their partners, or those who persevered. It was the pedigree that was called into question. And so that's a list of the people that is coming back.

But keep in mind, one of the things that the Lord wants us to note is this, he has taken note of everyone that's associated with his testimony. So would there be a pattern there in relation to those priests that couldn't prove their genealogy, that in times of ruin, there needs to be reality to those that would profess to be part of God's priesthood? Good, very good. So there has to be reality.

One of the things in assembly life that is most necessary is this, that when it comes to reception, it's those who are born again, those who can prove genealogy that's clear on our priests according to what the Bible teaches. Brother Frank. I was just going to say that it's interesting, there are about 12 times more priests that return than Levites.

So it would seem that most of the Levites remain back in Babylon. What's the reason for that, practically? Well, they're the ones that are going to shoulder the work, right? That's part of it, I would say. Could I suggest another thing, Frank, is this, they understood what was their portion in the nation.

Their portion in the nation was actually to be scattered and they were dependent financially on the people. Now here they are in Babylon, and they're going to leave Babylon, and when they leave Babylon, they're coming back to 20 miles, 20 miles. There's hardly anything there.

They'll have to farm the land, they'll have to plant the land, they'll have to reap from the land, and there's nothing that's going to be given for there. Now in that, I wonder if it wasn't just a spirit of covetousness. Should we leave here with all of that? Who's going to look after our financial needs? I wonder if that doesn't play into it.

It seemed, though, that when they left, the people who remained back to almost appease their conscience gave generously. So I wonder maybe that isn't, but the Levites had no inheritance in the land either, right? So here they're going back to land. It's going to be total work, total ethic, right? Very good.

Now, I think when you come to Nehemiah toward the end there, the Levites did go back to their own farms. Right. So your point is valid that they were being starved out.

So there's an expansion when we get to your section, but the expansion isn't seen just here yet, and I wonder. Now, one of the interesting things, and we will leave chapter 2 if we can. The interesting thing is, you see in verse number 2, there's 11 names.

You say, that's a pity. Pity there wasn't 12. You see, when you get to Nehemiah chapter 6, or sorry, Nehemiah chapter 7, and verse number 7, the 12th name is given.

And so the interesting thing is, that even though they might not have been one from each tribe, God gives 12, because He has in view the completeness of the nation of Israel in His mind. And there's a man, his name is Nehemiah, and he's mentioned for us in Nehemiah chapter 7 and verse number 7. Now, anything on chapter 2, and we step into 3. Very quickly, sure. Verse 63.

Yes, good. Who is this gentleman? The Tershatha. So, the Tershatha that is mentioned here in verse number 63, that simply means the governor.

And so, it's actually a title that is going to be given to Nehemiah as well, when we step into the book of Nehemiah. The problem that arises in the book of Ezra is this. Who is the governor? Is it Zerubbabel? Or is it Shesh-Bazar? Or are Shesh-Bazar and Zerubbabel the same man? Whatever way we handle those questions, the one thing that is clear in chapter 2 is this.

There was a governor, and he had administrative authority. And so, one of the things we will notice is this. That when they come back from Babylon, full administrative authority and full administrative accountability was given into the hands of these men.

Zerubbabel and Joshua had full accountability from the king of Medo-Persia. When we get to Ezra, he's exactly the same in Ezra chapter 7. When we step into the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 2, direct administrative authority was given into the hands of these men from the highest authority in the kingdom at that time, right from Cyrus himself. The main thing is, the advice that he gave, that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with the Urim and Thummim.

That's verse 63. So the Urim and Thummim were items that indicated the mind of God, right? So there was discernment needed when it came to this matter of reception. I'm applying it now, right? So there is a need in the assembly for those with wisdom that are able to discern the mind of God, especially when it comes to identifying, are these people really priests? Are they part of the priesthood? Sure.

And hence the shepherds, and I just wanted to get this point in on chapter 2 and we'll move on. But here is a whole disparate group, it seems, of individuals from different places, different areas, different ages, doing different things, different responsibilities, but they're all going to be united in one particular work and purpose. They're going back to Jerusalem in order to restore the altar and so on.

And you've got shepherds, and William's just been speaking about shepherds, those who have a spiritual responsibility for the flock. You've got these leaders, so you've got shepherds. The majority are saints.

You've got men of the sanctuary. You've got men of service. Sure.

And they're all laboring together for the good of the place of the name. What's your ask for the lack of pedigree? Yeah, no. Don't worry about that, that's okay.

Could you just help us out on one thing? I know there's dates given, like we have the first day of the seventh month and so on, and on the Hebrew calendar that would have been the Feast of Trumpets, right? Okay, yes. And you also have later on, they're going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the last of the seven. But what calendar are we working with? Sometimes, Frank, I think your question is quite helpful.

I wonder if we aren't moving between two calendars. And if we keep that in our mind, because one of the things that's going to happen in the book, we'll have to ask, was the temple raised, was it 515 or was it 516? The answer to that could be yes, right? Because in a Jewish mindset, they're working from their religious, not even the Jewish civil calendar, they're working on the Jewish religious calendar. We'll keep that in our mind, but some of the dates when it comes to some of these heathen monarchs are actually given in times that are linked to the Persian calendar.

So we keep that in our minds, it will keep everything straight for us. Now, we will step, we come to verse number 68. They came to the house of God.

Now, the house hasn't been built yet. The altar hasn't even been established. It is possible that some of the ruins were still, you could still see them.

When they got there, it's possible they would have known the location, they would have seen some of the indications that this is where the house is, and that will step into verse number 1 of chapter 3. And now, we're not at the fundamentals of the returnees, we're at the foundation that is laid by the returnees. And we're going to notice the emphasis on the period. Our brother Frank, helpfully, the seventh month, first day, most likely, of the seventh month.

Then the established purpose, what's the first thing they're going to do? And then the engagement of the people. Together, we're going to notice that in verse number 1. And you say, what's this whole business about the seventh month? Brother Frank has just told us there, this is the Feast of Trumpets. Formerly, they would have been used to this stage, a priest putting the trumpet to his lips.

And when the priest put the trumpet to his lips, he started to gather the people. The Feast of Trumpets, in Leviticus chapter 23, is the regathering of Israel. Now, prophetically, that will take place in the future.

He shall send his angels with the great sound of the trumpet, and Israel will be regathered. Now, following the regathering of Israel, there's going to be the Millennial Kingdom. You say, where would you ever see that here? Verse number 4, they kept also the Feast of Tabernacles.

So we've got the trumpets, we've got tabernacles, there's one missing. What's missing? Day of Atonement. Oh, the tenth.

Dear, dear, tenth day of the month, Day of Atonement's missing. That's tragic, isn't it? The Spirit of the Lord has left something out. Imagine that.

They tell us that this book's inspired, and the Spirit of God has... Why is the Day of Atonement not mentioned? The altar wasn't built yet. That's true, but the Day of Atonement was a day of national affliction. It was a day of mourning.

It was a day of the affliction of their souls. It was a day of national repentance. There's none of that here, because this is not a time of mourning.

This is a time of rejoicing. They're back. And they've been regathered on the first day of the seventh month.

They're going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles when it comes to the fifteenth day of the seventh month. There's no reference to the tenth day of the seventh month, because they're going to establish the altar of the Lord, and it's going to be rebuilt. What do we learn about the altar being rebuilt? We need to handle that, brethren.

There's a lovely symmetry. I'll come back to the altar, but there's a lovely symmetry when you come to Nehemiah chapter 8, many years later. But still, it's the first day of the seventh month, and it's trumpets, and the people of God are gathering together.

And they're gathering together, same sort of phrase here, as one man. So there's a collective unity and solidarity. But in Nehemiah 8, it's the Word of God that's being read.

And the people are weeping, because they're realizing that they're not just attaining to what the Word of God is sounding out, and they're mourning. But of course, Nehemiah says, the joy of the Lord is your strength. That was years later on.

But now, it's not so much the Word of God, I suppose, that's being read, but it's worship. So the Word of God is binding the people of God together, and worship now. And that leads you into the altar, and the purpose of the altar is binding these people together.

And just before we touch that, this will tie in something that our brother has mentioned. You'll notice the people gathered themselves together. Look down at chapter 3, verse 9. Then stood Joshua with his sons and his brethren, Cadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together.

Look into chapter 4. Look at verse number 3 of chapter 4. Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God, but we ourselves together. It's a great thing, mind you, in assembly life, when there's a spirit of togetherness. When petty things are set aside.

Mind you, beloved saints, you see, when it comes to assembly life and testimony, it's not really doctrinal things that divide us. Most of the time, it's not doctrine that is the dividing line for us. Most of the time, it's personalities.

And here they are, and personalities have been set aside. Problems have been set aside. And chapter 3, verse 1, together.

Chapter 3, verse 9, together. Chapter 4, verse 3, together. It would be a great thing, leaving this Bible reading this morning, if we would leave together, so that there would be worship for the honor and glory of God.

There were those that were opposed to this remnant returning. Chapter 4. That'll come out later. But their priority in establishing testimony for God.

Pass me another water, would you please? Thank you. Was not, first of all, an army. And it wasn't even abutments.

That's right. It was an altar. The priority for their protection was an altar.

Fellowship with God. Now, let's apply that. Yes.

We've got enemies. There's the world, the flesh, the devil against us. How are we going to be protected and preserved from them? It's not in our own power, in our own prowess, in our own skill.

But it is a fellowship with God. That's the protection that we have. So the first thing we're learning here, Brother William, is that some of those other things.

See, when we get to Brother Brandon's Bible reading, we'd be learning in Brandon's Bible reading that they'll need walls. You say, why didn't they need walls here at this stage? Because the Lord himself is going to be their wall. Zechariah chapter 2. And that lovely vision that Zechariah got, the Lord says, I'll be a wall of fire unto her.

At this point, they didn't need walls. But things are going to develop and they are going to need walls. But here, the first thing, before service comes into play, and we're going to see the service that comes into play very soon, when the foundation of this temple is laid, before service is ever mentioned, we got the great principle of worship.

And so it still is, beloved saints. When we come through the scriptures, the Bible always gives us the great principle of worship before service. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

And right through, whether it's in these Old Testament books, whether it's the ministry of the Lord Jesus, whether it's what we have in 1 Peter chapter 2, worship always comes before service. And we need to keep that in our mind, practically speaking, before we proceed ourselves. Just to make two comments on that.

There were no walls because nothing was really built yet too, right? Nothing to protect. Not to protect, right? But in anticipation, it's interesting they put the altar on its basis for fear of the people around. So they're already recognizing the danger that is going to present because they're going to be attacked.

Worship before service. I'm going to take a very, it's a local comment. So I know there are a number of assemblies here, and I just want you to consider it, that have ministry meetings, the ministry meeting before the breaking of bread.

That is kind of a reversal of what we're reading here, isn't it? The breaking of bread, worship, giving God his portion first. So just to consider that in light of the very principles that is found in the Word of God that we're discussing here. Now, can I ask, brethren, when it comes to this altar, they set the altar of the God of Israel.

Now we're back to that again. We have noticed chapter 1, the Lord God of Israel. We have noticed chapter 2, when it comes to those princely men, that there were 12 of them.

We've got a representation for Israel. Here, it's the altar of the God of Israel. Now, what about the altar? Did the altar survive the Babylonian captivity? No, they're building it here.

That's right. So I personally take it. If we go to the record that is given to us in 2 Kings chapter 24, those vessels of brass that were in the court of the temple, they were actually cut up by the enemy.

So the enemy, they demolished the two pillars, Jacob and Boaz, they were demolished. The laver, it was demolished. And the altar, it was demolished.

You say, what's going on? You see, the enemy, Satan himself doesn't want something that's a bastion for truth for God. He doesn't want pillars. He doesn't want holiness of life when it comes to God's people.

That's one of the things that Satan does not want in your life and mine. He doesn't want the practical effect of that water from the laver. And he certainly does not want worship that is seen from that brazen altar.

Now, this brazen altar was massive, 20 cubits by 20 cubits. And here they are. And the first thing they do, beloved saints, is this.

They get to that place where the altar was in the court. And the first thing they do is they build the altar of the God of Israel, which was torn down. So, John, just because I endorse everything you've said about worship and how important it is.

Just a word of definition, could you? Just for the youngsters especially. If this is the principle of our lives, is to worship God. And worship comes before service.

What is worship? Worship, some people tell us that the first reference to worship in the scriptures is Genesis 22. That's not correct. The first reference to worship in the Bible, the same Hebrew word is actually used in Genesis 18.

And it says, when the Lord came and met with Abraham in the tent door in Genesis chapter 18, it says, Abraham bowed down. And so worship is the idea of someone who is inferior, someone who is bowing to a superior. And as they bow in deferment, they give the value of their praise and adoration and description onto the one that is greater than them.

So that's the first mention in the Old Testament. And then, of course, the first mention in the New. So you've got the wise men who are traveling from some distance and they're coming into the house and they're falling down and worshiping, not them, not worshiping Mary, but worshiping the young child.

And because of their appreciation of him, and Abraham had an appreciation of the Lord. And it's not so much what the Lord had done, it's who the Lord was, his person, his character. So now these wise men have an appreciation of who this young child is.

And as a result of that, they are offering their gifts, their worship and service. So John, I have a question for John. So when was their first act of worship coming back? And was there worship in Babylon from God's people? So we don't read about an altar in Babylon, Brother Brandon.

That's a very practical thing. There's men, as you know, going back to the book of Genesis, Abraham, or Abraham as he was then, he took a different course, went down into Egypt. When Abraham went into Egypt, there's no reference to the altar.

It's only when he come up out of Egypt that we read about the altar. Same with Babylon. There's no reference.

Now, the possibility is that maybe there were acts of worship, people remembering the Lord in Babylon, but they're not in the right spirit. They're not in the right location. And so they can't, in the truest sense of the word, worship as they could here when they come back.

And it's not in a collective sense. There was the possibility that the synagogue had its birth in Babylon. That was going to be my point.

Daniel worshipped in Babylon. Yes, good. Exactly.

Right. But it wasn't collective. And when they're coming out now, the act of them coming out is actually an act of worship.

Good. I'm happy with that. They were bowing down in supplication.

But as our brethren have said, you'll notice the slight distinction because in Babylon, there was no sanctuary. Now, there's a lovely little reference actually in Ezekiel. We're not going to touch this today.

Don't ask me any questions about it. But Ezekiel chapter 16, it says, I will be a little sanctuary unto them. That's a wonderful thing in Babylon itself.

But you see, there's no sanctuary. And according to the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy, those multiple references through the book of Deuteronomy, they were only to worship in the place where God had put his name. So collective worship was all linked to this place where the sanctuary is.

Now, that's as Brandon says, there was a spirit of worship when they're coming back. But now once they get the altar established on its basis, and it must have been a remarkable day, 20 cubits by 20 cubits. You remember the brazen altar back in the tabernacle, five cubits by five cubits.

Here, we're in the temple, 20 cubits by 20 cubits. You get to Ezekiel's temple. What is it? I've forgotten the cubits.

But it's about 31 and a half feet, the base of the altar in Ezekiel's temple. You know, one of the things we're learning is this. See, the closer we're getting to Calvary and Revelation, the altar is getting bigger.

When you're in the tabernacle, it's slightly smaller. First altar is in the book of Genesis chapter 8. We're not told its size, just a small altar. We get to the tabernacles, getting bigger.

We get to the temple, bigger still. We get to Ezekiel's temple, massive. And we get to Calvary.

Now, Calvary is not our altar, don't get me wrong. But when we get to Calvary, this is perspective of Calvary and the death of the Lord Jesus. Can I go back just to those? No, no going back.

No, no, no, just for worship because it's so critical. So two things, obeisance is often used as a substitute word for worship. So obeisance is bowing, I'm small.

Worship, if you keep in mind for younger ones, think of the word worth-ship. That's the recognition of the worth of that individual of God. So you can link those two together.

Could I use the shoehorn, get in here for a second? That took 10 seconds what I said. I want to get back to what Dan said earlier, if I may. Reference was made and the very useful parallel was drawn with the book of Exodus, where you have God bringing up people out from captivity to worship, to build a habitation for him.

They're in the desert, the tabernacle system. And we have the parallel here as well. But I was just enjoying this in my heart.

Exodus also links with the second book of Psalms, remember? Right. Which begins Psalm 42. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee.

And here's a people coming back to establish testimony for God. And this altar speaks to that. Their heart is panting after God.

Good. And that should be our attitude as well. Now, I do want to get this temple rebuilt.

So we're going to get it rebuilt. They laid the foundation. Here they are.

We're in verse number 10. The builders laid the foundation. We're in the second year of their coming, verse number eight.

And here are all these men all linked together. We'll just give a comment about this. And we move on to chapter six.

I think it's likely the best way to do it. But they lay the foundation. Things are going well.

And the older people, the older people weep. And the younger people shout with joy. And you say, why was it that the older ones wept? Well, some of them remembered the glory associated with Solomon's temple.

The younger ones, they were shouting with joy because they could see the foundation now is laid. Things are going for God. And it's just at that point, beloved saints.

Now, we keep in our mind, keep in our minds the dates, right? When we keep in our mind the date that they have come back, 536. Suddenly, we're stepping in and adversity comes. We're in chapter four.

Chapter four, verse one through verse number five. And chapter four, verse 24. Adversity comes and the work stops.

And the work is going to stop for 15 or 16 years. Everything stops for all of these years because of adversity. Now, I just want to draw attention to a technical thing.

Just so that some of our young people know. You see from verse six of chapter four to verse number 23 of chapter four. That's what we would call a parentheses.

That's not historically chronological. So keep that in your mind. That from verse number six, that's taking us forward to the future.

To a different king. In fact, the king's name is mentioned there, Ahasuerus. He's the king that was reigning when Esther came to the throne.

Then from verse number seven, there's a second king that is mentioned, Artaxerxes. He's the king that came to the medial Persian throne after Ahasuerus. You say, well, why does the writer of this book give a parentheses? Why does he take us forward in our minds quite a few years? Well, what he's doing is he's just showing us the principle of opposition.

Opposition is seen now to these people when the foundation of the temple is raised. That opposition will continue. It will continue in the life of Esther.

It will continue in the life of Nehemiah. That's where our brother Brandon is going to take us. The opposition will be seen systematically the whole way through this program of the nation's history.

That's the reason why the opposition comes. Now, any questions or comments about the foundation laid, about the tears, about the joy? And we move on to chapter six. The tears would indicate felt weakness.

Those fathers that could remember the original. Right. They could see how feeble this was.

Yes. And yet there was joy, there was praise. Why? Yes.

Because this recovery was really of God. So we learn this, that felt weakness is not out of place. Yes.

With joy in the Lord. Good. And being a real testimony for him.

Mind you, both have to be kept in balance. I went on one occasion, I won't mention where, and I went to an assembly and I tried to give, just try to give a little word of ministry on the words of the wise man. Say not thou that the former days were better than this.

Thou does not inquire wisely concerning this. And a dear sister took my hand at the end. And she says, you mean to tell me that the days when this hall were full, weren't better days than these days? I didn't know what to say.

And she says, by the way, all the good preachers are dead. I thought to myself, that's really helpful. So both need to be kept in balance, right? Mind you, beloved saints.

So we keep in our mind that one of the reasons why the tears were given is this. Some of those people had seen the gold and the splendor and the majesty and the superlative excellence of Solomon's temple. Some of the younger people understood there's recovery.

Should we just point out, they're not criticizing these older folks, are they? No. They're not criticizing the building of the altar again and a renewed temple. Right.

In any way, shape or form. Not at all. And is there a possibility that their tears were partly because they were remembering how God had judged them? Yes.

It wasn't just that they'd lost gold and this temple hasn't got gold. But what they'd lost and things that were not going to be restored in this temple, that they had lost forever, essentially. That was part of the weeping.

That's a very practical thing, Brother Dan, because there was things when they went to Babylon, they never got again. No cloud of glory associated with this temple. No reference to the Ark of the Covenant associated with this temple.

We've heard about the Urim and the Thummim. They didn't have the Urim and the Thummim. No direct guidance from God in that way associated with this priesthood and this temple.

You see, beloved saints, whenever we lose ground, one of the practical things we need to keep in our minds is this. Whenever we lose ground, sometimes we never recover the same ground again. But there is recovery.

And we'll try to keep in our minds, one of the reasons why there was joy is they saw there was recovery. And everything stops. Fifteen years.

Everything is stopped. Then, chapter 5, verse 1, Then the prophets Haggai and the prophet Zechariah, the son of Edu, prophesied unto the Jews that we're in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel. Now, our brother Dan, I'm not going to take up his material.

One of the things that we have to recognize is this. When it comes to the second Bible reading, when it comes to Haggai, we will actually be taking a step back in time. So in the next Bible reading, we will actually be taking a step back to Ezra chapter 5. And our brother is going to tell us about that prophet, the book of Haggai.

He's going to tell us about those five messages that are given in four months. Two messages in the sixth month. That message in the seventh month of this year that we read about here.

The two messages that are going to be seen in the ninth month. And then in between those months, this man Zechariah steps forward. The sixth month, the seventh month, the ninth month.

You say, it's a pity about the eighth month. In the eighth month, Zechariah steps forward and he gives that lovely opening statement into his book. That's the eighth month.

You say, it'd be nice if it continued, wouldn't it? Oh, you get to the eleventh month. What happens in the eleventh month? That's the rest of Zechariah right through in those eight visions. Now, I'm just doing a little bit of overview here for you.

We can't stay with that. We're going to move into chapter 6. And when we get to chapter 6, here they are. They've been stirred up.

These prophets are prophesying. And you say, what happens? Verse number 14. That's chapter 6. Now, look at verse number 2 of chapter 5. Then rose up Zerubbabel, Joshua the son of Josedach.

And they began to build the house of God, which is at Jerusalem. Then more opposition comes. Oh, you say, let's breathe because they'll stop again.

No, they didn't stop again. Because the word of God was so real through these prophets, they kept going. And we step into chapter 6, verse number 14.

And the elders of the Jews built it and they prophesied and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Edu. And they built it and they finished it according to the commandment of God. So initially, the government, if I can use that expression, had put a halt until things were fully known, right? Because opposition had raised up questions.

Darius is going to emphasize, in fact, in a greater way than even what Cyrus did. Okay. But the interesting thing is while the government put a halt on things and the work stopped for time, it still, there were those that continued and that they're going to build now in terms of these prophets and so on.

So what I'm saying is this, that they were looking at a higher government as opposed to, you know, where I'm going with that. No, I'm happy with that. In fact, there's been a great change of kings.

That man Cyrus that we read about early in the book, he's died. After Cyrus, there was another man, his son Cambyses came to the throne. Cambyses reigned for a little while.

He died. There was a usurper that took the Medo-Persian throne. His name was Smyrdas.

He died. And then this man Darius comes to the throne. And when Darius comes to the throne, the Lord just starts to work in the life of Darius.

Now, the problem is this. The problem was this. Whenever those changes were going on governmentally in the Persian empire, things were in an uproar in a variety of the provinces.

So in India, there was insurrection. Darius, he started to move and he put down the insurrection. And up here in Syria, there was insurrection and he dealt with that.

And suddenly, these people start to build the temple. Now, the governor, I don't think that this was really overt oppression. Look at verse number four or verse number three of chapter five.

At the same time came to them, Tatnai, governor on this side of the river. Now, they're aware of everything that's going on in the Persian empire. They're aware there's been problems in India and there's been problems in Egypt and there's been problems in Syria and there's been uprisings over here and all over the place.

This is another uprising. But these men had the, they've got the scriptures. Not only had they the scriptures, they had the word from the king.

So when Tatnai comes to them, they simply say to Tatnai, we've got the authorization from the king, go and check for yourself. And the king sends back or when it reaches the king, the king sends to some of those courtiers and he says, there's boys building a temple there in Jerusalem. He says, would you check? Would you just check if there's an official edict that allows them to build it? And they made the search in Babylon and they couldn't find it.

You say it's all over now, but there was another location where they kept some of those documents. And when they made the search, lo and behold, here it is from Cyrus, Ezra chapter one, the proclamation was made orally, but the proclamation was actually put in writing. And they found the proclamation and Darius sends back, the enemy always oversteps himself.

Satan always oversteps himself. Darius sends back to Tatnai and he says, go ahead. He says, let them build.

And he says, more than let them build. You provide for them. You make sure these tariffs, those tariffs are a terrible business.

But that's by us tongue in cheek. I know where I'm sitting today. So at least I got some people.

Oh, so anyway, but Darius, he sends to them. And he says here in chapter five, he says, listen, and into chapter six, you make sure you provide for them out of the official purse. So that when these men build, the thing will be established for God and it will not be from their personal and God overrules the enemy.

So what's interesting in the numbers of these things, even there's embedded lessons. So I think Ezra and Nehemiah, Dan would probably know more. It spans the reigns of six Persian rulers, I believe, right? Six, right? Six is the number of man, right? There's a seventh one, right? The greatest one, right? That's number one.

Number two is there's two decrees then in between these two men. So that God is even established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Let every word be established.

Very good. No, there's actually an interesting thing just to pick up on this. Some of these things you would know by now, we can't unpack everything in a two hour Bible reading on this.

There's actually seven letters in the book. Now you can go through and just check each one of those seven. One of them's in Hebrew.

The other six is actually in the language of the Persians or the language of the Chaldeans. The interesting thing is that if you go back to chapter four and verse number six, I think it is, in the reign of Ahasuerus, it starts in Aramaic. You say, where's it going to finish? It runs in the Aramaic language into chapter six, verse number 18.

And you see, when you get to chapter 19, that's the Aramaic language. You get to chapter 19 and the, sorry, chapter six, verse 19. The children of the captivity kept the Passover.

Yeah. And that's recorded in Hebrew. And you say, what's the whole point of that? They've got the temple rebuilt.

They've actually changed from the language of the enemy that kept them in bondage. They're going to keep the Passover. And as they're keeping the Passover, it's actually recorded in the Hebrew language.

God has delivered them from the captivity physically and even the captivity linguistically as we look at the text. John, help us because I'm reading this and I see it in English. So how, for the sake of younger ones, how did you find that out? So we go back to the manuscripts and that is actually preserved for us in the manuscripts of scripture so that then we can find out through scholarly sources that we can find out that God has actually preserved.

And in fact, beloved saints, who you say, that means nothing to us. That means everything to us. Do you know what that means? That means that this book is authentic.

Amen. That authenticates the book of the scriptures. It actually shows us God has preserved His word in a marvelous way.

He's even preserved the languages in which it was written. Reliability. And the reliability of scripture.

And in fact, for these people, it meant everything. The Chaldean language finishes and the Hebrew language commences. Now, we've got any comments on the rebuilding of the temple? From the floor, we need to... Well, thank you, thank you.

William reminded me of that. It's very difficult in a Bible reading when things are coming at you, sometimes a hundred miles an hour. But anyone from the floor of our brethren, particularly about the rebuilding of the temple? Good, yes.

Good. In fact, one of the things that we're going to pick up on these books, our brother Dan will be raising this in the next Bible reading. In these chapters, the eye of God was upon them.

We're going to see that the hand of God was upon them when we step into the chapters that we're going to come to in the next... Sorry, the second Bible reading from Ezra. Now, here's the temple's built. We're actually given some of the details of the size of the temple in the letter that was sent from Darius.

We go back to chapter 6, verse number 3, verse number 4, verse number 5, verse number 6. We get some of the details about the size of this temple. And we come into chapter 6, verse number 14. This house was finished.

It was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which is in the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of Persia. John, any comment about the footprint, the size of the footprint of this temple? It's a good question. It almost seems to be a little larger than the footprint of Solomon's temple.

Sure. So, our brother Dan is pointing out the fact, if we go back into the historical records about Solomon's temple, it was 60 cubits by 30 cubits by 30 cubits. You say, what about the footprint of this temple? It's 60 cubits by 60 cubits, and there's no reference to length.

And one of the problems that has puzzled expositors is this. This sanctuary almost seems larger than Solomon's sanctuary. If that was the case, why was it people were weeping when we were in chapter 3? Now, I wonder personally, brother Dan, if we're learning in the measurements here that this is not really the size of the holy place and the holiest of all.

Yes. I think that the measurements here might be the full size of the courtyard. Yes.

And so, this is the footprint of the complete area that is linked to this sanctuary. Not so much the temple proper in its holiest of all and holy place. I think that's how I personally would.

Yes, the permissible area of land on which they could build the temple. And in comparison, as I understand it, to temples in Babylon, Persia, this was very small. That's right.

Very small. So, they were used to huge, not that they frequented them, but they were used to huge idol temples in places like that. This is much smaller.

Very good. Now, William. Well, I was going to take you to the end of chapter 6. Please.

Is that all right? Yeah. The dedication. Can you get us to the dedication first? Well, go ahead.

Yeah. So, there is the dedication of this, where if you want the verse for that, look at chapter 6 and verse number 16. The children of the captivity.

That's a statement that occurs in these books quite a number of times. I think it's six times in the book. They're called the children of the captivity.

And now, they're dedicating the house of God. Look at what they're offering. A hundred bullocks, 200 rams, 400 lambs, a sin offering of the 12 he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And of course, we can see the Lord Jesus here. In the bullock, we've got the strength of Christ. In the 200 rams, we get the supremacy of Christ.

When it comes to the lambs, we get the submissiveness of Christ. When it's the he goats, we get the stateliness of Christ. All of these being offered.

And you say, what's the whole point of it? It's for the dedication of this sanctuary. Now, it's in its place. Worship is ascending, and God is getting his portion.

Everything has been done according to the mind of God. So, take us on, brother. Amen.

Yes, and then the Passover comes in there. Verse 19, verse 20, Passover, speaking of redemption. I'm thinking now in a dispensational way.

The way this is summed up here at the end of chapter 6. The children of Israel, verse 21, which were come again out of captivity. Think of Israel in restoration in a coming day. All such that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel did eat.

So, Israel will be recovered. There'll be a fountain open for uncleanness and so on. And, you know, entering into the millennium.

And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy. Israel will be marked by that in a coming day. For the Lord made them joyful, turned the heart of the king of Assyria.

So, Gentile rules put down, right? Unto them that strengthen their hands in the work of the house of the Lord God of Israel. So, Israel restored unto the Lord. Ultimately, I think it's pictured in what we have here in this summary.

Holiness unto the Lord, right? So, the question that we have to ask is this. We have noticed when it came to the altar. When the altar was in its place, it was the seventh month.

First day of the seventh month. When the altar was in its place, it was the feast of tabernacles. Seventh month.

Fifteenth day of the month. Here we are in chapter six. It's not the seventh month, it's the first month.

What do we learn from that? And not only is it not the feast of tabernacles, it's the feast of Passover. What was it that Passover reminded them about? Brother Ike's nodding there. Please tell us, Ike.

This is almost a double remembrance of their being redeemed, isn't it? That's right. See what our brother's telling us? When they kept the feast of Passover, they would remember. We were brought out of bondage in Egypt.

When we're keeping this Passover, the children of the captivity, they kept the Passover. You say, when was it? The 14th day of the first month. And what they're saying is this.

We're out of Babylonian captivity. God has redeemed us. Now, any concluding comments, beloved brethren? And I'll do a summary before we conclude.

Everyone is silent. I don't like silence in a Bible reading. So I would like to thank the brethren for their help.

I trust that there has been some measure of clarity as we've moved through the six chapters. I realize it's a lot of material. We've come through it at speed.

And I do trust there's been a measure of clarity for all of us as we move through. One quick question. Yes.

The book of Ezra, as far as I remember, is never quoted in the New Testament. Is that correct? I thought I've read that. And I just wanted to... I need to check that, Brother Frank.

Yeah. I just wondered if you had any thoughts on that. No, I'd have to check it.

So thank you. One of the things we've been looking at is recovery. We're interested in recovery in assembly life.

We're interested in recovery in our family life. We're interested in our recovery in personal life. I would take it that the six chapters here give us a road map to recovery.

In chapter one, we get the great challenge. God stirred up and we get the challenge from the heathen king. In chapter two, we learn about those who come back and we get the road map of commitment.

When we're in chapter three, we learn about the altar being put back on its bases and we learn the great challenge of commencement. Things commence again. Then there's conflict, chapter four.

And when conflict comes, we need to persevere in the things of God. There's continuance. That's chapter five.

And when we step into chapter six here, there's completion. Recovery is seen in all of its completeness. God's mind has seen the people back in the land, back to the city, back to the sanctuary, and there is recovery and revival.

May God grant it to us as we consider our need in this day.