We have seen as we've been looking at this book of Ezra in the first couple of chapters that under the decree of Cyrus, king of Persia, a remnant of the people of Israel have returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in the year 538 BC. They've initially come with offerings and they've presented them to the Lord at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, which at this particular moment in time is but a ruin. It is the shattered remnants of the glorious Temple of Solomon. But they have hope. in its restoration. They have returned to this place in order to rebuild this temple and to restore the worship of God in Judah. The people had, on bringing their offerings at the site of the temple, gone to their own hometowns there to settle in, as it were, and to begin to rebuild their fragmented lives, but they weren't to be there for very long. before they were called back to Jerusalem in the seventh month. Now that is not the seventh month after they had come out of Babylon and to Jerusalem, but it's the seventh month of the year for them, of the Jewish year. They have journeyed in that year and they have come to Jerusalem and it may only have been a relatively short period of time that they dispersed to their hometowns before being recalled to Jerusalem and there's a significant reason and it's obviously by prior arrangement that they come to Jerusalem at this time they gather as one man they gather in unison to Jerusalem and we immediately see them build the altar of the God of Israel in the city of Jerusalem. There's barely anything there, there is just the ruins of the temple, there is the site, the location of the temple, but everything else has gone. The previous altar has been destroyed, any precious metals had been taken away, the temple itself had been reduced to ruins and all of its instruments of sacrifice and of worship had been taken into exile with the peoples. And so they have to, quite literally, start from scratch, picking out the stones from the ruins and the heaps in order to construct an altar to their God and immediately they begin to make offerings on that altar from the first day of that seventh month. And it's a significant month in the year of the Jews. It was the month in which the offerings of the Day of Atonement were made. And that was a great time for Israel to gather and to acknowledge their sins and confess them to God and witness the sacrifices as the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness and the other was offered as a sacrifice on the altar and its blood was taken into the Holy of Holies by the high priest who on only this day in the year could enter into the symbolic presence of God and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Now of course none of that is there. As they gather together on this occasion in this seventh month of this particular year, there is no temple. There is no holy place with a table and the spread of the presence upon it, or the seven-stick lampstand burning to give light in that holy place. There is no altar of incense immediately before a heavy veil in which are embroidered the images of Cherubim guarding the way into the sanctuary of God, the most holy place. There is no Ark of the Covenant containing the stone tablets on which the finger of God had engraved the Ten Commandments, in which the staff of Aaron that had budded was stored or a jar full of manna with which God had fed the Israelites in the years of their wanderings in the wilderness. None of that is there. There is no mercy seat upon which golden angels are carved and which present to us the throne of God for the priests to sprinkle the blood of atonement upon. None of that is there. It has all been taken away. It has all been ruined by the sins of their fathers and by their own sins. They had forfeit it all that way into the presence of God. That symbolic ritual that gave them hope of mercy from God and reconciliation with God. It's all been shattered. It's all been destroyed by their sins. And yet, here they are. a remnant of the people of Israel, gathered as one man in Jerusalem, having built an altar on which to offer sacrifice. And so they did. They gave attention to the Word of God. Have they at last learned this important lesson, that they must attend to the Word of God. This was their problem, wasn't it? That they had not heeded the Word of God, they had not given due consideration to either promised blessings or promised curses. And because they hadn't given heed to the Word of God, they had departed from the Lord their God in disobedience to worship other gods which were no gods at all. They couldn't protect them, they couldn't provide for them, they couldn't deliver them from their enemies. They couldn't succor them and nurture them. They couldn't hold them together as a nation. victorious in the face of their enemies, they were no gods at all, and the one true and living God whom they had forsaken by not giving attention to his word to obey it, that God chastened them so severely with the rod of the Babylonians, taking them away into captivity far away from Jerusalem, far away from their temple, which as they went into exile they saw destroyed and smouldering. But now, having returned to Jerusalem, now they give attention to the Word of God. They were concerned about the law of Moses, the man of God, and they did as it is written in the law And that is a repeated phrase in this chapter then, they did as it is written in the law, giving attention to the word of God. For they know that there is no other God, that the gods of the nations are no gods at all, they tried them out and they had failed for them. and yet there is this fear of the nations round about them, there is this fear of the peoples of the land and they bring their burnt offerings we're told to this ruin of a temple on this hastily constructed altar they offer up offerings to God, why? Because they are determined that the God of their fathers should be their God. He is the only one who can keep them in safety. He is the only one who can protect them from the peoples round about them. He is the only one who can nurture them and rebuild them and make them once more a people for His glory in this land. And so they bring their offerings. They bring burnt offerings morning and evening as it was written. They brought offerings that would atone symbolically for their sins. But not only the offerings, not only the sacrifices that the priests would offer on that altar morning and night, But they entered into the ceremonies of ancient Israel too. And they kept, we're told, the Feast of Booths as it is written. For as the Word of God taught them to bring their sacrifices, the Word of God also taught them to remember God's deliverance. And this feast of booths was a ceremony of God's protection and provision for them in the wilderness as they travelled in tents from place to place until at last they were brought into the promised land. And this was a ritual, this was a feast that they were to commemorate every year, never to forget. how God had saved them from slavery, how he had brought them into the promised land, and the wonderful way that he had provided for them in the intervening period. And so they submitted themselves to the ordinances of God. the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon, all the appointed feasts of the Lord. They submitted to these things as it was written in the law of Moses, the man of God. And so too as individuals and not only as a nation, but individually they brought their offerings, their free will offerings, offerings that came out of hearts that were full of thankfulness to God for all of his kindnesses day by day, how he had preserved and protected them on that long journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem. how he had brought them now to this temple site where though there were ruins, yet they had the hope of a new temple being constructed. And so the priority of the people is found in obeying the law of the Lord. But while they're doing all of this, We have this statement at the end of verse 6, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. They have begun in the right place. They have begun with the worship of God in the prescribed manner as the priority. They must come to God. They must seek the presence of God and the blessing of God through the sacrifices that they were to bring, through the rituals that they were to perform. These were all messages to them of God's holiness and of God's mercy. That sin must be atoned for. but that God would accept a substitute in the place of the sinner. This was the message that was preached as it were to Israel every day of the week as morning and evening sacrifices were presented to God. on more memorable occasions, like the Day of Atonement, or like the Feast of the Passover, and others of that kind, would highlight the reality that they needed atonement, and God had provided it. Though they were a sinful people, and they were, they've just come home from exile in a foreign land because of their sins. God is a merciful God and he would respond to their cries for mercy and he would favour them in his kindness. So they've begun their seeking the favour of God according to his word. But the temple still needs to be built. For Israel, the temple was perhaps more important than it is for us. It's convenient to have a building in which to meet, all set up and ready for us week by week. It makes life easy to have a place to gather together, convenient and purposeful. But for Israel, the temple itself taught them about God, the physical structure of the temple, the courtyard in which the altar of sacrifice was placed, and the great labor, or sea as it's sometimes called, a place for the ritual cleansing of the priesthood. and the holy place before which the priest would have to pass through in order to enter into the most holy place from which all Israel is cut off and even the priests cannot enter except once a year preaching a message of God's holiness to the people but also preaching the message of God's mercy. the structure of the temple itself was part of their worship. And while it was right that they shouldn't neglect worshipping God until the temple was built, at the same time they must not neglect the building of the temple while they worship God. And so they turn their hands to this great task. It begins, we're told, in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month. Now the first month of the Jewish calendar would have been the month in which the Passover was celebrated. And so that was a great month for them to remember God's goodness in bringing their fathers out of slavery in Egypt. And now, of course, it had the added significance of God's grace towards them in bringing them out of their exile in Babylon and restoring them to the land that they had forfeit through their sins. But His mercy is unbounded. and his compassion for his people. And so here they are, celebrating the Passover. But once that task is done, in the second month, echoing the month in which Solomon's Temple structure was begun in the second month of the year. The people gather together and so they bring their money and they bring their food and they drink and oil for the Sidonians and the Tyrenians who bring cedar trees from Lebanon. All of this work has been prepared in the intervening period. from when they built the altar to when they begin to build the foundation. Now they have money, now they have resources. It's a spiritual work that they're engaged in, but it's a spiritual work with material needs. And they've had to gather these things in as verse 7 shows us. But now in this second month of the second year, they begin to build. So Rabbah, the son of Shealtiel and Yeshua, the son of Josedach, so the kingly leader and the priestly leader of the people, leading their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites, all who had come to Jerusalem now engage in the building of the temple. Here's a beginning with the appointment of oversight and supervision for the workers. It's interesting, isn't it, that here are men of the cloth is a phrase that would have been used not so long ago to speak of the Levites, ministers of God, men of the cloth. They weren't tradesmen as such. They weren't builders. They weren't skilled in those things. They were students of the law of God. They were teachers of the people. They were workers in the temple bringing and preparing the sacrifices and handing them over to the priests who would perform the sacrifice and sprinkle the blood and burn the various parts of the sacrifice on the altar. But here are Levites who are set in charge of the building of the temple. For even as this is a spiritual work that requires material needs, the material work has spiritual goals. This isn't simply a matter of building a structure in which the people can gather. It's not about architectural brilliance. something that will be stunning and eye-catching for the people as they come up from the valley of the Jordan River up the hillside towards Jerusalem and then to the Temple Mount to see this structure on the hill. It's not about those things. The temple is about God and the worship of God, and its architecture must serve that purpose. And so the people who are most qualified to supervise the work aren't necessarily those who are skilled with hammer and nails, so much as those who have an eye to the design of God. and to ensure that that is accomplished. And so the work is begun. The place is cleared, the material is brought, but at the heart of it all, in the sacrifices and in the design, there is the spiritual reality that they are undertaking the work of God. You see, both are needed, material and spiritual, and both must be kept in the right balance. The material must not be prioritized over the spiritual. but neither must the spiritual be overly spiritualized so that there is no acknowledgement of the material needs of the people of God and the service of God in this world. But all is to be guided by the word of God, according to the priorities of God and for the glory of God. And so the people, they're obeying the law of the Lord as they're beginning the temple of the Lord. And at last, the builders laid the foundation of the temple. That's all it is. If we were looking at it in our modern day, it would just be a concrete slab. I'm not quite sure what they used as a foundation in their days, but that's all it was. It was just the foundation, but it was the beginning. It was the beginning of the place in which God would be worshipped by the generations to come. And as this foundation then is finished, the priests come. in all of their vestments they come and the Levites come with them and here are the sons of Asaph these are the worship leaders with their symbols and they come to praise the Lord again according, well it doesn't say the word of the Lord it says according to the directions of David king of Israel but these are the word of the Lord. This is what was put in place during his reign to govern the worship that took place in the temple. And they begin to sing, the priests and the Levites, they begin to sing responsibly, praising God and giving thanks to the Lord using the same words that were sung when Solomon's temple was begun. For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel. The completion of the foundation, while it wasn't much, it was a cause for celebration. It depicted the hope of the people, and that celebration focuses not on the success of the people, It doesn't congratulate the people on their generosity in being able to bring the gifts and gather the materials to bring about a successful completion of the foundations. It doesn't celebrate the skill of the builders in the work that they have done in preparing this foundation and completing it. The focus of the celebration is upon the God who has saved them and who has restored them in his love, for he is good and his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel. He is worthy of praise, it is only because of him that these people gathered in Jerusalem have been able to do as much as they have done, it was he who stirred the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to decree their return, it was he who had stirred the people to be willing to come back from the comforts of Babylon to the unknown in their towns and villages of Judah and the ruined city of Jerusalem and its equally ruined temple. It was God who had stirred the hearts of their neighbors back in Babylon to enrich them with their wealth so that they would have the means whereby to purchase the resources that were necessary for the building of this temple. It was all God's work. From beginning to end it would be God's work and the priests and the Levites lead the people in celebrating their God. And so a great shout comes up from the people in unison they praise the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. What joy there was in the hearts of so many of those people, as they began to see the early stages of this building develop, what hopes they had for the future. But among them, among them were those who had been in Jerusalem before its ruin. and had seen Solomon's temple before its destruction, before all of its gold and silver and bronze had been carted away to a foreign land, before the altar had been destroyed and the various utensils of the temple had been taken away, when it stood there on the holy mount in all of its glorious splendour, and they look at this poor foundation and they wept. They wept with a loud voice when they saw this foundation. How was it possible that it could hold anything like the glory of the temple that had gone before it? They consider the things that they have lost and it's a mistaken focus. Yes, they had lost much, and they had lost it all through their own sins, but this was not a time for dwelling upon the past. This was not a time for dwelling on their mistakes and their misfortune as it were. This is not the time for dwelling on what could have been, for it is not. And they must dwell instead on what can be and what will be. And like them, As we think about our sins and we think about our failings, we cannot afford to dwell on the past. We must not dwell on the past. But we must, with thankfulness to God, give praise to him for his saving grace, for his full forgiveness, for his total pardon, and for the hope of the future, a future that promises his blessing. Haggai was a prophet who ministered in these days, Zechariah too was ministering at this time and those though Haggai comes a little later than the events that are being described in the early part of Ezra will actually meet him in Ezra a little later on and though the words I'm going to quote to you speak of a later time when some years have passed and while the temple foundation has been laid the temple structure has not been completed And Haggai and Zechariah were sent by God to the people in Jerusalem to exhort them and to encourage them to complete this work that they had come to Jerusalem to do. And in Haggai in chapter 2 we read in verse 3, Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Well, that's how it was. You see here in Ezra chapter 3, as those with memories of the former temple looked on this foundation, they wept because it was as nothing in their eyes. And Haggai goes on and he says, yet now be strong. This isn't the way for you to be thinking. O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord, be strong. O Joshua, son of Jehoshadak, the high priest, be strong. All you people of the land, declares the Lord, work for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit remains in your midst, fear not. All of your sins and the sins of your fathers that caused my chastening rod to come upon your backs and to take you into captivity for a time, even despite all of those sins and those failures, my spirit remains in your midst. My covenant is sure towards you. For thus says the Lord of hosts, yet once more in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations shall come in and I will fill this house with glory says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. Of course it is all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. What glory he brought to the temple. But more than that, what glory he brings to us. as he builds a stone by living stone into a temple for his God. From every people and from every nation, the temple that Solomon built in all its glory is nothing to be compared with what Jesus Christ is building through his grace and mercy towards sinners. And so though the people of the nations heard the people of the Lord and couldn't distinguish the weeping and the mourning from the shouts of joy. The prophets of God encouraged the people not to think about the past. but to think about the future. The Lord was at work. He was rebuilding them as a nation. He was rebuilding the temple. The priests and the Levites, they recognize it, they acknowledge it, they claim the steadfast love of the Lord and His goodness towards Israel as undeserving as they are. God is showing to them His covenant faithfulness. And the Lord's work goes beyond Jerusalem and encompasses the whole world. Even as this foundation of the temple on the mount in Jerusalem was being finished and the people gathered to praise and give thanks to the Lord, the Lord was preparing the way for Jesus Christ to come. And he Unlike those sacrifices that they brought day by day, season by season, ceremony by ceremony to the house of God in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ would offer the ultimate sacrifice once and for all, and it would provide full and complete atonement for the sins of his people, never to be repeated. and from offering up his sacrifice he would enter into the heavenly temple made without hands and there he would sit down upon the throne of God and through the ages of history he would show mercy from the mercy seat, securing the salvation of his people for the glory of God throughout eternity. Don't weep over the past. Give thanks to God for his steadfast love and look to the future and the glory that he has promised. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the lessons that it teaches us about you and about ourselves. How unworthy we are of any of the goodness that flows from you to us, and yet you freely bless us. Help us to see in our daily lives your blessing. Help us to look to the future and the glory that awaits us. Help us that we may be freed from the sins of our past that would seek to cling to us and cause us to mourn. Help us to shake those things off and focus upon your goodness and love and your future that you are preparing for us as your people. Lord, I pray again that you would have mercy upon those among us for whom all of these promises are nothing. All of these pictures are darkness. I pray that you would open their eyes to see and open their ears to hear and open their hearts to receive. your mercy this day and live for you every day of their lives and enter into your glory, that we all as one man may stand before the throne of God and the Lamb and give you praise, for you are good and your steadfast love endures forever towards your people. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.