Ezra 3:8-13--Rebuilding the Temple

Ezra 3:8-13
English Standard Version

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.

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Last time, we talked about how the Bronze Altar of the LORD was rebuilt during the first year that the exiles returned to Jerusalem.  Now in the second year in the second month, Zerubbabel (the rightful king, though he was only called a "governor," as they were still subjects of Cyrus) and Jeshua (the high priest) appointed priests and Levites from among the tribe of Levi to serve in their respective orders and their respective duties as David and Solomon had done in the past.  Only Levites of at least 20 years old, but less than 50 years old were appointed to active duty.  Those over 50 years old could stand guard and train others but could not be the ones primarily serving.  The work that was done to rebuild the Temple was supervised by the heads of the houses of Levi (the religious leader) and Judah (the political leader).

We then jump forward in time to when the foundation of the Zerubbabel's Temple had been laid, and all the priests came together in their vestments and they each had a ram's horn trumpet with which to praise the LORD, and the Levites were given cymbals with which to praise the LORD.  Along with this music, they sang responsively with the response being "His steadfast love endures forever. (Probably Psalm 136, but there are other Psalms like this as well).

All the people gave a joyful shout to the LORD and celebrated with great joy because the foundation of the Temple had been laid.  It was a day of gladness for the new generation, though it was also a day of sadness for the old generation who remembered the splendor of Solomon's Temple, for it was obvious even from these foundations that this Temple would pale in comparison to the one that Solomon had built.  However, no one could tell the difference between those who were shouting for joy and those who were weeping in sorrow because they desired an even better house for the LORD.  The sound of the shouting and weeping melded together and was heard a great distance away.  O that we would be so passionate about the Name of the LORD being magnified and making Him famous among all the peoples of the earth!  Though He is not a god that can be contained in temples built by human hands (see Solomon's prayer of Dedication for the first Temple), we desire that the way in which we worship Him shows people just how great and awesome He is!  May we continue to show people this today even though the Temple of the Holy Spirit is now made of each and every believer who has been saved by the substitutionary atonement of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and has made Jesus both Savior and Lord.  May our lives be "built" in such a way that it points people to the great God that we serve and worship with gladness because, "His steadfast love endures forever."!