Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 3:1
And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel [were] in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Ch. Ezr 3:1-3. The Building of the Altar
1. The first clause of this verse concludes the Register of the preceding section in Nehemiah (Neh 7:73).
the seventh month ] Probably the 7th month in the first year of the Return, since the next recorded date (Ezr 3:8) is the 2nd month ‘in the second year of their coming unto the house of God’.
The 7th month the month Tisri was in some respects the most sacred in the Jewish Calendar. The 1st day was the Feast of Trumpets (Num 29:1): the 10th was the Great Day of Atonement (Num 29:7; Lev 16:29): the 15th was the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:34-36; Lev 23:39-44; Num 29:12-38). It was therefore an appropriate season for the first religious act of the new community. ‘The holy convocation’ on the 1st day was to herald the new order of things.
Psalms 81. very possibly commemorates the festival of ‘the new moon’.
as one man ] cf. Jdg 20:1; Neh 8:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The seventh month – i. e., the month Tisri (nearly our September), the most sacred month in the Jewish year Exo 23:16; Lev. 23:24-41.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ezr 3:1-13
And when the seventh month was come.
Rebuilding the temple
I. They began by re-establishing the worship and service of the holy place. They set up an altar, and offered the daily sacrifice. A wise beginning. Their task was hard, and they did well to begin with God. They made the right use of fear. It stirred them up to religious duty.
II. Before setting themselves to their tasks they kept the feast of tabernacles. The full repression of our religious joy, even though it be prolonged, will not delay the performance of lifes severer tasks. It is a suitable preparation for them.
III. They used their treasures in securing the best materials and the most skilled labour.
IV. The foundations were laid amidst acclamations of joy. Many of the psalms which fill the Psalter with joyous strains were doubtless sung or composed on this occasion.
V. It was, however, a joy mingled with sorrow. (Willard G. Sperry.)
Rebuilding the temple
I. The first thing they did was to rebuild the altar. This was a right beginning. The altar of sacrifice was the centre of the Jewish religion; just as its antitype, the Cross, is the centre of Christianity. The Cross is our altar; it stands at the centre of our religion.
1. The altar of burnt-offering in this instance was intended as a safeguard. There is no security like that which a timid soul finds under the shadow of the altar (Psa 84:3). A man is never so safe from adverse influences as when upon his knees.
2. This altar was set upon its bases–that is, it was restored upon its former foundations. There is virtue in observing old landmarks. Some things never grow obsolete. Air and water and sunlight are just what they always were, nor is human ingenuity likely to improve them in any way. There are some truths which bear to our spiritual constitution the same relation that light does to the eyes and water to the lungs. Nothing can amend or improve them. There may be new formulations, new modes of presentation; but the altar of the Christian religion will stand on its old bases as long as time endures.
3. The ceremonies of this restored altar were conducted after the prescribed form.
II. They next prepared for the rebuilding of their temple.
1. The altar meanwhile was kept in constant use. Its fires never went out. There was no lack of offerings upon it. The people had learned by sad experience their dependence upon God.
2. There was little difficulty in collecting the necessary funds.
3. The workmen were secured by generous outlay and paid promptly when the wages fell due.
4. The materials for the temple were collected from every quarter. Tyre and Sidon and the forests of Lebanon were put under contribution. Thus God ever utilises the nations. The Caesars built highways for the propagation of the gospel. Soulless corporations in our time are binding the far corners of the earth together with iron bands and cables, not knowing nor caring that Gods kingdom is thus being ushered in. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
Rebuilding the temple
I. Religion is; or should be, a uniting force.
II. We need not, and should not, walt before we worship God.
III. There should be some regularity in our devotion.
IV. Our offering must come from the heart as well as from the hand.
V. The cause of christ must have the rest service we can secure.
VI. Some take a higher, some a humbler post in the service of god.
VII. We do well to rejoice when we lay the foundation of a useful work.
VIII. Joy is safe and wise when it passes into praise.
IX. Sorrow and joy blend strangely in the events of life. (W. Clarkson, B. A.)
The benefits of the captivity
Notice–
I. The people are again heartily united in action. They gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. These cheering words sound like a reminiscence of the best days of David, Hezekiah, and Josiah. A revival of union was sorely needed. The last three reigns before the captivity had been marked by unnatural discords. The providential cure of this evil was captivity. Two generations at least must pass away, and their feuds be buried with them; the worth of a temple and the blessing of a pure worship must be learned by their loss. This method of cementing nations was not new, and it has been exemplified since in almost countless instances. Every forward movement in society seems to be preceded by seasons of trial, whose hot fires are needed to fuse the heart and will of the people into one.
II. They made a right beginning of their work. They began with an altar. Can this be the same people whose closing record seventy years before had been that they polluted the house of the Lord? Reverence as well as union had been developed by captivity. They might have begun by clearing away the ruins, but that would have been a second step before the first; not even the rubbish of an unhallowed past may be touched without the blessing of God; they might have held a council to determine what they would do, but this would have been taking their own advice first and afterwards seeking the endorsement of Jehovah; they might have raised the walls around the spot before building the altar upon it, but that would have been asking God to own what He had been allowed no share in directing. On the contrary, with a reverence chastened by long exile they began with the altar itself. Where else would they have begun and not blundered? This order of building has always prospered. Ambitions, plans, hopes even, waited upon praise and supplication, and more than half the first year was devoted to continuous sacrifice and petition. What years of bitter deprival had taught them this dependence! But bitter sweetness let it be called, blessed bondage, to produce this wholesome fruit of reverence.
III. In the form of their worship they returned scrupulously to the pattern on the mount. They not only offered burnt-offerings, but they offered them as it is written. They kept feasts by name not only, but in the way prescribed by the law of Moses. Their new moons and free-will offerings were those only that the Lord had consecrated in days past. This exact respect for the letter of the law shows how truly they appreciated the real cause of the national calamities. Every disaster since the days of Josiah had come from departing from the way of the Lord. A careless liberalism in worship had begotten a wicked license in the court and home life. It is one sign, therefore, that Judahs captivity was not in vain, that the first inquiry of the people after setting up the new altar was this, How is it written to worship? and a better sign, that they conformed to the Divine pattern as scrupulously as if it had come but yesterday from the flaming Mount. Many are the evils suspected of a too rigid adherence to the Divine command. But where has a nation or an individual been ruined by a too scrupulous obedience? Not too much conscience, but too little; not strictness, but license is the national danger. Hence great reforms sweeping over the land always drive the people back to the simpler living, the holier thinking, and the minuter obedience of the fathers. The despised writing of the past is reopened, the neglected pattern of the Mount is clothed with a new authority, and so men returning unto God find God returned to them.
IV. The worship of the people was accompanied with their gifts. They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters, and their meat and drink and oil they exchanged for the sacred cedars of Lebanon. Surely, if any people might have found excuse for building on credit, they were these poor colonists, who had their burned cities to revive. They were building, too, for the future. Why should not the future share the cost? But these modern apologies for debt were then unknown. They remembered the story of the first tabernacle, the free-will offerings of their fathers and mothers. Something richer than cedar and brick must compose every true temple of worship. If the heart of the people, their love and devotion, are not built into the rising walls, they go up in vain; captivities are not in vain which thus revive the grace of self-sacrifice.
V. The holy joy with which they finally lay the first stone. With that stone an undisciplined people would have gone months before, but not these children of the captivity. There are spiritual foundations lower than the cornerstone of any temple, and these we have seen the people had been seven months in laying and seventy years in learning to lay–unity, reverence, obedience, and self-sacrifice. With a just and well-earned joy, therefore, they might lay on these settled foundations their first visible stone. It was not the joy of pride, for to themselves they took no praise. It was a tuneful joy, for they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to God. It was a hearty joy, for all the people shouted with a great shout. This holy jubilee marked the break of a new day in the history of Israel. Weeping had endured for a long night of seventy years. This was the joy of the morning, and the happy dawn was all the brighter for the shadows that lay behind it. The joy that follows discipline and is earned by repentance and obedience is perhaps the sweetest joy known to men in this world.
VI. The healthful sorrow and regrets that tempered these outbursts of joy. Undisciplined joy is sure to be giddy, but the joy of these returning exiles has in its sweet a dash of bitter, which saves it from hurtful excess. Many of the old men of the nation had seen the first house. They could not forget its glory. They remembered also, it may be, the impiety of their own days, and possibly of their own hearts, which hastened the nations shame. Something of self-reproach must mingle with that regret. The new house bids fair to stand, for it is founded for use. No foolish display taints the plan. A mighty hunger after Jehovah impels them to make Him a dwelling-place in their midst. A Church thus rooted in real spiritual want comes near indeed to the true ideal of a spiritual home. Every attitude of the builders also is a propitiation of Jehovah. He will certainly accept their work, for their union is perfect; their reverence is simple, sincere; their obedience unforced; their self-sacrifice ungrudging. Here are the materials of all acceptable sacrifice. An altar built in this spirit will never want fire. (Monday Club Sermons.)
A working Church
1. All at work: The people gathered themselves together.
2. All working in unison: As one man. A massed force is a winning force.
3. All working obediently: As it is written in the law. Christian activity not a sentiment but a duty. To the law and the testimony.
4. All working unceasingly: As the duty of every day required. The daily performance of Christian duty leaves no arrears. (Willis S. Hinman.)
And they set the altar upon his bases.
The altar set up
I. In a new home the first thing they should do who fear God is to set up an altar there.
II. The service of those who are of one heart is what He takes pleasure in (Act 2:1; Act 4:32).
III. The best of defences is the favour of God, and so an altar may be a stronger bulwark than a fortress. (E. Day.)
The rebuilding of the altar: exemplary features of Divine worship
I. Unanimity and zeal in divine worship.
II. Sacrifice in divine worship. This suggests–
1. Mans need of atonement with God.
2. Mans duty of consecration to God.
III. Respect for precedent in divine worship. There are memories and associations clinging around certain ancient forms and places hallowed by holy uses which greatly stimulate and enrich the devout heart.
IV. Conformity to scripture in divine worship.
V. Fear of enemies in divine worship.
1. The fear of enemies should not intimidate us from the worship of God.
2. The fear of enemies should impel us to worship God.
VI. Regularity in divine worship. The offering of the daffy sacrifice suggests–
1. Our daily need of atonement with God.
2. Our daily need of renewed consecration.
3. Our daily need of renewed blessings. (William Jones.)
Sacred to Jehovah
When a British vessel comes to an uninhabited country, or one inhabited only by savages, the captain goes on shore with a boats crew, and, after landing, he unfurls the Union Jack and takes possession of the whole country in the name of Queen Victoria and his native land. He plants the flagstaff, and no foreign nation dare come and knock it down, or pull down the ensign of the power of Britain. So the priest built first the altar of sacrifice to show that the place was sacred to Jehovah, and that they and all the people were His servants. (Sunday School.)
They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written.–
Preparations for building
I. It is only ignorant, self-sufficient people who despise the experience of the past treasured up in history.
II. If we cannot have for Gods worship all the external proprieties we desire, we are not to wait till we can get them. Iii. The externals of worship are nothing to God, except so far as they influence us or are expressive of something in us. (E. Day.)
The celebration of the sacred festivals resumed
I. The commemoration in divine. Worship of national experiences and blessings.
1. It was a memorial of the emancipation of Israel from Egypt, teaching us that we should cherish the memory of former mercies (Lev 23:43).
2. It was a memorial of their life in the wilderness, reminding us that our present condition is that of strangers and pilgrims (Lev 23:40-43; Heb 13:14).
3. It was a thanksgiving for rest and a settled abode in the promised land, suggesting the certainty and blessedness of the rest which remains for the people of God (Lev 23:40; Rev 7:9).
4. It was a thanksgiving for the completed harvest, teaching us to receive the precious fruits of the earth as the kind gifts of a bountiful Providence (Exo 23:16; Lev 23:39; Deu 16:13-15).
II. The celebration in religious worship of the natural divisions of time. And of the new moons. What was the design of this religious celebration of the beginning of their months?
1. To impress them with the value of time.
2. To assist them to form a correct estimate of their life upon earth.
3. To arouse them to make a wise use of the time which remained to them.
III. The presentation in divine worship of personal voluntary offerings. (William Jones.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER III
The altar of burnt-offerings is set up, 1-3.
They keep the feast of tabernacles, 4-6.
They make provision for rebuilding the temple; and lay its
foundation in the second month of the second year, 7, 8.
Ceremonies observed in laying the foundation, 9-11.
Some weep aloud, and others shout for joy, 12-18.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse 1. When the seventh month was come] The month Tisri, which answers to the latter part of our September, and beginning of October. It seems that the Israelites had left Babylon about the spring of the year; that on their arrival at Jerusalem they constructed themselves huts and sheds to lodge in among the ruins, in which they must have spent some months. After this they rebuilt the altar of burnt-offerings, and kept the feast of tabernacles, which happened about this time, and continued to offer sacrifices regularly, as if the temple were standing.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When the seventh month was come
, or rather, was coming, or drew near; for the altar was set up after this time, Ezr 3:3, which yet was employed the first day of this month, Ezr 3:6. This was a sacred kind of month, wherein there were divers festivals, as appears from Le 23 for which the people had been preparing themselves, and now came to Jerusalem to the celebration of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. when the seventh month wascomeThe departure of the returning exiles from Babylon tookplace in the spring. For some time after their arrival they wereoccupied in the necessary work of rearing habitations to themselvesamid the ruins of Jerusalem and its neighborhood. This preliminarywork being completed, they addressed themselves to rebuild the altarof burnt offering. As the seventh month of the sacred year was athandcorresponding to the latter end of our Septemberwhen thefeast of tabernacles (Le 23:34)fell to be observed, they resolved to celebrate that religiousfestival, just as if the temple had been fully restored.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when the seventh month was come,…. The month Tisri, which answers to part of September and October; or when it “was approaching” p, for before it was actually come some following things were done, the people met, and an altar was built; for on the first day of it sacrifices were offered, Ezr 3:6,
and the children of Israel were in the cities; their respective cities, settling their domestic affairs:
the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem; the thing was universal, and done with as much dispatch as if only one man was concerned; and it seems to denote as if they were under a divine impulse, and came together without any consultation, or knowledge of each other’s designs, and without summons.
p “cum appropinquaret”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The building of the altar, the restoration of the daily sacrifice, and the celebration of the feast of tabernacles. – Ezr 3:1 When the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. The year is not stated, but the year in which they returned from Babylon is intended, as appears from Ezr 3:8, which tells us that the foundations of the temple were laid in the second month of the second year of their return. The words, ”and the children of Israel were in the cities,” are a circumstantial clause referring to Ezr 2:70, and serving to elucidate what follows. From the cities, in which each had settled in his own (Ezr 2:1), the people came to Jerusalem as one man, i.e., not entirely (Bertheau), but unanimously ( , 1 Esdr. 5:46); comp. Neh 8:1; Jdg 20:1.
(Note: The more precise statement of 1 Esdr. 5:46, , according to which Bertheau insists upon correcting the text of Ezra, is an arbitrary addition on the part of the author of this apocryphal book, and derived from Neh 8:1.)
Ezr 3:2 Then the two leaders of the people, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince (see on Jos 2:2), with their brethren, i.e., the priests and the men of Israel (the laity), arose and built the altar, to offer upon it burnt-offerings, as prescribed by the law of Moses, i.e., to restore the legal sacrifices. According to Ezr 3:6, the offering of burnt-offerings began on the first day of the seventh month; hence the altar was by this day already completed. This agrees with the statement, “When the seventh month approached” (Ezr 3:1), therefore before the first day of this month.
Ezr 3:3 They reared the altar , upon its (former) place; not, upon its bases. The feminine has here a like signification with the masculine form , Ezr 2:68, and , Zec 5:11. The Keri is an incorrect revision. “For fear was upon them, because of the people of those countries.” The prefixed to is the so-called essentiae , expressing the being in a condition; properly, a being in fear had come or lay upon them. Comp. on essentiae , Ewald, 217, f, and 299, b, though in 295, f, he seeks to interpret this passage differently. The “people of those countries” are the people dwelling in the neighbourhood of the new community; comp. Ezr 9:1; Ezr 10:2. The notion is: They erected the altar and restored the worship of Jahve, for the purpose of securing the divine protection, because fear of the surrounding heathen population had fallen upon them. J. H. Mich. had already a correct notion of the verse when he wrote: ut ita periculi metus eos ad Dei opem quaerendam impulerit.
(Note: Bertheau, on the contrary, cannot understand the meaning of this sentence, and endeavours, by an alteration of the text after 1 Esdras, to make it signify that some of the people of the countries came with the purpose of obstructing the building of the altar, but that the Israelites were able to effect the erection because a fear of God came upon the neighbouring nations, and rendered them incapable of hostile interference.)
Comp. the similar case in 2Ki 17:25., when the heathen colonists settled in the deserted cities of Samaria entreated the king of Assyria to send them a priest to teach them the manner of worshipping the God of the land, that thus they might be protected from the lions which infested it. The Chethiv must be taken impersonally: “one (they) offered;” but is perhaps only an error of transcription, and should be read . On the morning and evening sacrifices, see on Exo 28:38., Num 28:3.
Ezr 3:4 They kept the feast of tabernacles as prescribed in the law, Lev 23:34. “The burnt-offering day by day, according to number,” means the burnt-offering day by day, according to number,” means the burnt-offerings commanded for the several days of this festival, viz., on the first day thirteen oxen, on the second twelve, etc.; comp. Num 29:13-34, where the words , Num 29:18, Num 29:21, Num 29:24, etc., occur, which are written in our present verse , by number, i.e., counted; comp. 1Ch 9:28; 1Ch 23:31, etc.
Ezr 3:5-6 And afterward, i.e., after the feast of tabernacles, they offered the continual, i.e., the daily, burnt-offering, and (the offerings) for the new moon, and all the festivals of the Lord (the annual feasts). must be inserted from the context before to complete the sense. “And for every one that willingly offered a free-will offering to the Lord.” is a burnt-offering which was offered from free inclination. Such offerings might be brought on any day, but were chiefly presented at the annual festivals after the sacrifices prescribed by the law; comp. Num 29:39. – In Ezr 3:6 follows the supplementary remark, that the sacrificial worship began from the first day of the seventh month, but that the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. This forms a transition to what follows.
(Note: Bertheau, comparing Ezr 3:6 with Ezr 3:5, incorrectly interprets it as meaning: “From the first day of the seventh month the offering of thank-offerings began (comp. Ezr 3:2); then, from the fifteenth day of the second month, during the feast of tabernacles, the burnt-offerings prescribed by the law (Ezr 3:4); but the daily burnt-offerings were not recommenced till after the feast of tabernacles, etc. Hence it was not from the first day of the seventh month, but subsequently to the feast of tabernacles, that the worship of God, so far as this consisted in burnt-offerings, was fully restored.” The words of the cursive manuscript, however, do not stand in the text, but their opposite. In Ezr 3:2, not thank-offerings ( or ), but burnt-offerings ( ), are spoken of, and indeed those prescribed in the law, among which the daily morning and evening burnt-offering, expressly named in Ezr 3:3, held the first place. With this, Ezr 3:5, “After the feast of tabernacles they offered the continual burnt-offering, and the burnt-offerings for the new moon,” etc., fully harmonizes. The offering of the continual, i.e., of the daily, burnt-offerings, besides the new moon, the feast-days, and the free-will offerings, is named again merely for the sake of completeness. The right order is, on the contrary, as follows: The altar service, with the daily morning and evening sacrifice, began on the first day of the seventh month; this daily sacrifice was regularly offered, according to the law, from then till the fifteenth day of the second month, i.e., till the beginning of the feast of tabernacles; all the offerings commanded in the law for the separate days of this feast were then offered according to the numbers prescribed; and after this festival the sacrifices ordered at the new moon and the other holy days of the year were offered, as well as the daily burnt-offerings, – none but these, neither the sacrifice on the new moon (the first day of the seventh month) nor the sin-offering on the tenth day of the same month, i.e., the day of atonement, having been offered before this feast of tabernacles.)
Ezr 3:7 Preparations were also made for the rebuilding of the temple; money was given to hewers of wood and to masons, and meat and drink (i.e., corn and wine) and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians (i.e., the Phoenicians; comp. 1Ch 22:4), to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa (i.e., to the coast of Joppa), as was formerly done by Solomon, 1Ki 5:6., 2Ch 2:7. , according to the grant of Cyrus to them, i.e., according to the permission given them by Cyrus, sc. to rebuild the temple. For nothing is said of any special grant from Cyrus with respect to wood for building. is in the O.T. . . ; in Chaldee and rabbinical Hebrew, and mean facultatem habere; and power, permission.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Renewal of the Sacrifices. | B. C. 536. |
1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required; 5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
Here is, I. A general assembly of the returned Israelites at Jerusalem, in the seventh month, v. 1. We may suppose that they came from Babylon in the spring, and must allow at least four months for the journey, for so long Ezra and his company were in coming, ch. vii. 9. The seventh month therefore soon came, in which many of the feasts of the Lord were to be solemnized; and then they gathered themselves together by agreement among themselves, rather than by the command of authority, to Jerusalem. Though they had newly come to their cities, and had their hands full of business there, to provide necessaries for themselves and their families, which might have excused them from attending on God’s altar till the hurry was a little over, as many foolishly put off their coming to the communion till they are settled in the world, yet such was their zeal for religion, now that they had newly come from under correction for their irreligion, that they left all their business in the country, to attend God’s altar; and (which is strange) in this pious zeal they were all of a mind, they came as one man. Let worldly business be postponed to the business of religion and it will prosper the better.
II. The care which their leading men took to have an altar ready for them to attend upon.
1. Joshua and his brethren the priests, Zerubbabel and his brethren the princes, built the altar of the God of Israel (v. 2), in the same place (it is likely) where it had stood, upon the same bases, v. 3. Bishop Patrick, observing that before the temple was built there seems to have been a tabernacle pitched for the divine service, as was in David’s time, not on Mount Moriah, but Mount Sion (1 Chron. ix. 23), supposes that this altar was erected there, to be sued while the temple was in building. Let us learn hence, (1.) To begin with God. The more difficult and necessitous our case is the more concerned we are to take him along with us in all our ways. If we expect to be directed by his oracles, let him be honoured by our offerings. (2.) To do what we can in the worship of God when we cannot do what we would. They could not immediately have a temple, but they would not be without an altar. Abraham, wherever he came, built an altar; and wherever we come, though we may perhaps want the benefit of the candlestick of preaching, and the showbread of the eucharist, yet, if we bring not the sacrifices of prayer and praise, we are wanting in our duty, for we have an altar that sanctifies the gift ever ready.
2. Observe the reason here given why they hastened to set up the altar: Fear was upon them, because of the people of the land. They were in the midst of enemies that bore ill will to them and their religion, for whom they were an unequal match. And, (1.) Though they were so, yet they built the altar (so some read it); they would not be frightened from their religion by the opposition they were likely to meet with in it. Never let the fear of man bring us into this snare. (2.) Because they were so, therefore they set up the altar. Apprehension of danger should stir us up to our duty. Have we many enemies? Then it is good to have God our friend and to keep up our correspondence with him. This good use we should make of our fears, we should be driven by them to our knees. Even Saul would think himself undone if the enemy should come upon him before he had made his supplication to God, 1 Sam. xii. 12.
III. The sacrifices they offered upon the altar. The altar was reared to be used, and they used it accordingly. Let not those that have an altar starve it.
1. They began on the first day of the seventh month, v. 6. It does not appear that they had any fire from heaven to begin with, as Moses and Solomon had, but common fire served them, as it did the patriarchs.
2. Having begun, they kept up the continual burnt-offering (v. 5), morning and evening, v. 3. They had known by sad experience what it was to want the comfort of the daily sacrifice to plead in their daily prayers, and now that it was revived they resolved not to let it fall again. The daily lamb typified the Lamb of God, whose righteousness must be our confidence in all our prayers.
3. They observed all the set feasts of the Lord, and offered the sacrifices appointed for each, and particularly the feast of tabernacles,Ezr 3:4; Ezr 3:5. Now that they had received such great mercy from God that joyful feast was in a special manner seasonable. And now that they were beginning to settle in their cities it might serve well to remind them of their fathers dwelling in tents in the wilderness. That feast also which had a peculiar reference to gospel times (as appears, Zech. xiv. 18) was brought, in a special manner, into reputation, now that those times drew on. Of the services of this feast, which continued seven days and had peculiar sacrifices appointed, it is said that they did as the duty of every day required (see Num. xxix. 13, 17, c.), Verbum die in die suo–the word, or matter, of the day in its day (so it is in the original)–a phrase that has become proverbial with those that have used themselves to scripture-language. If the feast of tabernacles was a figure of a gospel conversation, in respect of continual weanedness from the world and joy in God, we may infer that it concerns us all to do the work of the day in its day, according as the duty of the day requires, that is, (1.) We must improve time, by finding some business to do every day that will turn to a good account. (2.) We must improve opportunity, by accommodating ourselves to that which is the proper business of the present day. Every thing is beautiful in its season. The tenth day of this month was the day of atonement, a solemn day, and very seasonable now: it is very probable that they observed it, yet it is not mentioned, nor indeed in all the Old Testament do I remember the least mention of the observance of that day as if it were enough that we have the law of it in Lev. xvi., and the gospel of it, which was the chief intention of it, in the New Testament.
4. They offered every man’s free-will offering, v. 5. The law required much, but they brought more; for, though they had little wealth to support the expense of their sacrifices, they had much zeal, and, we may suppose, spared at their own tables that they might plentifully supply God’s altar. Happy are those that bring with them out of the furnace of affliction such a holy heat as this.
IV. The preparation they made for the building of the temple, v. 7. This they applied themselves immediately to; for, while we do what we can, we must still be aiming to do more and better. Tyre and Sidon must now, as of old, furnish them with workmen, and Lebanon with timber, orders for both which they had from Cyrus. What God calls us to we may depend upon his providence to furnish us for.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Ezra – Chapter 3
Altar Erected, verses 1-7
It was the seventh month of the year in which the returning exiles arrived back in Jerusalem that they met as one in Jerusalem to commence the building of the temple, according to the command of Cyrus. Not many of the people lived in Jerusalem itself, for it was without walls and desolate. They had moved in the more populated towns and villages in outlying areas. Besides Zerubbabel, their prince and governor, they also had the high priest, Jeshua (called Joshua elsewhere), to lead and direct them in what they should do. Their first venture was to erect the altar of burnt offering, before they had even laid the foundation of the temple. The altar was the place of sacrifice, where the Israelite approached the Lord in worship. In the earlier times, before Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the old temple, there was a continual burnt offering on the altar.
There is a good lesson in this. One cannot approach God’s worship except by the sin offering and the whole burnt offering of Christ in atonement for his sins. Not only does salvation come by His offering, but the life is saved by keeping Him in remembrance in daily worship (1Pe 1:18-21).
So the bases of the altar were set and the altar erected on it. This was partly motivated by a fear of the pagan people living around them. The Jews were in a definite minority in their own land, and they felt a need for the Lord’s protection. Not only did they make their daily burnt offerings, but they also kept the feast of the tabernacles, one of their major feasts, which came in the seventh month of their year. It was given originally in commemoration of their wilderness wandering when they dwelt in tents. See Lev 23:33-44. These early returnees from captivity tried to keep the laws of God as given to Moses much more scrupulously than had their fathers, or their children after them.
The people seemed very sincere in their attempts to serve the Lord at the time. The more pious brought freewill offerings to offer on the altar. This great religious revival had its beginning on the first day of the seventh month, called the sabbath of trumpet blowing in the law (Lev 23:23-25). As the work of temple building began money was given to the carpenters and masons, but the cedar-cutters of Tyre and Zidon were paid in foodstuff, oil, and wine. As in the days of Solomon, when the first temple was built, the timber was taken from Lebanon and conveyed to the seaport of Joppa and conveyed overland to Jerusalem. All of these things were in accord with the grant given the Jews by King Cyrus.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE INITIAL STEPS
Ezr 3:1-13.
THIS third chapter presents a vigorous scene. The time for action had come. The seventh month was Divinely selected for this temporal and Spiritual movement.
We may never know all the reasons for it, but the fact is familiar to all students of Scripture that seven, and ten, and twelve are Gods favorite numbers. In our land at least, the first month in the year is commonly looked upon as a favorable time for important movements or radical changes, but God commonly accepted the seventh, and not infrequently the tenth day of the month as a starting point for His enterprises. There is a power in periods. There are advantages in dates. There are tides in time, in the employment of which comes fortune. The time of all times, however, is the one Divinely appointed.
It is not left to men to choose just when they will undertake. Even in the matter of salvation tomorrow is not acceptable. Today is the day. Woe to him who hears the voice, but hardens his heart.
The movement here anticipated will prove progressive. There are at least three steps recorded in this chapter: The Altar First; the Forms of Worship, and the Laying of the Foundation.
THE ALTAR FIRST
When the seventh month was come, and the Children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries; and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening (Ezr 3:1-3).
The erection of this altar involves the glorious assembly, the priestly leadership, and the defense of the fearful.
The glorious assembly! The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. What a suggestive statement! They did not get together to discuss, as debators assemble. They did not come together in solemn silence as people gather to a funeral; but they were brought together in a kindred spirit; their company was unified with a common desire, and inspired with a common intent or ambition.
A dead church can scarcely assemble its people at all, and a divided church can never bring them together as one man. People will not gather to do nothing; nor can a unity of spirit assemble those who have no other object than discussion and debate. It is when the crises of life come; it is when the great enterprise makes appeal; it is when the Divine voice has been widely heard, that men run together, drawn as by the magnet of a common movement. That is why it happens that the most aggressive church is always the most united church. The church that undertakes the biggest things is the church that has the most enthusiastic membership. The church that dares the impossible is the church that engages least in petty discussion and discovers the least bitterness in its membership, but rather enjoys the highest enthusiasm of the big undertaking. Happy is that body of believers who come to the task Divinely appointed it as one man!
The priestly leadership! Then stood up Jeshua the son of Josadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
There are people who think that priests are little good when a great building enterprise is about to be undertaken. Such people reason that the spiritual and the material are inharmonious, and that the man who deals in spiritual things is not expected to know much on material questions. The priest, they think, is all right for the prayer part of the service, but is all ignorant on the building side of the same. How absurd! How utterly contrary to all human history! Go back through the two thousand years of New Testament Christianity, and see that the man who has guided in the spiritual affairs of Gods people has uniformly led also in their material accomplishments. It was once said that there has never been a reformation in Europe without a monk at the bottom of it, and it may be safely asserted that since the days of this temple, there has seldom been a church house constructed, whether an Old Testament synagogue or an ecclesiastical auditorium, that was not first imagined by the spiritual leader, and later made a substantial reality in answer to his Spirit-guided leadership.
To be sure, the revelation and necessity of this plan came through Cyrus, the king; but Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel, probably the Levirate son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, were first in response to the kings suggestion.
An article in the Literary Digest a while ago, emanating from the pen of Bishop Freeman of Washington, wisely suggested the return of ministers to the main business of their lives, namely, a concern for souls. In that connection he said, The modern complexity of church administration has brought the ministry to the breaking point. It has laid upon the shoulders of the churchs chosen leaders burdens too heavy to be borne. It has brought about a situation that has resulted in the impairment of the pastoral and prophetic offices. It has called for an outlay of time and money, the volume of which has mounted from year to year. It has put the church in competition with secular agencies and placed it at a disadvantage it can not readily overcome. It has shifted the emphasis from a concern for souls to a concern for bodies.
This charge is entirely true; but it carries a concealed compliment. If ministers had not proven themselves men of affairs and capable of putting over movements and institutions, this undesirable result would not exist; in fact, the result is not undesirable in all its features. We believe that the sole business of the Church of God is evangelization. We hold it is not its object to reform society or to undertake social and political reform; it is not even its business to educate. Its commission is clear: Preach the Gospel, and baptize in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
But that sort of work cannot be done without having, as incidental fruits of the same, the very finest social consequences. Christianized society will demand schools for the ignorant, hospitals for the sick, and decent government in city life. The result is that the spiritual leader is forever the social reformer, the advocate of education, and the friend of all forms of decency. Superficial men may despise him, but God forever sets him in leadership.
But we find another fact looking out from this Scripturethe defiance of the fearful!
And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening (Ezr 3:3).
That was an absolute affront to the brethren round about, and the people who gave that affront were afraid to do it lest the onlooker should pounce upon them and if possible drive them out of the land, but they were more afraid not to do it, for they knew it to be the command of the Lord. The hero is not necessarily the man who knows no fear; he is rather the man who knows the fear of God above the fear of his fellows. The practical certainty is that every successful man could be the subject of Gods approval, and mans hatred.
An impression exists, with the public, that we have passed this Old Testament time; that we can do as one says, erect a hundred churches in any of the chief cities of the globe, and the citizens will pay little heed to the fact that so many pinnacles are rising to the clouds! But that all depends upon what kind of churches you erect! If you erect an ordinary church in an out of the way community, you will excite little enthusiasm on the part of believers and little opposition on the part of atheists and skeptics; but if you build a true temple of God at the citys heart, and propose to carry forward in that place an aggressive work, you are certain to encounter opposition as bitter as Israel defied on the day of this decision.
The public is never indifferent to the work of a Spurgeon, or to the existence of his tabernacle. A portion of it praises God for it and another portion hates and anathematizes the same. The Los Angeles public was not indifferent to the creation of the Bible Institute in that city. The true friends of Christianity rejoiced in that great building. The advocates of Modernism and the agents of atheism growled against it, and when they found that that fact was not hindering, they shifted and sought to capture the same, just as they had captured Harvard and Brown and Andover and Rochester.
The greatest single need of the hour is leaders who sufficiently fear the Lord to defy opposition, to dare great undertakings in the very face of the enemy, and to defy their worst. The fear of public opinion or of organized opposition is not excuse for failure in obedience to God.
But we mark progress:
THE FORMS OF WORSHIP
Look into verses four to seven (Ezr 3:4-7), and get the following suggestions: They adopted the days Divinely ordained; they rested their worship on free will, and they paid their way as they went.
They adopted the days Divinely ordained.
They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated (Ezr 3:4-5 a).
They indulged in no novelties! They didnt originate ceremonies that they believed to be beautiful. They went to the written Word, and followed the instructions of the same. The feast of the tabernacles, burnt offeringsthese were of Gods ordination. So should it be with every ceremony found in the church, one taught by His Son. Baptism is Divinely ordained. Christ Himself submitted to the same, and commanded it upon the part of others. The Lords Supper Christ instituted, and enjoined upon His church, This do in remembrance of Me, and the Apostle, writing with the pen of inspiration, inspired us to its continuous performance when he said, As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lords death till He come (1Co 11:26).
There are two extremes to be avoided in the matter of feasts and ceremonies. The one is the Roman error of creating a multitude that have back of them no Divine commandment, and the other is the Quaker error of sweeping aside, as of no significance, what Christ Himself instituted and commanded.
Let Israels conduct here teach us to avoid both, and walk with the Lord in the way.
They rested their worship on free will.
They offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord (Ezr 3:5).
There is nothing more anomalous than a professed believer who practices no sacrifice of self; nothing more strange than a man who says he loves God, and yet, at the same time, refuses to give to His cause. A portion of James Epistle seems to be inspired for the benefit of such: Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone (Jas 2:17). A mere profession is a poor hypocrisy. Men who know the Name of the Lord, but make no contribution to His Church and cause are only self-deceivers. Their profession is a pretense, as their practice proves.
There were times in Old Testament history when the people withheld more than was meet, and spiritual and temporal poverty resulted. There were other times when they brought all that was needed, and Gods blessing was uniformly poured out. The New Testament Church has kindred experiences that illustrate the same principle. When its members give, they get; when they give, they grow, and when they give, they are ready to go to the uttermost parts of the earth, either in person or by proxy, as He shall speak.
There are a good many altars on which the fires have died, and from which the smoke ascends no more, because the people who have created them have ceased to support them.
The March 10, 1928, Literary Digest records some regrettable facts:
Thirty-two per cent of all the Presbyterian, Northern Baptist, and Methodist Episcopal churches in the United States failed in the year 1927 to obtain a single convert to Christ; 3,269 Presbyterian churches, 3,474 Baptist churches, and 4,651 Methodist Episcopal churches went through the year without winning a single man to Christ!
How tragic! And yet there is a report in the same magazine that is almost more tragic still. It relates to a family church in Montclair, N. J. The churchs budget for the past year was $35,000. There are 408 families in the parish, and 145 of those families contributed nothing, notwithstanding the fact that in the 408 families there were owned and operated 431 automobiles, or more than one to each family. Analyzed, the following facts were found:
Forty families pledged per year less than the cost of one tire.
One hundred and nineteen families pledged per year less than the cost of two tires.
Five families pledged per week the cost of two packages of life-savers.
Seven families contributed per week the cost of one soda.
Twenty-eight families, the cost of one admission to the movies.
Forty-six families, the cost of a half pound of candy per week.
Twenty-two families were content with the weekly gift of the cost of two and a half gallons of gasoline.
Fifty-one families counted it a joy to subscribe weekly the amount that the men in the house spent for smoking.
Forty-nine families pledged per week the price of one luncheon at a moderate restaurant.
One hundred forty-nine families pledged nothing. They ignored their church membership, and permitted others who would, to carry the entire cost of the same.
If this analysis were exceptional, the situation would not be so sad, but like the case of no conversions, it characterizes thousands of churches as perfectly as the one in Montclair.
The temple here moved toward existence because the people willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid (Ezr 3:6).
They paid their way as they went.
They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezr 3:7).
This is a good principle! In spite of personal practices to the contrary, we believe that it is the principle that ought to be everywhere employed. As a leader in spiritual things, we have advised, more than once, debts, and sometimes large debts, and we have no apology to make for that advice, but we have ever grieved its necessity, and we have ever known that it was not necessary. If every member of the church would do his duty, debts need not occur, and as a rule, would not occur. The people that fail to respond to Gods will in this matter are the ones that compel their more sacrificial fellows to mortgage their future. We doubt if there is a debt on any house in America that would ever have been there had some members of the church sacrificed as did their more faithful brethren, and we are convinced that the common Roman policy of this matter is both economically and Biblically sound, namely, Pay as you go.
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another (Rom 13:8).
Why should our religion lag and our contributions be forever in arrears? Why should a man be willing to sleep at night, when during the day he has taken what did not belong to him; when, in fact, he has robbed God? We fear that prayerless days often account for giftless daysdays in which God is forgotten or those in which gold is withheld from His altar, and personal greed triumphs. But we dare draw nearer yet to the day when Gods house shall have its beginning:
THE FOUNDATIONS LAID
The priests led in the building enterprise.
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.
Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites (Ezr 3:8-9).
Jeshua, the priest, with his sons and his brethren, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, were spiritual leaders, and they together set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Lewies.
Here again there is no occasion for surprise. The seers, the men who visualize great enterprises, are commonly the men who lay their hand first to the task of bringing those enterprises into existence.
I have known many an instance where the preacher, seeing the necessity, the utter need of a new and larger sanctuary, has said to himself, Go to now, we will build the same. There is Mr. A., my millionaire member; I will make him the chairman of the building committee, and under the impetus of his arguments and the exhilaration of his giving, I will see my membership fall into line, and the enterprise will be carried over the top.
In nine cases out of ten, yea, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, such dreams are vain. The rich man, made chairman of the building committee, will discover reasons why such a plan is not feasible, and before you know it, he will have infected the entire congregation with indisposition, and set them an example of unwillingness.
No; dont depend upon your rich men when you go about Gods work. Look to God instead. Depend upon your spiritual men, men who sustain the relation of priests unto God, who have constant access to the Divine presence! They are the only men who will ever put over anything. There has never been a bigger blunder, nor have churches ever suffered so much from any single departure from Scripture, as the blunder that proposes to create the diaconate after the model set down in Act 6:3: Men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, and then to elect an altogether different company of the godless in which to take care of the trustees office and administer the finances. That has been the ruin of thousands of churches and is the reason for the impotence of thousands of them at this moment. Why should the church forget or ignore the fact that the same men, of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, were the men Divinely appointed over the church business? My observation has been that a non-spiritual man in church office is a clog on the wheels of progress, or even worse, a broken cog grinding and tearing the very machine itself.
Now, the prospect for this temple is good. Godly men are to the fore. That fills the future with promise.
The priests also led in the singing.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever 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 (Ezr 3:10-11).
How suggestive! It is a great thing to go cheerfully about Gods enterprises. Only the happy man is the man of strength. Have you never noted how even your prize fighters who win championships are never disgruntled or morose spirits? It is reported that when Napoleons wagon was stalled in the snow on the Alps he ordered a stirring march played by the band, and under the inspiration of music, the very beasts did their best and conquered the mountain.
It is practically impossible to build a house of God, or to put over any Christian enterprise, with grumpy or disgruntled men. They are in the way. They should be ordered out altogether, or sent about some other business as Gideon sent the thousands who were not eager enough for the fray to forget leisurely filling themselves. The cause had a better prospect. Give me a happy company of believers, and I will smite the word impossible, removing it from the dictionary.
Finally, the ancients led in sounds of rejoicing.
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off (Ezr 3:12-13).
It is doubtful if youth is capable of as deep and wide a joy as old men can know. These dear fellows had seen the first house, and when it passed, had feared that its glory would never be repeated, but now the second and even greater is being started. Do you wonder that they shouted aloud for joy?
I have often wished that those men who were approaching old age when I came to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, in 1897, might have lived to see the completion of the great new houses in 1923-1924. I feel as certain as I am of reason itself that no joy of youngster could be comparable to that which those glorious men would have felt at the completion of these great fanes. I have an assurance in my soul that had that dozen men who bore the burdens and heat of the day in the old building, and passed away before the new was completed, been privileged to live until that day in April, 1923 and that 6th day of January, 1924, that when youth sang with enthusiasm the hymns of dedication, their happiness would have been too deep for participation in the same, and would have found expression in shouts and weeping, the noise of which would have been heard, and its meaning known, in Heaven.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.] This chapter contains
1. The rebuilding of the altar (Ezr. 3:1-3 a).
2. The renewal of the sacrificial worship and of the observance of the religious festivals (Ezr. 3:3 b6a).
3. The preparations for rebuilding the Temple (Ezr. 3:6 b, 7).
4. The laying of the foundation-stone of the new Temple, the religious celebration of the occasion, and the mingled feelings of the people (Ezr. 3:8-13).
Ezr. 3:1. The seventh month] i.e. of the year in which they arrived at Jerusalem. The seventh month was Tisri, the month of the full streams, or floods, which corresponded with the latter part of our September and the greater part of October. (For further notes of time, see notes on Ezr. 3:8). As one man] The expression does not signify every man; but, with great unanimity, as if inspired by one will.
Ezr. 3:2. As it is written in the law of Moses] (See Lev. 17:2-6; Deu. 12:5-11).
Ezr. 3:3. They set the altar upon his bases] i.e. they built it in its former position and on the old foundations. For fear was upon them] &c. They were afraid of the hostility of the neighbouring nations. The people of those countries] are the surrounding peoples, which are mentioned in chap. Ezr. 9:1. Burnt offerings morning-and evening] as commanded in Exo. 29:38-42; Num. 28:3-8.
Ezr. 3:4. The feast of Tabernacles, as it is written] (See Lev. 23:33-43). And offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required] The last clause is in the margin: The matter of the day in his day. Vulg.: Opus dies in die suo. The offerings for each day of the feast of Tabernacles are carefully prescribed in detail in Num. 29:12-38. The offerings required at this feast were the largest of all. They amounted to fourteen rams, ninety-eight lambs, and no less than seventy bullocks, being twice as many lambs and four times as many bullocks as were enjoined for the Passover. The feast of Tabernacles was especially one of thankfulness to God for the gifts of the fruit of the earth, and the quantity and nature of the offerings were determined accordingly.Speakers Com.
Ezr. 3:5. After the feast of tabernacles the prescribed order of sacrifices was regularly observed, viz. The continual burnt offering] i.e. the daily morning and evening sacrifice (Num. 28:3-8). Both of the new moons] Rather, And (the offerings) of the new moons (Num. 28:11-15). And of every one that willingly offered] &c. (Lev. 7:11-17; Num. 29:39; Deu. 16:10; Deu. 16:16-17).
Ezr. 3:6. From the first day of the seventh month] &c. The altar service, with the daily morning and evening sacrifice, began on the first day of the seventh month; this daily sacrifice was regularly offered, according to the law, from then till the fifteenth day of the seventh month, i.e. till the beginning of the feast of Tabernacles. All the offerings commanded in the law for the separate days of this feast were then offered according to the numbers prescribed; and after this festival the sacrifices ordered at the new moon and other holydays of the year were offered, as well as the daily burnt offerings,none but these, neither the sacrifice on the new moon (the first day of the seventh month), nor the sin-offering on the tenth day of the same month, i.e. the day of atonement, having been offered before this feast of Tabernacles.Keil. This interpretation is, however, opposed by Schultz, who says: It is merely said (Ezr. 3:5) that after the sacrifices of the feast of Tabernacles the usual order of offerings was again continued, which included the daily offerings, and then also those of the new moon and other feasts.
Ezr. 3:7. Meat and drink] i.e. corn and wine. Unto them of Zidon] &c. (Comp. 1Ch. 22:4; 1Ki. 5:6-18; 2Ch. 2:3-18.) According to the grant] &c. This probably refers to the permission to rebuild the Temple, which would involve permission to negotiate with the Phnicians for such assistance as they needed; for we do not read anywhere that Cyrus made them a grant of Phnician timber.
Ezr. 3:8. Now in the second year of their coming] &c. Whether this second year of the return coincides with the second year of the rule of Cyrus (over Babylon), so that the foundations of the Temple were laid, as Theophil. Antioch. ad Antolic., lib. 3, according to Berosus, relates, in the second year of Cyrus, cannot be determined; for nothing more is said in this book than that Cyrus, in the first year of his reign, issued the decree concerning the return of the Jews from Babylon, whereupon those named in the list (chap. 2) set out and returned, without any further notice as to whether this also took place in the first year of Cyrus, or whether the many necessary preparations delayed the departure of the first band till the following year. The former view is certainly a possible though not a probable one, since it is obvious from iii.], that they arrived at Jerusalem and betook themselves to their cities as early as the seventh month of the year. Now the period between the beginning of the year and the seventh month, i.e. at most six months, seems too short for the publication of the edict, the departure, and the arrival at Jerusalem, even supposing that the first year of Cyrus entirely coincided with a year of the Jewish calendar. The second view, however, would not make the difference between the year of the rule of Cyrus and the year of the return to Jerusalem a great one, since it would scarcely amount to half a year.Keil. In the second month] i.e. Zif (1Ki. 6:1), the month of blossom; or, more fully, the bloom of flowers, corresponding to our May. Appointed the Levites to set forward the work] i.e. to preside over or superintend the rebuilding of the Temple.
Ezr. 3:9. Jeshua] not the high priest, but the head of an order of Levites (chap. Ezr. 2:40). Judah] is an error of a copyist. It should be Hodaviah, as in the margin, and chap. Ezr. 2:40. In Neh. 7:43, it is written Hodevah. Together] Margin: Heb. as one, i.e. all, without exception. The sons of Henadad] &c. Keil suggests, as an explanation of the striking position of the record of the sons of Henadad, that the two classes Jeshua with his sons and brethren, and Kadmiel with his sons, were more closely connected with each other than with the sons of Henadad, who formed a third class. The authority of the clause, however, is doubtful.
Ezr. 3:10. They (Zerubbabel and Jeshua) set the priests in their apparel] i.e. in their robes of office (Exo. 28:40; Exo. 39:27-29; Exo. 39:41, and chap. Ezr. 2:69). With trumpets] (Num. 10:8; Num. 31:6; 1Ch. 15:24; 1Ch. 16:6; 2Ch. 5:12). After the ordinance] &c. (1Ch. 15:16; 1Ch. 25:1).
Ezr. 3:11. And they sang together by course] Or, And they sang antiphonally. Fuerst gives the meaning: to sing an alternate song, or in alternate choir (1Sa. 18:7; Ezr. 3:11), but always to sing in reply, not to sing merely. The singing was responsive. One choir sang, Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; and the other responded, For His mercy endureth for ever. Shouted with a great shout] for joy that the foundation of the Temple was laid.
Ezr. 3:12. But many of the priests and Levites] &c. Solomons Temple was destroyed B.C. 588, and the foundation of the subsequent Temple laid B.C. 535 or 534; hence the older men among those present at the latter event might possibly have seen the former house; indeed, some (according to Hag. 2:3) were still living in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, who had beheld the glory of the earlier building. Upon these aged men, the miserable circumstances under which the foundations of the new Temple were laid produced so overwhelming an impression, that they broke into loud weeping.Keil.
THE REBUILDING OF THE ALTAR: EXEMPLARY FEATURES OF DIVINE WORSHIP
(Ezr. 3:1-3)
We discover here
I. Unanimity and zeal in Divine worship.
Notice:
1. The evidences of unanimity in worship. The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua, &c. The movement seems to have been a spontaneous one on the part of the people. They were not summoned to Jerusalem either by Zerubbabel the prince or by Jeshua the high priest, but went there of their own accord, urged by the religious impulses of their own souls. And they assembled as one man, i.e. as with one heart and will. And the authorities were not tardy in taking up the matter and leading it onward. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, &c. Jeshua with the priests, and Zerubbabel with the princes, entered heartily into the movement. Priests and Levites, prince and people, high and low, cordially united in the preparation for the restoration of their national worship.
2. The evidences of zeal in worship. This great gathering at Jerusalem took place when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities. They had only recently returned from Babylon; their country was to a great extent desolate, and would need much cleansing and cultivation; their houses would need renovation, or new ones would have to be built by them; many private interests urgently claimed their attention; but all these were freely and resolutely set aside until they had rebuilt the altar of Jehovah, and restored His worship, and made ready to celebrate the sacred festivals of this seventh month. Such unanimity and zeal for the worship of God are worthy of imitation by both individuals and communities in this age.
II. Sacrifice in Divine worship. And builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon. The altar and the burnt offerings suggest
1. Mans need of atonement with God. The consciousness of guilt, and the desire to propitiate God, or the craving of the heart for fellowship with Him, are the experiences which give rise to sacrificial offerings. The altar is an answer to the deep cry of man, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Burnt offerings were intended, in some cases at least, to express the idea of expiation, as well as that of self-consecration; hence they are said to make atonement for him who offered them (Lev. 1:4; Lev. 14:20; Lev. 14:31). The tendency of sin is to estrange man from God; the tendency of the love of God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is to destroy the power of sin in man, and to bind him to God in loving loyalty. We do not now need the altar and the expiatory victim; but we do need the Cross and the influence of the great Sacrifice, which once for all was offered thereon to put away sin. (a).
2. Mans duty of self-consecration to God. The chief significance of the burnt offering was that it expressed the self-consecration of the offerer to God. Without this, such offerings were worthless in the sight of Heaven. The moral or spiritual element was the essential thing in all the sacrifices. Without penitence the sin offering was offensive to God. Without gratitude the peace or thank offerings were rejected by Him. And without the self-dedication of the worshipper the burnt offerings were an abomination unto Him (comp. Psa. 50:8-15; Isa. 1:11-15). Our richest gifts are accepted by God only as they express our self-devotion to Him. And He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. (b).
III. Respect for precedent in Divine worship. This was manifested by the Jews at this time in two particulars
(1.) In assembling at the old place. The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. They congregated at the place where the Temple had once stood, and where their fathers were wont to worship.
(2.) In erecting the altar upon the old foundation, and thus, as it were, associating it with its distinguished predecessor. There is much that is commendable in the feelings which led them to act thus. It is well to be willing to adopt changes in our modes and accessories of worship, when really enlightened judgment, and cultured taste, and sincere religious feeling unite in recommending them. It is also well to cling tenaciously to what is suitable and seemly in existing methods and arrangements of religious worship. The site of the former Temple and the bases of the ancient altar possessed for the Jews a sanctity and an inspiration to which no other spots in this wide world could lay claim. There are memories and associations clinging around certain ancient forms and places hallowed by holy uses which greatly stimulate and enrich the worship of the devout heart.
IV. Conformity to Scripture in Divine worship. In building the altar and in offering their sacrifices, the Jews did as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. We must take heed that in our worship, whether clinging to precedent, or accepting suggestions of change, we do not depart from the principles and spirit of worship, as revealed in or fairly deduced from the holy Book. There are certain directions which are unmistakable and imperative: e.g., God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, &c.
V. Fear of enemies in Divine worship. Fear was upon them because of the people of those countries.
1. The fear of enemies should not intimidate us from the worship of God. The Jews built the altar notwithstanding their dread of their enemies. The history of religious persecutions supplies many splendid examples of perseverance in worship despite the threats and cruelties of foes. (c).
2. The fear of enemies should impel us to worship God. The Jews were the more eager to build the altar because of the hostility of neighbouring peoples. The opposition of man led them the more earnestly to seek the protection of God. They were not in a position to join battle with their enemies, if they had been attacked by them; but in placing themselves under the guardianship of the Lord God they did that which was far wiser and better. The persecutions of men should cause us to be more earnest in prayer to God.
VI. Regularity in Divine worship. And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. The offering of the daily sacrifice suggests
1. Our daily need of atonement with God. There are daily temptations, omissions, and transgressions, which tend to alienate the heart from God; hence we need daily to realise the reconciling influences of the Cross of Christ. (d).
2. Our daily need of renewed consecration. Every morning we require a renewal of our purpose and endeavour to live to God. The reception of new mercies also summons us to fresh dedication of ourselves to the bounteous Giver of all our mercies.
3. Our daily need of renewed blessings. Forgiveness and grace, guidance and guardianship, are blessings which we need every day, therefore we should seek them in prayer; they are, moreover, blessings which we receive every day, therefore we should acknowledge them in praise to God.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) I do not think any one ever knows the preciousness of the blood of Christ till he has had a full sight and sense of his sin, his uncleanliness, and his ill-desert. Is there any such thing as really and truly coming to the cross of Christ until you first of all have seen what your sin really deserves! A little light into that dark cellar, sir; a little light into that hole within the soul; a little light cast into that infernal den of your humanity, and you would soon discern what sin is, and, seeing it, you would discover that there was no hope of being washed from it, except by a sacrifice far greater than you could ever render. Then the atonement of Christ would become fair and lustrous in your eyes, and you would rejoice with joy unspeakable in that boundless love which led the Saviour to give Himself a ransom, the Just for the unjust, that. He might bring us to God. May the Lord teach us, thundering at us, if need be, what sin means. May He teach it to us so that the lesson shall be burned into our souls, and we shall never forget it. I could fain wish that you were all burden-carriers till you grew weary. I could fain wish that you all laboured after eternal life until your strength failed, and that you might then rejoice in Him who has finished the work, and who promises to be to you all in all when you believe in Him and trust in Him with your whole heart.C. H. Spurgeon.
(b) It is not the greatness of Christs sufferings on the cross which is to move our whole souls, but the greatness of the spirit with which He suffered. There, in death, He proved His entire consecration of Himself to the cause of God and mankind. There, His love flowed forth towards His friends, His enemies, and the human race. It is moral greatness, it is victorious love, it is the energy of principle, which gives such interest to the cross of Christ. We are to look through the darkness which hung over Him, through His wounds and pains, to His unbroken, disinterested, confiding spirit. To approach the cross for the purpose of weeping over a bleeding, dying Friend, is to lose the chief influence of the crucifixion. We are to visit the cross, not to indulge a natural softness, but to acquire firmness of spirit, to fortify our minds for hardship and suffering in the cause of duty and of human happiness. To live as Christ lived, to die as Christ died, to give up ourselves as sacrifices to God, to conscience, to whatever good interest we can advancethese are the lessons written with the blood of Jesus. His cross is to inspire us with a calm courage, resolution, and superiority to all temptation.W. E. Channing, D.D.
Mercy, love, is more acceptable worship to God, than all sacrifices or outward offerings. The most celestial worship ever paid on earth was rendered by Christ, when He approached man, and the most sinful man, as a child of God, when He toiled and bled to awaken what was Divine in the human soul, to regenerate a fallen world. Be such the worship which you shall carry from this place. Go forth to do good with every power which God bestows, to make every place you enter happier by your presence, to espouse all human interests, to throw your whole weight into the scale of human freedom and improvement, to withstand all wrong, to uphold all right, and especially to give light, life, strength to the immortal soul. He who rears up one child in Christian virtue, or recovers one fellow-creature to God, builds a temple more precious than Solomons or St. Peters, more enduring than earth or heaven.Ibid.
(c) Lord Macaulay, writing of the persecutions of the Protestant dissenters in the reign of James II., says:The number of the rebels whom Jeffreys banged on this (the Western) circuit was three hundred and twenty. Such havoc must have excited disgust even if the sufferers had been generally odious. But they were, for the most part, men of blameless life, and of high religious profession. They were regarded by themselves, and by a large proportion of their neighbours, not as wrong-doers, but as martyrs who sealed with blood the truth of the Protestant religion. Very few of the convicts professed any repentance for what they had done. Many, animated by the old Puritan spirit, met death, not merely with fortitude, but with exultation. It was in vain that the ministers of the Established Church lectured them on the guilt of rebellion and on the importance of priestly absolution. The claim of the king to unbounded authority in things temporal, and the claim of the clergy to the spiritual power of binding and loosing, moved the bitter scorn of the intrepid sectaries. Some of them composed hymns in the dungeon, and chanted them on the fatal sledge. Christ, they sang while they were undressing for the butchery, would soon come to rescue Zion and to make war on Babylon, would set up His standard, would blow His trumpet, and would requite His foes tenfold for all the evil which had been inflicted on His servants. The dying words of these men were noted down; their farewell letters were kept as treasures; and in this way, with the help of some invention and exaggeration, was formed a copious supplement to the Marian Martyrology.
Never, not even under the tyranny of Laud, had the condition of the Puritans been so deplorable as at that time (autumn 1685). Never had spies been so actively employed in detecting congregations. Never had magistrates, grand jurors, rectors, and churchwardens been so much on the alert. Many dissenters were cited before the ecclesiastical courts. Others found it necessary to purchase the connivance of the agents of the government by presents of hogsheads of wine and of gloves stuffed with guineas. It was impossible for the separatists to pray together without precautions, such as are employed by coiners and receivers of stolen goods. The places of meeting were frequently changed. Worship was performed sometimes just before break of day and sometimes at dead of night. Round the building where the little flock was gathered sentinels were posted to give the alarm if a stranger drew near. The minister in disguise was introduced through the garden and the back yard. In some houses there were trap doors through which, in case of danger, he might descend. Where Nonconformists lived next door to each other, the walls were often broken open, and secret passages were made from dwelling to dwelling. No psalm was sung; and many contrivances were used to prevent the voice of the preacher, in his moments of fervour, from being heard beyond the walls. Dissenting ministers, however blameless in life, however eminent for learning and abilities, could not venture to walk the streets for fear of outrages, which were not only not repressed, but encouraged, by those whose duty it was to preserve the peace. Some divines of great fame were in prison. Among these was Richard Baxter. Others, who had, during a quarter of a century, borne up against oppression, now lost heart, and quitted the kingdom. Among these was John Howe.History of England, chap. v.
(d) Is it not said in Scripture, If any man sin, we have an Advocate? Why is Christ an advocate to-day? Only because we want an advocate every day. Does He not constantly intercede yonder before the eternal throne? Why does He do that? Because we want daily intercession. And it is because we are constantly sinning that He is constantly an advocateconstantly an intercessor. He Himself has beautifully set forth this in the case of Peter: after supper the Lord took a towel and girded Himself, and then, taking His basin and His ewer, He went to Peter, and Peter said, Thou shalt never wash my feet. But Jesus told him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in Me. He had been washed once; Peter was free from sin in the high sense of justification, but he needs the washing of purification. When Peter said, Lord, wash not my feet only, but also my head and my hands, then Jesus replied, He that is washedthat is, he who is pardonedneedeth not save to wash his feet, for he is clean every whit. The feet want constant washing. The daily defilement of our daily walk through an ungodly world brings upon us the daily necessity of being cleansed from fresh sin, and that the mighty Master supplies to us.C. H. Spurgeon.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE SACRED FESTIVALS RESUMED
(Ezr. 3:4-6 a)
In these verses we have the record of the observance of the religious feasts of the nation. The continual burnt offering, which we noticed in our exposition of the preceding section, is again mentioned. The feast of Tabernacles, the observance of the new moons, and the presentation of freewill offerings, are also distinctly mentioned. To these, therefore, let us direct our attention. They present to us the following homiletic topics:
I. The commemoration in Divine worship of national experiences and blessings. Such was the feast of Tabernacles.
1. It was a memorial of the emancipation of Israel from Egypt, teaching us that we should cherish the memory of former mercies. (See Lev. 23:43.)
2. It was a memorial of their life in the wilderness, reminding us that our present condition is that of strangers and pilgrims. (See Lev. 23:40-43; Heb. 13:14.)
3. It was a thanksgiving for rest and a settled abode in the promised land, suggesting the certainty and blessedness of the rest which remains for the people of God. (Comp. Lev. 23:40 with Rev. 7:9.)
4. It was a thanksgiving for the completed harvest, teaching us to receive the precious fruits of the earth as the kind gifts of a bountiful Providence. (See Exo. 23:16 b; Lev. 23:39; Deu. 16:13-15.[2] But this festival was specially appropriate and significant at this time. It was, as Schultz remarks, because of the season of the year in which the congregation had arrived in Canaan that the first feast which they could again celebrate in accordance with the law was the feast of Tabernacles. At the same time, however, we may see therein a special providence of God, which was at once lovely and significant to the congregation. The booths adorned with foliage and fruits had previously represented as well the gracious help in the times of the wilderness, as also the gracious blessings of harvest in the present; corresponding with this, the booths now gained of themselves a reference, on the one side, to the exhibition of grace during the new prolonged wilderness-time of the exile which had entered with so much gloom into the midst of the history of Israel; so to speak to the booths of protection and defiance which had arisen for the people, by the grace of the Lord, even in the heathen world; and, on the other side, to the new regaining of Canaan, which, to a certain extent, was a security and a pledge of all the further blessings in store for them in this land. They expressed the thanks which they owed to the Lord for both of these blessings in an especially lively and internal manner. This feast of tabernacles was a festal and joyous conclusion of all the preservations, consolations, and blessings that were behind them, connected with a joyous glance into the future; it was an evidence that a height had been reached upon which finally even the last height might be attained, an indication that some day, after all their struggles and all their labours, a still more glorious feast of Tabernacles, the Messianic, the eternal and truly blessed one, would come. (Comp. Zechariah 14) The text distinctly mentions one feature of this celebration of the feast, viz., the fidelity with which the original directions for its observance were carried out: They kept also the feast of Tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, &c. The directions are given in Num. 29:13-39. (See The Preachers Commentary on Numbers, p. 528.) For a people in their straitened circumstances the offerings required were very numerous; but they were fully and cheerfully provided by them. If their means were small, their zeal was great. (a).
[2] For remarks and illustrations on these points see The Preachers Commentary on Numbers, pp. 529, 530.
II. The celebration in religious worship of the natural divisions of time. And of the new moons. They presented the offerings appropriate to those occasions. The first day of the lunar month was observed as a holyday. In addition to the daily sacrifice there were offered two young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs of the first year as a burnt offering, with the proper meat offerings and drink offerings, and a kid as a sin offering (Num. 28:11-15). It was not a day of holy convocation, and was not therefore of the same dignity as the Sabbath. But, as on the Sabbath, trade and handicraft work were stopped (Amo. 8:5), the Temple was opened for public worship (Eze. 46:3; Isa. 66:23), and, in the kingdom of Israel at least, the people seem to have resorted to the prophets for religious instruction (2Ki. 4:23). The trumpets were blown at the offering of the special sacrifices for the day, as on the solemn festivals (Num. 10:10; Psa. 81:3). The seventh new moon of the religious year, being that of Tisri, commenced the civil year, and had a significance and rites of its own. It was a day of holy convocation (Num. 29:1-6). What was the design of this religious celebration of the beginnings of their months?
We suggest:
1. To impress them with the value of time. Its irrevocableness should suggest its invaluableness. The religious observance of the new moons was calculated to emphasise the facts that one month more had passed away for ever, with all its possibilities and opportunities, and that another had commenced its course, and its opportunities must be promptly seized and diligently employed ere they also departed. (b).
2. To assist them to form a correct estimate of their life upon earth. All men think all men mortal but themselves. Man needs frequent and forcible reminders of the swift flight of time, and of the brevity of his life upon earth. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. The religious observance of the natural divisions of time may be regarded as an answer to this request, inasmuch as it helps to impart and to impress the lesson desired. (c).
3. To arouse them to make a wise use of the time which remained to them. As we realise the fact that one month of our allotted time upon earth quickly follows another into the everlasting past, we should also realise with imperial force the solemn conviction, I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, &c.
III. The presentation in Divine worship of personal voluntary offerings. And of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. These offerings were in addition to those required by the law, and were purely spontaneous on the part of the worshipper. The law required much, but in their zeal the returned exiles gave more. And in Christianity there is ample room for the expression of the grateful and reverent emotions of the soul. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. In all thy gifts, says the Son of Sirach, show a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes with gladness. Give unto the Most High according as He hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten give with a cheerful eye. For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much. (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) The end of the festival days among the Jews was to revive the memory of those signal acts wherein His power for them, and His goodness to them, had been extraordinarily evident; it is no more but our months to praise Him, and our hand to obey Him, that He exacts at our hands. He commands us not to expend what He allows us in the erecting stately temples to His honour; all the coin He requires to be paid with for His expense is the offering of thanksgiving, (Psa. 50:14); and this we ought to do as much as we can, since we cannot do it as much as He merits, for who can show forth all His praise? (Psa. 106:2). If we have the fruit of His goodness, it is fit He should have the fruit of our lips (Heb. 13:15); the least kindness should inflame our souls with a kindly resentment. Though some of His benefits have a brighter, some a darker, aspect towards us, yet they all come from this common spring; His goodness shines in all; there are the footsteps of goodness in the least, as well as the smiles of goodness in the greatest; the meanest therefore is not to pass without a regard of the Author. As the glory of God is more illustrious in some creatures than in others, yet it glitters in all, and the lowest as well as the highest administers matter of praise; but they are not only little things, but the choicer favours He hath bestowed upon us. How much doth it deserve our acknowledgment, that He should contrive our recovery, when we had plotted our ruin! that when He did from eternity behold the crimes wherewith we would incense Him, He should not, according to the rights of justice, cast us into hell, but prize us at the rate of the blood and life of His only Son, in value above the blood of men and lives of angels! How should we bless that God, that we have yet a Gospel among us, that we are not driven into the utmost regions, that we can attend upon Him in the face of the sun, and not forced to the secret obscurities of the night! Whatsoever we enjoy, whatsoever we receive, we must own Him as the Donor, and read His hand in it.S. Charnocke, B. D.
(b) Suppose that God had so cast the arrangements of our system as never to give notice, at all, of the passage of time, by the distinction of days, seasons, and years. In that case, we should all be living on together, but how fast or how slow we could scarcely guess. One year of mens childhood seems as long to them, they say, as two, or perhaps even ten years, later in life. This shows you how they would mistake if there were no measure of time save that of their inward judgment. They would never realise how fast they are living. They would take the period equal to ten years, in the later portion of life, to be the same period which constituted only its tenth part in their childhood; and so, when drawing on towards the close of their days,the very time when they ought most of all to be awake to the shortness of their stay,then would they be, most of all, insensible to the flight of time, and the swift approach of eternity.
Observe, then, the faithfulness of God. He has made the very universe to be the clock of the universe, and admonish every mortal heart of the sure and constant passage of time. We are not left to our inward judgments. Time has its measures without, in the most palpable and impressive visitations of the senses. Every twilight tells us that a day is gone, and that by a sign as impressive as the blotting out of the sun! It is as if we had a clock, so adjusted as to give notice of the hour, by displacing, at a stroke, the light of heaven, suspending the labours of the world, quenching the fevers of its earthly schemes and passions, and diffusing an opiate spell of oblivion over all human consciousness. The impalpable odours of spring penetrate our secret sense as monitors of time. The summer heat is the heat of time, the winters cold is the cold of timeboth forcing their way into our experience by a visitation that we cannot resist. One season tells us that another is gone; and, when the whole circle of seasons is completed and returned into itself, the new year tells us that the old is gone. And a certain number of these years, we know, is the utmost bound of life. How sure is the reckoning! It is even compulsorynone can escape it.H. Bushnell, D.D.
(c) A thousand years is a long time, but how soon it flies! One almost seems, in reading English history, to go back and shake hands with William the Conqueror; a few lives bring us even to the flood. You who are getting on to be forty years old, and especially you who are sixty or seventy, must feel how fast time flies. I only seem to preach a sermon one Sunday in time to get ready for the next. Time flies with such a whirl that no express train can overtake it, and even the lightning flash seems to lag behind it. We shall soon be at the great white throne; we shall soon be at the judgment bar of God. Oh! let us make ready for it. Let us not live so much in this present, which is but a dream, an empty show, but let us live in the real, substantial future.C. H. Spurgeon.
(d) Who, with the Word of God in his hand, but must feel that an era of enlarged Christian liberality is hastening on?
Now, the Christian professor too commonly allows his regular contribution to check his liberality, to prevent his giving more than the stipulated sum, though there are times when his benevolent impulses would prompt him to exceed that sum; then, he will regard his subscription only as a pledge that he will not give less, but as leaving his liberality open to all the impulses of an unrestricted benevolence. Now, he is too often disposed to shun the applications for charity, and if he is overlooked and passed by, to view it as a fortunate escape; but then he will do good as he hath opportunitycreating the opportunity which he cannot find already made to his hands. Now, his ability exceeds his inclination; but then his inclination will be greater than his ability; like the Macedonian Christians of whom the Apostle testifies, I bear them record that to their power, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves. Instead of being charitable only on comparative distraint, he will often anticipate application, and surprise the agents of beneficence by unexpected gifts; thus strengthening their faith in God, and inciting them to enlarge their designs for the kingdom of Christ: like the same believers of whom the Apostle records, that, instead of needing to be solicited, they entreated him to accept their contributionspraying us with much entreaty to accept the gift. Like the happy parent of a happy family, he will hail every new-born claim on his resources, and cheerfully deny himself in order to support it. And, instead of giving as he now does, as scantily as if he only aimed to keep the Christian cause from famishing, he will then act on the persuasion that his own enjoyment is identified with its growth and prosperity.John Harris, D.D.
Works of piety and charity should, like water from a fountain, flow spontaneously from the gratitude and benevolence of a believing heart, and not require to be extorted with importunity, like the toil and trouble of drawing water from a deep well.Anon.
THE WORK OF THE DAY DONE IN THE DAY
(Ezr. 3:4 : As the duty of every day required)
The pious Jews returned from Babylon having erected an altar, kept also the feast of Tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required. It is in the margin, the matter of the day in his day. This has grown into a proverbial saying among those who love Scripture phraseology, and teaches us that we should do the work of the day in the day.
I. We may apply this to life in general. This is called a day, and it is a single day, a short day, a day which it is impossible to lengthen. And what is the language of reason, of Scripture? To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart. Behold now is the day of salvation. And what will be your language if the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus? I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day; the night cometh, wherein no man can work.
II. It will apply to prosperity. This is called a day; and Solomon tells us what is the duty of it. In the day of prosperity be joyful. He cannot intend to encourage extravagance and excess. We are to use this world as not abusing it. The wise man would teach us to enjoy the comforts our circumstances afford, in opposition to that self-denial that arises not from religious motive, but from anxiety; from a disposition to live comparatively poor and destitute at present in order to hoard up for the future; whereas the Apostle tells us that God gives us all things richly to enjoy. God, like a generous friend, is pleased to see His presents enjoyedto enjoy is to obey. But let us be always joyful in Him; let us enjoy all in God, and God in all. Behold another thing that the duty of this day requires. It is gratitude. Compare your circumstances with those of others, whose plans are equally wise, and whose dependencies seemed equally sure. Compare your present with your former condition; the two bands with the staff. Compare your indulgences with your deserts, and how can you be unthankful? And surely the duty of this day requires liberality. He has made you stewards, and not proprietors; and He will soon call you to give up your account. Charge them that are rich in this world that they do good, &c.
III. It will apply to adversity. This is also called a day; and it is said, In the day of adversity, consider. This is the grand duty of the season. Whatever be your affliction, it is a solemn call to consider your ways, to examine your hearts and lives, to inquire wherefore He contends with you, and what He would have you to do. You are also to consider the alleviations of your suffering; how much worse it might have been; and to compare your resources with your difficulties. Another part of the duty this day requires is submission. Submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God, &c. This subjection does not exclude feeling, but regulates it; keeping us, while sensible of the affliction, from quarrelling with Providence, from charging Him foolishly or unkindly, and leading us to say, It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good. The duty of this day also requires prayer. Call upon Me in the day of trouble, &c. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. The very exercise of it will soothe him, while the answer of it will deliver him.
IV. We may apply it to the Sabbath. This is called the Lords-day because it is consecrated to the memory of His resurrection, and is employed in His service. But as to advantage, it is our day. It was made for man. We are commanded to sanctify it, calling the Sabbath a delight, &c. A Christian will say, How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! &c. He will take heed what he hears, and how he hears. But this is not all. He will retire. He will indulge in private reflection.
V. It will apply to every day. No day comes without its appropriate duty. We are to do everything in its season; to do the work of the day in the day; and not leave it till to-morrow.
1. Because we may not live till to-morrow. We know not what a day may bring forth.
2. Each day will have its own engagements, and it is wrong to surcharge one period with the additional work of another. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It is unlawful to encumber to-day with the care of to-morrow; and to encumber to-morrow with the work of to-day.
3. Because by this temporary negligence, we have nothing to do, or too much; whereas by doing the work OF the day IN the day, we are never unoccupied, never oppressed.
4. Because by this means the mind is kept cool, and tranquil, and cheerful; and we shall know nothing of the perplexities and ill-temper of those who are always in confusion and haste.
To verify this important maxim, let me lay down three rules
(1.) Rise early.
(2.) Grasp not so much business as to entangle yourselves in the affairs of this life.
(3.) Arrange a plan of life, and firmly adhere to it.William Jay.
THE PREPARATIONS FOR REBUILDING THE TEMPLE
(Ezr. 3:6 b, 7: But the foundation of the Temple of the Lord was not yet laid. They gave money also, &c.)
Two chief points are here presented to our notice
I. The great work yet to be accomplished. Mingled with the joy of the Jews in their restored worship was the recollection of the great work which as yet was not even commenced. The foundation of the Temple of the Lord was not yet laid. We regard this as an illustration of
1. The incompleteness of human joys. The gladness of the returned exiles in celebrating the feast of Tabernacles was tempered by the fact that they had only an altar; they had no temple. The brightest day of our life here has its cloud and its shadow. Our most serene seasons are not entirely free from disturbance. Our joys are incomplete. Our gladness is often checked by sadness. There is a cross in every lot. The victorious and calm eventide of the life of king David was darkened by trials in his family. Although my house be not so with God (2Sa. 23:5). St. Paul was caught up into Paradise and there received abundance of revelations; but there was given to him a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him. This incompleteness of our joys here is a wise and kind arrangement. We need the shadow as well as the sunshine. We are reminded by vicissitude that this is not our rest, and urged to set our affections on spiritual and eternal things. (a).
2. The incompleteness of human works. The altar was built, but the Temple was not begun. The work of these patriotic and pious Jews was only just commenced. It would be long before it was completed. The work of the earnest man is never accomplished. Ere one task is completed another summons him to effort. If he were tempted to settle down to repose, his rest would soon be broken by the demands of unfinished enterprises, or by challenges to new endeavours.
Labour with what zeal we will,
Something still remains undone,
Something uncompleted still
Waits the rising of the sun.
Longfellow.
Even when death approaches, most men have much which they desire to accomplish. The statesman is summoned hence devising new measures for his countrys good, which he will not assist in passing into laws. The author dies leaving his book unfinished. The Christian minister lays down his charge, leaving many plans for the welfare of his people not yet carried out; and the parent, while he longs still to do much for the welfare of his children. Doubtless the good man is not called to leave this world until his work here is finished; but to us it often seems that life closes here in incompleteness. This incompleteness of our human works is also ordered wisely and well. It tends to prevent stagnation; to rouse to earnest activities, &c. (b).
3. The obligation of the Church of God. The Jews at Jerusalem felt themselves bound not to rest content with the joys and blessings of the altar, but to proceed to the more arduous task of rebuilding the Temple. In seasons of religious worship the Church must not forget the work which it is called to accomplish. Our holiest delights should not detain us from our arduous duties. The Church should not entertain the idea of any pause or decrease in its labours until the spiritual temple of our God is raised into utmost and beautiful completeness out of the ruins of our fallen humanity. Let Christians labour on until the head stone of this temple shall be brought forth with shoutings of, Grace, grace unto it. (c).
II. The prompt preparations for the accomplishment of this work. They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters, &c. (Ezr. 3:7). Two points claim attention
1. The variety of service and the unity of design. See the various ways in which different persons contributed to the preparations for rebuilding the sacred edifice.
(1.) Certain Jews gave of their possessions to pay the workmen. They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre.
(2.) Other Jews laboured in the work of preparation. The masons and the carpenters.
(3.) Zidonian and Tyrian workmen also laboured in this work. Them of Zidon and them of Tyre brought cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa. And
(4) Cyrus assisted by his patronage and by his gifts. According to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. And others might be mentioned who otherwise promoted the great object; such as the Levites who acted as overseers of the work. All these, each in his own way and in his own sphere, helped to accomplish the end which was so eagerly desired by most of them. And in building the spiritual temple, there should be the individual effort of every Christian for the attainment of the great object which they all have in common: each one, in some form or other, should contribute his share in the glorious work, and all should keep in view the one grand end. (d).
2. The co-operation of Jews and Gentiles. It was significant also, says Schultz, that at this building of the Temple again it was not Canaan proper, but the Phnician Lebanon, that provided the building material, and that corresponding with this, heathen workmen and artists also took part in erecting the house of God. It indicates that the rest of the earth also, and corresponding thereto, the rest of mankind, are to render their gifts and capacities, which are more and more to take part in the complete and true worship of the Lord, that the Lord by no means regards them as profane. The rest of the earth and mankind become thereby, to a certain extent, consecrated in advance and designated as one who, if now already in the Old Testament economy, yet still more some day in the fulness of time, would take part in the highest destiny of Israel. (e). In the Church of Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all.
CONCLUSION:
1. Are we as living stones built up in the spiritual temple of God? (Comp. 1Pe. 2:4-6.)
2. Are we also assisting to build this glorious temple? (Comp. 1Co. 3:10-15.) It is paradoxical yet true, that we should be both stones in the edifice and toilers for its completion. But are we?
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Mark the same people that usually have the highest joys, and see whether at other times they have not the greatest troubles. This week they are as at the gates of heaven, and the next as at the doors of hell: I am sure with many it is so. Yet it need not be so, if Christians would but look at these high joys as duties to be endeavoured, and mercies to be valued; but when they will needs judge of their state by them, and think that God is gone from or forsaken them when they have not such joys, then it leaves them in terror and amazement. Like men after a flash of lightning, they are left more sensible of the darkness. For no wise man can expect that such joys should be a Christians ordinary state; or God should so diet us with a continual feast. It would neither suit with our health nor the condition of this pilgrimage. Live, therefore, on your peace of conscience as your ordinary diet; when this is wanting know that God appointeth you a fast for your health; and when you have a feast of high joys, feed on it and be thankful; but when they are taken from you, gape not after them as the disciples did after Christ at His ascension, but return thankfully to your ordinary diet of peace. And remember that these joys which are now taken from you may so return again. However, there is a place preparing for you, where your joys may be full.Richard Baxter.
(b) Human life is short; Gods work is complex and prolonged, and steadily flowing on. Hence we are continually beginning, and passing away, and leaving what we begin for others to finish. Every generation is beginning, and every generation is passing away without having finished what it has begun. But that which we begin is not going to stop because we cease to go forward with it. One worker dies; the loom goes on, and another worker takes up the thread that he has laid down. We pass away, and another man, somewhere, is prepared to step into our place. We commence a work, and perform a part of it; when we are gone, others perform another part; when they are gone, still others perform another part; and so that which we undertake is by others carried along to its bright consummation.H. W. Beecher.
(c) I ask you to remember that every child whose heart is touched by the love of Christ, every worker for God who is ready to sacrifice his time, his comfort, his luxury, his life, for Christ, whose sympathy with the advance of Gods kingdom is produced by an intelligent understanding of the magnitude of the interests that are at stake; every bedridden, poverty-stricken Christian, who is daily wrestling with God in prayer; every Sunday-school teacher who identifies himself with this great enterprise, not simply by giving money (that is sometimes an easy way of putting aside a pressing claim), but by earnest thought, honest speech, and loyal feeling; every one of us who, appreciating the magnitude, sublimity, and consecration of Christian missions, does devote himself to this work, rises up for God against the evil-doers, enlists in the great battle which can only terminate when death and hell, the beast and the false prophet, are cast into the lake of fire.H. R. Reynolds, D.D.
(d) I would stir you all up to help in this workold men, young men, and you, my sisters, and all of you, according to your gifts and experience, help. I want to make you feel, I cannot do much, but I can help; I cannot preach, but I can help; I cannot pray in public, but I can help; I cannot give much away, but I can help; I cannot officiate as an elder or a deacon, but I can help; I cannot shine as a bright particular star, but I can help; I cannot stand alone to serve my Master, but I can help. There is a text from which an old Puritan once preached a very singular sermon. There were only two words in the text, and they were, And Bartholomew. The reason he took the text was, that Bartholomews name is never mentioned alone, but he is always spoken of as doing some good thing with somebody else. He is never the principal actor, but always second. Well, let this be your feeling, that if you cannot do all yourself, you will help to do what you can.C. H. Spurgeon.
(e) There are those in the Church who believe that Gods express aim in Judaism was to keep the Jewish people as separate from the world as possible; to keep them, like Noah, in an ark, while He plagued and punished the world at His will. But I maintain, on the contrary, that Judaism was always genial and benignant to the stranger who would adopt its belief and accept its blessings. From the evil which was in the world God was minded to keep the Jewish people free at any cost. From idolatry and its attendant pollutions He sought to deliver them, inasmuch as idolatry in the long run inevitably leads to national decline and death. To the stranger, the foreign person or nation, who would dishonour its beliefs and trample on its blessings, Judaism was stern as fate and pitiless as death. The nations which had filled up the measure of their iniquity, whose influence must be corrupting, were ruthlessly exterminated. The Jews were simply Gods executioners here, and the same doom, they are plainly warned, awaited them if they suffered themselves to be tempted into the same sins. The nations, of whose pollutions the very land was weary, were swept off as the stubble before the flame. But this was the accident and not the essential character of the dispensation. The law here in England is merciful, though it has often to deal out terrible judgments on flagrant sins. And I am persuaded that the more carefully the spirit of the dispensation is studied, the more plainly will it appear that from Moses to Zechariah, it is a cry to the nations not to rot in their own corruption, Come with us and we will do you good. How benignantly, in the closing verses of the eighth chapter of the book of Joshua, the strangers which were conversant among them are included in the benediction! How earnestly Daniel and his coadjutors sought to diffuse the blessings of Judaism among the nations which had enslaved them, and to make the Oriental despots sharers in the knowledge of the living God, which by revelation they had gained! How emphatically the prophets take up and echo the invitation with growing clearness and earnestness through the ages, until it breaks out into full utterance in the great Successor of Moses, the great Fulfiller of the Law, the Son of David, the King of Zion, And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. Judaism in all ages was a witness for God to the nations, and a means of drawing all that would be drawn unto Himself.J. B. Brown, B.A.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLE
(Ezr. 3:8-13)
Notice:
I. The work already done.
1. Something was already accomplished. Several months had passed away since the arrangements mentioned in Ezr. 3:7 were made; and during those months the masons and carpenters, and the Tyrian and the Sidonian workmen, had not been idle. Considerable labour must have been expended on the site of the Temple before it was ready for laying the foundation thereof.
2. Arrangements were made for carrying on the work. Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel, &c. (Ezr. 3:8-9). And in these arrangements there was a unanimity which augured well for the success of the enterprise. Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of the brethren, the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, were united in their arrangements and efforts for prosecuting the work to a successful issue.
II. The worship offered. And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, &c. (Ezr. 3:10-11). Notice:
1. The manner of their worship. They set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord. Their worship was orderly and seemly in manner. It was conducted by those who were qualified for the work and called to it by the command of God, and in accordance with the arrangements made by king David (1Ch. 6:31; 1Ch. 16:4-6; 1Ch. 16:42; 1Ch. 25:1; Neh. 12:24).
2. The character of their worship. Praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, &c. Their worship consisted of grateful and joyful praise; because of
(1.) The goodness of God. Praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good.
(2.) The perpetuity of His goodness. For His mercy endureth for ever.
(3.) Their perpetual interest in His goodness. His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. Reverent and grateful praise is the highest form of worship which we present to the Father of spirits. (a).
3. The occasion of their worship. When the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord. We call attention to the occasion in this place, because it illustrated and stimulated their thankful praise. God had vouchsafed to them unmistakable manifestations of His goodness and mercy, in preserving and blessing them in Babylon, in granting them so favourable a return to their own land, and in helping them thus far with their work of restoration and renewal. Their own experiences would give force and fervour to their worship-song.
4. The spirit of their worship. This was hearty and enthusiastic. 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. Worship which is not hearty, or which is cold or lukewarm, does not meet with Divine acceptance.
III. The emotions excited. And all the people shouted with a great shout, &c.
1. Great joy. And many shouted aloud for joy. This joy probably arose from
(1.) The consideration of what was accomplished. Those that only knew the misery of having no temple at all, says M. Henry, praised the Lord with shouts of joy when they saw but the foundation of one laid. To them even this foundation seemed great, and was as life from the dead; to their hungry souls even this was sweet. They shouted so that the noise was heard afar off. Note.We ought to be thankful for the beginnings of mercy, though we have not yet come to the perfection of it; and the foundations of a temple, after long desolations, cannot but be fountains of joy to every faithful Israelite. Every step in the progress of our communion with God should be a matter of great joy to us.
(2.) The anticipation of what would yet be accomplished. They looked forward with confident and exultant hope to the completion of the sacred edifice.
2. Great sorrow. But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Their grief arose chiefly from memories of the past, with which the present contrasted unfavourably.
(1.) Recollections of the former Temple. They had seen the first house, and they knew well that they could not hope to build one which would be at all comparable with it in magnificence and splendour. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? (Hag. 2:3). Moreover, they might have wept because of the sins which had led to the destruction of the former Temple, and the manifold miseries which had resulted from those sins.
(2.) Recollections of their own lives. The joyful acclamations of the young generation probably recalled to these ancient men the brightness and hopefulness and enthusiasm of their own youth, and the recollection awakened sad thoughts. The contrast between the purpose of early life and the performance of after days, and the sad disparity between the hopes of youth and the attainments of manhood, are generally sufficient to subdue and sadden the hearts of the aged. The difference between the ideal entertained at twenty years of age and the actual realised at fifty or sixty is often a mournful thing. And even if a man is able to carry out his purposes, and achieves what is commonly called success in life, how different the objects gained appear in possession from what they appeared in anticipation, and how disappointing! Much, very much, after which men aspire and for which they labour, cannot satisfy them; and having obtained their chief aims, they may cry mournfully
Years have gone by! and lifes lowlands are past,
And I stand on the hill which I sighed for, at last:
But I turn from the summit that once was my star,
To the vale of my childhood, seen dimly and far;
Each blight on its beauty seems softened and gone,
Like a land that we love, in the light of the morn.T. K. Hervey. (b).
3. Great joy and great sorrow mingled. The people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. We may regard this scene as
(1.) An illustration of our personal experiences in this world. All our joys are tinged with sadness; all our sorrows have their mitigations, and if they do not yield rich compensations the blame will be our own. (c).
(2.) An illustration of the experiences of mankind in this world. The shouts of those who rejoice and the cries of those who mourn are ever mingled in this world. The exultations of the victors and the lamentations of the vanquished rise together from earth to heaven.
(3.) A feature which distinguishes the present from the future state. These mingled experiences belong only to this present life and world. In hell no one shouts aloud for joy. And in heaven God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (d).
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Praise is the very highest mood and exercise of the religious soul; it is the expression towards God of the holiest emotions of which we are capablereverence, obligation, gratitude, love, adoration. Whenever these are uplifted to God in admiration and homage, there is the worship of praisethe highest and most perfect expression of all that is purest and noblest in our religious nature. As contrasted with the worship of prayer, the worship of praise is manifestly transcendent. Prayer is the pleading of our human indigence and helplessness; praise is the laudation of Divine excellency and sufficiency. Prayer supplicates the good that God may have to bestow; praise is the adoration of the good that there is in God Himself. When we pray we are urged by necessities, fears, and sorrows,it is the cry of our troubled helplessness, often of our pain or our terror; we are impelled by feelings of unworthiness, memories of sin, yearnings for forgiveness and renewal. Praise brings, not a cry, but a song,it does not ask, it proffers,it lifts, not its hands, but its heart,it is the voice, not of our woe, but of our love, not of beseeching, but of blessing. It comes before God not clothed in sackcloth, but with its singing robes about it, not wailing litanies, but shouting hosannas. Prayer expresses only our lower religious moods of necessity and sorrow; praise expresses our higher religious moods of satisfaction and joy. Prayer asks God to come down to us; praise assays to go up to God. The soul that prays falls prostrate with its face to the ground, often being in an agony; the soul that praises stands with uplifted brow and transfigured countenance ready to soar away to heaven. Moreover, the instinct of praise is deeper in the religious heart than that of prayer; song in the human soul is earlier, and will be later, than supplication. Prayer is the accident of our present sinful necessity; praise is the essence of all religious life and joy. The birthplace and home of prayer is on earth. The birthplace and home of praise is in heaven.H. Allon, D.D.
(b) I used to think a slight illness was a luxurious thing; it is different in the latter stages; the old postchaise gets more shattered at every turn, windows will not pull up, doors refuse to open, or, being open, will not shut again. There is some new subject of complaint every moment; your sickness comes thicker and thicker, your sympathising friends fewer and fewer. The recollection of youth, health, and uninterrupted powers of activity, neither improved nor enjoyed, is a poor strain of comfort. Death has closed the long dark avenue upon loves and friendships; and I look at them as through the grated doors of a burial place filled with monuments of those who were once dear to me, with no insincere wish that it may open for me at no distant period, provided such be the will of God. I shall never see the threescore and ten, and shall be summed up at a discount; no help for it, and no matter either.Sir Walter Scott.
(c)
There is no joy unmixed with grief
Each garden has more weeds than flowers
Care rides upon the winged hours,
And doubt for ever haunts belief.
We stop to pluck some beauteous flower,
And cold precaution idly scorn,
To find some sharp and hidden thorn
Exacts a forfeit for the dower.
There have been tears of wormwood shed,
For every pleasure life can bring;
The joys of earth are flowers that spring
From out the ashes of the deadE. H. Dewart.
In the bitterest grief, in the sharpest period of agony, in the dullest, most hopeless prospect, there is a source of joy which none but the spirit of Jesus can find or use. St. Paul calls it rejoicing in the Lord. Then we go out of ourselves, as it were, and leave the last trial like a cloak that is thrown off. We pass from the sharpest and most disappointing trouble into the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. We move in by a mental flash, as it were, and there see the source of life unshaken, undimmed, steady, like the shining of the moon above a battlefield; calm and quiet, as the sunlight amid the shrieks and tumult of a pillaged town.Harry Jones, M.A.
There is great joy of prosperity, of love, of victory, but there is a joy that belongs to the experience of suffering and sorrow which is more divine and exquisite than any joy the heart ever knows outside of trouble. When a soul is afflicted till it is driven into the very pavilion of God, till Christ, as it were, wraps His arms about it and says, Rest here till the storm be overpast, that soul experiences an exquisiteness of joy which only those who have felt it can understand.H. W. Beecher.
Then happy those, since each must drain
His share of pleasure, share of pain;
Then happy those, beloved of Heaven,
To whom the mingled cup is given,
Whose lenient sorrows find relief,
Whose joys are chastened by their grief.
Sir W. Scott.
(d) This is a world of weepinga vale of tears. Who is there that has not wept over the grave of a friend; over his own losses and cares; over his disappointments, over the treatment he has received from others; over his sins; over the follies, vices, and woes of his fellow-men? And what a change would it make in our world if it could be said that henceforward not another tear would be shed; not a head would ever be bowed again in grief! Yet this is to be the condition of heaven. In that world there is to be no pain, no disappointment, no bereavement. No friend is to lie in dreadful agony on a sick-bed, no grave is to be opened to receive a parent, a wife, a child; no gloomy prospect of death is to draw tears of sorrow from the eyes. To that blessed world, when our eyes run down with tears, are we permitted to look forward; and the prospect of such a world should contribute to wipe away our tears herefor all our sorrows will soon be over.A. Barnes, D.D.
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
(Ezr. 3:11-13)
That an exuberance of joy and of sorrow should be excited at once by the same event, is undoubtedly a curious fact; and it will be profitable to show you
I. What there was at that time to call forth such strong and widely-different emotions. The Jews, after their return from Babylon, had just laid the foundation of the second Temple, and this was
1. To some an occasion of exalted joy. It was not the mere circumstance that a magnificent building was about to be raised, but the thought of the use to which that building was to be appropriated, that proved to them a source of joy. The erection of it was justly regarded by them as a restoration of Gods favour to them after the heavy judgments which He had inflicted on them during their captivity in Babylon. This event opened to them a prospect of again worshipping Jehovah according to all the forms prescribed to them by the Mosaic ritual. Nor could they fail to view it as tending to advance the honour of their God; in which view pre-eminently it must of necessity fill them with most exalted joy. With such views of the event before them the people could not but shout for joy; and if they had been silent, the very stones would have cried out against them.
2. To others an occasion of the deepest sorrow. The persons who manifested such pungent grief were the priests, and Levites, and the chief of the fathers who were ancient men, that had seen the former Temple. They wept because they well knew how infinitely this structure must fall below the former in point of magnificence. Of necessity it must want many things which constituted the glory of that edifice, and could never be replaced. The Shechinah, the bright cloud, the emblem of the Deity Himself, was for ever removed. The ark was lost, and the copy of the law which had been preserved in it. The Urim and Thummim too, by which God had been wont to communicate to His people the knowledge of His will, was irrecoverably gone; and the fire which had descended from heaven was extinct, so that they must henceforth use in all their sacrifices nothing but common fire. And what but their sins had brought upon them all these calamities? Would it have been right, then, in these persons to lose all recollection of their former mercies, and of the sins through which they had been bereaved of them; and to be so transported with their present blessings as not to bewail their former iniquities? No! I think that the mixture of feeling was precisely such as the occasion called for.
II. How far similar emotions become us at the present day.
1. There is at this time great occasion for joy. We are not, indeed, constructing a material temple for the Lord; but the whole nation is engaged in endeavours to erect a spiritual temple to Him throughout the world. Never was there a period since the apostolic age, when the exertions were so general, so diversified, so diffusive. And is this no ground of joy? Is there no reason to rejoice in what, we trust, is going on amongst us? If the Gospel be glad tidings of great joy unto all people, is it no cause for joy that it is brought to our ears; and that it is effectual amongst us to convert men to God? Are there not amongst you some at least who have been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God? Surely we have reason to rejoice.
2. Yet is there amongst us abundant occasion for grief also. If we suppose the Apostle Paul, who witnessed the state of Gods Church in its primitive and purest age, to come down in the midst of us, what would be his feelings at the present hour? Would his joy be unmixed with sorrow? Would he be satisfied with what he saw? It was with weeping that St. Paul contemplated many of the Philippian converts; and for many of the Galatian Church he agonised as in the pangs of childbirth till Christ should be more perfectly formed in them. And was this from a want of charity, or from a contempt of piety in its lower stages of existence? No; but from love, and from a desire that God should be honoured to the uttermost wherever His Gospel came, and wherever its blessings were experienced in the soul.
See, then
(1.) What, above all things, should interest our souls. Nothing under heaven should transport us with joy like the establishment of Christs kingdom in the world and in the soul. Nothing should produce in us such acute sensations of grief as a consciousness that God is not glorified in the midst of us as He ought to be.
(2.) What use we should make of our knowledge and experience. It is not so much an unqualified effusion of joy that is pleasing to the Most High, as that which is moderated with shame, and tempered with contrition.Charles Simeon, M.A.
THE ALTAR AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLE
Notes for Scripture Lesson (Whole Chapter)
Our lesson contains the account of the beginning of the great work of rebuilding the Temple. It is sad to find that through delays and indifference twenty years passed before it was finished, and then only on the arousing preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. They, however, began well, collecting material and laying the foundations by the fourteenth month after their return. Of this great and rejoicing day our lesson contains the brief account.
Looking carefully at the chapter, it will be seen that it contains two things, which, though related, are quite distinct
1. The beginning of Worship.
2. The beginning of the Temple for Worship.
It will also be observed that the people very properly thought more of the spiritual worship than of the material building, and found that they could have the worship at once, though the Temple to worship in might be long unbuilt. The things we give to God, buildings, &c., must always come second, and have no value before Him until we have given Him ourselves. The true worshippers worship in spirit and in truth; but they properly accept all the helps of buildings and services. The key to the lesson may therefore be the sentence of praise spoken by Paul concerning the Macedonians (2Co. 8:5). They first gave their ownselves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
We have then this to set forth and illustrate, and we call it
I. The true order. First the burnt offering, then the Temple. First the self-surrender, then the doing of duty. First the worship of the soul, then the work of the hands. The burnt offering was designed to represent the entire yielding of the worshipper to God. How suitable such an act was for the newly-restored people, just beginning their national life! They properly began with a very solemn consecration of the whole nation to God by burnt offering. Though we do not bring representative sacrifices now, we follow the example of these earnest-hearted men. Tell of the youth, going out into life from a country town, not knowing what temptations might befall him, and solemnly consecrating himself to God, and using Davids resolve, I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only. That was his offering of himself on the altar of burnt offering, and the right and noble beginning for his life. That youth lived to work at building in the world the great Temple of God. But in the second part of the lesson we have another event introducedlaying the foundations of the second Temple, and this brings before us
II. The mingled feelings. In the worship all feelings were absorbed in solemn joy; but when the foundations were laid, such memories blended with hope, that tears fell plentifully, and the wail of sorrow almost drowned the shout of triumph. Laying foundations of a new temple or church is the occasion for joy; show how we decorate with flags, &c., and have music and song. And yet now-a-days, when a new church replaces an old one, we cannot wonder that very touching memories should crowd round the elder people, making them sorrow in the very midst of other joys. So it is through our life, songs and tears are blended. Joys and sorrows go hand in hand continually. And so it must be in a sin-stricken world until God Himself shall wipe all tears from our eyes. Impress the duty which surely comes to all who give themselves to the Lord a living sacrifice. They have work to do for God in the world, and whatever forms that work may take, it is really a part of the work of building a great temple in the earth for the glory of God; a great spiritual temple that needs all sorts of workers and work; and, when one day complete, will win from the universe triumphant songs, with which shall blend no sorrow and no tears. The Temple of God shall be with men, and He shall dwell among them. Gods temple among men we must help to build.R. Tuck, B.A.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
II. The Temple Is Rebuilt (Ezr. 3:1 to Ezr. 6:22)
A. The altar is built, and the foundation laid.
1. The altar and the sacrifice are restored.
TEXT, Ezr. 3:1-7
1
Now when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
2
Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers arose and 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
So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified 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 celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the ordinance, as each day required;
5
and afterward there was a continual burnt offering, also for the new moons and for all the fixed festivals of the LORD that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered 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 had not been laid.
7
Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
COMMENT
Ezr. 3:1 : Now when the seventh month came. This would correspond roughly to our September; though that is our ninth month, the name comes from the Latin for seven (septem). There is no year stated, so it must be in the same year as the previous events. Verse eight will confirm this, since it refers to the start of the second year after their return. They had barely had time, at best, to set up residence in cities when this busiest month of the year in terms of religious obligation arrived: the month of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. In Ezr. 7:8-9 the same trip from Babylon required four months, and their getting ready for the trip must have taken a substantial part of the other two, so the events of this chapter must have followed very closely their arrival in their homeland.
The number seven would be significant to Israel: the word itself signifies completion, or taking a vow. Every seventh day was holy; seven weeks separated two other feasts (Passover and Weeks) from each other; the seventh month as noted was particularly marked for religious observances; every seventh year was a Sabbath Year, and seven sevens of years (the fiftieth year) brought them to the Year of Jubilee.
Their assembling at Jerusalem would not have been a great hardship, for all the towns in which they had resettled were within a 25-mile radius of the Holy City.
In Ezr. 3:2 Jeshua and Zerubbabel are mentioned again; with their brothers. Obviously, all Jeshuas brothers would be priests also. Zerubbabel is called the son of Shealtiel; this presents a problem. 1Ch. 3:16-19 calls him the son of Pedaiah, who is the son of King Jeconiah. Since Jeconiahs oldest son is Shealtiel, we can assume that this is an illustration of the Levirate law (Deu. 25:5 ff.); when an heir would die without children, his wife was to marry his next brother, or his nearest available kin, and the first son of that marriage would be legally the heir of the womans earlier husband. The story of Ruth (Ezr. 2:2) and of Tamar (Genesis 38) are examples of this principle. Thus Zerubbabel probably was legally the son of Shealtiel, but actually the son of Pedaiah.
But the center of focus in verse two is the altar. Since a second smaller altar was also located in the original Temple and used exclusively for incense offerings, it is necessary to specify that the altar which they built was the one for burnt offerings (animal sacrifices).
It is further specified that the pattern for their offerings was the Law of God given through Moses. One of the reasons for their bondage was that the Law had been neglected; now they set themselves scrupulously to observe it.
The timing for constructing the altar may need further explanation. Verse six indicates that sacrifice began on it on the first day of the seventh month; verse, one says that they assembled in the seventh month, and then verse two describes the building of the altar. We may wonder how they could make sacrifice on it the first day if it was built during the month.
One possibility is in the translation of these words; they could just as accurately be rendered, Now Jeshua . . . and Zerubbabel . . . had arisen and built the altar . . .
A second possibility is that the altar which they constructed may have been temporary and very simple: a pile of dirt or stones as specified in Exo. 20:24 f. Elijah had built a similar altar in a small part of a day (1Ki. 18:20 ff.).
Ezr. 3:3 speaks of setting up the altar on its foundation, which would not need to be said unless to indicate that it was on the same foundation as the previous altar. This emphasizes their effort to be in continuity with the past. The reason given for it is their fear of the neighboring peoples; we will shortly see how justified this fear was. Stated positively, they were convinced that if they would complete this obligation to God, He would consequently protect them from their enemies.
With this verse begins a list of the different offerings and celebrations which they observed. The first of these, the burnt offering, is regarded as the most ancient and noble; it was placed first in the descriptions of sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7, and it required the most expensive, most perfect animal. It is also appropriate as the first because it portrays dedication, or consecration, where the others speak more particularly of fellowship or of expiation; so it would be most useful at dedications, or beginnings,
Ezr. 3:3-5 each mention the daily, or continual, burnt offering made morning and evening (Num. 28:3). Thus each day was made holy to God. In Ezr. 3:4 this is also said to be according to the ordinance. A reading of Numbers chapters 28 and 29 will explain the different offerings and celebrations alluded to here.
Ezr. 3:4 also mentions their celebration of the Feast of Booths; this was one of the three major feasts of the year. If we wonder why they should begin their observance of the yearly feasts with this instead of with the Passover for example, answer is quickly found. It was the first one that came up on the calendar, after their arrival in the land.
But what is undesigned by man may be designed by God. The Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) was the one which relived the experiences of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. Now they had arrived at home at the end of a similar journey, and, the parallel would be especially meaningful. Matthew Henry[19] calls it the feast. . . . which had a peculiar reference to gospel times, and notes Zec. 14:16-18, a prophecy incidentally which was written very close to this same time. If the Passover found its fulfillment in the event of the Cross at the Passover season (Joh. 19:14; 1Co. 5:7), and if the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was fulfilled for the Christian in the birth of the church at a Pentecost celebration, perhaps the Feast of Booths can speak to us of the age in which we live, as sojourners or ambassadors separated from but moving toward our permanent home which we will receive at the end of our journey or at our Masters return.
[19] . Commentary on The Whole Bible, p. 1037.
Ezr. 3:5, in addition to the burnt offering, speaks of the monthly or new moon offerings (Num. 28:11) and of the other festivals which are described in Numbers 28, 29. Added also are the freewill offerings which were not restricted to any special times or circumstances, but which arose out of the spontaneous gratitude and affection of the offerers; there is never a time when they are not appropriate.
Within Ezr. 3:3-5 are described offerings which came each day, each month, each year, and whenever the offerer chose. One periodic offering most conspicuous by its absence here is that which came each week, and marked each Sabbath (Num. 28:9-10). Strangely enough, Ezra nowhere specifically mentions the Sabbath. However, it would be included in the phrase, all the fixed festivals (verse five).
Ezr. 3:6 states clearly that the sacrifices were renewed beginning with the first day of the seventh month; this was one of the lesser feasts, the Feast of Trumpets, though it is not mentioned here. The subject of the last half of the chapter is anticipated in the statement that the Temple foundation had not been laid; this stresses once more that they did not wait for a temple to be completed, or even started, before they began worship through sacrifice. (As noted in the Interpreters Bible, David also had an altar without a temple.).[20]
[20] Interpreters Bible, Vol. 3, p. 588.
Ezr. 3:7 continues this transition by showing the preparations made, the gathering of materials, for the beginning of construction. The citizens are paid with money for their work; the foreigners receive goods (food, drink, and oil) instead, which would be more useful to them. Food is a better international currency than money.
The materials were brought from Lebanon, as the materials had been originally in Solomons time; we recall Hiram of Tyre. These would have consisted of timber; the stones of the old structure probably still remained. Sidon (also called Zidon) was close to Tyre, and had assisted also with the earlier structure (1Ki. 5:1; 1Ki. 5:6). Then, Hiram of Tyre and Solomon had been bound together by friendship; now both lands were under the heel of Cyrus. Joppa, as any reader of the book of Jonah would be aware, was the seaport closest to Jerusalem.
WORD STUDIES
LAW: Torah (Law of Moses, Ezr. 3:2). The idea of legalism is not present in this word. It is possible that the word is derived from a verb, throw: hence, to throw out the hand, to point out, to direct or instruct. It is more likely that it comes from the verb, give light: hence, enlightenment or instruction. Law in the O.T. is the kind of loving instruction which a father gives to his children to help them avoid unhappy consequences of bad choices, or to enable them to live happy lives.
ALTAR: Mizbeach. The verb from which it is taken means slaughter, either for food or for sacrifice. Most of the meat or food which was sacrificed in Israel, specifically of the peace and thank offerings, the meal or grain offerings, trespass or guilt offerings, and even certain sin offerings, was eaten by the offerers, or by the priests, or by both (Leviticus 7). This excludes only the burnt offerings. Sacrifice in Israel was a time of festivity and fellowship.
TABERNACLE: Sukkah, or Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles): tent, booth, hut, or temporary shelter made of green boughs. This was the housing of the Israelites on their trek from Egypt to Canaan, and they were commanded to keep it fresh in their memories by living in such structures one week of each year.
LEVITE: the basic idea is to join, or cleave, or entwine. It was the function of the Levites to join the people to God, to cause them to cleave to Him, or to be entwined with Him.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) The seventh month was come.Rather, approached. Tisri, answering to our September, was the most solemn month of the year, including the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles, afterwards distinguished as the feast pre-eminently.
As one man.Not all, but with one consent.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES KEPT IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, Ezr 3:1-7.
1. The seventh month Of the first year of the return from exile. The seventh month was called Ethanim, sometimes Tisri, and was fixed upon by Solomon for the dedication of his temple. See notes on 1Ki 8:2. As this month fell in our October, it is commonly thought that these Israelites left Babylon in the preceding spring, in March or April.
Were in the cities That is, had become numbered and settled in their homes in the various towns and cities round about Jerusalem.
As one man So promptly and with such accord did the entire new community assemble, that it was like the coming of a single individual.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The First Observance Of The Feasts Of The Seventh Month After The Return ( Ezr 3:1-7 ).
It is probable that this is the first of the major feasts that the arrivees had been in a position to celebrate. (Had they been able to observe a Passover it would surely have been mentioned). Thus it occurred possibly in the seventh month in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezr 1:1), or alternately in the seventh month in the year in which they arrived. But the mention of the seventh month is not for dating purposes. It is in order to explain why they now acted as they did. For ‘the seventh month’ was in Israel a month of feasts. First would come the feast of trumpets on the first day of the month, then the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the month (although to be fully celebrated that required the Temple and a Holy of Holies), and then the feast of Tabernacles, which continued for seven days, commencing on the fifteenth day of the month (see Lev 23:23-36).
Ezr 3:1
‘And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.’
The gathering of the people to Jerusalem would have been seen as one more evidence that Israel was now continuing as of old. It indicated that the assembly of the twelve tribes was once more taking place. We can therefore imagine with what joy they gathered. It would have made them feel an affinity with the people of Israel at the time of the Conquest, who would also have experienced a similar ‘first time’, when they too were finally established ‘in their cities’. It would appear from this that this was the first opportunity for them to do this subsequent to their arrival in the land.
The mention of ‘the seventh month’ is not for the purpose of dating the passage, but because it would arouse a chord in every reader’s heart in view of its connection with the Feasts of that month. They would recognise that the people had been eagerly awaiting ‘the seventh month.’ ‘When the seventh month was come — the people gathered themselves together’ does not necessarily mean that they awaited the seventh month before commencing preparations. The point is that the seventh month saw them all gathered in Jerusalem ready for the feasts to begin.
Ezr 3:2
‘Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and 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.’
The non-mention of Sheshbazzar would appear to be fairly conclusive evidence that he was dead, or at least incapacitated. For the lead in what took place was taken by Jeshua, as chief priest, along with his brother priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, as at least governor-elect, along with his ‘brothers’. That the term ‘brothers’ is to be taken widely is apparent from the fact that the priests have all been described as Jeshua’s ‘brothers’. It may well simply indicate all the non-priestly returnees, seen very much as ‘brothers’. The emphasis is thus on the fact that all involved were in full agreement with what was happening, and indeed saw themselves as involved in it.
And their first act was to ‘build the altar of the God of Israel’. This may indicate that they built it from scratch, but it could equally indicate that they erected it on a primitive altar already there. For even if we had not had reason to think so, it would have been extremely unlikely that such a sacred spot had not been used for offerings and sacrifices during the preceding period. Archaeology continually evidences the fact that veneration of sacred sites continues long after any buildings have been destroyed. That this did in fact take place here is confirmed for us in Jer 41:5; Hag 2:14.
This ‘building of the altar of the God of Israel’ was in accordance with YHWH’s instructions through Ezekiel whereby he commanded the people to build an altar in Eze 43:13-27, by which to service the heavenly Temple which had descended on a mountain outside Jerusalem (a Temple which was already there, invisible to the normal eye, and not commanded to be rebuilt). This may well have been in the minds of Jeshua and Zerubbabel, and would confirm the legitimacy of the altar. Furthermore such an altar had been authorised in Exo 20:24-25, for none could doubt that the Temple mount where God had revealed His glory on the first Temple (2Ch 7:1-2) was a place where YHWH had recorded His Name. And had not Abraham himself, on entering the land, built an altar to YHWH? (Gen 12:7-8).
The emphasis on ‘the altar of the God of Israel’ (a unique phrase) may be intended to emphasise that the previous altar used since the destruction of the Temple was not seen as being such. In other words it was not seen as legitimate (compare Hag 2:14). Now it had been replaced by an altar that was legitimate. The previous altar might well have involved syncretistic worship.
In the Law of Moses the phrase ‘the God of Israel’ is used three times and is uniquely connected with the worship of God. In Exo 24:10 it refers to God when He appeared as the elders were gathered on Mount Sinai to eat before Him, inaugurating Israel as the covenant people. In Exo 34:23 it refers to Him as the One before Whom the people will gather three times a year. In Num 16:9 it is used of God as having set aside the Levites to the service of the Tabernacle. Thus it was potent with meaning.
‘To offer burnt-offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.’ And the aim of this altar was so that they could offer burnt offerings on it in accordance with the Law of Moses the ‘man of God’ (i.e. prophet). Just as their gathering in assembly again fulfilled the Law of Moses, so would the offering of whole burnt offerings on the altar. Such burnt offerings were required during the feasts of the seventh month (see Numbers 29 for details, the offerings beginning on the first day of the month). So there was a great sense of repeating what had followed the Exodus.
Ezr 3:3
‘And they set the altar on its spot, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt-offerings on it to YHWH, even burnt-offerings morning and evening.’
‘They set the altar on its spot.’ This would seem to indicate that it was sited where the bronze altar had originally been sited in Solomon’s Temple. They were being careful to ensure that they were following in the ways that God had commanded Israel. And one of the reasons for this activity was that they hoped thereby to obtain YHWH’s assistance against the hostility being shown to them by those who already dwelt in Judah and Samaria. The ‘peoples of the lands’ would be those who had been left in Judah when the exiles had been removed, who resented their coming back and taking back their family lands, and possibly also their religious isolationism, the neighbouring people in Samaria, who seemingly resented the same, and also possibly the Edomites who had taken over the land to the south, to say nothing of other antagonistic neighbours across the Jordan. Thus they clearly felt that by recommencing the worship of YHWH in the proper mode, and establishing the daily offerings, they would obtain YHWH’s assistance in dealing with their enemies.
Then the altar being ready they offered on it burnt offerings in the morning and the evening. This was a great milestone for the new Israel for it signalled the commencement of the daily morning and evening offerings. The establishing of the morning and evening burnt offering, an offering which was required of Israel twice a day in perpetuity (Exo 29:38-46; Num 28:3-8), would have been seen as an important stage in re-establishing the people of Israel. It commenced from the first day of the seventh month (Ezr 3:6), even though the Temple had not begun to be built.
Ezr 3:4
‘And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;’
Then (from the fifteenth day of the seventh month) they observed the feast of Tabernacles, in accordance with what was written in the Law of Moses in Num 29:12-40. They also offered the daily burnt offerings in accordance with the number required by the ordinance for the seventh month. The details of these daily offerings are found in Num 29:1-11. They would include the offerings on the feast of trumpets on the first day, the daily offerings, and the special offerings for the tenth day, for while the Day of Atonement could not be kept in accordance with Leviticus 16, because there was no Temple, the offerings of Num 29:7-11 could be offered.
Ezr 3:5
‘And afterward the continual burnt-offering, and the offerings of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of YHWH which were consecrated, and of every one who willingly offered a freewill-offering to YHWH.’
And from then on they continued to offer the continual burnt offerings day by day (Num 28:3-8), and those of the new moons on the first day of each month (Num 28:11-15), and the offerings for all the set feasts which YHWH had consecrated, namely Passover and Unleavened Bread (Num 28:16-25), and the Feast of Sevens (Weeks) or of Firstfruits (Num 28:26-31), when they became due. And along with these were offered the freewill offerings which were willingly offered by God’s people.
Ezr 3:6
‘From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings to YHWH, but the foundation of the temple of YHWH was not yet laid.’
And this whole procedure commenced from the first day of the seventh month. From then on they began to offer burnt offerings to YHWH, even though the foundation of the Temple of YHWH was not yet laid. This is referring to the foundation commenced in Ezr 3:10. In Ezr 6:16 we learn of a foundation laid by Sheshbazzar. This would suggest that on first arriving in the land Sheshbazzar had laid a foundation stone for the Temple, presumably so that he could report back to Cyrus that he had begun to fulfil his commission to build the Temple. But of course the work could not then proceed until the necessary time consuming preparations had been made, something clearly delayed, presumably because there were more important things to do, and possibly due to Sheshbazzar becoming ill. Now, with the work planned to recommence further foundation stones would be laid (Ezr 3:10). It was the practise in ancient days to have more than one foundation stone.
Ezr 3:7
‘They gave money also to the masons, and to the stone workers (and/or ‘wood workers’ and/or ‘carpenters’), and food, and drink, and oil, to those of Sidon, and to those of Tyre, to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.’
The work could not proceed immediately. Money was given to the masons and ‘the stone workers’ (the word has a wide meaning and could include wooworkers and carpenters) who would plan the work accordingly and list what was required, and then carry the work forward, and meanwhile an order was placed with Sidon and Tyre for them to provide cedar trees in accordance with requirements which were paid for by means of the export of grain, wine and olive oil (compare 2Ch 2:15). The cedar trees were to be conveyed from Lebanon to the sea, and then by sea to the port of Joppa (or ‘to the sea of Joppa’, that is the sea which surrounded the port of Joppa), compare 2Ch 2:16. There appears to be a deliberate echoing of the words in 2 Chronicles 2, which themselves would be was based on earlier sources (compare 1Ch 29:29), with the aim of equating the building of this Temple with that of Solomon. It may not have been as grand, but it was certainly as important. These purchases were all made possible by the grant (the word means permission, but in this case the permission included the resources to carry out the work – Ezr 6:4) made by Cyrus, the king of Persia. Whether this grant was the monies described in Ezr 1:4, or whether it was extra to this, we do not know. We can compare the further grants made in Ezr 6:8-10.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Worship Resumed
v. 1. And when the seventh month was come, v. 2. Then stood up Jeshua (or Joshua), the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, v. 3. And they set the altar upon his bases, v. 4. They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles, v. 5. and afterward offered the continual burnt offering, v. 6. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, v. 7. They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
2. RESTORATION OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT SACRIFICE, AND CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
EXPOSITION
RESTORATION OF THE ALTAR (Ezr 3:1-3). On their arrival in their own land, the exiles, it would seem, proceeded first of all to their several cities, reconnoitring the ground, as it were, and at first taking no step that could arouse the hostility or jealousy of the previous inhabitants. After a while, however, “when the seventh month was come,” they ventured with some misgivings to restore and rebuild the great altar of burnt sacrifice, which Solomon had formerly erected in the principal court of the temple, directly opposite to the porch (2Ki 16:14; 2Ch 4:1), and on which, until the destruction of the temple, the morning and evening sacrifice had been offered. We gather from Ezra’s narrative, that when the ruins were carefully examined, the site of the old altar was ascertained, and care was taken to put the new one in the old place. The restoration of the altar thus considerably preceded even the commencement of the temple; the one being essential to the Jewish service, which could not exist without sacrifice, while the other was only a convenient and desirable adjunct. The altar must have been completed by the last day of the sixth month (see verse 6).
Ezr 3:1
When the seventh month was come. The seventh month was Tisri, and corresponded nearly to our October. It was the most sacred month of the Jewish year, commencing with a blowing of trumpets and a holy convocation on the first day (Le 23:24), which was followed on the tenth day by the solemn day of atonement (ibid. verse 27; comp. Le 16:29-34), and on the fifteenth day by the feast of tabernacles or “ingathering,” one of the three great annual festivals, which lasted to the twenty-second day. Zerubbabel and Joshua determined to risk a disturbance rather than defer the restoration of the altar beyond the commencement of this sacred month. The people gathered themselves together. The people were bound to attend the feast of tabernacles (Exo 23:14-16); but something more than this seems to be intended. The restoration of the altar and the re-establishment of the daily sacrifice having been announced, there was a general influx of the country Israelites into Jerusalem to witness the proceedings. As one man. Very emphatic (comp. Jdg 20:1, Jdg 20:8; 2Sa 19:14).
Ezr 3:2
Jeshua the son of Jozadak. The position of Jeshua, both here and in Ezr 3:8, Ezr 3:9, sufficiently marks him as the high priest, though Ezra does not give him the title. Haggai, however (Ezr 1:1, 14; Ezr 2:2), and Zechariah (Ezr 3:1, Ezr 3:8; Ezr 6:11) distinctly assign him the office. His father, Jozadak, or Josedech, was the son of Seraiah, high priest at the destruction of Jerusalem (1Ch 6:14). The name Jeshua is a mere variant of Joshua, and so corresponds to Jesus, of whom Jeshua may be regarded as a type. His brethren the priests. As being all of them equally descended from Aaron, the priests were “brethren.“ Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. See note on Ezr 2:2, where Zerubbabel’s actual descent is given. And his brethren. Such other members of the royal house as had returned with him. As it is written in the law. See Le 17:2-6; Deu 12:5-11. It was an express command of God to the Israelites that sacrifice should be offered only at Jerusalem in the place which he should appoint. Moses the man of God. That is, “the Prophet;” but the phrase is emphatic, and characteristic of Ezra.
Ezr 3:3
They set the altar upon his bases. They built the new altar upon the foundations of the old one, making it exactly conform to them. This was done, no doubt, to indicate that the religion which the exiles brought back from Babylon was in every respect identical with that which they had possessed before they were carried thither. Many moderns hold the contrary; but it has not yet been proved that the sojourn at Babylon modified the religious ideas of the Jews in any important particular. For fear was upon them. Or, “though fear was upon them.” Notwithstanding their fear of the surrounding nations, they set up the altar. We must remember that their neigh-hours were not Persians, but descendants of various idolatrous nationsHamathites, Babylonians, Susianians, Elamites, Cuthaeans, etc.bitterly opposed to anything like a pure spiritual religion (see 2Ki 17:24; Ezr 4:9, Ezr 4:10). Though the exiles had permission from Cyrus to raise up not only their altar, but their temple, it was not at all certain that his nominal subjects would passively submit. It was as if a modern Turkish Sultan should decree the erection of a Christian altar and a grand Christian cathedral at Kerbela or Bussorah, towards the verge of his empire. There would be great danger in acting on such a decree. Burnt offerings morning and evening. So the law required (see Exo 29:38, Exo 29:39; Num 28:3, Num 28:4).
Ezr 3:4
CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES (Ezr 3:4). Emboldened by their successful restoration of the altar of burnt sacrifice, Zerubbabel and Jeshua allowed the people to gather themselves together and celebrate the autumnal festival, though they can scarcely have made it on this occasion a “feast of ingathering.”
As it is written. According to the mode of celebration prescribed in the law; i.e. for seven consecutive days, from the fifteenth to the twenty-second of Tisri, with burnt offerings every day, and a holy convocation on the first day and the last, and a “dwelling in tents” during the whole period (see Le 23:31-42). The daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom. The offerings for each day of the festival are carefully laid down in Num 29:13-38. We must understand that all the particulars there enjoined were carefully observed.
Ezr 3:5
PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DAILY SACRIFICE, THE SET FEASTS, AND THE OFFERING OF FREE–WILL OFFERINGS (Ezr 3:5, Ezr 3:6). Having set up the altar, and celebrated the particular festival which the revolving year happened to have brought round, and which it would have been wrong to neglect, the exiles re-established permanently three things:
1. The daily sacrifice;
2. The celebration of the new moons and other regular feasts; and
3. The practice of allowing the people to bring offerings whenever they pleased, to be offered on the great altar by the priest or priests in attendance.
The first of these was for atonement; the second for public thanksgiving and acknowledgment of God’s mercies; the third for private devotion, the payment of vows, and the like.
The continual burnt offering. This is beyond a doubt the daily morning and evening sacrifice, called “the continual burnt offering” in Exo 29:42 and Num 28:3-6. The clause is not modified by the succeeding words, which are additional, not exegetical, and which should not be translated, as in the A. V; both of the new moons, but, “and those of the new moons.” The returned exiles kept henceforth regularly both the daily morning and evening sacrifice, and also that appointed for the new moons (Num 28:11-15), and those appointed for the other “set feasts,”such as the passover and the feast of Pentecost. And of every one that willingly offered. Nor was this all. The practice was resumed of sacrificing on the great altar at any time any free-will offerings that individual Israelites might bring (see Lev 1:1-17; Lev 2:1-16; Lev 3:1-17; etc.). Thus provision was made for all that was most essential in the ritual of religion, while the temple itself still remained unbuilt (see Num 28:6).
Ezr 3:7
PREPARATION OF MATERIALS FOR THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE (Ezr 3:7). When the restoration of religion had pro-greased thus far, the civil and ecclesiastical rulers turned their attention to that object which had been specially mentioned in the “decree of Cyrus” (Ezr 1:2, Ezr 1:3), the rebuilding of the temple. And, first of all, it was necessary to collect building materials, wood and stone, which were the chief materials of the first temple, and which Cyrus had particularized in a supplementary decree (Ezr 6:4) as those to be employed in the construction of the second.
They gave money also unto the masons. The exiles had no doubt been employed by the Babylonian monarchs to a large extent in building, as their ancestors had been during their sojourn in Egypt (Exo 1:2). Consequently, among those who returned there were many masons and carpenters. These were now set to work by Zerubbabel, and received their wages in money. And meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre. The Phoenicians, on the other hand, received their wages in kind. As Phoenicia was a narrow strip of country, and grew but little corn, it had always to depend mainly for its supplies of food on its neighbours, and generally drew the greater part from Palestine (see Act 12:20). Hiram had furnished materials to Solomon for the first temple on condition of receiving wheat, barley, wine, and oil (2Ch 2:15). Zerubbabel made a similar arrangement at the present time with the Tyrians and Sidonians. To bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa. Having cut the timber in the mountains, the Phoenicians conveyed it to the coast, perhaps sometimes letting it pass down the rivers, and, collecting it on the coast into large rafts or “flotes” (2Ch 2:16), took these by sea to the roadstead of Joppa (Jaffa). Hence it was conveyed by land a distance of thirty-five miles to Jerusalem. Lebanon cedar was in great request in the East, and appears to have been cut and carried off both by the Egyptians and the Assyrians. The forests must in the ancient times have been far more extensive than at present. According to the grant that they had of Cyrus. A special grant of Phoenician timber, made by Cyrus, seems to be intended. Though Cyrus had not conquered Phoenicia (‘Herod.,’ 3:34), he might regard his conquest of Babylon as involving the submission of what had for some time been a Babylonian dependency.
HOMILETICS
Ezr 3:1-3
The first sacrifice.
The third chapter begins much as the second chapter concluded, with a picture of the restored Israelites in their respective “cities” or homes. But they do not stay there very long. The temple and the temple worship, for which they had laid by (Ezr 2:68, Ezr 2:69) before dispersing, is still much on their minds. These verses tell us of the consequent action next taken in that direction
1. on the part of the people specially;
2. on the part of their leaders specially; and
3. on the part of them all collectively.
I. THE PEOPLE SPECIALLY. They left their “cities” for the city of God; of their own consent (they “gathered themselves together”), with one consent (“as one man”). , 1 Esdras 5:46. What stirred them all in this manner? The fact, apparently, that the “seventh month” was “come,” or was “approaching” (Keil). Certainly, connected with that month there were many things which might well have this effect. How important this month ecclesiastically, and from the point of view of the temple worship. On the first day, besides the new moon, came the festival known as the feast of trumpets (Num 29:1). On the tenth the great day of atonement, the great fast of the Jewish year (Num 29:7). From the fifteenth to the twenty-second was celebrated the third of the three great annual feasts, viz; that of tabernacles or ingathering. No other month was equally distinguished. No subsequent month of the twelve was distinguished by any universal call to the temple precincts. The next such call would be five months afterwards, in the passover month. How important, again, this seventh month, as the first month of the civil year, the month from which the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were computed (Le 25:9). Its first day would answer exactly to our “New Year’s Day,” a most natural time for instituting or recommencing a new order of things. Historically, also, as being a month in which one of the special captivity fasts (see Zec 7:5; Zec 8:19) had been observed, this was a marked month in these exiles’ minds. How fit a month, therefore, in every way, for making a beginning of some kind. “Now, if ever;” almost “Now, or never,” the occasion seemed to exclaim. It is by such conjunctions, perhaps, that God most frequently signifies his guiding will to his willing people (comp. Act 16:6-10).
II. THE LEADERS SPECIALLY. If the time for action was now so near, who should take the lead in regard to it? Who, of course, but the natural leaders. The leaders in the Church first (“Jeshua,” etc.), the matter in hand being one so specially concerning them. But not the leaders in Church only; “Zerubbabel and his brethren,” as laymen, also having their interest in it. Together they resolved to begin by rebuilding the sacrificial altar, that which had stood in the old temple before the holy place and in the court of the priests. Why did they begin in this way? Partly owing to the tenor of the “law of Moses,” that being a law of sacrifices from beginning to end (see Heb 9:21, Heb 9:22), according to which there was no approach to the most holy place itself without the previous use of the altar. This consideration would probably tell especially on Jeshua and the priests; as the example of David, next, who desired to build the house, but was only permitted to “find out” its “place,” and so far to begin it as to consecrate as it were its altar (1Ch 17:1-27.; 1Ch 21:26; 1Ch 22:1; Psa 132:5), would tell especially on Zerubbabel, David’s representative and descendant, and lead him also to wish to begin by erecting the altar upon the old “base” (verse 3). There would also be a third reason to influence both sets of leaders alike. By this time the returned remnant would find the hostility of their new neighbours awakened. Only surprised at first to hear of their return (comp. Psa 126:2), afterwards inclined to ridicule and despise them (comp. Neh 4:2-4), when they saw them settling down in their old habitations as a distinct and separate people (Num 23:9), these strangers would begin in various ways to show their dislike, and perhaps to murmur their threats. In this condition of danger how natural to follow the example of Samuel, and sacrifice to Jehovah. A very instructive lesson, by the way, for these gospel times. Just so our need of an atonement is the very first of our needs. The nature of God’s law, the example of God’s servants, the enmity of the world and Satan (Rev 12:11) combine to teach us this truth.
III. THE CONGREGATION EN MASSE. Representatives of all Israel having come to Jerusalem, and the leaders having erected the altar, what were they all to do next? The place of sacrifice was restored. Out of the many kinds of sacrifices connected with it in former days, which should they place on it first? That which God had appointed for sanctifying the beginning and end of each day (verse 3). This quite in accordance with the very first use of the original altar itself (Exo 29:38), and with the happy consequences thereby secured (Exo 29:43-45). Also with the many remarkable successive injunctions of Num 28:1-31; Num 29:1-40, where we find it expressly commanded that whatever special sacrifices might be ordered on any daywhether for the Sabbath (Num 29:10), or new moon (Num 29:15), or passover (Num 29:23), or any day of it (Num 29:24), or Pentecost (Num 29:31), or feast of trumpets (Num 29:6), or day of atonement (Num 29:11), or feast of tabernacles, or any day of it (Num 29:16, Num 29:19, Num 29:22, Num 29:25, Num 29:28, Num 29:31, Num 29:34, Num 29:38)these regular daily sacrifices were always to be offered “beside.” Also with the prominence given to them in 1Ch 16:39, 1Ch 16:40; 2Ch 2:4; 2Ch 13:11; 2Ch 31:3. Also with the peculiarly grave character attached in Dan 8:11; Dan 9:27; and Dan 12:11 to their cessation and interruption. Indeed, from a spiritual point of view, and regarding this people of Israel as a “congregation” or living Church, these daily sacrifices seem always presented to us as the very pulse of its life. How fitting, therefore, in the endeavour to restore that Church’s suspended animation, to attend to them first. How important, also, under the new economy, the perpetual intercession of Christ. “He needeth not daily, as those high priests” (Heb 7:27), to offer for sin; “for this he did once [for all] when he offered himself.” But there is a need that he himself should continually be pleading this one sacrifice on our behalf. On this depends our justification (Rom 8:34). On this in every way our salvation (Heb 7:25). Herein is the pulse of our life. So we seem to be taught by such passages as Col 3:3; Gal 2:20. And so, with regard especially to the restoration of that life when impaired or suspended (just as with Israel in the case before us), in what is said in 1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 2:2 respecting this great Intercessor or “Advocate,” and the effectual plea of his death. “If any man sin,” as every man does (1Jn 1:8-10), and so begins to die, as every sinner then does, here is his way of escape.
Ezr 3:4-7
The first feast.
“Also,” Ezr 3:4; “afterward,” Ezr 3:5; “but,” Ezr 3:6; these are the three stepping-stones of this passage. After making a good beginning in restoring the daily sacrifices, the people “also” kept their first feast. “Afterward” they did what they could in restoring the observance of all the other ordinances and feasts of Jehovah. “But,” it being impossible to do this satisfactorily as they were then situated with regard to the temple, they further proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for commencing its erection, which was, after all, their great work. Such seems to be the order here of thoughts and events.
I. The “ALSO,” the SPECIAL FEAST. In the natural order of things, the seventh month having now come, the feast of tabernacles would be that nearest at hand. We cannot, therefore, exactly consider them to have chosen this as their first restored festival; but we can see indications that they specially welcomed it, and observed it with much joy. The seventh month also brought round the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement; yet the observance of these, if now observed at all by them, was not of such a kind as to be considered worthy of special mention. The first thing mentioned is the daily sacrifice; the next, this feast of tabernacles. If not the next thing that occurred, therefore, it was certainly, to their thoughts, the next thing in importance. Observe, also, what is expressly recorded as to the spirit in which they observed it. The regulations for the observance of this feast were amongst the most intricate in the whole book of the Law. Many victims of many kinds were required for its due observance; some the same, some different, for all its seven days in succession; those required for the eighth day being different, again, from them all (see carefully Num 29:12-38). All this, as there found “written,” if not as also added to by long-established “custom” (see Joh 7:2, Joh 7:37, Joh 7:38 for a supposed reference to a “custom” of this kind), as “every day required,” they fulfilled. How great, how manifest their pleasure in learning, in doing all. This not to be wondered at when we bear in mind the peculiar joyfulness of this annual feast. As the feast of ingathering or harvest (Deu 16:13-15; Exo 23:16), and as the feast which celebrated the close of their wanderings (Le 23:40, 42, 43), it was, even more than the passover or the Pentecost, a special season of joy. Accordingly, while we read in the passover of the bread of affliction (Deu 16:3), and read once of rejoicing at Pentecost (Deu 16:11), we read of it twice (Deu 16:14, Deu 16:15) in this case. Also, in the history of Israel we find mention of certain special cases of peculiar joy, all connected with ideas of permanent habitation and finished toil, when this feast was celebrated with peculiar glory (see reference to Joshua in 1Ki 8:65; 1Ch 17:1, 1Ch 17:5; 2Ch 7:8-10; Neh 8:9-18). No feast, therefore, in every way, could have been more appropriate to their case.
II. The “AFTERWARD,” the OTHER ORDINANCES. However peculiarly suitable to them this timely festival, it was not the only thing they observed. On the contrary, besides that which they had previously reinstituted (as again referred to in Ezr 3:6) they attended henceforward now to all things enjoined in God’s law. They kept up still the continual burnt offerings (mentioned specially again perhaps because of their special importance), and began from this time to order regularly all monthly, or annual, or even occasional rites”the new moons,” “the set feasts,” “the freewill offerings” of individuals. All that the Lord had “consecrated” or directly enjoined, all that he had also declared his willingness to accept, they gladly observed. In short, they restored in spirit the religious year, and as far as they could, in their circumstances, brought back in this respect the old days.
III. “BUT”for, as we have remarked already, there was a serious “but” in this caseTHEY COULD NOT AS YET DO ALL. They had the proper altar and priests; to some extent the proper vessels; also the requisite knowledge and inclination; and, in a certain way, the requisite means. For all this, however, to be done as they should be, with proper state and significance, and as Israel’s future functions required perhaps more than ever, there was needed a proper house. To this matter, accordingly, they next turn. Its very “foundation” at that time was not laid, and could not be as things were. But the necessary preparations could now he seen to, and must be, indeed, without delay. For example, they could arrange as to wages, etc. with those workmen who were to work on the spot, as we read in the beginning of Ezr 3:7. Also with those to work at a distance (“them of Zidon and Tyre,” Ezr 3:7), who were to cut the requisite cedar trees in Lebanon and convey them for use both by land and sea. In which last particular it is to be noted that they followed the example of the wise king himself when building the first temple, as well in choosing the right persons as in adopting the right route, and in offering the right remuneration, viz; not “money,” but “meat” and so on (see 1Ki 5:6, 1Ki 5:9, 1Ki 5:11; 2Ch 2:8, 2Ch 2:16; also Act 12:20). Further, we find that they asked for no more than they were already authorised to ask by King Cyrus (end of Ezr 3:7). It would be well if all business transactions were equally prudent and fair, especially those which have to do in any way with God’s service. Seek out the hands that are truly skilful, offer them what it is worth their while to accept, ask of them only what is lawful, this makes the man of business and the man of honour as well. And in doing business on God’s account the man of God should be both. May not this whole passage teach us yet another lesson in regard to doing God’s work? There is always something, whatever our circumstances, that we can all do in that line. We can begin if we cannot complete. We can prepare if we cannot begin. Even where we can do nothing ourselves, we may engage others to do it. Moreover, if we really seek to use such opportunities as we have, our endeavours are quite sure to be accepted and blessed (Mar 14:8; 2Co 8:12). This applies to learning as well as doing God’s will (Joh 7:17).
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD
Ezr 3:1-3
The altar rebuilt.
The return from Babylon is supposed to have been in the spring. The first employment of the people would be to construct for themselves huts, or so to repair dilapidated buildings as to make them fit for habitation. This accomplished, no time was lost in setting about the great work of re-establishing their ancient worship. So “when the seventh month was come,” the month Tisri, corresponding to portions of our September and October, they repaired to Jerusalem to encourage and witness,
I. THE REBUILDING OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERINGS.
1. They saw it placed upon its old bases.
(1) They regarded it as the same altar. No ceremonies of consecration neededwanted no novelties in religion. Here is a useful lesson to Christians. The religion of their fathers was Divine, and was associated with a wonderful history.
(2) Antiquity should be tested by appeal to Scripture.
2. They saw it rise to its completion.
(1) They had hostile neighbours (see Ezr 4:1, Ezr 4:9, Ezr 4:10). Idolaters of all sorts will ever oppose true worship.
(2) These were overawed by the multitude. The wicked are cowards at heart.
(3) The hands of the elders were encouraged. This is the force of the particle, “Then stood up,” etc. Learn the great value of witnessing for Christ.
II. THE OFFERING OF THE DAILY SACRIFICES. These are described Num 28:1-8.
1. The offerings. These were
(1) The burnt offeringa lamb of the first year, type of Christ, consumed in fire, and so called the “food of God.”
(2) The meat offeringfine flower mingled with oil, consumed by the worshipper or his representatives.
(3) The drink offeringwinelike the meat, partaken of by God and man (see Jdg 9:13). This feasting the symbol of friendship.
2. These were continual.
(1) Morning, evening, day by ‘day the year round, so forward “year by year continually” (see Heb 10:1).
(2) Kept up a continual remembrance of sin.
(3) Continually procured the “forbearance of God” until his justice should be satisfied in the perfect sacrifice and offering of Calvary.
3. But there was no sacred fire.
(1) The Jews confess the absence of this after the captivity. No account of any in the more recent Scriptures.
(2) Strange fire would scarcely be used. No account of its authorisation. Without this would it be accepted (see Le Num 10:1, Num 10:2)?
(3) Burnt offerings without fire! Significant of the waning of the dispensation. Designed to wean the Jews from Moses in favour of Jesus. Strength of prejudice! Strong tendencies even in Christians to ritual rather than to the spiritual in worship (see Gal 3:1-3). We witness here
III. A UNITED NATION OF WORSHIPPERS,
1. There was concert among the priests.
(1) The high priest was there. Joshua is not here expressly so styled; implied in the words, “Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren.” Thus distinguished elsewhere (see Hag 1:1; Hag 2:2; Zec 3:1). He was the grandson of Seraiah, the high priest who was slain by Nebuchadnezzar (see 2Ki 25:18-21). He was a type of Christ not only in virtue of his office, but also in his name, which is the same as Jesus, and in his leading the captivity out of Babylon.
(2) The “brethren” of Jeshua were with him. The sons of Aaron in general.
2. There was concert among the nobles.
(1) Zerubbabel was there. He heads the roll of names (Ezr 2:1-70 : 2) as a principal leader of the restoration. He was the representative of the royal family, and now a worthy successor of his ancestors, David and Solomon, who were so gloriously concerned with the first temple.
(2) His “brethren” were with him.
3. The people were there “as one man.“
(1) Responsive to the summons of the chiefs. They assembled fifteen days earlier than the feast of tabernacles, when all the males should appear (see verse 6).
(2) They came with exemplary unanimity; their heart was in it; they were the noblest of the nation, under 50,000, leaving the indifferent ones in Babylon. Such unanimity could never have been secured by coercion. Value of the voluntary principle.J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Ezr 3:1-7
Acceptable service.
When the 42,000 Israelites arrived in the land whither they went forth, they took peaceable and glad possession of their old homes; many, if not most, of them returning to the very fields and homesteads from which their fathers had been led away. They then showed a piety which was partly the fruit of the long discipline they had passed through in Persia. Their service of Jehovah, on this their return, was characterised by
I. SPONTANEITY (Ezr 3:1, Ezr 3:5). They must have had much to do to bring into good condition the long-forsaken fields; agriculture must have been neglected, and there must have been a strong demand for the most active and unremitting labour. Nevertheless, without any edict or decree from any spiritual or secular authority, “the people gathered themselves together as one man at Jerusalem” (Ezr 3:1). A common impulse urged them all to leave business employments and household duties and repair to the sacred city for the worship of God. And when there, they “willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord” (Ezr 3:5). Their service was, as ours will be, the more acceptable because unconstrained, spontaneous, the prompting of individual piety. Not the mandate of an earthly master, but the will of our Divine Lord, the love of Christ, should constrain us to activity and liberality.
II. RIGHTNESS OF PLACE (Ezr 3:1, Ezr 3:3). They gathered at Jerusalem (Ezr 3:1), and built an altar on the very same basis as that on which the old altar had stood (Ezr 3:3). They were right in this. For it had been very specially enjoined that only on that one site should sacrifices be offered unto God. They had regard to a precise injunction in thus confining their offerings to one place. No such restrictions limit our worship. The hour has come when neither on one mountain nor another shall men worship the Father (Joh 4:21). Wherever the people of God meet in sincerity and earnestness, there they “behold his mercy-seat.” “Every place is hallowed ground” to the devout heart. Yet there is such a thing as propriety of place. Still “the Lord loveth the gates of Zion,” and to worship him regularly at his house, to unite regularly with his people at the table of the Lord, is a useful and acceptable service.
III. UNITY (Ezr 3:2). Jeshua and Zerubbabel stood together to build the altar of the Lord. It is a most excellent thing for any society when those who are influential in the Church and those highly placed in the State unite and do not divide their influence, strengthen and do not weaken one another’s hands, in the promotion of morality and religion.
IV. READINESS THROUGH EAGERNESS (Ezr 3:3, Ezr 3:6). After using Solomon’s temple as their sacred edifice wherein to worship, it was natural that the people should desire something more than a rude altar reared under the skies. But so eager were they to return to the old sacrifices, which had so long ceased to be offered, that they could not wait for the erection of a building; before the foundation of the temple was laid (Ezr 3:6) they began to present burnt offerings unto the Lord. The apathetic soul will be ready enough to find an excuse for irreligion, for leaving unoffered the sacrifice that is due; but the eager-hearted will be prompt to substitute one instrument for another, that the service may not be unrendered. A feeble piety will yield to the first check. Spiritual earnestness will be ingenious to devise means, and will anticipate the hour when all outside circumstances compel to devotion. Do not let God’s praise remain unsung because a full-toned organ is not at hand for accompaniment, nor let his truth be unspoken because there are no fine walls to echo its proclamation. Godly zeal will find utterance whether art be present or absent.
V. REGULARITY (Ezr 3:4). “They offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required” (Ezr 3:4). There must be room left for some play of spontaneity, or our spiritual life will become mechanical and lose its animation and elasticity and beauty. But there must be also regularity: constant services, daily devotion, morning and evening prayer. Liberty and law must be reconciled and dwell harmoniously together, not only in every home, but in every heart.
VI. COMPREHENSIVENESS (Ezr 3:3, Ezr 3:4). Opposite feelings led them to the mercy-seat: their fear led them to seek Godthey set up the altar for fear of the people by whom they were surrounded (Ezr 3:3); and their joy also led to devotionthey kept the joyous feast of tabernacles, and united in the service in which gladness of heart prevailed (Ezr 3:4). The truly devout man is he with whom all paths lead to the throne of grace; to whom all things, however varied and unlike one another, suggest the thought of God; who brings his burden of grief and fear, as well as his treasure of joy and hope, to the feet of his Master.C.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL
Ezr 3:1-7
Aspects of worship.
I. The HUMAN in WORSHIP. “Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak,” etc. (Ezr 3:2). These men were the leaders in this movement of worship; they gathered the people thereto. There is a human side to Divine worship; the altar looks toward earth as well as toward heaven; man builds, if God consecrates it; man appoints the time of worship, arranges its method, gathers the people, stimulates the conscience by faithful words, and enforces the law. A few good men can awaken the devotional in the multitude, can give the impulse of altar building.
II. The ESSENTIAL in WORSHIP. “And builded the altar” (Ezr 3:2). The altar was built first because it was of primary importance; because it was essential to their sacrificial offerings. The altar first.
1. Then it is important to begin earlythe altar before the city; early in life; in the day; in the enterprise.
2. Then it is important to begin arightto commence with the essential rather than with the incidental. There are devotional, doctrinal, social, domestic altars; begin with them in any work of restoration; well begun is half done. Love before worship, pardon before works, Christ before civilization; commence with the altar.
3. Then it is important to begin under good leadership.
4. There is acceptance in a rude moral beginning. It was only an altar, but its offerings were accepted by God. When we have not all that is needful to ornate worship, heaven will accept a sacrifice from a rude altar; the heart is more than the structure. God will accept worship from the rude altar in the forest as well as from the stately altar in the temple.
5. Then there is a great power in a feeble but devout beginning. The flower is in the seed; the temple is in the altar.
III. The ADDITIONAL in WORSHIP. “And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord,” etc. (Ezr 3:3). A true worship will not rest content when the altar is built; the altar is only a commencement; we must go on to perfection. There is a binding influence in the erected altar; we cannot cast down what we have built. It is an inspiration; to what service will it lead. Faith and worship have numerous addenda. A man who begins with the altar to God can only end by working it out in all loving possibility; in fact, by placing himself upon it. We must put large offerings on our altars; Christ gave himself for us.
IV. The TIMOROUS in WORSHIP. They built the altar, all the while in fear of the people who perhaps had little sympathy with the edict of Cyrus (Ezr 3:3). The people erected the altar at once because they feared interruption; an altar erected is a power against the adversaries. In these days of quietude we can build our altar without fear of the persecuting enemy. What fears often animate the soul of the devout worshipper!
V. The SECULAR in WORSHIP. “They gave money also unto the masons,” etc. (Ezr 3:7). Worship combines the sentiment of the soul and temporal aid; the bread of life which God gives us and the bread we give him. It combines
1. Prayer.
2. Gifts.
3. Work.
The temple of God is built by a variety of gifts and by a variety of men; it provides a service for all. Many have to do with it mechanically who have nothing to do with it morally; a man may be a “mason” without being a minister.E.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD
Ezr 3:4-6
The worship of the first year.
In connection with the worship of the first year after the return of the children of Israel from Babylon, we notice
I. THAT IT WAS SUCH AS COULD BE CONDUCTED IN THE OPEN AIR.
1. They had their altar rebuilt.
(1) This was the first thing done, because it was essential. Sacrifice is interwoven with all the ceremonies of worship according to the law. The principle of sacrifice is no less essential under the gospel. Ponder the thought that there can be no true worship without sacrifice.
(2) They lost no time in this. They came forth from Babylon in the spring. The journey probably occupied four months (comp. Ezr 7:9). They had therefore barely time to get housed before the seventh month came, upon the first day of which they were “as one man” at Jerusalem. Learn that things essential to worship should have prompt and early attention. Forsaking Babylonseeking Zion.
2. But the foundation of the temple was not yet laid. This recalls the worship of the patriarchs.
(1) That of the first family eastward of Eden (Gen 3:24, and Gen 4:3, etc.).
(2) That of Noah emerging from the ark (Gen 8:20).
(3) That of the Hebrew patriarchs in Canaan (Gen 12:6-8; Gen 13:18; Gen 15:9-11; Gen 22:13; Gen 26:25; Gen 33:18-20). Learn, worship may be genuine without being elaborate (see Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24).
3. There appears to have been no celebration of the ceremonies of the great day of atonement.
(1) The daily sacrifice commenced on the first day of Tisri (Ezr 3:6). The great day of atonement was due on the tenth of the same month, of which there is no mention. The narrative carries us at once to the feast of tabernacles, which followed on the fifteenth day.
(2) The reason of the omission is found in the want of the temple. The sprinkling of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry would be impossible (see Lev 16:1-34.). There was no most holy place for the high priest to enter (see Heb 9:7, Heb 9:25). There was no altar of incense (see Exo 30:10). Lesson: If we cannot worship God as we would, we should worship him as we can.
II. THAT IT COMPREHENDED ALL THE FESTIVALS OF THEIR RELIGION.
2. Foremost amongst these was the feast of tabernacles. This was one of the great annual festivals (Exo 23:1-6).
(1) The passover. This was held on the first day of Abibinstituted to commemorate the events connected with the exodus from Egypt (Exo 13:3, Exo 13:4; Deu 16:1-8).
(2) The feast of first-fruits. This commenced with the putting in of the sickle for the harvest. Also called the feast of weeks, for it lasted seven weeks, while the fruits of the earth were being gathered. Lesson: We should recognise God in all our blessings. In all this rejoicing the Israelites still kept up the memory of their emancipation from Egypt (see Deu 16:7-12).
(3) The last was the feast of tabernacles. In the present case this came first. This arose from the accident of its occurring first after the return from Babylon. Yet in this accident there was a providence, for the feast of tabernacles has a peculiar relation to gospel times (see Zec 14:18). This feast also called the feast of ingathering, for it was a rejoicing over the garnering of the harvest and vintage (Deu 16:13-16). Not so called here, for there would be no extensive ingathering in this first year. There was a remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt in this festival also; it called to mind the dwelling in tents in the wilderness. In this celebration the people could not but associate with this their own recent deliverance from Babylon. Lesson: In all our festivities let the grateful remembrance be present with us of our spiritual emancipation from the Egypt and Babylon of sin and error.
(4) Particularly note that they “offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the custom as the duty of every day required.” On each of the days during which this feast lasted there was a difference in the custom (see Num 29:1-40.). “As the duty,” etc. Hebrews, “the matter of the day in the day.” Learn:
(a) Every day brings its own religious duties.
(b) We must do the work of the day in the day.
2. They offered also the continual burnt offerings.
(1) The daily offerings. These were never interrupted. They continued morning and evening throughout the year.
(2) Those of the Sabbaths (see Num 28:9, Num 28:10). The word Sabbath is applied not only to the seventh day of the week, but indifferently to all the Jewish festivals (Le 19:3, 30).
(3) Those of the new moons (see Num 27:11-15).
(4) Additional to all these were the free-will offerings of the people. Lesson: The services of religion are not to be taken up fitfully, but must be steadily observed. They are not irksome, but delightful to those whose hearts are brought into sympathy with them by the grace of God. This grace should be diligently sought.J.A.M.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Ver. 1. When the seventh month was come The seventh month, called Tizri, answers in part to our September and October. The first day of the month Tizri was the beginning of the Jewish civil year; and on it was the feast of trumpets, which lasted for two days, when all labour and business was suspended; and while sacrifices were in use, the Jews offered, in the name of the whole nation, a solemn holocaust of a calf, two rams, and seven lambs, all of the same year, together with the flour and wine which usually accompanied such sacrifices; but, instead of that, they now go to the synagogue, where they repeat several prayers and benedictions; and, having very solemnly taken the Pentateuch out of the chest, and read to five persons the sacrifice which used to be performed on that day, they sound twenty times upon a horn, sometimes very low, sometimes very loud; and this, they say, makes them think of the judgments of God, to intimidate sinners, and put them upon repentance. See Calmet, and Lev 23:24.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND SECTION
The First Effort
Chaps. 3-4
ATHE REESTABLISHMENT OF THE ALTAR AND THE PREPARATION FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE
Ezr 3:1-13
I. Building of the Altar, Feast of Tabernacles, and anxiety for the Building of the Temple. Ezr 3:1-7
1AND when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 2Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. 4They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custorn,5 as the duty of every day required; And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. 6From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
II. Laying of the Corner-stone of the New Temple. Ezr 3:8-13
8Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. 9Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever 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. 12But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 13So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The history itself now follows the historical foundations. The most prominent and interesting feature of the narrative is the readiness and zeal of the new congregation, with reference to the temple and its worship, the re-establishment of which was their proper work, and indeed first of all in Ezr 3:1-3 in the building of the altar.
Ezr 3:1. And when the seventh month was come.The author calls attention to the zeal of all, without exception; especially also of those dwelling outside of Jerusalem. He means, of course, the seventh month of the same year in which the returning exiles arrived in Jerusalem, else he would have been obliged to define it more closely. Besides, it is clear from Ezr 3:8, that the following year was the second after their arrival. The seventh month was properly the festival month, and accordingly the time in which it must be shown how zealous the new congregation was with reference to the service of God. The new years day, the atonement day and feast of tabernacles fell on this month.And the children of Israel were in the cities.This clause is meant to indicate that they had already attained a certain degree of rest, but at the same time they had obtained a possession and a labor therein, which might have readily detained them; at any rate that they were again obliged to leave their own affairs and assemble together,this, however, merely for the purpose of at once uniting in showing that they would not now allow themselves to be detained by anything from the celebration of the feasts of the law. It is clear from verse 6 that they did not wait until the feast of tabernacles, the 15th of the month, as it was prescribed in the law, but already on the day of the new moon came together, yea, in part already some days earlier, so that the building of the altar, which was for the first time undertaken on their coming together, might be ready for the day of the new moon.The people gathered themselves together as one man.This primarily means as if inspired by one will, thus, with one spirit (Keil) , 1Es 5:46, thence also as much as to say entirely (Berth.). For the verbal repetition of this verse in Neh 7:73, and Ezr 8:1, where an entirely different event was thereby to be introduced, and for the additional clause, which Esdras improperly has appended here, after Neh 8:1, see note on Neh 8:1.
Ezr 3:2. Jeshua,etc., stood up and built the altar, etc.This clause indicates the zeal of the heads of the congregation at Jerusalem, which very well corresponded with that of the people as a whole, but which yet has something striking in it, if as is the most natural interpretation, the future, with consec, expresses chronological sequence. We are to suppose that they had not first caused the people to come together, but already before had gone to work in building the altar.
Ezr 3:3. This verse more closely defines the previous one, and in its first half is designed for an explanation of the hesitation of Jeshua and the rest, in its second half for an explanation of what was meant by offering offerings according to the law.And they set the altar upon his basethat is, on the foundation that was present long before for it. The sense of is without doubt essentially the same as in Ezr 2:68. The qeri of the punctators has the more usual plural of the masculine form, which occurs also in Psa 104:5; the plural, however, is unsuitable here, because there can be no reference to different foundations, and still less to different pedestals for the altar. Comp. , Zec 5:11. It is manifest that there is here an indication that they made their work as easy as possible, and sought to finish it as soon as they could. For if it was also natural that they should re-erect the temple on its old foundations, partly because the place could not be arbitrarily changed, partly because the difficult substructures might still, without doubt, be very well made use of, yet with the altar it might easily have been entirely different. Under favorable circumstances they might have been obliged to re-establish it on an entirely new foundation, since the old foundation, probably, was no longer intact. Hence the explanatory clause is added: why they had not previously gone to work:For (they did it) because fear was upon them, because of the people of those countries; properly fear or terror, which was on them. The here expresses the condition in which they were (comp. Ewald, 217 f, and 299 b), or more accurately, it states under what circumstances the action proceeded. At any rate it can also be explained with Ewald, 295 f: in anxiety it was incumbent upon them () namely, to build. The conjecture of Ewald (Gesch. IV., S. 131), that the suffix of refers to the people of the lands and the reference is to their coming together to Israel in a friendly spirit, in accordance with Esdras 5:49, is entirely inadmissible. Accordingly they had not ventured to undertake anything greater or more public, because they feared the hostility of the surrounding nations, so long as the congregation was not assembled in greater numbers, and they had even now to fear hostile interruption in a greater undertaking. The explanation of J. H. Mich. and Keil: They re-established altar and worship in order to secure for themselves the divine protection against the peoples, of whom they were afraid, not only requires us to supply too much, but also is opposed by the fact that we should expect, if this view were correct, that they already previously would have gone to work upon the erection of the altar, and have offered sacrifices, especially those of the daily sacrifice. The peoples are certainly the neighboring peoples, comp. Ezr 9:1; Ezr 10:2.And offered thereon burnt offerings, etc.They sought to act in accordance with the law before all in offering the daily sacrifices. The sing. is to be referred to the one upon whom the offering of the sacrifice was chiefly incumbent, the priest in service at the time,it is the indefinite subject. Perhaps however the plural of the qeri is more appropriate. The burnt offerings for the morning and evening are those belonging to every morning and evening. Those on the weekly Sabbath and feast days were required to be offered in various numbers. Comp. Exo 29:38 sq.; Num 28:3 sq. The prominence given to the burnt offering alone is to be explained from the fact that these chiefly came into consideration, since the daily sacrifices, as well as those of the feasts, were chiefly burnt offerings, as then the burnt offering was regarded in general as the principal sacrifice. But at any rate they were entirely appropriate, in as much as they were the sacrifices of homage, through which the congregation might best express what they now above all had to confess, that they had Jehovah for their Lord, and prayed to Him as such.
In Ezr 3:4-5 the congregation attests its sacred zeal by the celebration of the feast of tabernacles, and by other ceremonies of worship. The burnt offering of the day by day, or every day is that prescribed for the various days of the feast of tabernacles. = numbered, pro numero in singulos dies definite (J. H. Mich.), comp. 1Ch 9:28; 1Ch 23:31; Ezr 8:34. = according to law; in Num 29:18; Num 29:21; Num 29:24; Num 29:27; Num 29:30; Num 29:33, to which passages there is a reference here, it is somewhat more definite, in their number, according to the law is in apposition=the matter of the day in its day, opus dies in die suo (Vulg. and J. H. Michaelis), comp. Neh 11:23. Bertheau explains this expression as in accordance with (Ezr 6:9) as the duty to be done day by day, but this is opposed by the fact that has the suffix. Compare for these prescribed sacrifices Numbers 28, 29, in accordance with which there must be offered on the first day of the feast of tabernacles thirteen bullocks, on the second day twelve, and so on.
Ezr 3:5. And afterward (they offered) the daily burnt offering.Here we must supply the verb, they offered. Since according to Ezr 3:6 they began to offer burnt offerings on the first day of the seventh month, the meaning cannot be that they did not begin with the daily burnt offerings until after the feast of tabernacles (against Berth.), as if on the first day they had merely offered the offerings of the new moon, and on the feast of tabernacles the offerings of the feast; but had not yet on the ordinary days offered the daily sacrifices. That is inconceivable, or at least highly improbable. Moreover, the words do not imply that until the feast of tabernacles only the chief offerings had been offered, but not the offerings of the new moon, and as little the offerings of the atonement day (against Keil). Rather it is merely said, that after the sacrifices of the feast of tabernacles the usual order of offerings was again continued, which included the daily offerings, and then also those of the new moon and other feasts.And of the new moons, is briefly, what was proper for the new moons, etc.And of every one that willingly offered a free-will offering unto the Lord.These words refer to all the other freewill offerings brought by the people which were offered, especially on the feast-days (comp. Deu 16:2; Deu 16:10; Deu 16:16-17), but also on other occasions. Moreover, among these offerings the sin offering is certainly included, as it belonged to the new moons, etc., and was necessarily attached to the burnt offerings (comp. Num 28:15 sq.). We are to supply to first of all , instead of . Even the might also be a burnt offering, Lev 22:18, and especially Eze 46:12; it only depended upon the form of the offering, namely, whether the gift was entirely consecrated to the Lord, or a festival meal was taken from it for the offerer and his family. Perhaps, however, we are to think finally of the offerings in general, instead of the burnt offering, also of the bloody offering, of which the was usually a subordinate class (Lev 7:16).
Ezr 3:6-7. Here begins the anxiety for the building of the temple. From the first day of the seventh month on, they did not lack in zeal in offering burnt offerings, although the foundation of the temple had not yet been laid,this for an introduction. They now, however, did their best (Ezr 3:7) henceforth towards laying the foundation of the temple. They gave money to the , who hewed stones, or even cut timber, and to the , who prepared the stones and the timber, accordingly the workmen, without doubt, from the contributions mentioned in Ezr 2:68 sq. To the Sidonians and Tyrians, however, who are always referred to in connection with the products of Canaan, they gave in return for their cedar wood, food and drink, that is, grain, wine, and oil, just as Solomon also had paid them with the produce of the earth, 1 Kings 5:2125; 2Ch 2:10-15. Accordingly they had already found or cultivated something in the land which they practically had taken possession of in the spring, from which they had been able to secure a harvest.To bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa = to Joppa on the sea, as 1 Kings 5:23 and 2Ch 2:15. Bertheau understands by it not exactly Joppa itself, but merely the vicinity, but there certainly was nothing in the way of their landing at Joppa itself. The sand drifts which now render it impossible for ships to approach nearer the coast than half an hours sail, and the earthquake that seems to have occurred, were probably then not in the way, and by no means hindered the landing from rafts. At other points of that coast the difficulties would have been still greater.According to the grant,etc. The permission given them by Cyrus, which to a certain extent rendered the work obligatory to them, was the general permission to build the temple; implicite it involved also special permission to put themselves in connection with the Phnicians for the accomplishment of this purpose. is an . ., whose meaning is derived from the Aramaic and Rabbinical ,, facultatem habere, and , facultas.
Ezr 3:8-13. The sacred zeal of the congregation showed itself above all at the laying of the foundation of the temple. In the next year the preparation previously necessary had been so far completed, that now they could think of the building itself. When Theophilus (ad. Antol., Lib. III.), according to Berosus, designates this second year after the return as the second year of Cyrus, it is perhaps only in consequence of a sort of carelessness. Cyrus had, it is true, given the permission to return already in his first year, but before the return itself could have taken place the necessary consultations and preparations required a considerable time, during which Cyrus second year already approached. After that they had first allowed the passover feast to pass by, and perhaps also already the grain harvest had been quite well advanced; they proceeded in the second month to lay the foundation.Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the remnant of their brethren. By these we must understand the entire congregation, at least so far as they were settled in Jerusalem; the remnant of their brethren are brethren in the wider sense, who are immediately more closely defined on the one side as priests and Levites, who at once follow after the high-priest Jeshua, and on the other side all who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, having joined Zerubbabel. Accordingly the entire congregation, as well in their leaders as in their multitude, took part in the work.Began and appointed the Levites, who were twenty years old and upward. This might mean, they began to appoint, according to Gesen., 142, 3 a. But according to the context the sense is: they began the building of the temple, in that they appointed the Levite. is used, especially by our author, in the sense of appointing to an office. Comp. 1Ch 15:17. etc. That they also appointed the Levites at the age of twenty years with the rest, was in accordance with the rule of David, 1Ch 23:24 sq., and after the example of Moses (Num 8:24). , in the sense of direct, with is, with the exception of the titles of the Psalms and Hab 3:19, peculiar to our author. Gusset improperly asserts, with reference to 1Ch 23:4, that may also mean unite with one in a work, but it can only mean to preside over an affair, sometimes also accomplish it.
Ezr 3:9. The Levites at once gladly did their part in the work entrusted to them by the congregation. The sing. is here hardly to be explained from the fact that the verb, when it precedes, is not so strongly bound to the number of the subject. The sense is rather: Jeshua through his sons and brethren stood. and also are not merely used without connectives, which would here be unusual, but are in explanatory apposition with Jeshua. The names designating the fathers houses are the names of ancient, and, for the most part, fathers of the times before the exile, who now existed only in their sons and brethren; that is, as well in their own posterity as also in that of their younger brothers. Comp. notes on Ezr 2:3. Jeshua and also Kadmiel are, according to Ezr 2:40, two such names, comp. also Neh 10:10, according to which even in the time of Nehemiah, Jeshua and Kadmiel still existed. This view is not opposed by the fact that and his sons is connected by conjunction with Kadmiel. We may understand thereby the older men of this family and their sons. Instead of we are to read, according to Ezr 2:40, without doubt, . Whether this is in apposition with the two families of Jeshua and Kadmiel, or merely refers to the latter, is as doubtful here as in Ezr 2:40. Probably it is the latter (with Keil against Bertheau). That both, however, had a common ancestor, who was not Hodaviah, but Henadad, may be regarded as resulting from the last words of our verse. It is highly improbable that the clause as one (so united and entirely one were they) to set forward the workman in the house of God should be followed by the last words of the verse: the sons of Henadad, their sons and their brethren, the Levites, with the intention of naming stilt another third additional family; for they would not have been added on here without connection and without any predicate. Probably they are in apposition to both, to Jeshua and Kadmiel, with their sons. The relationship and connection of both would thus be indicated. In favor of this view is the comprehensive conclusion: their sons and brethren, the Levites, which does not suit a third particular class, but only the Levites in question as a whole. This also explains the reason why in Ezr 2:40 Henadad is not mentioned among the returned exiles alongside of Jeshua and Kadmiel. That in Neh 3:24; Neh 10:10 Binnui is at once designated as a son of Henadad, may rest upon the fact that he belonged neither to Jeshua nor to Kadmiel, but to Henadad, constituting a family of his own, which was sufficiently well represented, and hence not especially named. That no force is to be given to Esdras 5:56 (against Bertheau), where the sons of Henadad are adduced as a special class and are placed before the predicate, is sufficiently clear from the fact that there the sons of Judah (Hodaviah) are likewise treated as a special class ( ). Moreover is a rare form, which is peculiar to our author for . Comp. 1Ch 23:24, etc.
Ezr 3:10-11. The laying of the foundation was accomplished with solemnity and festivity. The perf. with the simple copula does not in itself carry on the narrative, but serves, as if the subject preceded and the preterite followed, to give the circumstances of the subsequent statement, so that the sense is: And when the builders laid the foundations of the temple, they appointed the priests, etc.The subjects of are Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the congregation with them. The Kal., the priests stood, which is in Esdras, Sept., and Vulg., instead of the Hiphil, would not be better (Bertheau), unless we should regard this verse a well as the ninth, as carrying on the eighth verse; in other words, if it were parallel with the ninth, which is not the case. Rather it is parallel with the eighth verse, and contains a new appointment, that of the priests and musicians, and then Ezr 3:11 parallel with Ezr 3:9 narrates the activity of those who had been appointed.In their apparel.We must supply (Byssus) with ; comp. 2Ch 5:12 : at any rate, the sense is: clothed with official robes. The following with trumpets does depend upon it. The trumpets, which do not properly have music in view, were entrusted to the priests (Num 10:10). The music proper was from the time of David incumbent upon particular families of the Levites, especially that of Asaph (1Ch 13:8; 1Ch 15:16; 1Ch 15:19). is, according to the appointment, institution, 1Ch 25:2.
Ezr 3:11. And they sang together by course in praising,etc.We may take in the usual sense: they began with praising, etc.; but may likewise, with the older interpreters, as Clericus and J. H. Michaelis, explain: they responded to one another in responsive songs. Whilst the one choir sang: Praise the Lord, for He is good, the other answered: For His mercy endureth forever. They were songs of praise, as Psalms 106, 107, 118, 136, that they struck up, comp. 1Ch 16:34; 1Ch 16:41; 2Ch 5:13; 2Ch 7:3, etc. , over the being founded=on account of the laying of the foundation. Comp. 2Ch 3:3.
Ezr 3:12-13. It is true that strong expressions of sorrow mingled with the joy, yet both sorrow and joy showed equally well the sacred zeal of the congregation in the worship of God. If the exile had begun in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the temple had not been destroyed till eighteen years later in 588 B. C., there might now very well be old men present,since only seventy-two years had passed since that beginning of the exile,who had seen the old temple, and had still a lively remembrance of it. Even Haggai, in the second year of Darius, when some seventy years (more accurately sixty-six) had passed since the destruction of the temple itself presupposes that one and another had still a remembrance of the old temple. Comp. Hag 2:3. is attached by the accents to the previous words, as if were a noun, which meant founding, then permanence. But this noun nowhere else occurs; besides, , as an infin., seems to be connected with the words that follow thus: When the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes.With this interpretation, it is true, the suffix is pleonastic, but in other passages of this author the suffix anticipates with emphasis the subject following it in apposition, comp. Ezr 9:1; 2Ch 26:14, etc.; Ewald, 209 c. [This is a late Hebrew usage, an Aramaism; so also without the article and before its noun is emphatic=this same, this very.Tr.]Many old people wept with a loud voice.Not, as it were, tears of joy, because they could now again see the house of God arise; so also not merely with tears of emotion, because they on this occasion were again vividly reminded of the evils they had passed through. The relative clause: that had seen the first house gives the sense very decidedly: they wept tears of sorrow, because they could not conceal from themselves the fact that the new work, in accordance with all the prevailing circumstances, promised but little to attain unto the glory of the old. In favor of this is also Hag 2:3 and Zec 4:10. These tears were thus a proof that if only it had been in any way possible, they would gladly have made the new house as glorious as the old. The second clause is then antithetical: but many shouted aloud for joythat is, were in such a joyful condition that they could not but be loud in their expression of joy.
Ezr 3:13. The meaning of the words: the people could not discern the noise of the shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, can only be that both those who rejoiced and those who wept were alike zealous to express their feelingsso much so indeed that the words which were sung could not be understood.For the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off. and in this clause in distinction from in the first clause, can only mean the cry in general. This confused cry would be to the blame of the new congregation, if the confusion itself had not been the result of sacred enthusiasm for the cause of the Lord. stands for the more simple as in 2Ch 26:15.
THOUGHTS UPON THE HISTORY OF REDEMPTION
Our chapter presents a beautiful picture of the sacred enthusiasm of the new congregation for the glory of God, and especially of their commendable zeal for the restoration of the temple. In former times pious kings had provided in this way for the worthy worship of God; but now here for the first time we see the congregation as a whole of their own accord stepping forward in this manner. Such an inspiration of heart had without doubt from the first been rendered possible and brought about by the severe judgment which God had sent upon them, and by the hard oppression connected therewith. It was like the break of a lovely spring day, full of new life, after a storm. It did not by any means secure them a result that must be secured by them, without trials and hinderances; but yet they were finally to have a noble and great success, yea, they gained a great importance for the entire subsequent development of the congregation and of the kingdom of God.
Ezr 3:1-3. That the congregation, as soon as they could be assembled together as such, should feel above all impelled to build the Lord an altar and offer burnt-offerings, was in accordance with the command which Moses had once given to the people to set up on Ebal, the navel of the land, stones and inscribe thereon the law of the Lord (Deu 27:1-8), and even so with the other command to proclaim on this mountain the curse for the transgressor, and on Gerizim the blessing for the obedient, Deu 11:29-32; Deu 27:9-26. If the ancient congregation had by that act placed the land under the divine commandment, and marked it as under the Lords jurisdiction, and put it under the obligation to obey Him, so the new congregation consecrated themselves by this worship unto Him, as entirely belonging to Him, they confessed by the burnt-offering in a symbolical manner, that what they have, they from the Lord, and what they are, they are through Him, that thus they must be entirely devoted to Him. As offerings of homage, the burnt-offerings were better calculated than others to inaugurate the new beginning, the spring, which now broke forth for the congregation after the long night of winter.
Ezr 3:4. It was because of the season of the year in which the congregation had arrived in Canaan that the first feast which they could again celebrate in accordance with the law was the feast of tabernacles. At the same time, however, we may see therein a special providence of God, which was at once lovely and significant to the congregation. The booths adorned with foliage and fruits had previously represented as well the gracious help in the times of the wilderness as also the gracious blessings of harvest in the present (not the tent-life in the wilderness as such, comp. my Abh. in der deutschen Zeitschrift, 1857, and my Komm. zu V. Mos. XVI., and Keils Archol. I., S. 412 sqq.); corresponding with this, the booths now gained of themselves a reference, on the one side, to the exhibition of grace during the new prolonged wilderness-time of the exile, which had entered with so much gloom into the midst of the history of Israel; so to speak to the booths of protection and defiance which had arisen for the people by the grace of the Lord even in the heathen world, and on the other side to the new regaining of Canaan, which, to a certain extent, was a security and a pledge of all the further blessings in store for them in this land. They expressed the thanks which they owed to the Lord for both of these blessings in an especially lively and internal manner. This feast of tabernacles was a festal and joyous conclusion of all the preservations, consolations and blessings that were behind them, connected with a joyous glance into the future; it was an evidence that a height had been reached upon which finally even the last height might be attained, an indication that some day, after all their struggles and all their labors, a still more glorious feast of tabernacles, the Messianic, the eternal and truly blessed one, would come. Comp. Zechariah 14.
Ezr 3:6-7. The celebration of the feast of tabernacles was followed by the preparation for building the temple in an especially appropriate and beautiful manner. If the Lord had provided His congregation with booths of preservation, of consolation, and of joy, not only now in Canaan, but even also in the times of the wilderness of the exile, how ought they now to have felt impelled from the heart to build Him a tabernacle also, in which His honor might dwell, a tabernacle of God with men, at least with and among His people! The communion with the Lord, which they had already enjoyed, would have been no true one, if it had not been connected with the desire that it should become strengthened and made more intimate, and if this desire had not now engaged in building the temple. That is the great end of all providential guidances, that communion between Himself and men, as it was prepared on His part by His condescension, should become established and enlivened more and more also on the part of men; for the most part naturally through the communion of the heart with Him, but also in order that it might be cherished in the heart, by the establishment, enlargement and completion of the external means and institutions which have been provided by God Himself for the purpose. The blessings and gifts with which He has blessed us should always be employed first and chiefly for this purpose. And how greatly are we shamed in this respect by this weak congregation of returned exiles, who were scarcely able to sow and reap, and who yet had so much left for the building of the temple.
Ezr 3:7. It was significant also that at this building of the temple again it was not Canaan proper, but the Phnician Lebanon, that provided the building-material and that corresponding with this heathen workmen and artists also took part in erecting the house of God. It indicates that the rest of the earth also, and corresponding thereto, the rest of mankind, are to render their gifts and capacities, which are more and more to take part in the complete and true worship of the Lord, that the Lord by no means regards them as profane. The rest of the earth and mankind became thereby, to a certain extent, consecrated in advance and designated as one who, if now already in the Old Testament economy, yet still more some day in the fulness of time, would take part in the highest destiny of Israel. Comp. the beautiful remarks of Bhr on 1 Kings 5.
Ezr 3:8-9. It was not a single head, as once with Solomon, from whom now the building of the temple proceeded; with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, at the same time all the returned exiles equally took part, as it is expressly said. That the entire congregation should take part freely in the highest work of humanity is the great object in view in all the divine providential guidances. Connected with this, however, the congregation gave a Levitical family the charge of conducting the work of building, accordingly in their choice of officers fell in with the regulations made and sanctified by God already long before, and thus certainly took the best action, since indeed in the tribe of Levi the interest in the house of God was still cherished in the most lively manner, and the understanding of what was necessary or appropriate was most surely preserved. That is always the most salutary and beautiful when the free recognition or choice on the part of the congregation and the arrangements objectively present on the part of God harmoniously combine.
Ezr 3:12-13. With respect to the expressions of joy and sorrow at the laying of the foundation of the temple, every step by which we attempt to draw near to our highest end, the confirmation of our communion with God, should become a joyous feast. For the nearer we approach this end, the more there comes into view not only the true reverence of the Lord, but also the fulness of redemption and life, of righteousness, of peace, and of joy, involved therein. The farther off we remain therefrom, the more do unrighteousness, discord and mischief threaten to prevail. In fact nothing is so well calculated to exalt the hearts of the children of God from within outward, to fill them with sacred joy and attune them to festivity, as the coming of the kingdom of God. Ewald properly conjectures that at the time of the laying of the foundation (we must understand the times of the building of the temple and those that immediately followed as included therein), many a grand song resounded afresh, as the 118th Psalm, a song of festivity and sacrifice expressing the feelings of that period with such wonderful depth; and that they soon, as they again made pilgrimages to the ancient seat of true religion and the Davidic sovereignty, as well as the sanctuary itself (so Psalms 87), as also on the joyous pilgrim-march, sang a rich abundance of new songs of great power and enchanting inwardness, such as had hardly arisen since the time of David in such streaming fullness and creative life (so Psalms 120-134). Comp. Ewald, Gesch. IV., S. 131, 133. In the profound 116th Psalm: I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications, the voice of joy mingled with sorrow, then so general, has found an appropriate and particular expression, which is so beautiful, that the pious king Fred. William 4 of Prussia, in his last severe affliction, chose it for his prayer. In the 113. Psalm, however, Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lordthe Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens, there is combined, in the same characteristic manner, the thought of the lowliness and poverty that they then so severely felt, and the praise for the exaltation which had now taken place. Especially, however, Psalms 107 belongs here with its remembrance of all the different afflictions and dangers through which they had passed with Gods help and with its constantly recurring refrain: O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men; and probably also Psalms 106, with its prayer that the Lord would still further gather them from among the heathen and redeem them from trouble. If we still so often, on our part, have a lack of joy and suffer from depression of spirits, and if even in better hours a pressure remains upon the soul, of which we are at times scarcely clearly conscious, then even this sadness may redound to the glory of God, that is, be a divine sorrow, which has its ground in the fact that we cannot serve God as we would wish, and as would be really worthy of Him. Under such circumstances we should not lack beams of hope, or rather of promise, that would be able to transfigure them.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Ezr 3:1-6. The feast of the redeemed: 1) They present their offerings to God; a) for the redemption for which they are thankful to the Lord, and for which they owe all to Him; b) notwithstanding the hostility of the world, which indeed grieves them and hinders them in many ways externally, but cannot hold them back from that which is essential; c) they consecrate themselves by a daily dedication of themselves. 2) They celebrate especially a feast of tabernacles; a) as preserved in the desert of the world and delivered therefrom; b) as richly blessed in the land of the Lord; c) as called to the eternal tabernacles of joy. 3) They advance the building of the house and kingdom of God; a) they consecrate for this purpose their possessions and gifts; b) they seek therefore also to add thereto that which is suitable in the worldall (1, 2 and 3) on the ground of and according to the prescriptions of the word of God.Brentius: Nobis quotidie hoc festum celebrandum est, quod turn celebratur, dum docemus et sentimus, nos esse peregrinos in hoc mundo et in tabernaculis corporis nostri brevi durantibus, nostrum politeuma esse in clo. Starke: How lovely and necessary is brotherly love among the children of God! Especially in the building of the spiritual temple under Christ should there be one heart and one soul, and each one should stand as all and all as one man, Act 2:44; Act 4:32; Psa 133:2. If we would again properly reform and re-establish the worship of God, Gods word must be the law, rule, lamp, and guiding star, Psa 19:5; Psa 23:4; Psa 119:105. Although believers have the commandment and promise of God before them, yet the human heart is often so weak that it is easily frightened; but we should here be at the same time blind and dumb, and not look to the present state of affairs, but rely upon Gods word alone, Pro 18:10.
Ezr 3:6-10. How the house (kingdom) of God is built: 1) by the offerings of men; a) by the possessions and gifts of the congregation; b) by appropriating and using that which is useful in the world; c) under the protection of the civil authorities (according to the permission of Cyrus). 2) By the activity not only of the heads but also of the other members. The heads have their work to do as leaders, but the rest have freely to co-operate, they have to assist those who according to the divine arrangement have the charge of affairs, encourage them and strengthen them. 3) By the faithfulness of officers to their duties. God has ordained officers for the sake of order. There is not only the office of priests, but also that of their helpers, the teachers, and especially also fathers and mothers.Starke: God distributes His gifts in many ways; to one He gives talents for one work, to another for another, 1Co 12:7 sq. The spiritual temple should also be urged on in all ranks of society with all energy, in order that the people may be built up into an holy temple in the Lord, Ezr 2:22 preachers and magistrates, instructors also, and parents, thus build a temple when they properly teach and preach, preserve discipline and honesty, and bring up the youth to piety.
Ezr 3:11-13. The joy of the congregation of the Lord: 1) Its groundthe laying of the foundation of the house of God; God on His part would have a dwelling among men, for this He has accomcomplished the work of redemption, especially the incarnation, the atonement, and the establishment of the Church; the congregation on their part constitute ever some part of the beginning of the house of God. 2) Its kindit is a festive joy, and expresses itself accordingly in music and songs in praise of the Lord, but is still saddened, because the house of God still continues to lack the true glory. 3) Its significance,its incompleteness of itself, points to its fulfilment.Starke: Christ is the true foundation and corner-stone of His church (Psa 118:22; Isa 28:16; 1Co 3:11), in whom we highly rejoice, and on whose account we have to praise God. Experience of previous times often gives an impulse to correct judgment; sometimes however unbelief derives an evil example and support therefrom. The inward joy of the Spirit should suppress all temporal sorrows, so that we should not hear the weeping for the joy.
[Scott: The greater difficulties and the more formidable enemies we are exposed to, the more we need the friendship and assistance of God.In this world joys and sorrows will be blended, for it is a mixed state; hereafter there will be a complete separation.Henry: Let worldly business be postponed to the business of religion and it will prosper the better.They that do not work themselves may yet do good service by quickening and encouraging those that do work.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This chapter opens with an account of the zeal of the fathers and the people to begin the temple. They set up the altar; renew their offerings; and the foundation of the temple is laid.
Ezr 3:1
This seventh month was probably at the time of gathering in their summer fruits. What the country had produced of them is not said. But it was a fit season for assembling upon the great purpose they had in view. I would not have the Reader, methinks, overlook the unanimity which subsisted among them; for we are told they gathered themselves together as one man. Reader! it is this sweet feature of Jesus’s gospel which makes both him and his blessed cause so dear. Oneness with him will be sure to make the same with his members. If I love him I must love my brother that is part of him.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Altar and the Temple
Ezr 3:2
In the opening chapters of this book of Ezra we are among the Jews who have come back from Babylon. God has restored the exiles to their country; and their feet stand in Jerusalem again. But the ravages of war and the silent attacks of time have played strange havoc with the beloved city. It was then that they set to work to restore Jerusalem. God breathed an enthusiasm upon the people. And it was then that they built the altar of the Lord, for the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not laid. Such then is the setting of our text, and it carries three suggestions with it.
I. First, it is good to begin building with an altar. It is wisest and noblest and most rational to begin with the recognition of the Lord. To realize that above our finite will there is the infinite will of the Almighty; to feel that around the purpose we form is the eternal purpose of a Sovereign God; to know that He girds us when we perceive it not, that He loves us even when we have despised Him, that He hath prepared our goings from of old, that He will never leave us or forsake us is not that the secret of an arm that can endure, and of a heart that will not weary in the drought?
II. The second lesson of our text is this. Build your altar till you can start your temple. Now if our life means anything for us, it must be rich in dreams which we cannot realize. A life is very valueless and poor if it can grasp and hold all for which it craves. It is the heart which hungers that is the blessed heart. You cannot do great services for Christ, you cannot make the greatest sacrifices; are you therefore doing nothing at all? Do what you can. Begin your altar now. Do not waste one hour waiting for the temple. Christ never said, ‘She hath done mighty things’; Christ’s praise was, ‘She hath done what she could’.
III. Thirdly, have the temple clearly before you all the time. It takes the vision of the perfect temple if we are to build well the humblest altar. It takes the assurance that striving shall not be in vain, and the certainty that ideals shall yet be realized, if we are to toil cheerfully and bravely at the task that is given to us today. It is at that point (with an emphasis which is Divine) that the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims its message. For the golden age of Christ is on ahead of us, ana the best, for the followers of the Lord, is still to be.
G. H. Morrison, The Unlightened Lustre, p. 38.
References. III. 8. G. Morrison, The Scottish Review, vol. i. p. 309. R. S. Candlish, Sermons, p. 284. VI. 14. W. H. Fremantle, Oxford Lent Sermons, 1869, p. 169. VII. 22. C. Heap, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 121. VII. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. ii. p. 440. VIII. 22. Ibid. p. 625. VIII. 28, 29. J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii. p. 154. VIII. 29. A. Maclaren, Weekday Evening Addresses, p. 45. IX. 3. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. i. p. 159. IX. 13, 14. J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 168.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Ezr 3
1. And when the seventh month [a month of festivities (Lev 23 )] was come [approached], and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man [with one consent] to Jerusalem.
2. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar [the Temple was built around the altar, which was the centre of all] of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3. And they set the altar upon his bases [upon its old site]; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4. They kept also the feast of tabernacles [booths built of branches], as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom [they were careful to avoid everything like innovation], as the duty of every day required;
5. And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord.
6. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
7. They gave money [their own workmen were paid in money] also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa [to which the cedar trees were sent], according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia [the authority of Cyrus over Phnicia was undoubted].
8. Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord [for the original ordinances, see 1Ch 23 ].
9. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel [Jeshua and Kadmiel were the two heads of Levitical families] and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
10. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel [so once more all goes back to historical methods].
11. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord [the praise was antiphonal]; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever 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 chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13. So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
Daily Duty
“The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem” ( Ezr 3:1 ).
THE emphasis must be laid upon the expression “one man.” There are times when we are struck by individuality; we go into detail, and speak with some critical minuteness about one man’s peculiarity and another man’s eccentricity. There are other times when we take no heed of the unit, except as it is representative of the sum total; we forget characteristics, points of separation, in the grand consolidation of human beings all intent upon the accomplishment of one purpose or the expression of one holy thought. We need not think of the number as being large arithmetically; probably in an arithmetical point of view the number on this occasion was not large: but how many soever were in it, the whole represented but “one man,” a solid energy, a glorious and effective unity of strength. Why? They were brought together partly by love and partly by fear. When the altar was set up on this occasion it was the first symbol of defiance to all the surrounding and observing heathens. Church-building is nothing in civilised or christianised lands to-day. A hundred churches can be in course of erection in any of the chief cities of the globe now given up to the Christian profession, and the citizens would pay but little heed to the fact that so many pinnacles were rising to the clouds. We must recall the circumstances under which the altar was set up. Heathenism prevailed even in places once holy; the whole spirit and genius of the time was against the worship of the true and living God: when the smoke curled upward from the new altar it was like a signal of defiance to those who had given themselves up to worship the hosts of heaven, or the beasts of the earth, or images of their own fashioning. Religious liberty has its disadvantages. In our dreaming we suppose that if all men stood upon a religious level, and all men professed the same form of faith, we should have enjoyment and high enthusiastic delight in religion; sometimes we have supposed that if persecution could be put down, and every man could utter his own thoughts in his own words, then we should have heaven upon earth. It is not so. The dream is not founded upon a right conception of human nature. Perhaps there is not much that is to be more dreaded than the cessation of persecution. Men prayed in the old days, when the wolf was about the city, when the tiger might be let loose at any moment, when every sound that was heard might be the approach of the persecutor; men then prayed when they wanted to pray; that was no child’s work; prayer was then an agony, and therefore it prevailed. When we can build altars where we like and how we like, we may soon cease to build altars at all. The danger of the cessation of persecution is the danger of deadly indifference. Persecution was turned into a motive to worship; Christians were brought together in one holy consent and brotherhood: they needed such association for the stimulus of each other’s confidence, the assurance of each other’s faith and hope; men felt safe when they were near the altar. To-day the world, measured by Christian nominal profession, suffers under the disease of indifference. Men do not care whether they go to church or not; they can be satisfied with very little church-going or religious worship and sacrifice; if they give it up altogether they will not miss much of social patronage or social enjoyment. There is no threatening abroad in the land now against men who pray in any place they may choose for their sanctuary. What, then, is forgotten in that view of things? It is forgotten that persecution cannot cease; it only changes its form: for ever will it be true that they that will live actually in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The old vulgar way is thrown out of history altogether, or so thrown back as to be almost beyond recollection; fire and faggot, and thumb-screw and executioner’s block and axe, these are terms that have lost all accent and force of meaning: but the one enemy always lives; the devil never succumbs. The persecution may now come spiritually. A man may be fighting battles every day in the week and no other man may know of it. Do not suppose that enemies are all external and numerable, and are open to such treatment as is possible to mere phases of antagonism as represented by the action of the hands; we are never safe but at the altar; we are never safe but within the enclosure of the fold; we may not venture far by ourselves, or trust to the light of our own wit or the guidance of our own fancy to discover a path in the wide desert hitherto untrodden by human feet: our safety is in fellowship, in association, in keeping quite closely together. To break away from the security of being so near to one another as to take consultation almost in whispers, is to give up the battle, is to accept defeat.
Great occasions bring men together. Special historical crises cause men to forget all littlenesses of difference and to come together in one mass as against a common foe. We could create such crises if we pleased. We have been looking for them as coming to us: why not now change the point of observation and look out for them, and prepare ourselves to create them? How can this be done? This can be done by looking at the real evils that afflict the land. Men deny the poverty when they do not look out; men take a roseate view of things when they turn their back upon them. Let the Church of the living God bring before its view the real state of the country to-day, and all controversies of a wordy nature, all mere fray of expressions, attacks, replies, accusations, retorts, all this would be forgotten in the awful wonder that there is so much of perdition actually at the very doors. The Church will never be united in controversy: it may be united in philanthropy. The children are naked, ignorant, forsaken; there is worldliness in their poor young eyes that ought to be full of light and poetry and hope; there is a leanness upon them that indicates a leanness within as well as a hunger and deprivation of the body. The devil is building his smoking altars at every street corner, and the metropolis of the world groans because of its intolerable sin and grief and weariness. If men will read their spirited journals, their dazzling romances, and drink their foaming wine, and enjoy their smoking feasts, and clothe themselves in the garments of vanity, they will deny all these things, and say, in some flippant tone, that there is more happiness in the world than is often supposed. We are not called upon to measure that happiness, but to dig down to the roots of the misery, and get them all eradicated, and burned with unquenchable fire. Were we to look in these directions we should make a historical crisis; we should not have to wait for the occasion that unites men’s hearts. Let representatives of all the Christian communions of the country go down some of the back slums and alleys of the metropolis, and in the sight of unimagined misery they will forget their ecclesiastical controversies and cease the bitterness of their mutual reproach.
A beautiful expression is found in the second verse
“As it is written in the law.” ( Ezr 3:2 ).
We cannot get rid of something that lies behind and beneath all external action. That sacred something is “the law.” Do not qualify that term by the “ancient,” or the “Mosaic,” or the “ceremonial,” or some other limiting word: there are certain terms that look best when they are unqualified. We speak of “the law of Moses,” and thus we limit an illimitable term; we speak of “the divine justice,” as if justice had two phases or aspects or degrees of dignity: “justice” is a grander word than “divine justice”; “law” is an everlasting term; the words “Moses,” “ceremonial,” “historical,” “incidental,” must fall off, but the word “law” abides evermore. There is a law of right; there is a law of worship; there is a law of philanthropy; and these laws, or forms of law, never change: we develop them in different ways, we invest them with various aspects, but when we cease to have consciousness of the nearness, reality, and authority of law, then all we have becomes merely sentimental; it may be done, or may not be done; it may be done to-day, or tomorrow; it may be done thus, or otherwise: then men’s opinions are ranged against one another, as if opinions were of equal value as they probably are around the whole circle of intercourse and controversy. What is written in the law? should be the abiding question. Then we build upon a rock. If we begin to unroof our Church, and find that it is slated with opinions, built with opinions, founded on opinions, that beneath it there is nothing but opinion, the Church may be blown down by any rough wind that cares to do so mean a work; but if the Church is founded upon “the law” the eternal, the right, the true then it can only be injured externally, in such a way that loving and generous hands can repair it; but the foundation abideth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
In connection with this, however, there is a human name, and in connection with the human name a eulogium which any one might covet. We read, in the second verse once more, of “Moses the man of God.” Well for Moses that he is dead! Men become more valued in proportion as they pass away from the vision of their critics, and come into the field of criticism through the haze of fancy and through all the soft regard of sentiment. There was a time when we read thus of Moses “as for this Moses… we wot not what is become of him.” He was living then; he was a visible figure in society. Christ ascended early. He said in effect, The body must get out of the way; so long as there is a body to be looked at there will be a point of criticism, and the wrong elements of human nature will be stirred into activity: I must ascend as soon as I have given the last touch to my earthly work. So he went up, and the clouds received him out of sight. How does any man become known as a man of God? The character cannot always be hidden. There is something about a godly man which graciously betrays itself. There is no need for self-demonstration, self-exposure to the moral admiration of mankind; there is a mysterious action in the whole life, a new way of looking at things, saying things, and doing even common things, which men notice and reason about, and finally ascribe to an inspiration not of the earth. The character comes up at last and secures the confidence of mankind. Actions would seem to be subjected to criticism of an unjust and injurious nature, but in the long run there is a mystery which is called Character; it stands out in all its gravity, completeness, and dignity; and within such a character is the mystery of godliness. The righteous shall live for ever. No man can put away the memory of the just; it is blessed for evermore; when the world would forget it, it retires for a while and then returns with new claims upon human attention and regard. “Moses” is a great name; “Moses the man” is a worthy designation; “Moses the man of God,” say if in all the Old Testament there can be found a higher designation. We wait until we come into the New Testament for higher titles. “Moses the man of God” is an Old Testament designation; “Paul a slave of Jesus Christ” is a New Testament designation: they both mean the same thing; you can easily tell which is from the Old Testament and which from the New, but in the soul of them they mean that both the men have touched the living God, and represent eternal thoughts and eternal principles.
See another beautiful expression in the fourth verse
“As the duty of every day required.” ( Ezr 3:4 ).
Think of daily duty, daily religion, as we think of daily labour. If duty be discharged diurnally, then it will be impossible for us to fall into arrears. Ay, there’s the rub! Our religion is in arrears; we have not balanced the account We know what this is in daily economy. Our only hope is in paying up to the uttermost farthing at every sundown. If you have a balance of one farthing to the wrong, it is questionable whether you can ever recover your ground; if you have a balance of one farthing to the right in usual finance, you are rich not in the amount, but in the security, in the dignity, in the freedom, in the independence resulting therefrom. But in this matter of religion, who looks into the question of arrears, the prayerless days; the days when the altar fire was not kindled or renewed; the days on which no Bible messages were read or set in the memory as a defence against Satan and his wiles; the days when we kept back our right hand from labour, and hid it in our bosom, saying that we would to-day for once have release from toil? Have we escaped from the ancient law? we may indeed have so escaped, but only to have come into a wider and more exacting law. The law as it was written by the human hand of Moses cannot cover all the space that is expressed by the Christian word “love.” Love works every day, only wishing the day were longer; love doubles its fortune by giving it wisely away; men cause the sun to stand still, and the moon, until the battle is fought, because of their earnestness; mind speaks to matter as a sovereign might speak to a subject, saying, Halt! To deny it is to deny the sovereignty of God. Let us redeem the time, buy up the opportunity, work while it is called day, for the night cometh wherein no man can work. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. Ask the white-robed ones whether they are sorry they worked so much whilst upon earth, and imagine their gracious indignation as they reply, Who is our master herein? Christ, as always. What said he? he said, I must work while it is called day: still a little light lingers in the western sky, and whilst it is dying there is some child to be blessed, or some weary life to be relieved. All this is to us language of supreme ideality; let that be acknowledged: in declaring such terms we inflict upon ourselves the most tremendous judgments; let that be so: still we must not lower the sky; we must not tamper with the balances of the sanctuary; when we begin to trifle with ideals we shall debase all that is sacred in common life. This is one great function of all church-life to magnify the ideal, to look at the ideal steadily and calmly, to be rebuked by it in one sense, and to be encouraged by it in another.
“They set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals” ( Ezr 3:10 ).
Men are developed into simplicity. Perhaps it may be there that so many mistakes have been made. We have regarded development as rising into intricacy, pomp, multifold splendour and circumstance and dignity; therein we were wrong: the development has been along the whole biblical line towards simplicity; the robes have been thrown off, and all the gold and silver and gems we have read about in the ceremonial books have been buried, and men have passed on from stage to stage until they came to the simplicity that is in Christ until they found a man sitting on the mountain-side with his disciples around him, saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” That is development, not towards finer garniture, more ornamental clothing; not towards the multiplication of censers and the increase of ritualism, but towards simplicity. Neither in Jerusalem nor in this mountain shall men pray alone, but everywhere, for God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. So, then, there is no longer any locality or dress or specialty of function, or wild dreaming about succession of a literal kind; the succession is spiritual; he who has the spirit of the apostles is in the succession of the apostles, and he who has not that spirit is not in that succession, though he may be clothed with the cloak that was left at Troas. Herein lies the deep, broad thought, that the true aristocracy is an aristocracy of mind and character. See one poor pedant with a long list to show what he came down from. Verily, he came “down from”! His words are therefore well chosen. That is an affair of the bones and the sinews and titles of an evanescent kind. There is another lineage. Human nature was reconstituted in Christ. Paul gave up all that was supposed to be of the greatest value, and prided himself with a godly pride upon his descent from Christ and his relation to the eternal Son of God. If other men had whereof they might boast, he had more, and yet he counted all these points of boasting nothing, less than nothing, that he might win Christ. What is our relation to him? Have we on the garment of a pure character? Are we clothed with the habiliments of a noble consecration to Christ? Are we mighty in prayer? Then tell me not of the man of the dented helmet and the broken shield, and the man who “waved above his head the fragment of a blade;” tell me of the man who went after spiritual encounter, who by the grace of God overthrew powers and principalities, and after withstanding was enabled to stand. This is the law of Christian development. We develop away from priest and robe and ephod, and Urim and Thummim, towards simplicity, trust, faith, love, charity.
When the people sang together, and awoke the welkin, praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, what was the burden of their song? “Because he is good.” Ay, that accounts for the lofty thundering music. What God are they praising? One about whom they are able to say, “He is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.” They limited the mercy to Israel, not in their uncharitableness, but in what was then their necessary ignorance. But now the song stands thus: For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: let the house of Aaron say so; let the Gentiles take up the song, and return it in thunderous joy; every man making it a personal song, saying, I too must join that triumphant pan, for God is good, and his mercy endureth for ever. That is the God of all ages, the God of all lands, the God of all hosts. If we cannot sing until we are theologians, we will never sing; if we are not to take part in the service of the sanctuary until we can give historical references, critical analyses, accurate observations upon letters and changes of literature, then we shall indeed be altogether strangers and foreigners. Let us say, We are going to praise one who is good, whose mercy endureth for ever. Who will join the song?
Prayer
Almighty God, do thou come to us, in all the beauty of light, in all the tenderness of love, and encourage us in every holy work and every sacred enterprise. Give us the spirit of thy Son Jesus Christ, that we may pity the world, that we may see it in its right relation to thyself, and earnestly desire that it may be recovered and set in the liberty of truth and love. We bless thee that thy Son our Saviour came to deliver the world from the thraldom of sin and from all the grief and misery of guilt: may we receive him into our hearts, and answer all his love by sweet and perpetual obedience; may there be no reluctance in our love; may our affection towards him be a complete and burning sacrifice: then shall we work as he worked; we shall go about doing good; we shall weep over the city that is lost, and seek them which are gone astray. We thank thee for thy house: it is a secure dwelling-place; no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed of the Lord shall walk there; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Help us to enter into the realisation of this sacred promise even whilst we tarry upon the earth; give us such gleams of heaven as shall make us glad, such foretaste of the eternal festival as shall quicken the hunger, and then appease it. The Lord look upon us in all the struggle of life so long, so painful, sometimes so uncertain: now as if Satan would triumph, and, again, as if Christ would crush the serpent’s head. Help us to believe that all things work together for good to them that love God; give us confidence in great principles, steadfastness of heart in all things wise and true, and may nothing be able to disturb our confidence or divide our love. Look upon all good men in every enterprise to which they put their hands, in teaching the young, in guiding the perplexed, in comforting those who have no comforter. Be with all thy ministering servants everywhere, but specially with a double portion of thy Spirit and blessing with those who are labouring in difficult positions; give them to feel that they are thy servants, and that they are engaged in a work which is its own immediate reward, and which is followed by all the glory and rest of heaven: bless their children, and grant unto them a portion of thy Spirit, which no man can take away, illumining the mind, softening the heart, and training the will to instant and joyous obedience. Hear us in all our desires, prayers, and aspirations, and upon the old and the young alike let heaven’s blessing rest day by day. Now give us the seeing eye, the hearing ear, the understanding mind, and at the end of our study of thy word may we be strong, resolute, wise, ready to do all thy will through Christ which strengtheneth us. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXI
THE RETURN AND REORGANIZATION UNDER ZERUBBABEL
Ezra 1-6
This section embraces the return unto the dedication of the Temple, 536-516 B.C. (Ezra 1-6). First, we have the decree of Cyrus, Ezr 1:1-4 , issued 536 B.C. In this remarkable decree Cyrus gives his authority for issuing it, as Jehovah, the God of Israel. This does not imply that Cyrus was a monotheist or a believer in the God of Israel, but it does imply that he recognized the existence of the God of the Hebrews and acknowledged him as the promoter of their welfare.
There are five remarkable things about this decree, viz: (1) It was promulgated by a heathen king. (2) It recognized Jehovah as the dispenser of the kingdoms of the world, saying, “All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me.” (3) It declares that the supreme God had “charged” him to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. (4) It originated in a “stir” of the king’s spirit by God himself. (5) It provided for money and free will offerings for the Temple. All this may have been brought about as tradition says, by Daniel showing Cyrus the prophecy of Isaiah, thus causing him to issue this decree. However this may be, we have here some great lessons on God’s government of the world, viz: First, God’s universal sovereignty over the kings of the earth. Second, these heathen people had some light of the true God which perhaps, they received from the Jews. Third, God’s prophecy cannot fail and his promise is made sure, as in the case of Caesar Augustus, who issued the decree that all the world should be enrolled, fulfilling a prophecy of Micah some five hundred years before. It may be added that all this shows that the Persians during this period recognized the one supreme God, though they worshiped others gods, and that Isaiah had foretold this decree giving the very name of the king and bringing us the lesson that God’s foreknowledge is unlimited making possible all predictive prophecy.
Next follows the first return and genealogy, Ezr 1:5-2:67 . The company was composed of those whom the Spirit of God stirred up, which was not large comparatively speaking, perhaps, because the larger part of them were engaged in commerce and did not wish to take chances on transferring their business interests. He charged their friends to help them freely, which has a parallel in the case of the children of Israel leaving Egypt, though without order from the king. Cyrus was honest in his decree. All the vessels that had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar were returned. They numbered in all 5,400. A partial list of them is given, but only the best materials are mentioned, such as the silver and the gold.
The genealogy in the second chapter gives only the heads of the various tribes or representatives of them: this list had been carefully preserved through the Exile. This company of returning pilgrims is the “remnant” so frequently spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. The total number was 42,360 Jews, and 7,337 servants. Their beasts numbered 736 horses, 250 mules, 435 cattle, 6,720 asses a large caravan. The mention of the actual heads of the tribes in Ezr 2:2 and Neh 7:7 , gives evidence that the twelve tribes were represented in this return, the prophetic proof of which is found in Jer 3:18 ; Jer 16:15 ; Jer 30:3 ; Eze 11:15 ; Eze 11:17 . These prophecies show that Israel and Judah both were to return to their land. There is also abundant historical proof that Israel returned with Judah. After the division of the kingdom and before the captivity ‘of Israel there were four defections from Israel to Judah. Then the history of the Jews after their return proves it (See Zec 11:14 ) ; the twelve tribes were there in Christ’s day, and James addresses the twelve tribes. This exact numbering here in Ezra has the historical value of preserving the genealogy and the details here given show the poor and insignificant beginning they had upon their return.
The first attempt was to rebuild the Temple, Ezr 2:68-3:13 . There was a considerable amount of wealth among those who returned in this company. The larger part of them settled in the various cities of Judah, comparatively few of them in the city of Jerusalem. We have an account of the first offering toward the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezr 2:69 ) amounting to about $450,000.00. In the seventh month they gathered together under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel and erected an altar; the starting of the worshiping of God in sacrifices. They had learned in the Exile that it was impossible to have a religion without a temple. It is probable that the stone upon which this altar was erected is the stone now under “The Dome of the Rock.” They offered their burnt offerings and then kept the “Feast of the Tabernacles” as best they could. In the next year under the direction of the leaders they laid the foundation of the Temple. This probably occurred in 535 B.C. It was attended with joyful ceremonies as recorded in Ezr 3:10 . It is possible that the song they sang then was the whole or part of Psa 136 . There were those present who remembered the former Temple and they thought of the destruction of that grand building and doubtless they lived over again the fifty years intervening. The younger members of the congregation were overjoyed at the present success, and the old men as truly were grateful, but gave vent to their feeling with a wailing of sorrow at the memory of the former Temple. Fifty years had passed since their former beautiful Temple had been destroyed, and they could not but think over the awful past, when it went down in ruins. So the younger men rejoiced but the older men wept and wailed.
We find the first hindrance to the work in Ezr 4:5-24 . This is by the Samaritans) that mixed race to the north of Judah. Their first offer was friendly, to co-operate with and help the Jews build the Temple, and from Ezr 4 we see that Zerubbabel did not accept their offer, but promptly rejected it because they saw the outcome of such an alliance; then, they showed that the decree of Cyrus had appointed them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The refusal angered the Samaritans and they succeeded in putting a stop to the work of erecting the sacred edifice. In Ezr 4:24 we are told that the work on the house of the Lord ended until the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia. This would be 520 or 519 B.C.
In Ezr 4:4-5 we have a general statement of the opposition in this language: “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” Then follows the opposition in particular: In a letter to Ahasuerus (Cambyses) they bring an accusation against Judah and Jerusalem, but there are no particulars given. Then in a second letter to Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smerdis), they brought an accusation against Jerusalem with the following particulars: (1) they are building the rebellious and bad city; (2) they have finished the walls; (3) the people are preparing to avoid tribute, custom and toll; (4) the records show this to be a rebellious and hurtful city, and there should be an investigation to see if these things are so; (5) this means that Persia will have no portion beyond the river Euphrates. The result was that Artaxerxes responded that he had examined and found records as they had charged, and therefore he ordered the work stopped, and did stop it by force.
There are some critical matters just here that call for consideration: (1) “Ahasuerus” and “Artaxerxes” are royal titles and are applied to various monarchs of Persia; (2) these are not the “Ahasuerus” and “Artaxerxes” of Esther and Nehemiah, making Ezr 4:6-23 parenthetical as some say, but they refer to “Cambyses” and “Pseudo-Smerdis” as indicated above, and Ezr 4:6-22 connects directly with the preceding and following verses; (3) “the rebellious city” has a certain basis of truth in three instances: It rebelled (a) in the reign of Jehoiakim, (b) in the reign of Jehoiakin, and (c) in the reign of Zedekiah; (4) the statement, “have finished the walls,” is an Oriental exaggeration (Ezr 5:3 ) ; (5) “no portion beyond the river” has basis of truth in the reigns of Solomon and Menahem.
The work was stopped, for probably seventeen or eighteen years, and apparently no efforts were made to continue it. At this time there appeared two prophets upon the scene, Haggai, an older prophet, and Zechariah a younger one. They aroused the people to activity by a series of prophecies which we find recorded in their books. Haggai says, “The time has come for you to build God’s house.” The trouble was they had taken time to build houses for themselves and neglected God’s house. He says they ought to consider their ways; that the present drought and hard circumstances existed because they had neglected the building of the house of God (Hag 1:7-11 ). Zechariah by a series of visions co-operates with Haggai and the people are at length aroused to a genuine effort to build, or rather rebuild the Temple.
As they were rebuilding the Temple the matter was reported to Tattenai, the Satrap, who had charge of all this part of the Persian Empire. It caused him some apprehension. He wished to know for certain whether the Jews had authority to rebuild the Temple or not. They answered that the decree of Cyrus was their authority. Then Tattenai entered into correspondence with the king about the matter.
The history of the old Temple, the Jews’ disobedience and captivity, and the decree of Cyrus was all recited in the correspondence between Tattenai and Darius. The king ordered a search for the Cyrus decree, the decree was found, and the work was ordered to go forward. This decree granted all that the Cyrus decree did and added the help of the governor with gifts of various kinds and for various purposes. The date of this decree was 519 B.C. If we compare this letter of Tattenai to Darius with the former one, we find that there is a vast difference. The former was characterized by bitterness and false accusations, while the latter was a fair statement and a legitimate inquiry into the merits of the case.
We note here that credit is given to the prophets for the success of the work, though it was four years, five months, and ten days after they began to prophesy before the work was completed. It is well to note here also the points made by the prophets bearing directly on the work of rebuilding the Temple. Haggai reproves them for excusing themselves from the building under the plea that it was not time to build and refers to their building themselves houses to live in and neglecting the house of God. Zechariah by a series of visions confirms Haggai’s work and encourages them to undertake the great task of building. (Here the student should read Haggai and Zechariah they will be interpreted later in the course).
The Temple was finished and dedicated 516 B.C. (Ezr 6:13-22 ). This great event occurred about seventy years after the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar. The nation now had a religious center. A new era for Judaism dawned. This Temple remained until A.D. 70, when it was destroyed by the Romans. Haggai promised that the desire of all the nations should come into it. In the courts of this same building Jesus of Nazareth walked and talked. There was a note of joy in this dedication. They offered sacrifices as they did at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, but this exercise did not compare with Solomon’s in magnificence. There was also a resetting here of the priests and Levites in the service of the Temple. Then followed a great celebration of the Passover. Few other such celebrations of this feast are recorded in sacred history. Along with this one may be named the one in Egypt at its institution, the one at Gilgal upon the entrance into the land, another in the days of Hezekiah, yet another in the days of Josiah, and the last one in the days of Jesus when he instituted his Supper to take the place of the Passover.
QUESTIONS
1. By whose decree did the first exiled Jews return to their country and what was the date of this decree?
2. What five remarkable things about this decree and how brought about?
3. What great lessons here on God’s government of the world?
4. What light does this give us on the religious condition of Persia during this period?
5. What great prophet had foretold this decree giving the very name of this king and what the lesson?
6. What, in general, was the response to this decree, what kindness shown to them by the Persians, what parallel found in earlier Jewish history and why was the response so small?
7. Who were the men named in Ezr 2:2 (cf. Neh 7:7 ), counting the regular Israelites, the Nethinim, the servants and singers, how many people and how many beasts of burden in this first return, and what evidence that all the twelve tribes were represented in this return?
8. What prophetic proof that the ten tribes were not wholly lost?
9. What historical proof?
10. Why this exactness in numbering and detail?
11. What was the first thing they did upon their arrival in Jerusalem and what was the amount of this offering?
12. When did they set the altar and inaugurate regular service, who were the leaders, what was the first feast kept, what was the next step, what steps did they take now toward rebuilding the Temple, and where did they get their material? (See your Bible.)
13. When did they lay the foundation, what correspondence here (see 1Ki 6:1 ), what the ceremonial on this occasion, what Psalm did they sing; how did they sing it and how did the people give expression to their emotion?
14. From whom did opposition come to the work of rebuilding the Temple, what proposition did they make, what the subtlety of it, how was it met and why?
15. Where do we have a general statement of the opposition, in what form does the opposition appear in particular, what points made, what result and what critical matters in this connection?
16. How long did the work of building cease, who stirred them up to renew the work, what new opposition arose, what form did it take, what history was recited in the correspondence, what was the result, what enlargement of this decree over the Cyrus decree, what was the date of this decree and how does the correspondence here compare with the former letter to the king?
17. What credit is here given to the prophets for the success of the work, and how long after they began to prophesy to the completion of the work.?
18. What were the points made by these prophets bearing directly upon the work or rebuilding the Temple?
19. Describe the dedication service, contrast it with Solomon’s dedication of his Temple and note the resetting here in the service of this Temple.
20. What great Jewish festival did they keep at this time and how many great occasions of a like celebration in the history of Israel can you name?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Ezr 3:1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel [were] in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Ver. 1. And when the seventh month was come ] Heb. And the seventh month approached; a month of many festivities, Lev 23:24 ; Lev 23:27 ; Lev 23:34 1Ki 8:2 , and so, to the good, a foretaste of eternal life, where it shall be holiday every day, where they have no rest, Rev 4:8 (and yet no unrest), praising the God of heaven, for heaven’s happiness, Psa 136:1-3 ; Psa 136:26 (the same that these good souls sang together, Ezr 3:11 of this chapter). God is praised five and twenty times for his mercies; but the conclusion is, “O give thanks unto the God of heaven,” &c. Christ hath cast up such a causeway to it, that we may well travel thither from all coasts, as these Jews did to Jerusalem from all their cities.
As one man to Jerusalem
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exra Chapter 3
But now in the third chapter there is a principle of very great beauty that comes before us. When the remnant did return, and when they showed this care in not being lax as to those who took the place of nearness to God, what is the first mark of that? What gave them their character before God? In this we find they were united, “they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries” (Ezr 3:2 ). How beautiful! It is not that they began with the wall. It is the more remarkable because there is another book which is devoted to the building of the wall, namely, the book of Nehemiah; but they began with God and not with themselves. They began with the great expression of acceptance before God. The altar was the link between God and His people – was the point of contact, so to speak, between them – was the place where they made their offerings. Their thank-offerings, their burnt offerings – all were brought to the altar. It was, in short, therefore, what showed that the first thought of their hearts was God’s worship according to their measure, and not merely their own skill or their own prowess against their enemies, and this the more strikingly because the reason given is that fear was upon them, and that fear led them to God and not to themselves or to other men. It is not a petition to the king – to Cyrus, nor is it even the lacking the ways and means of erecting a defence against their enemies.
The first thing they did was to “set the altar upon his bases,” and to offer offerings unto God. “And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto Jehovah, even burnt offerings morning and evening.” And, further, it is expressly stated that this was done on the part of “Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren,” who “builded the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto Jehovah, even burnt offerings morning and evening. They kept also the feast of tabernacles as it is written” (vers. 2, 3).
What, then, marked them was this – jealousy for the word of God – but the word of God used with a single eye. For it is not taking up such parts of the word of God as would bear upon their own doings for themselves; but rather what they owed to such a God. In short, it is a beautiful sample of the faith of the remnant. The first thought of their heart was God, and so much the more because they were really afraid of the enemies round about; but that fear was expressed, not in human measures to guard against that which they dreaded, but in drawing near to God, to own Him, to praise Him. “They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written,” Therefore we find their jealous care for the word of God. It was not one thing only, but the authority of the word filled their hearts. So, at any rate, it is that God speaks of it – that God presents them to us. We find, alas! their failure; but this is the way that they began on returning from captivity. “They kept also the feast of tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required; and afterward offered the continual burnt offering.” So that there was no weariness of it: it was no transient act. There was the daily offering. This is a very important thing.
It is always to me a very unhappy circumstance, beloved brethren, to see God’s children merely putting in an appearance on the Lord’s Day morning – the mere keeping up an outward link with the Lord and with His people. I admit that there may be circumstances where it cannot but be so – extreme sickness, or there may be positive duties of the most peremptory kind. I am not alluding to them, and we ought to be slow, therefore, to judge in any individual case until we know the facts; but I do say as a general rule now, that the same faith which makes us value the coming together to meet the Lord at His own table ought to make us rejoice to meet the Lord on every occasion, and further, to provide by every means for growing in the truth. For that is one great source of our weakness in worship? It is because we are not growing in spiritual intelligence. If we were using the truth of God and growing up unto Christ in all things there would be a greater fulness in worship and, allow me to add, greater simplicity. There would not be merely the continual use of the same thing, but we should have fresh thoughts without even thinking about them – without an effort, because our hearts would be filled day by day with His truth, and, therefore, it is of so much importance to avail ourselves of every hour.
The early church evidently felt this, for they used to break bread every day, They used to meet together daily; and that did not satisfy them. There were other times. They went up even to the temple. It is a mistake to suppose that freshness and fulness of joy depends on a great deal of knowledge, for this was not the case in the church at Jerusalem. They were still very much affected by the old state of things in Israel. They went up to the temple, therefore, for some time afterwards. A great number of the priests were turned to the faith, and, for aught I know, they may have offered their bullocks and their rams still; but yet they had got hold of the true sacrifice. They had got hold of the truth of Christ, and, as sure as they had, the day would come when they would have done with their bullocks and rams; but the day would never come when they would have done with Christ. They would learn much better, and believe more fully
And God may give us the truth, the effects of which we never realised when we received it; but the effect of that truth will be to drive from our souls, whatever is alien to it, because it is alien to God’s will. Therefore it is that you must give people time to grow. You need to be patient with them. You should seek to strengthen them and cheer them and encourage them to receive the truth. Instead of expecting the consequences all at once, leave room for growth. It is very easy, and it is a human thing to get a quantum of truth into the mind; but that is not life, that is not power, that is not growth. What is divine lives, and what lives must have a root and must grow, and for this time must be given. It is not the sign of growth to expand all in a moment. A human mind may take things in. If a man is bright he may take things in very quickly; but that is worth nothing. What shines out so brightly may go out just as fast, whereas what is of God will live and abide.
We see, then, that the word had a great place in their souls – authority over their consciences, and this from the first, and it formed them not only for that special feast, but for the daily one – the burnt offering – the daily burnt offering. Of course, I am speaking of this now as regards the Jews. But then it has a voice for us as well.
“From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah. But,” it is added, “the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid” (ver. 6). Thus, you see, there was progress there. No remnant that was ever called out by grace arrived all at once at the truth that God is going to give them. It is a matter of growth as a whole, not only individual growth. But they did not arrive at the understanding of His mind and of His word, and they are not able to do at the beginning what they may understand, and have power for, another day. “The foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid.” But we find in the midst of this state of things that “in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the 1,evites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of Jehovah.” This is noteworthy. They had no thought that all the work was done because they simply got to Jerusalem – that they were simply there owned as Israelites. There was what concerned Jehovah’s glory.
This is most important; because many souls at the present time seem to think that the only blessedness and the only thing that is to be called work is the conversion of sinners – the bringing them to God. Never was a greater mistake. Now, I can thank God for it that in the present very low condition of Christendom even the weakest of saints feels the importance of a soul being born to God. Instead of being offended at that I rejoice in it. I rejoice that there are even Roman Catholics who really seek conversions, and I remember hearing of a child of one of our own brothers in Germany that was brought to the Lord by the labours of a young Roman Catholic man. He had received a mortal wound in battle at the time of one of the campaigns of his country. He was a foolish, giddy young man who had heard the truth; but he did it not till death was before his eyes and the judgment of God; but the person employed for his conversion was a Roman Catholic. This was a great rebuke, undoubtedly. It was a person who evidently followed the Lord and who loved the Lord, though in great darkness. Thus the Lord may employ, and not without a reason – a humiliating reason – one in a system of grossest spiritual darkness to be the means of pointing to the light and life of God one who ought to have known incomparably better. Well, then, God is sovereign, and He does these things; and therefore I am never surprised if they tell me that God has employed this person or that in circumstances of the most painful kind. Yet God looks for and uses fidelity. He will always bless those that go forth in the name of the Lord Jesus to win sinners, seeking their conversion. And He will give them their conversion.
But still there is another work. And allow me to say that this is a special work for the people of God – not merely the going up of the Israelites, and the recognising of the priests and the Levites; but work is done for the house of Jehovah, the great corporate work of gathering round the name of Jehovah. That is what we find was so peculiarly dear to Israel, and this is the thing which they set about when they got to Jerusalem – when they were, each individual, in their proper place. What brings them together as a matter of work was the carrying on that work, and what kept them together was the using this central place of the name of Jehovah as that which had a divine claim on their consciences and on their hearts.
Now, it is this of which I want to see a little more, beloved brethren, and I believe that the Lord wants to see more of it. It is the all-important thing for us – not less care for souls, not less concern for their conversion, but – a far deeper, stronger sense of what concerns the glory of the Lord in His own people. And it is the more important because, where is it cared for? Who feels about it? You may find persons – Arminians, Calvinists, Dissenters, Churchmen, occupied about conversion where they are godly; but you will and none of them that enters into the glory of the Lord in His church; and, therefore, I am persuaded that we are the more responsible who have been made to feel in some measure what the church is. On us, poor and weak as we are, devolves very specially the responsibility of giving expression to that truth. That is our heart’s care and desire for the good of the church of God – for that which concerns the name of the Lord committed to the trust of man here below.
And when we find the Israelites here together with this view, a remarkable difference appears among them. “When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto Jehovah; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy” (vers. 10-12). Strange, at first sight, that the self- same thing should be the source of joy to the one and of tears to the other.
Why so? It was the cause of tears to the elder men because they felt how poor was the present expression of Jehovah’s glory in their midst compared with what they had once seen – a source of joy to the others because they had only known the utter prostration of the name of the Lord upon the earth, and now their hearts were glad that at any rate there was a distinct and decided confession of that name as entitled to gather together His people, even though it were but a remnant here below. They were both right; and yet the expression of their hearts, how different I But of the two, surely, beloved brethren, it was not that the elder men did not feel the joy of the foundation being laid; but still the sense of sorrow and of humiliation for His name exceeded it. There was, therefore, a more chastened feeling with the elder men. Both were led, and led of the Lord, but in very different measures. And I am persuaded that, of the two, the elder men had the deeper sense of God’s glory.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Ezra
ALTAR AND TEMPLE
Ezr 3:1 – Ezr 3:13
What an opportunity of ‘picturesque’ writing the author of this book has missed by his silence about the incidents of the march across the dreary levels from Babylon to the verge of Syria! But the very silence is eloquent. It reveals the purpose of the book, which is to tell of the re-establishment of the Temple and its worship. No doubt the tone of the whole is somewhat prosaic, and indicative of an age in which the externals of worship bulked largely; but still the central point of the narrative was really the centre-point of the events. The austere simplicity of biblical history shows the real points of importance better than more artistic elaboration would do.
This passage has two main incidents-the renewal of the sacrifices, and the beginning of rebuilding the Temple.
The date given in Ezr 2:1 is significant. The first day of the seventh month was the commencement of the great festival of tabernacles, the most joyous feast of the year, crowded with reminiscences from the remote antiquity of the Exodus, and from the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. How long had passed since Cyrus’ decree had been issued we do not know, nor whether his ‘first year’ was reckoned by the same chronology as the Jewish year, of which we here arrive at the seventh month. But the journey across the desert must have taken some months, and the previous preparations could not have been suddenly got through, so that there can have been but a short time between the arrival in Judea and the gathering together ‘as one man to Jerusalem.’
There was barely interval enough for the returning exiles to take possession of their ancestral fields before they were called to leave them unguarded and hasten to the desolate city. Surely their glad and unanimous obedience to the summons, or, as it may even have been, their spontaneous assemblage unsummoned, is no small token of their ardour of devotion, even if they were somewhat slavishly tied to externals. It would take a good deal to draw a band of new settlers in our days to leave their lots and set to putting up a church before they had built themselves houses.
The leaders of the band of returned exiles demand a brief notice. They are Jeshua, or Joshua, and Zerubbabel. In Ezr 3:2 the ecclesiastical dignitary comes first, but in Ezr 3:8 the civil. Similarly in Ezr 2:2 , Zerubbabel precedes Jeshua. In Haggai, the priest is pre-eminent; in Zechariah the prince. The truth seems to be that each was supreme in his own department, and that they understood each other cordially, or, Zechariah says, ‘the counsel of peace’ was ‘between them both.’ It is sometimes bad for the people when priests and rulers lay their heads together; but it is even worse when they pull different ways, and subjects are torn in two by conflicting obligations.
Jeshua was the grandson of Seraiah, the unfortunate high-priest whose eyes Nebuchadnezzar put out after the fall of Jerusalem. His son Jozadak succeeded to the dignity, though there could be no sacrifices in Babylon, and after him his son Jeshua. He cannot have been a young man at the date of the return; but age had not dimmed his enthusiasm, and the high-priest was where he ought to have been, in the forefront of the returning exiles. His name recalls the other Joshua, likewise a leader from captivity and the desert; and, if we appreciate the significance attached to names in Scripture, we shall scarcely suppose it accidental that these two, who had similar work to do, bore the same name as the solitary third, of whom they were pale shadows, the greater Joshua, who brings His people from bondage into His own land of peace, and builds the Temple.
Zerubbabel ‘Sown in Babylon’ belonged to a collateral branch of the royal family. The direct Davidic line through Solomon died with the wretched Zedekiah and Jeconiah, but the descendants of another son of David’ s, Nathan, still survived. Their representative was one Salathiel, who, on the failure of the direct line, was regarded as the ‘son of Jeconiah’ 1Ch 3:17. He seems to have had no son, and Zerubbabel, who was really his nephew 1Ch 3:19, was legally adopted as his son. In this makeshift fashion, some shadow of the ancient royalty still presided over the restored people. We see Zerubbabel better in Haggai and Zechariah than in Ezra, and can discern the outline of a strong, bold, prompt nature. He had a hard task, and he did it like a man. Patient, yet vigorous, glowing with enthusiasm, yet clear-eyed, self-forgetful, and brave, he has had scant justice done him, and ought to be a very much more familiar and honoured figure than he is. ‘Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.’ Great mountains only become plains before men of strong wills and fixed faith.
There is something very pathetic in the picture of the assembled people groping amid the ruins on the Temple hill, to find ‘the bases,’ the half-obliterated outlines, of the foundations of the old altar of burnt offerings. What memories of Araunah’s threshing-floor, and of the hovering angel of destruction, and of the glories of Solomon’s dedication, and of the long centuries during which the column of smoke had gone up continually from that spot, and of the tragical day when the fire was quenched, and of the fifty years of extinction, must have filled their hearts! What a conflict of gladness and sorrow must have troubled their spirits as the flame again shot upwards from the hearth of God, cold for so long!
But the reason for their so quickly rearing the altar is noteworthy. It was because ‘fear was upon them because of the people of the countries.’ The state of the Holy Land at the return must be clearly comprehended. Samaria and the central district were in the hands of bitter enemies. Across Jordan in the east, down on the Philistine plain in the west, and in the south where Edom bore sway, eager enemies sulkily watched the small beginnings of a movement which they were interested in thwarting. There was only the territory of Judah and Benjamin left free for the exiles, and they had reason for their fears; for their neighbours knew that if restitution was to be the order of the day, they would have to disgorge a good deal. What was the defence against such foes which these frightened men thought most impregnable? That altar!
No doubt, much superstition mingled with their religion. Haggai leaves us under no illusions as to their moral and spiritual condition. They were no patterns of devoutness or of morality. But still, what they did carries an eternal truth; and they were reverting to the original terms of Israel’s tenure of their land when they acted on the conviction that their worship of Jehovah according to His commandment was their surest way of finding shelter from all their enemies. There are differences plain enough between their condition and ours; but it is as true for us as ever it was for them, that our safety is in God, and that, if we want to find shelter from impending dangers, we shall be wiser to betake ourselves to the altar and sit suppliant there than to make defences for ourselves. The ruined Jerusalem was better guarded by that altar than if its fallen walls had been rebuilt.
The whole ritual was restored, as the narrative tells with obvious satisfaction in the enumeration. To us this punctilious attention to the minutiae of sacrificial worship sounds trivial. But we equally err if we try to bring such externalities into the worship of the Christian Church, and if we are blind to their worth at an earlier stage.
There cannot be a temple without an altar, but there may be an altar without a temple. God meets men at the place of sacrifice, even though there be no house for His name. The order of events here teaches us what is essential for communion with God. It is the altar. Sacrifice laid there is accepted, whether it stand on a bare hill-top, or have round it the courts of the Lord’s house.
The second part of the passage narrates the laying of the foundations of the Temple. There had been contracts entered into with masons and carpenters, and arrangements made with the Phoenicians for timber, as soon as the exiles had returned; but of course some time elapsed before the stone and timber were sufficient to make a beginning with. Note in Ezr 3:7 the reference to Cyrus’ grant as enabling the people to get these stores together. Whether the whole preparations, or only the transport of cedar wood, is intended to be traced to the influence of that decree, there seems to be a tacit contrast, in the writer’s mind, with the glorious days when no heathen king had to be consulted, and Hiram and Solomon worked together like brothers. Now, so fallen are we, that Tyre and Sidon will not look at us unless we bring Cyru’s rescript in our hands!
If the ‘years’ in Ezr 3:1 and Ezr 3:8 are calculated from the same beginning, some seven months were spent in preparation, and then the foundation was laid. Two things are noted-the humble attempt at making some kind of a display on the occasion, and the conflict of feeling in the onlookers. They had managed to get some copies of the prescribed vestments; and the narrator emphasises the fact that the priests were ‘in their apparel,’ and that the Levites had cymbals, so that some approach to the pomp of Solomon’s dedication was possible. They did their best to adhere to the ancient prescriptions, and it was no mere narrow love of ritual that influenced them. However we may breathe a freer air of worship, we cannot but sympathise with that earnest attempt to do everything ‘according to the order of David king of Israel.’ Not only punctiliousness as to ritual, but the magnetism of glorious memories, prescribed the reproduction of that past. Rites long proscribed become very sacred, and the downtrodden successors of mighty men will cling with firm grasp to what the greater fathers did.
The ancient strain which still rings from Christian lips, and bids fair to be as eternal as the mercies which it hymns, rose with strange pathos from the lips of the crowd on the desolate Temple mountain, ringed about by the waste solitudes of the city: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.’ It needed some faith to sing that song then, even with the glow of return upon them. What of all the weary years? What of the empty homesteads, and the surrounding enemies, and the brethren still in Babylon? No doubt some at least of the rejoicing multitude had learned what the captivity was meant to teach, and had come to bless God, both for the long years of exile, which had burned away much dross, and for the incomplete work of restoration, surrounded though they were with foes, and little as was their strength to fight. The trustful heart finds occasion for unmingled praise in the most mingled cup of joy and sorrow.
There can have been very few in that crowd who had seen the former Temple, and their memories of its splendour must have been very dim. But partly remembrance and partly hearsay made the contrast of the past glories and the present poverty painful. Hence that pathetic and profoundly significant incident of the blended shouts of the young and tears of the old. One can fancy that each sound jarred on the ears of those who uttered the other. But each was wholly natural to the years of the two classes. Sad memories gather, like evening mists, round aged lives, and the temptation of the old is unduly to exalt the past, and unduly to depreciate the present. Welcoming shouts for the new befit young lips, and they care little about the ruins that have to be carted off the ground for the foundations of the temple which they are to have a hand in building. However imperfect, it is better to them than the old house where the fathers worshipped.
But each class should try to understand the other’s feelings. The friends of the old should not give a churlish welcome to the new, nor those of the new forget the old. It is hard to blend the two, either in individual life or in a wider sphere of thought or act. The seniors think the juniors revolutionary and irreverent; the juniors think the seniors fossils. It is possible to unite the shout of joy and the weeping. Unless a spirit of reverent regard for the past presides over the progressive movements of this or any day, they will not lay a solid foundation for the temple of the future. We want the old and the young to work side by side, if the work is to last and the sanctuary is to be ample enough to embrace all shades of character and tendencies of thought. If either the grey beards of Solomon’s court or the hot heads of Rehoboam’s get the reins in their hands, they will upset the chariot. That mingled sound of weeping and joy from the Temple hill tells a more excellent way.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 3:1-7
1Now when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose and 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. 3So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the ordinance, as each day required; 5and afterward there was a continual burnt offering, also for the new moons and for all the fixed festivals of the LORD that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to the LORD. 6From 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 had not been laid. 7Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
Ezr 3:1 the seventh month This is the month of Tishri in the Hebrew calendar (previously named Ethanim, cf. 1Ki 8:2), which corresponds to our September/October. This was the month of three major annual feast days. On the first of the month was the Feast of Trumpets, on the tenth of the month was the Day of Atonement (cf. Leviticus 16), and on the 15th through the 22nd was the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (cf. Lev 23:23-44; Num 29:1-40).
SPECIAL TOPIC: Ancient near Eastern Calendars
gathered together as one man This VERB is a Niphal IMPERFECT. The phrase is a Hebrew idiom for unity of mind and heart (cf. Neh 7:72 to Neh 8:1 and also Jdg 20:1; Jdg 20:8; Jdg 20:11). This assembly included women and children. The community unity can be seen in Ezr 3:9.
Ezr 3:2 Jeshua the son of Jozadak See note at Ezr 2:2. The father’s name (cf. Ezr 3:2; Ezr 3:8; Ezr 5:2; Ezr 10:18; Neh 12:26) is spelled Jehozadak in 1Ch 6:14-15; Hag 1:1; Hag 1:12; Hag 1:14; Hag 2:2; Hag 2:4; Zec 6:11.
Jeshua is never called High Priest in Ezra or Nehemiah, but he is in Hag 1:1; Hag 1:14 and Zec 3:1; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:11.
Zerubabbel the son of Shealtiel See note at Ezr 2:2.
built the altar This is a Qal IMPERFECT (BDB 124, KB 139). The returnees wanted to reinstitute the Mosaic rituals and procedures as much as possible. With the sacrificial altar they could begin the feast/rest/fast days of Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29.
This altar was covered in bronze (cf. Exo 27:1-8; Exo 38:1-7), which the Babylonians had removed. The inner structure of the altar remained. This was repaired and placed back in its original place.
the man of God This is literally ish of Elohim. This phrase is used in the OT 76 times to describe God’s faithful servants. The order of frequency is as follows:
1. Elisha
2. Elijah
3. Moses (cf. Deu 33:1; Jos 14:6; Psa 90:1; 1Ch 23:14; 2Ch 30:16; Ezr 3:2)
4. Samuel
5. David
6. Shemiah
7. Hanan
8. anonymous (29 times)
Ezr 3:3 So they set up the altar on its foundation It is possible that the sacrificial altar was placed on a raised platform. Therefore, Ezr 3:2 refers to the altar itself and Ezr 3:3 to the platform (bama).
they were terrified because of the peoples of the land This either refers to (1) the Jews who stayed in Palestine and resented the newcomers rebuilding or (2) Sanballat and Tobiah and their political and/or legal resistance to the rebuilding of the temple (cf. Ezr 4:4). In this context option #2 fits best.
The phrase the people of the land (singular) originally referred to the landed nobility (pre-exiled, cf. 2Ki 24:15), but it came to refer to the poor people of the land (post-exile, cf. 2Ki 24:14); however, in this context it is plural and must refer to all the people groups in the Persian province called Beyond the River (i.e., Palestine and Lebanon).
burnt offerings morning and evening This refers to the Continual (cf. Ezr 3:5). Two lambs offered every day at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. (cf. Exo 29:38-46; Num 28:1-8).
Ezr 3:4 they celebrated the feast of booths as it is written This annual feast is mentioned several times in Moses’ writings (cf. Exo 23:16; Exo 34:32; Lev 23:33-36; Lev 23:39-43; Num 19:12-22; Deu 16:13-17). Its procedures are spelled out in great detail.
Much of the timing and procedures of these Jews in re-initiating the sacrifice system follows Solomon’s timing (cf. 2 Chronicles 7) and procedures of building the temple (cf. 2 Chronicles 2-4, see note at Ezr 3:10). They want to legitimatize themselves as the true Israel, the true covenant people of God.
SPECIAL TOPIC: Feasts of Israel
Ezr 3:5 new moons The Hebrew calendar was based on the lunar cycle for its months and the solar cycle for its years (seasons). The phases of the moon marked the beginning of months. The New Moon festival is often mentioned in a list of feast/rest days. It is described briefly in Lev 23:24-25 (first of the month); Num 28:11-15 and mentioned in 1 Samuel 20, but it seems to have become more popular after the exile (cf. 1Ch 23:31; 2Ch 2:4; 2Ch 8:13; Ezr 3:5; Neh 10:30).
all the fixed festivals See Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29.
a freewill offering These could be offered at any time (e.g., peace offerings, cf. Lev 3:1-17; Lev 7:13-34).
Ezr 3:6 but the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid This Hebrew VERB (BDB 413, KB 417, Pual PERFECT) has a wide range of meaning (i.e., establish, found, fix, or restore, cf. NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 474-475), which seems to solve the contradiction between here (also Ezr 3:10) and Ezr 5:16 (Aramaic VERB, BDB 1095, Peal PERFECT). For the wide meaning of this word see (1) restored, 2Ch 24:12 ff and (2) was laid or established (in the sense of continued, not just begun, cf. Kidner, Tyndale Commentary Series, p. 140), Hag 2:18.
R. K. Harrison, Introduction To The Old Testament, pp. 1139-1140,
According to Ezr 4:24; Ezr 5:1 ff., work commenced in the second year of Dairus, whereas in Ezr 3:8 ff; Ezr 5:16 it is said to have occurred in the reign of Cyrus. This objection rests entirely upon a misunderstanding of the text. The rebuilding of the Temple did in fact commence in the days of Cyrus (Eze 3:8 ff; Eze 5:16), but when opposition to the project arose (Eze 4:1 ff.), the work was delayed, and in the end it ceased until the time of Darius (Ez. 4:24), the interval thus occasioned being the principal cause why Haggai and Zechariah were sent to stimulate the people into activity (Eze 5:1 ff.). Haggai clearly implies that some preliminary work had been done at the site (Hag 1:4; Hag 1:9; Hag 1:14), while for his part Ezra (Eze 5:16) does not state that the task had been pursued smoothly and without interruption since its inception.
Ezr 3:7 The payment of these workmen is similar to the account paid for the construction of Solomon’s temple in 2Ch 2:9-10; 2Ch 2:15-16. Much of the second temple was patterned after Solomon’s temple, but on a much smaller scale.
Joppa This was the seaport for Jerusalem. It was about 35 miles northwest of the city. It was the only natural harbor on this part of the Mediterranean coast.
according to the permission they had from Cyrus This had become the legal issue of the challenge from Samaria. Cyrus’ edict is recorded twice, once in Hebrew in chapter 1 and once in Aramaic in chapter 6.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
seventh month. Tisri. See App-51.
children = sons.
of Israel. See note on Ezr 2:2, and 1Ki 12:17.
the cities. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, read “their cities”.
to = in. Therefore this was after Neh 7:1-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 3
And when the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set the altar upon its bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening ( Ezr 3:1-3 ).
Now Zerubbabel was more or less the political leader of the people who returned. Zerubbabel was a grandson to the one king of Israel, Jehoiachin. And so, had they followed the monarchy, he would have been the king, but he didn’t assume the position of a monarch. But he was the leader of the people in a political sense; whereas Jeshua the priest was the leader of the people in a spiritual sense. Jeshua was the priest leading them in spiritual things; Zerubbabel became more or less a governor over this remnant of people that returned. However, he was of the royal line of David and could have assumed the position of the king. However, the monarchy had ended and is not to be picked up again until Jesus Christ comes. And He will sit upon the throne of David and God’s promise to David that there shall not cease one from his family sitting upon the throne forever will be fulfilled when Jesus comes again and establishes God’s eternal kingdom upon the earth.
And so, if you will at this point next week read the book of Zechariah, you will find where Zerubbabel and Jeshua fit into the picture. They were the instruments that God used in bringing the people back and in encouraging the people. These two men were vital instruments of God. And you’ll find more record concerning them there in the prophecies of Zechariah. And also at this particular period of the building of the temple, you’ll find Haggai has a lot to say about this. So this week as extra-curricular reading, you might want to go to Haggai and Zechariah, because it fits right into this general period.
So they gather together and they started offering sacrifices to the Lord, even before the temple was rebuilt. They cleared off the area of the altar. They began to offer the morning and evening sacrifices, because actually there was a lot of hostility from the people around about them. And they were living in real fear. So they were really seeking God’s protection and started offering sacrifices both morning and evening.
Now they kept the feast of the tabernacles ( Ezr 3:4 ),
Which, of course, is in October. They were there, it said, in the ninth month they came back, so they started keeping again the feast of the tabernacles the tenth month.
They offered the daily burnt offerings, according to the number that was required ( Ezr 3:4 );
And so forth. And the special offerings of the feasts and all.
and every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord ( Ezr 3:5 ).
It is interesting how that all the time the mention of giving to God is always mentioned in a free will, willingly. Pressure is never right when it comes to giving to God. You should never give out of constraint. Paul said, “but as every man hath purposed in his own heart, so let him give” ( 2Co 9:7 ). And so it is a shame that the church has adopted pressure tactics in trying to get pledges out of people or get offerings out of people or get support for God’s work. And there are various types of pressure tactics that are used. There’s a lot of weeping and wailing, which is a pressure tactic to get your sympathy so that you’ll send your money in. And there’s a lot of exuberance and hilarity and all and push, push, push.
But it should never be, because so often if I give, actually if I give in order that I might be seen of men to give, if I’m giving in a public service because everyone who is going to give so much is going to stand up, you know, and then you get your public recognition, then after I give it, I feel bad. “Oh my, really didn’t want to give that much and I can’t afford that and all.” And you begin to feel bad, and then you begin to resent what you gave to God. That’s terrible. God doesn’t want anybody griping over what they’ve given to Him. And thus, your giving should always be willingly, a freewill offering unto the Lord. And that should, that’s really the whole rule of giving to God. Freely, of your own heart. Not by pressure, not by constraint, not by someone begging or pushing. But you are just determining in your heart, “I want to give this to God,” and then doing it without any fanfare or anything else. Just, “Hey, Lord, I love You and I want to just give this to You, Lord. I just thank You for the opportunity of giving.” And give freely unto God. And always through the Old Testament this is emphasized. And of course, the New Testament has declared not by constraint, not by force, but willingly, let everybody lay aside that which he has purposed in his own heart.
So the people gave in order that they might start building the temple.
And they gave money to the masons, the carpenters ( Ezr 3:7 );
And they hired actually men to go up to Tyre and Zidon and to bring down some of the cedar timbers in order that they might start rebuilding, even as Solomon had brought the timbers from Tyre and Zidon for the building of the first temple, down to Joppa. So now they are bringing more of those timbers out of the area of Lebanon to build, to rebuild the temple.
In the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the remnant of their brethren the priests, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and they set forward the workmen in the house of God. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites and the sons of Asaph with their cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David the king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and in giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever 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 ( Ezr 3:8-11 ).
And so you can get a mental picture of this scene. They came back to Jerusalem which had been lying there desolate for seventy years. So the, just have become overgrown. Some of the men that came back actually had seen Jerusalem before its destruction. They had seen the original temple. Some of the very old men. But most of them had never seen Jerusalem before. Only they came back to a city of rubble. The older men no doubt directed them to the place where Solomon’s temple have been built. They cleared away the rubble and they laid the foundation stones once more. And they were so thrilled that the foundation stones were laid that they had a big ceremony offering offerings unto God, the priest blowing on their trumpets, others sounding with their cymbals. And there were two hundred singers. And so they had, no doubt, several choirs. And one was singing and then another praises unto the Lord as they were praising God and as the choirs were singing, the people were there worshipping God and just so thankful that a center of worship was being created once again where they could gather before God and offer their offering unto Him.
But as they were singing and praising the Lord, some of these old men who remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple, the beauty and the glory of that temple, when they saw the foundations and they realized, “Hey, you know, we’re putting this thing together nickel and dime, and that one of Solomon’s was so glorious,” these old men began to weep. The younger fellows were all excited. We’re going to have a temple again. But the older fellows, remembering the glory that was past, the glory that was lost, they wept. And so you have half of them, or not half, you have a bunch of them weeping, some of them yelling, and you couldn’t tell the difference in the noise whether or not they were weeping or praising, and all as the noise mingled together. But they made such a racket that it was heard afar off. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Ezr 3:1-5
Ezr 3:1-5
THE ALTAR ERECTED;
THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLE LAID; AND THE PEOPLE’S RESPONSE;
THE ALTAR ERECTED AT ITS OLD PLACE
“And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man in Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set the altar upon its base; for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the countries: and they offered burnt-offerings thereon unto Jehovah, even burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required; and afterward the continual burnt-offering, and the offerings of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were consecrated, and of every one that offered a freewill-offering unto Jehovah.”
“And when the seventh month was come” (Ezr 3:1). “This was the month Tishri, corresponding to our September-October.” “This was the first day of the month (Ezr 3:6), The Feast of Trumpets (Num 29:1-6), a foreshadowing of Israel’s final regathering. Assuming a two-year delay in the beginning of the journey from Babylon after Cyrus’ decree, this would have been September 25,536 B.C. The laying of the temple foundation the following spring would thus have brought to an official close the seventy-year captivity prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 25:1-12), from 605 to 535 B.C.
“And builded the altar of God” (Ezr 3:2). “This altar was hastily constructed in less than a day (Ezr 3:6) of field stones in accordance with the earliest prescriptions for altars in the law of Moses (Exo 2:25).”
Scholars are in disagreement over the date of the foundation’s being laid because “Both Haggai and Zechariah date the beginning of the building activity of Zerubbabel in the second year of Darius I (520 B.C.).” The writings of Josephus, however, are ambiguous on this point, for he placed the laying of the foundation in the period prior to the hostility of the Samaritans, or at least, at the very beginning of it, but went on to mention it later as taking place in the reign of Darius I. Since the “foundation” of any building may be: (1) the excavated earth where it will be constructed; (2) the basic masonry; or (3) the support of the whole structure on top of the masonry, there can be no criticism of the two mentions of the foundation as being laid in the second year of Israel’s return while Cyrus was still living, and again in the reign of Darius Hystaspes (Darius I), who was the second ruler after Cyrus’ death. Critics will have to come up with something harder to explain than this in order to establish what some of them call the “unhistorical” statements in Ezra.
The Persian Rulers from 559-358 B.C.
559-530 Cyrus
530-522 Cambyses
522-486 Darius I (Hystaspes)
486-465 Xerxes I (Ahashuerus)
465-424 Artaxerxes (Longimanus)
424-423 Xerxes II
423-404 Darius II (Nothus)
404-358 Artaxerxes (Mnemon)
“And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written” (Ezr 3:4). This feast was kept on the fifteenth of Tishri (See Lev 23:34-42 and related passages of the law of Moses). “The Hebrew name of it was Sukkoth (Booths), a reference to the way in which the Israelites dwelt in booths during their journey through the wilderness.” The day of Atonement was also held on the tenth day of this month; but no mention of it is made here. The observance of that solemn occasion would have to wait upon the building of the second temple.
“As it is written” (Ezr 3:4). The inspired author is making it clear that Israel, upon their return to Palestine, were determined to do everything exactly according to the instructions in the law of Moses.
“They kept … all the set feasts of Jehovah” (Ezr 3:5). These were the Passover, the Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) and Tabernacles.
E.M. Zerr:
Ezr 3:1. Seventh month of the first year of Cyrus’ rule over Babylon was the time meant. The people of various classes bad taken up their residences in the cities that had been shown to be their proper location. Then, having been thus settled so that their families were cared for, the people next turned their attention to the city from which they had been taken 70 years before.
Ezr 3:2. Since the altar service was the subject of immediate interest, it was fitting that the men of the priestly rank take the lead. Zerubbabel was the leader and main man to supervise the work of the first section of the restoration. When Nebuchadnezzar finally destroyed the temple, it would be expected that he had wrecked the furniture of it also. The vessels that he took were the smaller articles of the service, such as bowls and trays that were used for eating and drinking purposes. Now then, in order to reinstate the sacrificial worship, it was necessary to erect an altar. They had not offered any sacrifices to God while in captivity. This is a fact not known or realized by many Bible students. The nation was sent into captivity because of the sin of worshiping idols, and that consisted chiefly in offering sacrifices to them, either of animals or other material things. One of the things to be accomplished, by the exile in a heathen land, was their being completely cured of the sin of idolatry. In keeping with that object, they were not permitted to offer any sacrifices to God while in captivity. This subject, the various predictions pertaining to it, and the history that shows the fulfillment, will be treated at length in the volume of this Commentary that contains the study of the prophetic books. For the present, the reader is cited to the following passages. Deu 28:36; Isa 1:10-15; Isa 2:18-21; Isaiah 43; Isaiah 22-28; Jer 33:8; Eze 20:38; Hos 2:17; Mic 5:13; Zec 7:4-6. It will be seen, when all the history has been consulted, that the Jews were entirely weaned from idolatry when they came back from the captivity. And since they were not permitted to offer sacrifices during those 70 years, it is easy to understand their earnestness in renewing the lawful service when the way was opened up to them.
Ezr 3:3. Bases is from a word that the lexicon defines as meaning a pedestal or a spot. Moffatt’s translation gives us “spot,” and the footnote in the American Revised Version says “spot” The idea is, the people were in fear because of the kind of men and women who were in that country. The Jews had great faith in their God, and relied on his protection in times of danger. But they understood that the Lord required something in the way of service before bestowing his favor on his servants. The most evident form of faithful devotion was in the animal sacrifices on the altar. Therefore, they lost no time in getting the altar in its place to begin the service.
Ezr 3:4. As fast as they could, they resumed the national ceremonies. The feast of tabernacles properly came in the 7th month, which was the month now reached. So they kept this feast as it is written (Lev 23:34). In observing this festival season they needed to follow the law to the number, and according to the custom. This custom is recorded in detail in Num 29:12-34.
Ezr 3:5. The continual burnt offering was another name for the “daily sacrifice.” (Exo 29:38-42.) Both does not apply to the offering just described. It is a Biblical way of saying that something was to be done in addition to what was just described. It is as if it read, “And afterward . . . offering, also of the new moons,” etc. The thought is the fact that the people were so glad to be again in their own land where they could worship the true God, that they attended to all of the ordinances as completely as the circumstances would permit. In addition to the specified ordinances required, the people volunteered other sacrifices.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The leaders in this return were evidently conscious of the matters of real importance in the life of the people. Directly they were settled in their cities, the altar of God was established at Jerusalem. The statement, “For fear was upon them because of the people of the countries,” has given rise to a great many different interpretations. Perhaps the one that harmonizes best with the whole story is that they were conscious of the fact that in their neglect of the altar of God in the past they had become contaminated by the idolatrous practices of surrounding peoples; and in order to prevent a repetition of such sin they immediately set up the true altar. This is the more likely to be a correct interpretation in view of the fact that whatever failure characterized these people in their history, they never again returned to idolatry.
The first feast they observed, according to the time of year, was the feast of Tabernacles, which was the most joyful of all the feasts of the Lord. They also established all the feasts, and, so far as possible, restored the divinely appointed order of worship. Then immediately they commenced the work of building the Temple. The foundations were laid, and in the second year of the return, with fitting ceremonies of praise, they rejoiced. The mingling of tears and songs is in itself remarkable. Remembering the first house, the old men mourned. This can well be understood when one thinks of the comparative insignificance and poverty of the people as they were gathered back. Yet there was also a great shout of praise, for new hope had taken possession of their hearts.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Building of the Altar
Ezr 2:61-70; Ezr 3:1-7
Throughout their history the true Israelites were eager to maintain their genealogy; wherever they were scattered, they carefully guarded their national registers. Each of us should be able to establish his descent and to vindicate his claim to be considered a child of God, a joint-heir with Christ, a partaker in the inheritance which God has promised to them that love Him. If you cannot establish your sonship, you may doubt your right to the spiritual blessings which are a part of the family estates. This is clearly illustrated by the prohibition issued against the eating of the most holy things by the priests whose names were not found in the register. They must wait till the Urim and Thummin attested that they were Israelites indeed. What that witness was in these olden days, the testimony of the Holy Spirit is within us. He witnesses with our spirit that we are born of God.
The first act of the restored Jews was to set up the House of God. For this they gave willingly, and after their ability. The altar was the center of their religion. So the Cross of Jesus is the center of our life and worship, reminding us of His work for us in justification, or His claims in sanctification.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 3
The Altar And The House
There is an evident hiatus to be understood between chapter 2 and 3; but of how long a time we have no record. Doubtless there were weeks, or possibly months, of earnest labor, in which the returned remnant builded homes for themselves, and made preparations for the re-building of the desolated temple by clearing away the rubbish and debris that marked the impiety of the Babylonian conqueror.
At last the seventh month, the month in which the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated of old, had been reached, and it was decided to set up the altar of Jehovah at once, and with the word of God as their only guide to seek to carry out the instructions as to its observance. There could be nothing so grand nor so stable as of old, but it would be of the same order; and the Word was as truly sufficient for direction and instruction in righteousness as in the palmiest days of the fathers.
There was no thought of substituting human expediency for what God had spoken through Moses in the distant past. No one was called on for ideas or suggestions as to the most suitable way to act in these their adverse circumstances, and under such different conditions to those of old. They simply searched the Scriptures, and when they found it written, that was an end of controversy. The Bible was their, authority; expediency was barred out.
This is a principle of all importance to any who to-day value the divine approbation above the approval of carnal men. The Scriptures are (alp sufficient still. They contain all the instruction needed for the guidance of those who would be faithful to God in any particular period of the Churchs history. The moment expediency usurps the place of subjection to the revealed will of the Lord, the whole principle of faith is given up, and a walk by sight takes its place. For we cannot walk by faith except as we yield unhesitating obedience to the word of God, which leaves no place for human will or human arrangements.
In the first verse of this lovely chapter we have a beautiful picture of that unity which should ever characterize the children of God. And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. This, is, indeed blessed. Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! There the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore (Ps. 133). It is of this we have an example, delightful to contemplate, in the case before us. The people were gathered together as one man to the place of the Name; and in full accordance with the psalm just quoted from, The Lord commanded the blessing. Of this the balance of the chapter affords ample proof. It was fulfilled again in wondrous measure at the beginning of the Churchs history: When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Act 2:1). And what was the happy result? Nothing less than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the baptism whereby the one body was formed, the conversion of three thousand persons, and the edification of the whole company, while the name of the crucified Jesus was with great power magnified and lauded.
When we look back to the Churchs natal day, and contrast the sweet and holy unity then manifested, with the heart-breaking divisions and cruel separations now seen among Christians, we may well weep and cry, O Lord, how long?
Heal all these schisms we cannot; but we can judge the whole thing as of the flesh, and, turning from all we learn to be contrary to the mind of God, cease to own any narrower body than the body of Christ; refuse allegiance to any other head than Him who sits at Gods right hand; and, while gathering back to the one only Name-turning away from all that bears the Babylonian trade mark-open our hearts, to all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours, and thus, in obedience to the word of God, we may yet endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
So stirring a theme tempts us to wander from our subject, but space and time alike forbid; so we turn back to consider what is further presented for our learning and admonition in the verses that follow.
The altar of the God of Israel (not of the few re-gathered ones, be it noted-but of the whole nation which, though scattered and peeled, is seen by faith in its integrity), was rebuilt by Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, together with Zerubbabel and his brethren of the Davidic line. The testimony is both priestly and royal, even as Christians, whatever their weakness, are called of God a holy and royal priesthood, to worship in reverence and to show forth the praises of Him who has called us by His glories and virtue.
The rebuilding of the altar answers to the establishment of believers in the fundamental truths connected with the person and work of the Son of God. We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle (Heb 13:10). Christ Himself is our altar, for as of old it was the altar that sanctified the gift, so was it the perfection of Christ personally that gave all the value to His work. Therefore, in any true recovery of the Spirits inditing, it will always be found that Christ Jesus and His atonement are magnified. True revival there cannot be if He is not the souls object.
The altar established upon its basis-answering to the truth as to Christ and His work, set forth in accordance with the Word of God-the morning and evening sacrifices or burnt offerings were, without any delay, reinstituted. Now the burnt offering- speaks of Christ offering Himself without spot unto God, an offering and sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor, as contrasted with the sin and trespass offering, wherein Christ made sins is set forth. As the highest offering, it speaks of the believers heart-felt appreciation of what Christ and His work were and are to God, leading to worship in spirit and in truth. Surely all is here in perfect and lovely accord. If the Lord Jesus be Himself before the soul, and His work be rested in, there can but be unceasing worship and adoration ascending in His name to the Father.
For the Christian, the Lords table should ever be linked with thoughts such as these. It is in a most distinctive way the eucharistic feast-a festival of thanksgiving in grateful acknowledgment of what our Lord in infinite grace has accomplished, and of the Spirits delight in contemplating the excellencies of His glorious person. Where this is indeed the case, participation in the Lords supper can never be a matter of legal, ritual, or lifeless form. It will be with a holy, chastened joy that the redeemed of the Lord will be found gathered by the Spirit to the precious name of Jesus, now made Lord and Christ, to remember Him.
The alacrity with which the remnant of Judah set about re-establishing the daily offerings and the set feasts is most refreshing to contemplate. There was a holy eagerness, a godly enthusiasm, to walk in the old paths which is delightful to dwell upon.
The feast of tabernacles was kept as it is written, and all the appointed burnt offerings made according to the custom, as the duty of every day required (ver. 4). There were apparently none to object that it was folly at so late a day to attempt to pattern all according to the custom of the early days of their glorious history. Had there been such an one, he would have been met by the firm, decided answer and rebuke, It is written. And for each believer this should ever be enough, outweighing all carnal suggestions, modern notions and unscriptural innovations.
The continual burnt offering, the special sacrifices of the new moons, and all the set feasts were properly provided for; and when willing hearts suggested at any time special thank offerings to the Lord, priestly hands were ever ready to attend to the temple requirements as Moses in the book of the law had given commandment.
And all this before the house itself was built, even as there must first be. true appreciation of Christ Himself and delight in His work ere there can be any proper entering into the truth of the house of God. The offerings began on the first day of the seventh month, but the work had not yet progressed far enough for the laying of the foundation of the house of the Lord. Indeed some nine months must have elapsed ere this house was properly begun (see ver. 8). But conjointly, we judge, with the setting up of the altar on its bases, money was given to the masons and carpenters, and full provision made to care for the temporal needs of those who were to bring cedar trees and rebuild the house, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus, king of Persia (ver. 7).
In the 8th verse, the date of the laying the foundation is given. It is said to be in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, that the work of setting forward the house of the Lord began. They had come to the house of God, though to sense and sight there was only a blackened ruin before them! What a withering rebuke is this to mans unbelief. All that is of God abides, however we may fail in maintaining it.
We often speak, and rightly, of the truth as to the Church being lost for over a thousand years after Romish usurpation and Judaistic legality had made the special ministry of Paul to be all but forgotten. But though the truth might be lost, so far as mans apprehension of it was concerned, the fact of the Church-both as the, body of Christ, and the, house of God-remained, though only to be recovered to the knowledge and heart of Gods people when faithful men turned from human traditionalism to Christ Himself, and from human authorization to the Word alone. Then how soon did the Spirit begin to work in revealing the long-lost truth as to Gods habitation, The house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
The truth as to all this can never be known in power in ones soul so long as practices and systems contrary to Gods revealed will are tolerated or endorsed. Hence is it true that the best view of all ecclesiastical systems is to be had outside of them, when the believer can take his stand in simplicity with Gods Word open in his hand and discern what is according to His mind, and what is but the product of the human will and fleshly energy. Then also can the outlines of the foundations of the house of God be discerned, and grace found to act in accordance with the truth now learned.
For we are not called to rebuild the Church. Such has been the vain dream of more than one great mind, only to result in a rude awakening as the ruin became worse than ever. We are simply called to get back to what is written, and act on the truth as though the ruin had never come in, while yet recognizing our feebleness and dependence.
Where there is fellowship in this, it is most blessed; and this leads us to notice a word for our times, found in this and the next chapter. I refer to the fellowship-word together, which we have already noticed in verse 1. In verse 9 we read: Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God. Here are laborers together. Then in verses 10 and 11, after telling of the priests, Levites, and the sons of Asaph standing in rank in their apparel, when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, we learn that they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. Here they are praising together, each heart as one with every other, employed in exalting the loving-kindness of the Lord.
In the next chapter, verse 3, Zerubbabel and the rest, in answer to the Samaritans offer of assistance, say: We ourselves together will build unto the Lord. Thus they are builders together, raising the walls of the temple in holy, happy fellowship, and in separation from the unclean. And so would God ever have His people going on together, remembering that they have been called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1Co 1:9).
Turning again to verse 11, we note how the people were stirred when at last the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. In their godly-exaltation at this slight measure of recovery, they shouted with a great shout.
But all were not so exuberant, for many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off (vers. 12, 13).
Youth is the period of enthusiasm and exuberance of spirit, while age is the time of sobriety and serious contemplation. Young men are apt to be over-sanguine looking on to the future; aged men, on the other hand, are likely to be reminiscent and unduly occupied with the past. It is often difficult for youth to comprehend the fears of the old and experienced regarding any new work in which they are involved. It is equally hard, frequently, for the elder men to recognize any special work of God entrusted chiefly to the young and in which they cannot share for long. They are too apt to forget their own youth; and as they think of ruined hopes would put the brake on any who do not now occupy their standpoint. Hence much patience is ever needed in a movement such as we have been tracing. The young need grace, to profit by the godly, sober counsels the fathers, who, in their turn, need grace to rejoice in what God is doing through those as yet immature.
Critical, fault-finding old men, even though devoted saints, may be a great hindrance to young brethren, ardent in faith and love till chilled by continual carping or objecting on the part of their elders. On the other hand, cheery, fatherly brethren, who are ever ready to see Gods leading in any fresh work of His Spirit, who have grown old gracefully, and are mellowing for heaven, as one has put it, can be both helpers and counsellors of great value to their younger brethren.
There is room both for the weeping and the shouting. As we think of the failure of man to carry out, and hold fast, the truth committed to him, we may well shed tears. As we note the matchless grace of God, rising above all failure, and ever raising up a fresh testimony to His truth in times of declension, we may well shout aloud for joy. The two are not discordant, but blend in one majestic strain, of which the treble is carried by the joyous, youthful shouters, and the bass by the weeping patriarchs-all alike to the praise and glory of the God of all grace, who is also the God of infinite holiness and intrinsic righteousness.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Ezr 3:11
Notice four marks or features in the book of Ezra.
I. The faithful people of God set up the altar on its bases. The foundation of the Temple was not yet laid; the walls were all down, the houses in confusion: that was the condition of Jerusalem. There was the altar standing solitary, there the Israelites offered the daily sacrifice, and thus they began on their return to build up the Church of God.
II. Having secured the altar and the daily sacrifice, they proposed to build the Temple, but not without great opposition, not without great misrepresentation as to what their intentions were.
For twenty years they laboured on, sometimes stopped, sometimes returning, but at last it was accomplished and finished, and the prophets who had encouraged them, Zechariah and Haggai, knew that though the Temple looked outwardly less glorious than the Temple of Solomon, it was really in the sight of God to be marked with a more precious glory, for that He who is the glory of all temples would come Himself to dwell in it.
III. Though there was an altar restored and a temple built, yet Ezra was miserable because the Israelites were not pure in heart themselves. He told the people that they must cut off their false alliances if they were to have God for their Friend. The third mark is the great moral reformation which Ezra wrought.
IV. Some thirteen years after, we find Ezra entering on another work: that of teaching the people. We find him with the Law, in a pulpit of wood with others, expounding, and reading, and giving the sense. It was a great doctrinal instruction to the people which he gave.
Bishop King, Two Sermons at Oxford, 1872.
Reference: Ezr 3:11-13.-J. Menzies, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 260.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 3
1. The altar set up (Ezr 3:1-3)
2. The feast of tabernacles celebrated (Ezr 3:4)
3. The sacrifices brought (Ezr 3:5-7)
4. The foundation of the temple laid (Ezr 3:8-13)
Ezr 3:1-3. How long the journey lasted is not stated. The previous chapter in its close states that all dwelt in their cities–and all Israel in their cities. The significant seventh month (Tishri) with its holy convocation (feast of trumpets, day of atonement and feast of tabernacles) having come, the remnant gathered as one man to Jerusalem. It was the time for such a general gathering, for the feast of trumpets is typical of the restoration of Israel, a restoration which was not fulfilled in the return of this remnant; only foreshadowing it. This gathering as one man to Jerusalem reminds us of that other gathering in Jerusalem centuries later when they were all with one accord in one place (Act 2:1) and the Holy Spirit came down from heaven and all were baptized into one body, the Church. There is only one body, and all true believers are put into that body by the same Spirit. This oneness was manifested in the beginning of the church on earth (Act 2:41-47; Act 4:23; Act 4:32). While its outward expression is lost, yet still the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace can be kept. (Sectarianism is a denial of that unity.) Whenever the Spirit of God is permitted to manifest His power unhindered among Gods people, the result is always in bringing them together. The Spirit of God never divides, but unites.
Then Jeshua the high priest with his brethren priests, also Zerubbabel and his brethren, built the altar of the God of Israel, to be enabled to bring the burnt offerings as commanded in the law. Obedience to the Word of God was their first concern. Fear was also upon them because of the people of those countries, therefore they felt the need of protection. They knew Jehovah is the Shield and the Refuge of His trusting people. First they were obedient to His Word by setting up the altar for worship and approach to God in the appointed way, and then they trusted Him that He would keep them in the midst of their enemies. The altar and the burnt offerings morning and evening are typical of Christ, who is the altar and the burnt offering. Whenever the Spirit of God sends a true recovery and revival He will make the Lord Jesus Christ and His blessed finished work the first thing. He leads His people together, and then in true worship around the Person of the Lord. This worship centers for the true Church in the Lords Supper, that precious feast of remembrance.
Ezr 3:4. Next they kept the feast of tabernacles–as it is written (Lev 23:33-36). They manifested a holy zeal in rendering a complete obedience to the law of their fathers. The feast of tabernacles typifies the consummation when the kingdom has come and the full harvest. Another remnant of Israel will return in the future, under different circumstances, and then when Messiah, the King, is in the midst of His people, the feast will find its fulfillment. We learn from this how exact the returned exiles were to be in obedience to the Word of God. Without having the house to worship in, destitute of almost everything, they earnestly tried to please God by leaving the ways of Babylon and submitting to the Word of God. This is another mark of the power and energy of the Spirit of God in His gracious work or recovery; He leads back to the Word of God and gives power to walk in obedience.
Ezr 3:5-7. It was a complete return to the law of God. Continual burnt offerings were offered, new moons and the set feasts of Jehovah were kept. Then the spirit of sacrifice was also manifested–they offered a free-will offering unto the LORD. And though the foundation of the temple was not yet laid, they gave money to the masons and to the carpenters in anticipation of the laying of the foundation and building of the temple. Meat, drink and oil were given to them of Zidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa. Permission had been given to do this by King Cyrus.
Ezr 3:8-13. We doubt not that their faith also was tested in the beginning, for nine months passed by before the work began. It was in the second month of the second year after their arrival in Jerusalem, when the Levites from twenty years and upward were appointed by Zerubbabel and Jeshua to set forward the work of the house of the LORD. The leaders were foremost in the work, and associated the people with themselves in the blessed enterprise. They were laborers together (1Co 3:9). They took hold of the work in earnest. The order in this chapter is the building of the altar-worship; obedience to the Word of God, and then whole-souled and united service for the Lord. This is the order still for Gods people. And in that work Gods order was not ignored but conscientiously followed, for the Levites are mentioned first (Numbers 4; 1Ch 23:24). In all things they adhered strictly to the Word of God. And when the work was actually begun a holy enthusiasm took hold of them, and all the people praised the LORD with a great shout. It was a great celebration, led by the priests in their apparel, with trumpets. Next came the sons of Asaph with cymbals. Their praise was after the ordinance of David, King of Israel. They sang together by courses in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. Then all the people shouted with a great shout. The Spirit of praise took hold upon their hearts. They celebrated the goodness and mercy of Jehovah towards His people, which are endless. But there were also tears. The old men, Priests and Levites, and others who still remembered the Solomonic temple in its great beauty, wept with a loud voice; while others shouted aloud for joy. The voice of the shouting and of the weeping was so mingled together that it could not be discerned. The tears were occasioned by remembering the glories of the former days, which had passed away.
Joy was in His presence and acceptable. Tears confessed the truth and testified a just sense of what God had been for His people, and of the blessing they had once enjoyed under His hand. Tears recognized, alas! that which the people of God had been for God; and these tears were acceptable to Him. The weeping could not be discerned from the shout of joy; this was a truthful result, natural and sad, yet becoming in the presence of God. For He rejoices in the joy of His people, and He understands their tears. It was, indeed, a true expression of the state of things (Synopsis of the Bible).
And when we too remember the former things and present conditions in the ruin and confusion all around us in that which professes His Name, we also weep. And yet we shout and praise Him when we remember His mercy, which endureth forever.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
seventh month
i.e. October; also Ezr 3:6.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the seventh: Exo 23:14-17, Lev 16:29, Lev 23:24, Lev 23:27-44, Num 29:1-40, Neh 8:2, Neh 8:14
as one: Jdg 20:1, Neh 8:1, Zep 3:9, Act 2:46, Act 4:32, 1Co 1:10
Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:1 – assembled Neh 7:73 – when the seventh Psa 102:14 – General Jer 30:3 – and I Joh 11:55 – before
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
As WE BEGIN to read the third chapter, a fourth feature of true revival is plainly manifested: obedience to the Word of God. In verse Ezr 3:2, and again in verse Ezr 3:4, we find the words, ‘as it is written’. Their first recorded action, when back in their land, was to approach their God in the manner He had laid down at the first. There was a very great contrast between their present humble circumstances and the great days when the law was given and the tabernacle constructed under Moses, or the palmy days of Solomon, when the first temple was built, yet they recognized that what God may lay down at the start of His dispensations stands unchanged to the finish.
So they did not attempt innovations, according to their own ideas of what might be suitable, but just reverted to God’s original Word. They began with the burnt offering, which lay at the basis of all God’s dealings with them; and the seventh month being come, they observed the feast of tabernacles, which fell at that time. This they did though the foundation of the temple had not been laid. The burnt offerings very rightly preceded the ‘house’. That, however was not forgotten, as verse Ezr 3:7 shows. The necessary preparations for it were started, for it was the prime object of their return to the land.
Reaching verse Ezr 3:8, we pass on to the second year of their return and find them setting forward this work, so that the foundations of the house were actually laid. This provoked a very moving scene, in which both joy and sorrow were mingled. There was joyful praise and thanksgiving to God, according to the ‘ordinance of David king of Israel’, as was indeed fitting. In Psa 136:1-26 it is stated of God twenty-six times that ‘His mercy endureth for ever’, and this they now acknowledged in regard to themselves as representing Israel. It was the confession that no merit on their side had led to the revival in which they had part. It was all on the ground of God’s mercy. Every revival, granted by God, in the sad history of Christendom, has been based upon the mercy of God, without merit on our side. Let us never forget this.
There was another side to this great occasion, for there were present ‘ancient men’, who had seen the first house in all its magnificence, and the sound of their weeping matched the shouting of those who rejoiced, so that the two sounds were indistinguishable. The number of men, so ancient that they saw the first temple still standing, must have been small compared with the total number present, so their weeping must have been unrestrained and loud. Do we feel inclined to regard them as unthankful and melancholy, marring the brightness of a great occasion?
No, we do not. We regard them as expressing another side of things, which should ever be present, when we are able to rejoice in some time of revival, granted in the mercy of God. However blessed the revival granted, our rejoicing is tempered by the remembrance of the grace and power that characterized the beginning of things under apostolic energy, as shown in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. We become conscious how small and imperfect is anything we may experience compared with that; and this, though it may not bring teats to our eyes, will have a very sobering effect upon us for our good.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Ezr 3:1. When the seventh month was come We may suppose they left Babylon in the spring, and were four months on their journey; for so long Ezra and his company were in coming, Ezr 7:9. The seventh month therefore commenced soon after their arrival in Judea, when, as many of the feasts of the Lord were then to be solemnized, the people gathered themselves together By agreement among themselves, rather than by the command of authority; to Jerusalem Though they were newly come to their cities, and had their hands full of business there, to provide necessaries for themselves and their families, which might have excused them from attending on Gods worship in public, till the hurry was a little over, as many with us foolishly put off their coming to the communion till they are settled in the world; yet, such was their zeal for religion, now they were newly come from under correction for their irreligion, that they left all their business in the country to attend Gods altar; and in this pious zeal they were all of a mind, they came as one man.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 3:1. The seventh month, and the tenth day was the great and holy day of atonement, as explained in Leviticus 16. They had left Babylon in the spring; and being four months on their journey, the priests hasted the erection of the altar.
Ezr 3:2. Jeshuaand Zerubbabel. Ezra puts the highpriest first, for all ancient highpriests were princes; but Zechariah the prophet puts Zerubbabel first. Ezra was the uncle of Jeshua.
REFLECTIONS.
Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, and others returned from Babylon in an excellent spirit. They had been instructed and profited by the judgments of God on their country. Hence as the patriarch, on coming to a new district, erected an altar to the Lord, so Israel moved by sanctifying fear, erected a brazen altar to the God of their fathers; that obtaining pardon and his defence, they might be secure from all their surrounding foes. No nation can subsist without religion, and that family which does not surround the sacred altar, has no protection in the day of adversity.
The gathering nation of Israel being now in covenant with God, gave gifts to the Lords house and service. There were among them who said, The time is not yet come, though they had begun to build for themselves houses of cedar; yet a liberal spirit prevailed, and the body of the people offered of their substance very willingly. That man who cheerfully lends his aid to support the sacred ministry, and to aid every institution for the conversion of sinners, the furtherance of piety, and the help of the poor, shall not want a friend in the day of trouble. When we aid the cause of God by that one act, we do good in every point of view, and for ages yet unborn. No sooner had the Israelites been one year in the land, and reaped a small harvest, than they assembled to bring the firstfruits to the Lord at the feast of tabernacles. The pious and zealous governor had also prepared their affairs so as to lay the foundation-stone of the temple on that festival. This ceremony, so glorious to an afflicted people, was attended with every circumstance of joy and of weeping, which can possibly affect the heart. While the music sounded, and the young people shouted, the aged men wept both for sorrow and joy; and so loud, that the difference in the voices could hardly be distinguished. They had seen the glory of the former temple; and now when they saw the narrow design and scanty preparations for the present house, they could not contain their sentiments of sorrow. Saurin, on opening a small church for the French refugees in Holland, quotes this passage with much feeling. They had enjoyed temples in France, but were reduced to holes and corners, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The mobs, keen of the game as dogs in a chase, had ascended the roofs of their churches and temples, with ladders and hatchets, and in one day levelled them with the ground, for the rewards of plunder. Oh popery, popery! thy day shall also come.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 3:1-3. The Building of the Altar for Burnt Offerings.
Ezr 3:1. the seventh month: presumably of the year of the return, 537 The seventh month is called Tisri in the Jewish calendar and is approximately equivalent to October. The first day of Tisri, which was probably that on which this ceremony took place, was known as the feast of Trumpets (lit. Horns) (see p. 104, Num 29:1), or Ym Teruah, Day of Shfar-blowing, and Zikrn Teruah, Memory of Shfar-blowing (see Lev 23:24*; cf. Psa 81:3).
Ezr 3:2. builded the altar: this would, of course, precede the Temple building because it was necessary that the public burnt offerings for the people as a community should be offered first; the private sacrifices could wait.as it is written: see Num 29:1-6.the man of God: cf. 1Ch 23:14, 1 Ch. 35:12, 26.
Ezr 3:3. upon its base: better, in its place (mg.), i.e. where it had formerly stood (cf. Ezr 2:68).for fear . . . countries: read, for the peoples of the land were at enmity with them; see the Greek Ezra 5:50; the Heb. text is corrupt. When once the altar had been set up the returned exiles could feel greater confidence in Yahwehs protection.morning and evening: see Exo 29:38, Num 28:3-8.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
THE ALTAR AND SACRIFICES RESUMED
(vv. 1-8)
Though the building of the temple did not begin until the second month of the second year (v. 8), the children of Israel gathered together “as one man” in the seventh month of the year to Jerusalem, that is, the same year they returned to Judah. At least they could build the altar of God, which symbolized their relationship with God on the basis of sacrifice. We too can have no relationship with God apart from the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. That sacrifice is therefore the basis of true worship. Jeshua the high priest, son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, as well as Zerubbabel the governor, son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, lesser rulers in Judah, together joined in rebuilding the altar with the object of offering burnt offerings to the Lord. The burnt offering, being the most important of all the offerings, speaks of the glory that God receives from the value of the sacrifice of Christ, They were concerned too that they should do this consistently with what was written years before by Moses, the man of God.
In spite of their fear of the opposition to the true worship of God, they set the altar upon its bases. They established their worship on the true basis of the Word of God, not hiding this from the eye
This seventh month too was the month of the Feast of Tabernacles, and they kept this according to the written law, offering daily burnt offerings. Surely believers today are encouraged by this, even when deprived of the outward blessing of which the temple speaks, to do what they are able in giving the Lord His place of supreme honor.
After this Feast of Tabernacles, they continued to offer regular burnt offerings and offerings for the New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord. There were those also who offered freewill offerings to the Lord, offerings moved by special exercise of faith on the part of individuals. How good if we today engage in something like this too!
Verse 6 reminds us that they began these offerings from the first day of the seventh month, though the foundation of the temple had not yet been laid. But in preparation for building, they gave money to masons and carpenters, as well as food, drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, that they should bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to be floated to Joppa, from whence they would be transported to Jerusalem (v. 7).This was according to the directive of Cyrus.This was certainly not on the scale that prevailed in Solomon’s building of the temple (1Ki 5:11-14), but the supplies were from the same source.
THE REBUILDING BEGINS
(vv.8-13)
Preparations and gathering of materials for the rebuilding took some length of time, so that it was the second month of the second year before the building of the foundation began (v.8). Zerubbabel the governor, Jeshua the high priest with the other priests and Levites took the initiative to unitedly begin the building.
When the foundation was laid the people paused to celebrate this glad occasion. We may rightly say that, though everything was not yet accomplished, the basis of truth was recognized, which is a reminder of 2Ti 2:19, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands.” When there has been departure from the truth and saints of God are exercised by God to return to Him, itis of vital encouragement to be reminded that God’s solid foundation stands. Surely it is this, and nothing less that we desire! Thus it was fitting that Judah should rejoice when the foundation was laid. Priests stood in their apparel with trumpets and Levites with cymbals, to praise the Lord (v. 10). Their praise and thanksgiving too was expressed in song, celebrating the goodness and mercy of the Lord. The people responded also with a great shout of rejoicing (v. 11).
However, though many of the older priests and Levites who had seen the first temple were thankful for this small measure of recovery, they wept in comparing the small size of this foundation with that which they had known before. Do we not today have something of the same sorrow when we consider the first estate of the Church of God when seen as established through the work of the Holy Spirit in the apostles, and compare it with the smallness of any recovery that has been seen since the failure and departure of the church generally? But the shout of joy evidently countered the sorrow of weeping.
There have been various measures of recovery of the truth of God in the church, as in Israel, though it seems as time goes on, such occasions have become more feeble, and it was so in Israel too. For it was not long after this return from captivity and the joy that Judah experienced, before their condition again deteriorated so sadly that by the end of the Old Testament Malachi records, not only the failure, but the rebellion of priests together with the people generally. Only a few then truly sought the Lord, of whom we read, “a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name” (Mal 2:16).
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
3:1 And when the {a} seventh month was come, and the children of Israel [were] in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
(a) Called Tishri which had part of September and part of October.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The erection of the altar 3:1-6
The text does not record exactly when the exiles arrived in Jerusalem, but it was probably sometime in 537 B.C. since Cyrus issued his decree in 538 B.C. The "seventh month" (Ezr 3:1) of the Jew’s sacred calendar was Tishri (late September through early October). [Note: See the appendix at the end of these notes for the Hebrew Calendar.] The people assembled in Jerusalem then to erect the altar of burnt offerings, the centerpiece of their worship (cf. Gen 12:7). The seventh month was especially important on the Jewish sacred calendar because in it the Jews celebrated three of their annual festivals. These were the Feast of Trumpets on Tishri 1, the Day of Atonement on Tishri 10, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) on Tishri 15-22 (Lev 23:24-25; Lev 27:27-32; Lev 27:34-34). Tishri was the first month of the Jewish civil calendar, and the Feast of Trumpets was a kind of New Year celebration. It was on this day that the returned exiles began to offer sacrifices on their altar again (Ezr 3:6).
In presenting burnt offerings to God even before the foundation of the temple was in place, the Jews showed their earnest desire to be living sacrifices to Him. That is what those sacrifices symbolized (Leviticus 1; cf. Rom 12:1). [Note: See Fredrick C. Holmgren, Israel Alive Again, p. 22.] In re-establishing their ancient worship, these Jews, under the leadership of Jeshua and Zerubbabel, were careful to follow the Law of Moses (Ezr 3:2; cf. Exo 27:1-8; Exo 38:1-7; Deu 12:4-14). The absence of reference to Sheshbazzar suggests that he may have died. In any case he passed off the scene.
"From now on, Israel would be viewed (as in the theology of the Chronicler) as that remnant of Judah which had rallied around the law. He would be a member of Israel (i.e., a Jew) who assumed the burden of that law.
"The cult was regulated and supported by the law; to be moral and pious was to keep the law; the grounds of future hope lay in obedience to the law. It was this consistent stress on the law which imparted to Judaism its distinctive character." [Note: Bright, p. 416.]
"Judaism" as a system of worship began during the Babylonian Captivity when the Israelites had no temple, functioning priesthood, or kings.
"Ezra’s work was to reorganize the Jewish community about the law." [Note: Ibid., p. 374.]
The "law" in view is the Mosaic Law. One reason the people began offering sacrifices again was their fear of their neighbors (Ezr 3:2). They called on the Lord to protect them. Normally prayers for the Lord’s blessing on His people accompanied the daily morning and evening sacrifices (cf. Exo 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8).
"Courage is not lack of fear; it is the will to act in spite of fear." [Note: Breneman, p. 91.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
0
THE NEW TEMPLE
Ezr 2:68-70; Ezr 3:1-13
UNLIKE the historian of the exodus from Egypt, our chronicler gives no account of adventures of the pilgrims on the road to Palestine, although much of their way led them through a wild and difficult country. So huge a caravan as that which accompanied Zerubbabel must have taken several months to cover the eight hundred miles between Babylon and Jerusalem; for even Ezra with his smaller company spent four months on their journey. {Ezr 7:8-9} A dreary desert stretched over the vast space between the land of exile and the old home of the Jews among the mountains of the West; and here the commissariat would tax the resources of the ablest organisers. It is possible that the difficulties of the desert were circumvented in the most prosaic manner-by simply avoiding this barren, waterless region, and taking a long sweep round by the north of Syria. Passing over the pilgrimage, which afforded him no topics of interest, without a word of comment, the chronicler plants us at once in the midst of the busy scenes at Jerusalem, where we see the returned exiles, at length arrived at the end of their tedious journey, preparing to accomplish the one purpose of their expedition.
The first step was to provide the means for building the temple, and contributions were made for this object by all classes of the community-as we gather from the more complete account in Nehemiah {Neh 7:70-72} -from the prince and the aristocracy to the general public, for it was to be a united work. And yet it is implied by the narrative that many had no share in it. These people may have been poor originally or impoverished by their journey, and not at all deficient in generosity or lacking in faith. Still we often meet with those who have enough enthusiasm to applaud a good work and yet not enough to make any sacrifice in promoting it. It is expressly stated that the gifts were offered freely. No tax was imposed by the authorities; but there was no backwardness on the part of the actual donors, who were impelled by a glowing devotion to open their purses without stint. Lastly, those who contributed did so “after their ability.” This is the true “proportionate giving.” For all to give an equal sum is impossible unless the poll-tax is to be fixed at a miserable minimum. Even for all to give the same proportion is unjust. There are poor men who ought not to sacrifice a tenth of what they receive; there are rich men who will be guilty of unfaithfulness to their stewardship if they do not devote far more than this fraction of their vast revenues to the service of God and their fellow-men. It would be reasonable for some of the latter only to reserve the tithe for their own use and to give away nine-tenths of their income, for even then they would not be giving “after their ability.”
After the preliminary step of collecting the contributions, the pilgrims proceed to the actual work they have in hand. In this they are heartily united; they gather themselves together “as one man” in a great assembly, which, if we may trust the account in Esdras, is held in an open space by the first gate towards the east, {RAPC 1Es 5:47} and therefore close to the site of the old temple, almost among its very ruins. The unity of spirit and the harmony of action which characterise the commencement of the work are good auguries of its success. This is to be a popular undertaking. Sanctioned by Cyrus, promoted by the aristocracy, it is to be carried out with the full co-operation of the multitude. The first temple had been the work of a king; the second is to be the work of a people. The nation had been dazzled by the splendour of Solomons court, and had basked in its rays so that the after-glow of them lingered in the memories of ages even down to the time of our Lord. {Mat 6:29} But there was a healthier spirit in the humbler work of the returned exiles, when, forced to dispense with the king they would gladly have accepted, they undertook the task of building the new temple themselves.
In the centre of the mosque known as the “Dome of the Rock” there is a crag with the well-worn remains of steps leading up to the top of it, and with channels cut in its surface. This has been identified by recent explorers as the site of the great Altar of Burnt-offerings. It is on the very crest of Mount Moriah. Formerly it was thought that it was the site of the inmost shrine of the temple, known as “The Holy of Holies,” but the new view, which seems to be fairly established, gives an unexpected prominence to the altar. This rude square structure of unhewn stone was the most elevated and conspicuous object in the temple. The altar was to Judaism what the cross is to Christianity. Both for us and for the Jews what is most vital and precious in religion is the dark mystery of a sacrifice. The first work of the temple-builders was to set up the altar again on its old foundation. Before a stone of the temple was laid, the smoke of sacrificial fires might be seen ascending to heaven from the highest crag of Moriah. For fifty years all sacrifices had ceased. Now with haste, in fear of hindrance from jealous neighbours, means were provided to re-establish them before any attempt was made to rebuild the temple. It is not quite easy to see what the writer means when, after saying “And they set the altar upon his bases,” he adds, “for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries.” The suggestion that the phrase may be varied so as to mean that the awe which this religious work inspired in the heathen neighbours prevented them from molesting it is far-fetched and improbable. Nor is it likely that the writer intends to convey the idea that the Jews hastened the building of the altar as a sort of Palladium, trusting that its sacrifices would protect them in case of invasion, for this is to attribute too low and materialistic a character to their religion. More reasonable is the explanation that they hastened the work because they feared that their neighbours might either hinder it or wish to have a share in it-an equally objectionable thing, as subsequent events showed.
The chronicler distinctly states that the sacrifices which were now offered, as well as the festivals which were established later, were all designed to meet the requirements of the law of Moses-that everything might be done “as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.” This statement does not throw much light on the history of the Pentateuch. We know that that work was not yet in the hands of the Jews at Jerusalem, because this was nearly eighty years before Ezra introduced it. The sentence suggests that according to the chronicler some law bearing the name of Moses was known to the first body of returned exiles. We need not regard that suggestion as a reflection from later years. Deuteronomy may have been the law referred to; or it may have been some rubric of traditional usages in the possession of the priests.
Meanwhile two facts of importance come out here – first, that the method of worship adopted by the returned exiles was a revival of ancient customs, a return to the old ways, not an innovation of their own, and second, that this restoration was in careful obedience to the known will of God. Here we have the root idea of the Torah. It announces that God has revealed His will, and it implies that the service of God can only be acceptable when it is in harmony with the will of God. The prophets taught that obedience was better than sacrifice. The priests held that sacrifice itself was a part of obedience. With both the primary requisite was obedience-as it is the primary requisite in all religion.
The particular kind of sacrifice offered on the great altar was the burnt-offering. Now we do occasionally meet with expiatory ideas in connection with this sacrifice; but unquestionably the principal conception attached to the burnt-offering in distinction from the sin-offering, was the idea of self-dedication on the part of the worshipper. Thus the Jews re-consecrated themselves to God by the solemn ceremony of sacrifice, and they kept up the thought of renewed consecration by the regular repetition of the burnt-offering. It is difficult for us to enter into the feelings of the people who practised so antique a cult, even to them archaic in its ceremonies, and dimly suggestive of primitive rites that had their origin in far-off barbaric times. But one thing is clear, shining as with letters of awful fire against the black clouds of smoke that hang over the altar. This sacrifice was always a “whole offering.” As it was being completely consumed in the flames before their very eyes, the worshippers would see a vivid representation of the tremendous truth that the most perfect sacrifice is death-nay, that it is even more than death, that it is absolute self-effacement in total and unreserved surrender to God.
Various rites follow the great central sacrifice of the burnt-offering, ushered in by the most joyous festival of the year, the Feast of Tabernacles, when the people scatter themselves over the hills round Jerusalem under the shade of extemporised bowers made out of the leafy boughs of trees, and celebrate the goodness of God in the final and richest harvest, the vintage. Then come New Moon and the other festivals that stud the calendar with sacred dates and make the Jewish year a round of glad festivities.
Thus, we see, the full establishment of religious services precedes the building of the temple. A weighty truth is enshrined in this apparently incongruous fact. The worship itself is felt to be more important than the house in which it is to be celebrated. That truth should be even more apparent to us who have read the great words of Jesus uttered by Jacobs well, “The hour cometh when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth.” {Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23} How vain then is it to treat the erection of churches as though it were the promotion of a revival of religion! As surely as the empty sea-shell tossed up on the beach can never secrete a living organism to inhabit it, a mere building-whether it be the most gorgeous cathedral or the plainest village meeting-house-will never induce a living spirit of worship to dwell in its cold desolation. Every true religious revival begins in the spiritual sphere and finds its place of worship where it may-in the rustic barn or on the hillside-if no more seemly home can be provided for it, because its real temple is the humble and contrite heart.
Still the design of building the temple at Jerusalem was kept constantly in view by the pilgrims. Accordingly it was necessary to purchase materials, and in particular the fragrant cedar wood from the distant forests of Lebanon. These famous forests were still in the possession of the Phoenicians, for Cyrus had allowed a local autonomy to the busy trading people on the northern seaboard. So, in spite of the kings favour, it was requisite for the Jews to pay the full price for the costly timber. Now, in disbursing the original funds brought up from Babylon, it would seem that the whole of this money was expended in labour, in paying the wages of masons and carpenters. Therefore the Jews had to export agricultural products-such as corn, wine, and olive oil-in exchange for the imports of timber they received from the Phoenicians. The question at once arises, how did they come to be possessed of these fruits of the soil? The answer is supplied by a chronological remark in our narrative. It was in the second year of their residence in Jerusalem and its neighbourhood that the Jews commenced the actual building of their temple. They had first patiently cleared, ploughed, and sown the neglected fields, trimmed and trained the vines, and tended the olive gardens, so that they were able to reap a harvest, and to give the surplus products for the purchase of the timber required in building the temple. As the foundation was laid in the spring, the order for the cedar wood must have been sent before the harvest was reaped-pledging it in advance with faith in the God who gives the increase. The Phoenician woodmen fell their trees in the distant forests of Lebanon; and the massive trunks are dragged down to the coast, and floated along the Mediterranean to Joppa, and then carried on the backs of camels or slowly drawn up the heights of Judah in ox-wagons, while the crops that are to pay for them are still green in the fields.
Here then is a further proof of devotion on the part of the Jews from Babylon-though it is scarcely hinted at in the narrative, though we can only discover it by a careful comparison of facts and dates. Labour is expended on the fields; long weary months of waiting are endured; when the fruits of toil are obtained, these hard-earned stores are not hoarded by their owners; they too, like the gold and silver of the wealthier Jews, are gladly surrendered for the one object which kindles the enthusiasm of every class of the community.
At length all is ready. Jeshua the priest now precedes Zerubbabel, as well as the rest of the twelve leaders, in inaugurating the great work. On the Levites is laid the immediate responsibility of carrying it through. When the foundation is laid, the priests in their new white vestments sound their silver trumpets, and the choir of Levites, the sons of Asaph. clang their brazen cymbals. To the accompaniment of this inspiriting music they sing glad psalms in praise of God, giving thanks to Him, celebrating His goodness and His mercy that endureth forever toward Israel. This is not at all like the soft music and calm chanting of subdued cathedral services that we think of in connection with great national festivals. The instruments blare and clash, the choristers cry aloud, and the people join them with a mighty shout. When shrill discordant notes of bitter wailing, piped by a group of melancholy old men, threaten to break the harmony of the scene, they are drowned in the deluge of jubilation that rises up in protest and beats down all their opposition with its triumph of gladness. To a sober Western the scene would seem to be a sort of religious orgy, like a wild Bacchanalian festival, like the howling of hosts of dervishes. But although it is the Englishmans habit to take his religion sombrely, if not sadly, it may be well for him to pause before pronouncing a condemnation of those men and women who are more exuberant in the expression of spiritual emotion. If he finds, even among his fellow-countrymen, some who permit themselves a more lively music and a more free method of public worship than he is accustomed to, is it not a mark of insular narrowness for him to visit these unconventional people with disapprobation? In abandoning the severe manners of their race, they are only approaching nearer to the time-old methods of ancient Israel.
In this clangour and clamour at Jerusalem the predominant note was a burst of irrepressible gladness. When God turned the captivity of Israel, mourning was transformed into laughter. To understand the wild excitement of the Jews, their paean of joy, their very ecstasy, we must recollect what they had passed through, as well as what they were now anticipating. We must remember the cruel disaster of the overthrow of Jerusalem, the desolation of the exile, the sickness of weary waiting for deliverance, the harshness of the persecution that embittered the later years of the captivity under Nabonidas; we must think of the toilsome pilgrimage through the desert, with its dismal wastes, its dangers and its terrors, followed by the patient work on the land and gathering in of means for building the temple. And now all this was over. The bow had been terribly bent; the rebound was immense. People who cannot feel strong religious gladness have never known the heartache of deep religious grief. These Israelites had cried out of the depths; they were prepared to shout for joy from the heights. Perhaps we may go further, and detect a finer note in this great blast of jubilation, a note of higher and more solemn gladness. The chastisement of the exile was past, and the long-suffering mercy of God-enduring forever-was again smiling out on the chastened people. And yet the positive realisation of their hopes was for the future. The joy, therefore, was inspired by faith. With little accomplished as yet, the sanguine people already saw the temple in their minds eye, with its massive walls, its cedar chambers, and its adornment of gold and richly dyed hangings. In the very laying of the foundation their eager imaginations leaped forward to the crowning of the highest pinnacles. Perhaps they saw more; perhaps they perceived, though but dimly, something of the meaning of the spiritual blessedness that had been foretold by their prophets.
All this gladness centred in the building of a temple, and therefore ultimately in the worship of God. We take but a one-sided view of Judaism if we judge it by the sour ideas of later Pharisaism. As it presented itself to St. Paul in opposition to the gospel, it was stern and loveless. But in its earlier days this religion was free and gladsome, though, as we shall soon see, even then a rigour of fanaticism soon crept in and turned its joy into grief. Here, however, at the founding of the temple, it wears its sunniest aspect. There is no reason why religion should wear any other aspect to the devout soul. It should be happy; for is it not the worship of a happy God?
“Nevertheless, in the midst of the almost universal acclaim of joy and praise, there was the note of sadness wailed by the old men, who could recollect the venerable fane in which their fathers had worshipped before the ruthless soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar had reduced it to a heap of ashes. Possibly some of them had stood on this very spot half a century before, in an agony of despair, while they saw the cruel flames licking the ancient stones and blazing up among the cedar beams, and all the fine gold dimmed with black clouds of smoke. Was it likely that the feeble flock just returned from Babylon could ever produce such a wonder of the world as Solomons temple had been? The enthusiastic younger people might be glad in their ignorance; but their sober elders, who knew more, could only weep. We cannot but think that, after the too common habit of the aged, these mournful old men viewed the past in a glamour of memory, magnifying its splendours as they looked back on them through the mists of time. If so, they were old indeed; for this habit, and not years, makes real old age. He is aged who lives in bygone days, with his face ever set to the irreparable past, vainly regretting its retreating memories, uninterested in the present, despondent of the future. The true elixir of life, the secret of perpetual youth of soul, is interest in the present and the future, with the forward glance of faith and hope. Old men who cultivate this spirit have young hearts though the snow is on their heads. And such are wise. No doubt, from the standpoint of a narrow common sense, with its shrunken views confined to the material and the mundane, the old men who wept had more reason for their conduct than the inexperienced younger men who rejoiced. But there is a prudence that comes of blindness, and there is an imprudence that is sublime in its daring, because it springs from faith. The despair of old age makes one great mistake, because it ignores one great truth. In noting that many good things have passed away, it forgets to remember that God remains. God is not dead! Therefore the future is safe. In the end the young enthusiasts of Jerusalem were justified. A prophet arose who declared that a glory which the former temple had never known should adorn the new temple, in spite of its humble beginning; and history verified his word when the Lord took possession of His house in the person of His Son.”