“With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “‘He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.’” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.”
~ Ezra 3:11
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever been so happy that you cried? Have you ever seen a guy, gal or kid who was so happy that he or she was crying? Have you ever gone to a wedding with your dad and/or ma? Guys and gals will sometimes cry at a wedding. Why do you think that a guy or gal will sometimes cry when a guy and a gal get married? Have you ever seen a gal cry – like your ma, at the end of a movie that has a happy ending? Have you ever seen a guy, gal or kid cry in church – like when the guy, gal or kid talks about when he or she made a decision of faith to accept Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior? Why do you think that a guy, gal or kid will sometimes cry when he or she is giving his or her testimony of faith in Jesus? Do you think that it is bad to cry? Your grandpaa thinks that when you are really happy that crying is fine to do. Do you think that it is okay for guys to cry? Have you ever seen your dad cry? Ask your dad if he thinks that it is okay for a guy to cry if the guy is really happy. Ezra wrote in Ezra 3 about a very emotional moment when guys were so happy that they cried. Nine months earlier and 537 years before Jesus was born, a group of Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids – God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids, made the long trek from Babylonia where they had been taken fifty years earlier by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army back to their home country – Judah and to their home city – Jerusalem. Three months after arriving back in the country of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem – in September-October of 537 B.C. in Tishri the seventh month of the year, God’s specially chosen guys – the Israelite people group’s guys, began to build in the city of Jerusalem another temple to God where God’s presence could be worshipped. When Nebuchadnezzar and his army overran and razed fifty years earlier the city of Jerusalem, the Babylonian army totally destroyed the magnificent temple that had been built by Solomon about 430 years earlier in the city of Jerusalem. Some of the old guys who were part of the group of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia in 537 B.C. remembered what the beautiful temple that Solomon had seen built looked like.
God’s specially chosen guys during one of the most sacred months of the Jewish calendar year began in the city of Jerusalem the building of a new temple to God for His presence. It would take twenty years before God’s specially chosen guys would finally complete in the city of Jerusalem the building of another temple to God for His presence at the very same site where Solomon built a magnificent temple for God’s presence. A guy by the name of Zerubbabel led the first group of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids on the more than 500 mile walk from Babylonia to the country of Judah and to the city of Jerusalem. Once the guys who were in the group who made the long walk from Babylon in 537 B.C. to the country of Judah and to the city of Jerusalem had more or less become resettled into living again in the country of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem, the time arrived for them to begin the building of a new temple for God’s presence. The Levi tribal clan guys were ascribed the responsibility for the building in the city of Jerusalem of another temple for God’s presence. A high priest – Jeshua, was assigned the task of overseeing the building in the city of Jerusalem of a new temple for God’s presence. The first thing that Jeshua, the other high priests, Zerubbabel and Zerubbabel’s associates did was to build an altar to God – to sacrifice burnt offerings to Him. Jeshua did what Moses said to do in the Law that God had given to him on Mount Sinai. God gave Moses the Old Testament Laws about 900 years earlier. Even though there were guys and gals who were living in the country of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem who did not want this group of God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids back in their area, Jeshua went ahead with celebrating the Feast of the Tabernacle with the exact number of burnt offerings as required by the Law that God had given to Moses. Jeshua also made New Moon sacrifices and freewill offerings to God and he recognized the appointed sacred feasts that God expected to be observed.
Nine months after getting back to the city of Jerusalem – in the second month or April-May of 536 B.C., God’s specially chosen guys who had returned from Babylonia began to build a new temple for God’s presence. Because the temple’s foundation which had been built by Solomon had been completely burned by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army when they destroyed the temple in 586 B.C., God’s specially chosen guys had to begin all over again with new cedar. Food, drink and oil were sent to Sidon and Tyre where cedar trees grew as a payment for the guys who were living in Sidon and Tyre to send to the city of Jerusalem cedar for the masons and carpenters to use for the building of a new temple for God’s presence. After the foundation for the new temple had been laid in the city of Jerusalem for God’s presence, the priests and the Levi tribal clan guys had a big celebration. The priests and the Levi tribal clan guys used cymbals, blew trumpets and sang praises to God. Verse 11 says, “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “‘He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.’” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” This moment was a really an emotional time for the guys who had fifty years earlier been taken away to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar and his army. Your bodies will be God’s temples for His presence to live in if . . . do you think that knowing that your bodies are temples of God for His presence to live in will make you feel so happy that you will cry? Your grandmaa and grandpaa pray that you will find out how happy that you will be if you have not found out already.
Ezra 3 (320)