REESTABLISHING OUR WORSHIP OF GOD
Ezra 6:13-7:1
BACKGROUND
Because of the sins of Israel, in 597 BC, God sent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to
Destroy Jerusalem and the temple. The people were taken captive for 70 years.
In 539 BC, King Cyrus signed a decree that the Jews were to be released to return to Israel.
In 519 BC, King Cyrus decreed that walls around Jerusalem and the temple
Be rebuilt. The returning Jews rebuilt the walls but did not rebuild the Temple.
The Jews rebuilt their own homes but left the Temple rebuilding for another time.
18 years had passed and the work on the temple never got started
Haggai the prophet was prompted by the Lord to motivate the people to rebuild
The temple.
Haggai 1:1-3
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: \”These people say, \’The time has not yet come for the Lord\’s house to be built.\’\”
Haggai 1:14
They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
GOD’S DIRECTION TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE
V:13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
- As long as a believer is ignoring the commands of the Lord, he may leave you alone.
- But the moment you start following God’s command, the Devil will raise opposition.
- For 18 years the work on the temple had been delayed by the Jews to rebuild their
Home.
- The devil showed up the moment the work of the Temple was restarted.
Ezra 5:3-6
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, \”Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?\” 4 They also asked, \”What are the names of the men constructing this building?\” 5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
- When your focus is on God’s work, He will step in to silence the enemy.
- God will use the evilness of the enemy to prompt His Work.
- Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai went to King Darius complaining about God’s Work.
- King Darius researched his archives and found the original decree to rebuild the
Temple by King Cyrus.
Ezra 6:3-5
In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide, 4 with three courses of large stones and one of the timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.
- When you trust God and follow His commands, He will remove any objection and bring you
The help you need.
- God’s plan for your life will not be stopped by the enemy.
- Tattennai and Trans-Euphrates the opposition, were commanded by the king
To provide all that was needed to rebuild the temple and all the animals
Needed for the sacrifice to the Lord.
CELEBRATING IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
V:16 Then the people of Israel — the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles — celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
- We harm ourselves and our families when we neglect the work of God.
- Look at the warning the Lord gave to Israel
Haggai 1:9-11
You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?\” declares the Lord Almighty. \”Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and the labor of your hands.\”
- It was not the enemy that caused Israel’s problems, It was their disobedience.
- For 18 years, they did not enjoy the prosperity that God intended because
They ignored God’s command to rebuild the temple.
- The moment the temple was completed, God opened up His Joy to them.
- There is a song that says Oh what peace we forfeit all because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
- Following God does not eliminate troubled times, but allows us to have peace
And joy through them.
COME TO THE HOUSE OF GOD WITH A SACRIFICE
V:17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
- When God gives us victory over the enemy, therefore, we ought to offer Him sacrifices out of Love and gratitude.
- The sacrifices the Israelites offered to Lord, He provide through the hands of
King Darius.
- All that we have in our possession, God made available to us through the work He
Blessed us with using the talents He gave us.
- We can’t worship the Lord any way we want.
- We are to follow God’s commands.
- The Jews had not been able to worship in the temple for 70 years.
They re-establish the order of worship given by King Solomon (1 Kings 8:5)
- Because of their poor condition, they offered what God had given them.
Compared to what Solomon offered in the dedication of the first temple
What Jews offered was just a small fraction.
- God is not concerned about the size of the offering, but the heart behind the
Offering.
- They consecrated the priest according to the Book of Moses. Lev 8, Numbers 8
- They re-established the order and schedule of the Priest in the
Temple worship.
- The best example we have of how to worship the Lord is in the Word of God.
- According to Numbers 8 the priest were purified and set apart for
The work in the Temple.
- Once we accepted Christ as our savior, we were set apart as
Priest to the work of God.
- We purify ourselves by asking for forgiveness and repenting and
Devoting ourselves to the Lord.
CELEBRATING OUR VICTORY OVER SIN
V:19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests, and themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.
- The returning Jews from captivity celebrated the Passover festival on the day and month
Established by Moses,
- They showed their renewed devotion to the Lord by following the procedures written
In the Law of Moses.
- They had been in captivity for 70 years in a nation that did not honor God
- God placed them in captivity as a punishment.
- You could expect that the returning Jews still had a love for idols.
- It showed in their neglect to build the temple for 18 years after returning
From captivity,
- They had to be instructed to separate themselves from Gentile practices.
- They were glad to be back in the promised land.
- They were glad to have completed the temple
- They considered rebuilding their home over the command to rebuild the temple.
- God showed them mercy by releasing them from captivity,
But their hearts were not devoted to God.
- As a result of them putting their homes over the Temple rebuilding.
They suffered financially because of failed crops and lost revenue.
- Putting god first ensures our success.
FILLED WITH JOY IN THE CELEBRATION
V:22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
- God puts people in our lives to remind us of His holiness.
- God’s plan for His people does not change because of disobedience.
- God gave them prophets to remind them that it was He, the one true God
Who released them from captivity and gave them the help of the
Enemy to rebuild the temple.
- We ought to find joy when we reflect on what God has done for us.
- We ought to have a renewed dedication to worship the Lord according to
His commands.
- They celebrated the feast of the Passover for seven days with Joy.
- Notice it was the Lord who was the source of their joy.
- The rebuilding of the Temple was a sign of love God had for them
- The rebuilding of the Temple was a sign that God is on the throne
And the center of our worship.
- The Passover is a sign of the power and authority of God over mankind.
- The death angel passed over us with the death of Jesus on the cross.
- The Israelites had to continue to make sacrifices of animals as a symbol of
The permeant atonement of sin of the coming Messiah.
- Every time we celebrate the Passover we are commanded to do
It is the remembrance of Jesus Christ.
- All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, therefore
All need the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
Rev. M. Mitchell
