The Building Begins | Ezra 3 (Mark Evans)

The people of Israel gather in Jerusalem to rebuild the altar and the temple. They offer burnt offerings and keep the Feast of Booths. Despite fear and opposition, they remain united and obedient to God. They subcontract the building to nonbelievers. The foundation of the temple is not yet laid. The temple is significant because it represents God's dwelling place with man. If you have your Bible, you can make your way to the book of Ezra as we continue on our sermon series. As we come now to our third sermon in Ezra chapter 3, as we look at the work of rebuilding the altar and the temple, and so our text for this morning is Ezra chapter 3. And these are the words of the true and the living God. When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Then arose Jeshua, the son of Jehozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his kingsmen. And they 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. They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the land. And they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written. And they offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the rule, as each day required. And after that, the regular burnt offerings, the offerings as the new moon, and all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. 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 was not yet laid. So they gave money to the Masons, and the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus, king of Persia. Now in the second year, after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, made a beginning, together with the rest of their kingsmen, and the priests, and the Levites, and all who had come to Jerusalem from captivity. They appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. And Joshua, with his sons and his brothers, and Cadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house, along with the sons of Henedad and the Levites, their sons and brothers. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of the king of Israel. And they sang responsibly, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid. Though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping. For the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard from far away. And the grass withers, and the flower fades. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we do praise You for Your Word, these things written for our instruction, that we might increase in the fear of the Lord, in the knowledge of the Son of God. And so we do pray that now, that You would give us eyes to see, that You would give us ears to hear. In Christ's name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Well, the great G.K. Chesterton once said that if something is worth doing, then it is worth doing badly. If something's worth doing, it's worth doing badly. And sometimes people confuse Chesterton to be saying that it's okay to perform poorly, or that he's somehow condoning slackness or laziness. But his intent is just the reverse. You see, he's saying that if you're going to pursue excellence, then be prepared along your journey, many bad and botched attempts along the way. And if you think about it, you know this to be true. You cannot simply sit down at a piano for the first time and play a Mozart concerto. You cannot simply pick up a paintbrush for the first time and paint a masterpiece. You can't just sit down before a screen for the first time and write a great novel. No, anyone who has attempted anything worthwhile knows that you must go through many bad and botched attempts to approach excellence. And in some ways, that is what we have in our text this morning, as we see God's people attempt what is the most worthwhile, the very thing that God has called them to do, and that is to build God's house. As you might have caught in the reading, we've got these two different reactions. For some people, they rejoice, they praise God, and another group of people, they weep in disappointment. And so, we'll walk through this chapter in three parts. We're going to look at, firstly, Israel's reconciliation, secondly, their rebuilding, and then lastly, we will look at Israel's rejoicing, which, after all, is what the temple is all about. Israel's great joy that God has chosen her to be His special people. And so, it is the same for you and I, that we are God's special possession, indeed His living temple made out of living stones. And so, beginning with this concept of reconciliation, verse 1 gets us going and informs us we are in the seventh month of the calendar year, which is the most festive month for Israel, which will be very relevant shortly. But before that, you see it says that the children of Israel were in their respective towns, and then you see verse 1 says, though they're in their own towns, they gather together as, quote, one man. So, just remember where we are in the story. All glory be to God, because God has delivered His people home out of exile, out of captivity. God stirred up and He strengthened their hearts to return to Jerusalem with one goal in mind, to build the house of the Lord. And we saw last week, if you weren't with us, many of God's people faithfully heard and responded to that call, and they made that nearly 1,000-mile journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. They settled down. They dispersed to their own towns, set out to forge a new life. Yet here, verse 1, you see they've regathered and reunited as one man. And why is that? Because the goal still remains, right? The goal was never just settle down and get comfortable. The goal was not manicured lawns and suburban comforts and 401Ks. No, the goal was build God's temple. And so we see God's people once again at their very best. And what leaps out so clearly in verse 1 is the unity of the people of God, right? You can almost picture them, all from these different towns, streaming together to unite as one man with one goal in one city that is Jerusalem, to build the one temple. It isn't true that such unity is one of the greatest hallmarks of the church. It begs the question from you of Ephesians 4, how eager am I to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace? Would eagerness describe my pursuit of unity? Do I fall into ways of being quarrelsome, contentious, gossiping, slandering, snubbing, holding a grudge against a brother or a sister? Or right to hear those words of the Lord Jesus, that a kingdom divided of itself is laid waste? We're also to be encouraged here, as the psalmist says, how sweet it is when brothers dwell together in unity. And we could add to that how strong it is when brothers dwell together in unity. Remember, we have just a fraction of Israel from what they once were. And yet, when God's people stand united as one man with one spirit, they are able to withstand the greatest of oppositions. And that unity is soon going to be tested by them. And so, too, for us, how vital today for God's people to remain united in our current climate of contention. And so, united as one man, look at what they set about to do next in verse 2. The priests rise up and they build the altar, not the temple, but the altar of the God of Israel. Now, you might miss it at first, but that's a little odd in terms of its order. This would be like if you walked upon someone's house, and instead of building the house, they're doing all their landscaping out front first. Or instead of their house, they're building their fence first, and then their house second. That would seem out of order to us. But it makes perfect sense spiritually, because you see verse 3 tells us why it is they built the altar first. You see it says there, to offer burnt offerings on it. The burnt, or the ascension offering, is the very first offering in the book of Leviticus. And why does it come first? Because it speaks to and goes right to the heart of man's most basic need and who God is. What is man's most basic problem? His need to be made right with God by having his sins atoned for. And so how did this work? The priest would bring forth that animal without blemish, that bull without blemish, and he would lay his hand upon the head of that bull, as if to say, this bull represents me. This bull stands in the place of the sinner. And then that bull would be sacrificed, wholly consumed, and the smoke ascends up to heaven as a pleasing aroma to God, so that man could be accepted. And just imagine the smell, the sight, the sound of a bull being slaughtered, chopped up into pieces, blood gushing, the putrid stench of a carcass burning. One wonders for these exiles, how long had it been for them since they had witnessed such a thing, that for many of them, perhaps years, maybe even decades, and yet right before their eyes, here is this bloody bull being holy and entirely consumed. And what was God showing them? What was God teaching them that their forefathers had forgotten? That the wages of sin is death, and that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins? And I wonder for you, do you remember that? Do you have that stored up in your heart, that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness for my sins? Because of course, this burnt offering, what does it do but point us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless, unblemished sacrifice as the Lamb of God? And what was laid upon Him was not your sins for a season, but all the sins of all God's people for all time are laid right upon Him as He is wholly consumed upon the cross and becomes what? The pleasing aroma, the once-for-all pleasing aroma to God so that you and I might be accepted before the Lord. And so if you're here this morning and not a Christian, this is your most basic need. This is your most basic problem as a sinner before a holy and righteous God, that the world would tell you all of your problems are out there in society, in your upbringing, in who your parents were, in your biological imbalances, in your psychology. But you see, man's most basic problem is his sin before a holy and righteous God. And what good news? Blood has been shed. And not just blood, the perfect blood of the perfect Son of God who takes away the sins of His people. And so you see, God's people have the right instinct. They say, first things first, before we lay even a single brick on the temple, we must be reconciled to God. But it's not going to be so easy for them. And you can be certain that any time we make similar movements of obedience, who is there waiting for us? That any time you seek to repent and turn around, who is going to be right there waiting for you but an enemy of opposition to oppose you, to stop you? And you see it here. In particular, this enemy that they have to face down is the enemy of fear. And you see that in verse 3, that it reads, for fear was on Israel because of the peoples of the land. Because remember, that though Israel has returned to the promised land, it is not an unoccupied land. When Israel is exiled, there's this vacuum. And so it's filled up by the peoples of the land. So it's now enemy-occupied territory. And so these exiles are going to have to face down intimidation, fear, opposition from the outside. And of course, this is not new, is it? You remember from the first time of the Exodus, the spies go in and they spy out the promised land. And they come back with that report. And what do they say? Oh, there's giants in the land. Look at us. We're just grasshoppers. God has brought us here only to kill us. And it was only Caleb and Joshua who stood up to say, no, let's go in at once and take the land, because that is what God has promised us. Indeed, that is why fear is so dangerous. It paralyzes us. It fosters unbelief. It facilitates cowardness. And above all, fear robs God of His glory as our good shepherd, our leader, our defender and our king. So anytime you walk in the Spirit seeking obedience, you must soon anticipate you will have to do business with fear. What is the most repeated commandment of Jesus to His disciples? What He so often exhort them to was simply this, fear not. Do not be afraid. And you know His reason why. It was not, be unafraid, because there's no evil out there. It was not, be unafraid, because there's no danger, no risk, no peril. That certainly wasn't the case then. That is certainly not the case now. What was His reason? But fear not, for I am with you, and I am with you now and unto the very end of the age. And so you see, God's people press on, and they are resolute and determined to draw near to God. And so what do they do? The end of verse 3 tells us, despite these enemies, they offer burnt offerings morning and evening, day and night, just as God told them through the law. And note, this is not done in a corner somewhere. This is a visible public display out in the open of the worship of Yahweh. And those are our two options, fear or fear. You can have the fear of man, or you can have the fear of the Lord. But no fear is not an option. And you see here, they make the fear of the Lord their refuge, their strength, their strong tower. And the fruit, the harvest of this reconciliation with God is that the joy of the Lord is their strength. Because now you see, it just keeps going. They don't stop there. They not only offer these burnt offerings, but as verses 4 and 5 say, they keep the feast, the festivals. In particular, you see the festival that is called out is the Feast of Booths. That was that feast that required seven days living in a tent. So just imagine, you just get back to Jerusalem, you're all settled down, just got your furniture just the way you like it, your nice comfy bed, nice comfy pillow, and now it's get outside and camp in a tent for seven days. But remember, why did God instruct His people to keep this feast? Because this feast memorialized Israel's deliverance out of Egypt. Their exodus. That God delivered Israel with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm. Our God is never flippant with His commands. You can see just how encouraging that would have been to God's people at the time of Ezra. Because here they are making yet another exodus. Same song, different dance. Here they are again coming out of exile. And so they could keep this feast and look backwards and see that's what God did for us at the time of their exile. And then look forwards full of strength and faith to what God will do for them now in the second exodus. And what a reminder that is for us today. The great clergyman Samuel Johnson once said, Christians need to be reminded as often as they need to be instructed. Because we have short memories. We have spiritual amnesia, right? When times are tough, when we are oppressed, when we are tempted, when we are afraid, we are really good at lying to ourselves in that moment and going, wow, what I'm going through is unique. This has never happened before to God's people. My struggles, my oppositions are one of a kind. And no, no, no. What are we to do? We are to renew our minds. And in particular, that means that just as they kept the festivals, this is why we do what we do. This is why we keep the Lord's Day. This is why we keep the Lord's Supper. So that at the very start of every week, the Christian has a renewed mind and leads off the week with a strengthened soul. With a reminded soul that God is who He says He is and I am who He says I am. And so Israel has now turned a corner. Obedience is the new normal, you could say. Verse 6 says they begin to offer these burnt offerings in a way that sacrifices now the new normal. But verse 6 also reminds us there's this outstanding priority. There's this big work to be done. You see it says there, the foundation of the temple was not yet laid. So having looked at reconciliation, let's look now at rebuilding the temple. Before we dive in, maybe let's just ask the question once again, why is the temple so important? Why is it priority number one? Why is it dead wrong to think of the temple as just a brick and mortar building? Well maybe one way to answer that is to ask a question. We can ask the question, where does the very first temple appear in Scripture? Where is the first temple in Scripture? We could certainly say that Solomon's temple is the first temple in Scripture and that would be absolutely correct. But you could even go back a little further than that and say, well the tabernacle is a kind of first temple. Everything the tabernacle was about shows up in the temple. But you could actually go even further than that and go all the way back to the very beginning and say, well the first temple is none other than the Garden of Eden. And why is that? Because the very significance, the meaning of the temple was experienced in even fuller measure in the Garden of Eden. In Eden, our God tabernacled with Adam and Eve. Our God dwelt with Adam and Eve. Our God walked with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect, intimate, continual communion with God. Every day was a joyful day at the temple for Adam and Eve. And do you see what this says about our God? That from the beginning, God has created us for Himself. That God's will is that His dwelling place would be with man. And so when you think of the temple today, in a sense it should cause you to lean forward in your chair. When you hear the word temple, it should have your eyes dart forward, looking ahead. Because as Revelation says, as we just read, the day is coming when the dwelling place of God will be with man. When the temple will be so good, so great, that its structure will not even be needed. Because God's dwelling with you and I will be perfected and consummated. That is the Christian's great hope of the eternal temple. And so at this point in history, God's people rightly, dutifully get to work. And they get to work on the most important part, laying the foundation. And verse 7 tells us how they go about it, this progress report. You see they give this money, the masons, carpenters, these craftsmen. And specifically you see they give it to the Sidonians and the Tyrians, the Sidonians and the Tyrians. And it's interesting to note here that Israel hires out. They subcontract the building to nonbelievers, even to pagans, that is Sidon and Tyre. And you see the same thing in the first temple. You might remember Solomon cooperated with Hiram, king of Tyre. But there's something that if you really stopped and reflected on it, it grates against our sensitivities. I mean it just feels wrong, maybe even sacrilegious, that something as holy as the temple would be worked on by unbelievers, by non-Christians. And this is something that we get to work through throughout the book of Ezra. There are times when God's people cooperate with unbelievers and then there are times when they absolutely draw a hard line and do not mingle with unbelievers. Of course, it takes great wisdom, great discernment to know when is the right time and occasion for that kind of cooperation and when you're on the road to syncretism and false worship. But you see it today, for instance, sometimes Christians will cooperate, work alongside secularists to do something like ban abortion or to promote righteous laws, having the same goal but very different motivations. It's what Francis Schaeffer used to call a passing co-belligerency as Christians go about their work. And so for now, you see they cooperate and even further, you see that as they are working on the temple, it seems like God is actually working on them. These two leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua, they step up to the plate, they take the initiative and you see this wonderful phrase in verse 8 that they, quote, made a beginning. They made a beginning. Isn't it true how often a key to godliness is just to make a beginning? Just make the first move. Repent. Do it. Obey and trust that God will bless your beginning because He's the one that started it in the first place. Satan would love to have you fearfully think, it's too late for me. I'm too far gone. The enemy is far too strong. But one of the things Ezra repeatedly teaches us is that our great God meets us where we are and not where we were supposed to be. Our great God meets us where we are because just remember, this temple never should have been destroyed in the first place. Israel never should have been exiled in the first place. It was their rank rebellion that led to their exile. But you see the kindness, the patience, the long-suffering of our God that He meets His people where they are at and stirs them up to make a beginning. Perhaps that is you today. Today is the day for you to make a beginning and maybe it's something simple. It's that daily Bible reading. It's that daily prayer. It's your family worship that has derailed. Ezra encourages you, make a beginning. Maybe it's something far grander, far bigger, a conviction, for instance, to give your children a Christian education and you're not quite sure, how am I going to do it? This is far too big a task. Ezra encourages you, make a beginning and trust that God will bless your efforts. And it gets even sweeter. You see this encouragement from fellow believers, these two men, Zerubbabel and Joshua. They're not lone ranger leaders. You see they're rallied around in verses 8 and 9 by the kingsmen, by the priests, by the Levites who help supervise the work. And so what do you see? Not just the unity of the body, but the collective energy, the collective enthusiasm of the organized body that gets things done. As Proverbs says, by wisdom, by wisdom is a house built. And you see that here. And as they are working on the temple, it's very clear, God is working on their hearts. It's the subtle Old Testament hint, the time is coming when the temple will not be brick and mortar. It's going to be built out of living stones like you and like myself. So there is a word on reconciliation, followed by the rebuilding. Lastly, let's look at Zer rejoicing, Zer rejoicing. There's now a common phrase in coaching that goes like this, quote, act like you've been there before. Act like you've been there before. And that's because in the current state of sports, you've probably noticed that whether it's a simple touchdown in football, simple goal in soccer, simple home run in baseball, what you can expect from an athlete is a gratuitous display of dancing and miming and charades and of parading. They act like this is the first time in history anyone has ever done this in sports. But what if it's only the second time in history that something that great has been done? Well, we see that's what we have in verse 10. This foundation has been laid. And just understand, there's still so much work left to go. But you see there, it's like this block party erupts, right? This worship service breaks out in verses 10 and 11. And you see they bring out the trumpets and the cymbals and the priest and the Levi's start praising God. And it goes back and forth, back and forth, singing and tiffany icing this part using that part. And they erupt in this praise to God. And they sing the very same song that was sung at Solomon's temple, but with one critical difference. At Solomon's time, they sing that song when the temple was completed and finished. Here they're praising God when the temple has only just begun. You see why worship is such an act of faith, it's such an act of adoration of our God. All that's done is the foundation poured. I mean, the concrete barely cured and yet here they are praising God. And what a good word for us today. Our culture that is so often obsessed with so-called success, perfectionism, finality, it's a spectacular. We must be able to praise God for his small beginnings. There's no better example of that than the Virgin Mary, that all she is told is that you will be with child. Nothing has happened yet. And how does Mary respond? Bursting forth with a magnificent, my spirit rejoices in the Lord. And so do God's people here. In verse 11, you see specifically what they praise God for. Praise these two things in verse 11, one, that God is good, secondly, for God's steadfast love. And now, name a time when you cannot praise God for his goodness and for his steadfast love. Name a time, a place, an occasion, a hardship, a suffering when you cannot praise God for these two things. Of course, the answer is never. We've got always to be praising our unchanging, immutable God for these two things. When was it you last said, my God is good? Think of what that means to say that God of God is good is to say there is no other. There is no higher goodness than God. He is the some perfection of all that is good. And you think about it, if you or I want to be good, we've got to go search for it. We've got to go find it. We've got to go discover for it. We have to go looking for it. Not so with God. Our God is eternally blessed, eternally good in himself as father, son and Holy Spirit. Goodness is simply who he is. Secondly, they praise God for his steadfast love. It's, of course, one thing to say that God is love. That's true. This is saying God's love is steadfast. You might be familiar with that Hebrew word hesed, this particular special particular love that God has for his people. So you can see why that would be so meaningful at this point in their life to praise God for his goodness and his steadfast love. Remember that promise he gave them through Jeremiah that in your exile, I have plans for your good and for your welfare, not for your evil. And God has shown them his steadfast love by bringing them out of captivity and restoring them to himself. That is God's goodness and God's love shown to those who deserve nothing other than damnation. Can you praise God for those two things? His goodness, his steadfast love. And if you're wondering, where do I begin? Where do I see it the most clearly? Where do I receive it the most excellent way? God's goodness, God's steadfast love comes to you and I in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, that in him we will never be separated from the love of God in his beloved son. Well, as this portion, section concludes, you have this surprising turn. Up to now, we've largely seen God's people at their very best. And this is certainly not their worst or what comes next, but you do have this anticlimactic moment because the praises of the foundation are met, in some ways even muted, by some of God's people who are lamenting. And you see it in verse 12, you see there these old men who had seen the first house, they start to weep with this loud voice when the foundation's being laid. And they shouted so loud, they weeped so loud that you couldn't distinguish, is that joy or is that weeping? I remember as a kid, so many cartoons, whether it was Dennis the Menace, Scrooge, Calvin and Hobbes, they always seemed to feature this crotchety old man that was always a running figure in cartoons. And as a kid, I just, I wasn't sure why. Why is this figure always there? As I get older, oh, now I see why. There's always a crotchety old man. Because allow me to stereotype for a moment and say that if you are over 40, this temptation is coming your way. You see, specifically, it's the old men who are alive to witness the first temple. And they're comparing that temple to this temple and they're weeping, saying the second temple does not live up to the glory of the first temple. And so there's this whining, this lamenting. It's that kind of false piety that finds it easier to be dour, to be grim, instead of rejoicing in what God is doing. Isn't that the way comparing so often goes? But when you compare, you are setting yourself up to complain. You compare the good old days to the present day. You compare your spouse to another spouse, your children to other children, your income to someone else's income, your church to another church. And you are soon on the road to discontent and dishonoring God. And how more tempting this is in our current cultural climate. I never thought I'd say, now that I'm an old man, oh, if it could only go back to the 90s or to the 2000s, wouldn't life be better? But as Ecclesiastes says, do not say, why were the former days better than today? That is to question the very wisdom, plan, providence of our God. What they should have said here is that our God was faithful with the first temple and he will be faithful with this temple moving forward. While they're weeping, it does not cancel out the moment because we have this final curious statement in verse 13 that we should not skip over. And that's that the people shouted with this great shout and then you see it says, and the sound was heard far away. God's people are hooting and hollering so loudly, so full of joy that the sound was heard far away. And let's just ask the question, who is out there to hear this noise? Who would be out there to hear this sound? We saw it in verse three. It's the people of the lands. The enemies of God are out there. You could picture soldiers around a campfire making war cries, war shouts so loudly. It goes out into this dark forest full of their enemies. And that's what you have here. It's like this forest full of Canaanites. Here's that sound. Oh, what is that noise? And that is how God's people do war rightly by worshiping the Lord and making his name known. It was just like at the first exits when God promised them, he said, I will put the fear of me upon your enemies. I will send the terror of me upon your enemies such that they turn their backs to you. And so as we close, just just consider where we began and now where we have finished. God's people could have been the ones to be afraid. Right. We saw that in verse three. The fear was on Israel because of the surrounding enemies. And here the chapter ends. And we have the exact reverse. And now fear is going in the opposite direction. Fear is going outward from Israel to the enemies of God. And the fear of God is dissipating outwards in the direction it's supposed to go. Well, as an old man myself, I can't be too hard on these old men because perhaps their weeping was warranted and maybe even a godly response because they were correct about one thing. And that is that the glory of this temple would not match up to the glory of the first temple and the presence of God would not fill it as it did the first temple. And so perhaps these old men wisely recognized that something better, something greater, something more is needed for the people of God. And so they wept and they waited. And friends, what joy is ours today that we have the true temple, the temple that can never be destroyed, the foundation that can never be shaken, the cornerstone that can never be moved. We have the true temple where through the Spirit man can meet with God and God with man. And that temple's name is Emmanuel, God with us. Let us pray. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, we do praise you that you have given us the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is our Emmanuel, that He is the true temple, that He is the almighty cornerstone and that we indeed are built around Him as living stones, united to Him and united to one another. And so, Father, we do pray that we would be faithful, that we would not let the fear of man stop us, cause us to fall short of obedience, cause us to come short of the great commission that we have been entrusted with, and instead we would make the fear of the Lord our refuge. As we look backwards to see you are with them mightily, how much more are you with us now, both now and to the very end of the age? In Christ's name we pray, amen.