The Temple Restored

   
                                                     Sunday School Lesson

                                            

Lesson: Ezra 3:8-13;                                                                                                 
Golden Text:   “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” (Ezra 3:11)

 INTRODUCTION.  At the time of our lesson, the remnant from the captivity had been back in the Promised Land for a little over a year.  Now it was time to begin the real reason for their return to the land: rebuilding the temple and restoring the worship of Almighty God, the God of the Jews.  At Sinai, God gave the Israelites instructions for the tabernacle which would represent His presence among them (see Exodus 25:8-9; 33:7).  When the tabernacle was dedicated, the Lord’s glory filled it.  This first tabernacle was a tent that followed Israel as they headed to the Promised Land from Egypt.  David wanted badly to build a permanent dwelling for the Lord.  However, it was not until Solomon’s reign that this became a reality.  The temple then became the centerpiece of Israel’s identity.  We can’t begin to imagine the grief Israel experienced when foreigners ravaged the temple taking all its sacred objects and eventually destroying it.  But now they had an opportunity to rebuild it and it was a time of great joy.  
II. THE BUILDING BEGUN (Ezra 3:8-9) 
A. The leaders in restoring the temple (Ezra 3:8).  Our lesson begins with “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.”  After being in their land for about a year, we are told that “in the second month” the people began restoring the “house of the Lord” or the temple which had been looted, sacked and destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar (see II Kings 25:8-9, 13-17). The Hebrew month of Zif (also called Ziv) is the second month of the Hebrew religious calendar corresponding to our mid-April through mid-May.  As with almost any work that is to be done,
leaders must be appointed and recognized. This rebuilding effort was led by the appointed leaders “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel” who was recognized as Israel’s political leader who served as governor (see Haggai 1:1).  He was the grandson of Johoiachin, the captive king of Judah (see I Chronicles 3:17-19).  The religious leader of the rebuilding effort was “Jeshua the son of Jozadak” who served as high priest (see Haggai 1:1).  In Zechariah 3:1-9 and 6-11 he is called Joshua.  These leaders were joined by others identified as “the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem.”  Note: God usually leads His people through men and women he appoints for His own reasons.  It is not necessary that we know or approve of His reasons, but we must acknowledge His right to establish our leaders.  However, it is important that we know those who God sends to lead us whether we know His reasons for choosing them or not (see I Thessalonians 5:12).  The phrase “remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites” refers to descendents of the priests and the Levites who returned to Jerusalem after the captivity.  The “remnant” also included the remaining Jews to “come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem.”  The leaders of the restoration project also “appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.”  In other words, Levites twenty years and older were appointed to supervise the work of restoring the temple.

B. The supervisors in restoring the temple (Ezra 3:9).  This verse goes on to say, “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.”  This “Jeshua” who stood up with “his sons and his brethren” is not the high priest Jeshua mentioned in verse 8.  He was a Levite but not a priest who had the same name (see Ezra 2:36-40).  Jeshua and his male family members joined with “Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, with the “sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren” all of them being Levites.  The word “together” meaning “united as one” indicates that as one person they all “set forward” or provided supervision for the workers in the rebuilding of the temple of God.

III. THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLE DEDICATED (Ezra 3:10-13)
A.  Praising the Lord for the success granted and the work begun (Ezra 3:10-11). 
1. (vs. 10).  This verse says “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.”  After “the builders” or those appointed to do the work completed the foundation of the temple, a great worship ceremony followed.  The leaders, Zerubbabel and Jeshua “set the priests in their apparel with trumpets.”  According to the Law, all the priests wore special coats, belts, and headgear (see Exodus 28:40), but the high priest’s clothing was the most elaborate (see Exodus chapter 28:1-39).The trumpets the priests used were not ram’s horns (or shofars), but were narrow silver instruments with a flared end.  The Lord had instructed Moses on how to make and use these instruments (see Numbers 10:1-10).  They were always blown by the priests for calling assemblies, setting out on the wilderness journeys, gathering troops for war, and celebrating monthly and annual feasts. “The Levites the sons of Asaph” also took part in this dedication celebration playing “cymbals.”  These Levites were descendents of “Asaph” who oversaw worship music during the reigns of both David and Solomon (see I Chronicles 16:4-5; 25:1; II Chronicles 5:12).  Those involved in this celebration did so “to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.”  In other words, they followed the directives of King David.  David was a musician himself and he appointed skilled men to provide music for the tabernacle worship (see I Chronicles 6:31; 25:1).  These returning exiles followed all the practices that David had prescribed.
2. (vs. 11).  The musical instruments provided accompaniment for singing as this verse says “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.”  The phrase “And they sang together by course” indicates that they sang antiphonally or responsively, apparently using Psalms 118:1-2.  In other words, one group would sing “give thanks unto the Lord; because He is good,” and the other group would respond singing “for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.”  The words they sang were also sang when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (see I Chronicles 16:1, 34) and when the ark was placed in the temple (see II Chronicles 5:2-5,13).  So at this dedication of the second temple’s foundation, the Levitical singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord through song, exalting the Lord for His goodness and rejoicing that His mercy to Israel would endure forever.The last part of this verse says “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.”  These Jews didn’t wait until the temple was completed before dedicating it.  The completion of the foundation alone was sufficient reason for rejoicing and praising God.  They not only “praised the Lord” with a shout, it was “with a great shout.”  They realized that even though God had chastised the nation for her sins as the prophets had foretold, He had not forsaken them.
B. Perspective on the progress of the work (Ezra 3:12-13).
1. (vs. 12).  Although most of the people rejoiced at the completion of the foundation of the second temple, there was also another prospective from the elderly exiles.  This verse says “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.”  When  the temple foundation was completed there was a mixed response among the people.  The phrase “But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men” refers to the older returning captives.  They “had seen the first house” built by Solomon before they were taken into Babylonian Captivity.  It was a glorious temple, one of the great wonders of its time.  These older men, having seen it in all of its grandeur, carried the image of the temple in their minds.  They couldn’t help comparing what they thought the new building would look like with the old one.These older captives who remembered the first temple and seeing the foundation completed “wept with a loud voice” which was the custom in the Near East (see I Samuel 30:4; II Samuel 3:31-34; 19:4: Mark 5:38). But on the other hand “many shouted aloud for joy.”These were probably the younger people who had grown up in captivity and were not old enough to remember the first temple.  For them there were no good old days; the best days were still to come. 
2. (vs. 13).In our final verse we are told that the shouts of joy were so loud “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.”The two sounds,weeping and joy, representing two outlooks, were mingled together so that anyone listening “could not discern(or distinguish)the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people.”The noise that was created was so loud that it was “heard afar off” meaning far away.The surrounding Gentile peoples could tell that something of great importance was happening among the returning Jewish exiles.Of course this caused these surrounding peoples to be concerned and some of them attempted to join the Jews in the rebuilding project.When their help was refused, they conspired to stop the work (see Ezra 4:1-6).Ezra 4:6-23 summarizes the entire story of the opposition by the surrounding peoples to stop the building of the temple.           
                 
IV. Conclusion.  There should be no doubt in the mind of any Christian that there is a need to revive the proper worship of God and respect for His Word.  We need to rebuild the foundation and restore proper worship of the Lord both personally and corporately.  However, it must begin in His time and in His way.