Ezra
3
RESTORATION OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT
SACRIFICE,
AND CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
(vs. 1-3)
On their arrival in their own land, the exiles, it would
seem, proceeded first of all
to
their several cities, reconnoitring the ground, as it
were, and at first taking no
step that could arouse the hostility or jealousy of the previous
inhabitants.
After a while, however, “when the seventh month was
come,” they
ventured with some misgivings to restore and rebuild the great
altar of
burnt sacrifice, which Solomon had formerly erected in the
principal court
of
the temple, directly opposite to the porch (II Kings 16:14; II Chronicles 4:1),
and
on which, until the destruction of the temple, the morning and evening
sacrifice had been offered. We gather from Ezra’s narrative, that
when the ruins
were carefully examined, the site of the old altar was ascertained, and care
was
taken to put the new one in the old place. The restoration of
the altar thus
considerably preceded even the commencement of the temple; the one
being
essential to the Jewish service, which could not exist without
sacrifice, while
the
other was only a convenient and desirable adjunct. The altar must have been
completed by the last day of the sixth month (see v. 6).
1 “And when the seventh month was come, and the children of
were in the cities,
the people gathered themselves together as one
man to
was Tisri, and
corresponded nearly to our October. It was the most sacred
month of the Jewish year, commencing with a blowing of trumpets
and a
holy convocation on the first day (Leviticus 23:24), which was
followed on the tenth day by the solemn day of atonement (ibid. v.
27;
compare ibid. ch. 16:29-34), and on the
fifteenth day by the feast of
tabernacles or “ingathering,” one of the three
great annual festivals, which
lasted to the twenty-second day. Zerubbabel
and Joshua determined to risk
a
disturbance rather than defer the restoration of the altar beyond the
commencement of this sacred month. The people gathered themselves
together. The people were bound to attend the feast of tabernacles
(Exodus 23:14-16); but something more than this seems to be
intended.
The restoration of the altar and the re-establishment of
the daily sacrifice
having been announced, there was a general influx of the country
Israelites
into
(compare Judges 20:1, 8; II Samuel
19:14).
2 “Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the
priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel,
and his brethren, and
builded the altar of the God of
thereon, as it is
written in the law of Moses the man of God.”
Jeshua the son of Jozadak.
The position of Jeshua,
both here
and
in vs. 8-9, sufficiently marks him as the high priest, though Ezra
does not give him the title. Haggai, however (Haggai 1:1, 14; 2:2), and
Zechariah (Zechariah 3:1, 8; 6:11) distinctly assign him
the office. His father,
Jozadak, or Josedech, was the son of Seraiah, high priest at the destruction
of
Joshua, and so corresponds to Jesus, of whom Jeshua may be regarded as a
type. His
brethren the priests. As being all of them equally
descended
from Aaron, the priests were “brethren.” Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.
See note on ch.2:2, where Zerubbabel’s
actual descent is given. And
his brethren. Such other members of the royal house as had returned with
him.
As it is written in
the law. See Leviticus 17:2-6; Deuteronomy 12:5-11.
It was an express command of God to the Israelites that
sacrifice should be
offered only at
man of God. That is, “the Prophet;” but the phrase is
emphatic, and
characteristic of Ezra (compare I Chronicles 23:14 and II Chronicles
30:16).
3 “And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon
them
because of the people of
those countries: and they offered burnt
offerings thereon unto the
LORD, even burnt offerings morning
and evening.” They set the altar upon his bases. They
built the new altar
upon the foundations of the old one, making it exactly conform to them.
This was done, no doubt, to
indicate that the religion which the exiles
brought back from
they had possessed before they were carried thither. Many moderns hold
the
contrary; but it has not yet been proved that the sojourn at
modified the religious ideas of the Jews in any important
particular. For
fear was upon them. Or,
“though fear was upon them.”
Notwithstanding
their fear of the surrounding nations, they set up the altar. We
must
remember that their neighbors were not Persians, but descendants of
various idolatrous nations — Hamathites,
Babylonians, Susianians,
Elamites, Cuthaeans, etc. — bitterly
opposed to anything like a pure
spiritual religion (see ch.4:9-10; II Kings 17:24). (Sounds like the
21st
century in
Cyrus to raise up not only their
altar, but their temple, it was not at all certain
that his nominal subjects would passively submit. It was as if a modern
Turkish
Sultan should decree the erection of a Christian altar and
a grand Christian
cathedral at
be
great danger in acting on such a decree. Burnt offerings morning and evening.
So the law required (see Exodus 29:38-39;
Numbers 28:3-4).
The Altar
Rebuilt (vs. 1-3)
The return from
employment of the people would be to construct for themselves huts,
or so
to
repair dilapidated buildings as to make them fit for habitation. This
accomplished, no time was lost in setting about the great work of
reestablishing
their ancient worship. So “when the seventh month was come,” the
month
Tisri, corresponding to portions of our September and October,
they repaired to
Ø They saw it placed
upon its old bases.
o
They regarded it as
the same altar. No ceremonies of
consecration needed — wanted no novelties in religion.
Here
is a useful lesson to Christians. The religion of
their
fathers was
Divine, and was associated with a wonderful
history.
Ø They saw it rise
to its completion.
o
They had hostile
neighbors (see Ezra 4:1, 9-10). Idolaters of all
sorts will ever oppose true worship.
o
These were overawed by
the multitude. The wicked are cowards at
heart. (Unfortunately, so must be many Christians since in our
day roles seem to be reversed. – CY - 2015)
o
The hands of the
elders were encouraged. This is the force of the
particle, “Then stood up,” etc. Learn the great value of
witnessing
for Christ.
Numbers 28:1-8.
Ø
The offerings. These were:
o
The burnt offering — a lamb of the first year, type of Christ,
consumed in fire,
and so called the “food of God.”
o
The meat offering — fine flower mingled with oil, consumed
by the worshipper
or his representatives.
o
The drink offering — wine — like the meat, partaken of by
God and man. This feasting the symbol of friendship.
Ø These were continual.
o
Morning, evening, day
by day the year round, so forward
“year by year continually” (see Hebrews 10:1).
o
Kept up a continual
remembrance of sin.
o
Continually procured
the “forbearance of God” until His justice
should be satisfied in the perfect sacrifice and offering of
Ø But there was no sacred fire.
o
The Jews confess the
absence of this after the captivity. No
account of any in the more recent Scriptures.
o
Strange fire would
scarcely be used. No account of its
authorization. Without this would it be accepted? (see
Leviticus
10:1-2)
o
Burnt offerings
without fire! Significant of the waning of the
dispensation. Designed to wean the Jews from Moses in favor
of Jesus. Strength of
prejudice! Strong tendencies even in
Christians
to ritual rather than to the spiritual in worship (see
Galatians 3:1-3). We witness here:
Ø There was concert among the priests.
o
The high priest was
there. Joshua is not here expressly so
styled; implied in the words, “Then stood up Jeshua the son
of Jozadak and his brethren.” Thus distinguished elsewhere
(see Haggai 1:1; 2:2; Zechariah 3:1). He was the grandson
of
Seraiah, the high priest who was slain by
Nebuchadnezzar
(see II Kings 25:18-21). He was a type of Christ not only in
virtue of his office, but also in his name, which is the
same as Jesus, and in his leading the captivity out of
o
The “brethren”
of Jeshua were with him. The sons of Aaron
in general.
Ø There was concert among the nobles.
o
Zerubbabel was there. He heads the roll of names (Ezra 2: 2)
as a principal leader of the restoration. He was the
representative
of the royal family, and now a worthy successor of his
ancestors,
David
and Solomon, who were so gloriously concerned with the
first temple.
o
His “brethren”
were with him.
Ø
The people were there “as one man.”
o
Responsive to the
summons of the chiefs. They assembled
fifteen days earlier than the feast of tabernacles, when all
the males should appear (see v. 6).
o
They came with exemplary unanimity;
their heart was in it;
they were the noblest of the nation, under 50,000, leaving
the indifferent ones in
have
been secured by coercion. Value of the voluntary principle.
The First
Sacrifice (vs. 1-3)
The third chapter begins much as the second chapter
concluded, with a
picture of the restored Israelites in their respective “cities” or
homes. But
they do not stay there very long. The temple and the temple worship, for
which they had laid by (ch. 2:68-69)
before dispersing, is still much
on
their minds. These verses tell us of the consequent action next taken in
that direction:
1. on the part of the people specially;
2. on the part of their leaders specially; and
3. on the part of them all collectively.
of their own consent (they “gathered themselves together”),
with one
consent (“as one man”). ὁμοθυμαδὸν – homothumadon – unanimously
-
I Esdras 5:46. What stirred them all in this manner? The
fact, apparently,
that the “seventh month” was “come,” or was “approaching”.
Certainly,
connected with that month there were many things which might
well have
this effect. How important this month ecclesiastically, and
from the point
of view of the temple worship. On the first day, besides the
new moon,
came the festival known as the
feast of trumpets (Numbers 29:1). On
the
tenth the great day of
atonement, the great fast of the
Jewish year (Ibid. v.7).
From the
fifteenth to the twenty-second was celebrated the third of the
three great annual feasts, viz., that of tabernacles or ingathering. No other
month was equally distinguished. No subsequent month of the
twelve was
distinguished by any universal call to the temple precincts.
The next such
call would be five months afterwards, in the passover month. How
important, again, this seventh month, as the first month of
the civil year,
the month from which the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were
computed
(Leviticus
25:9). Its first day would answer exactly to our “New Year’s
Day,” a
most natural time for instituting or recommencing a new order of
things. Historically, also, as being a month in which one of
the special
captivity fasts (see Zechariah 7:5; 8:19) had been observed,
this was a
marked month in these exiles’ minds. How fit a month,
therefore, in every
way, for making a beginning of some kind. “Now, if ever;”
almost “Now,
or never,” the occasion seemed to exclaim. It is by such
conjunctions,
perhaps, that God most frequently signifies His guiding will
to His willing
people (compare Acts 16:6-10).
who should take the lead in regard to it? Who, of course,
but the natural
leaders. The leaders in the Church first (“Jeshua,” etc.), the matter in hand
being one so specially concerning them. But not the leaders
in Church only;
“Zerubbabel and his brethren,” as laymen, also
having their interest in it.
Together
they resolved to begin by rebuilding the sacrificial altar, that
which had stood in the old temple before the holy place and
in the court of
the priests. Why did they begin in this way? Partly owing to
the tenor of
the “law of Moses,”
that being a law of sacrifices from beginning to end
(see Hebrews 9:21-22), according to which there was no
approach to
the most holy place itself without the previous use of the
altar. This
consideration would probably tell especially on Jeshua and the priests; as
the example of David, next, who desired to build the house,
but was only
permitted to “find out” its “place,” and so far to begin it
as to consecrate as
it were its altar (I Chronicles 17.; 21:26; 22:1; Psalm
132:5), would
tell especially on Zerubbabel,
David’s representative and descendant, and
lead him also to wish to begin by erecting the altar upon
the old “base”
(v. 3). There would also be a third reason to influence both
sets of
leaders alike. By this time the returned remnant would find
the hostility of
their new neighbors awakened. Only surprised at first to
hear of their
return (compare Psalm 126:2), afterwards inclined to
ridicule and despise
them (compare Nehemiah 4:2-4), when they saw them settling
down in
their old habitations as a distinct and separate people
(Numbers 23:9),
these strangers would begin in various ways to show their
dislike, and
perhaps to murmur their threats. In this condition of danger
how natural to
follow the example of Samuel (I Samuel 7:10; compare
13:11-12), and
sacrifice to Jehovah. A very instructive lesson, by the way,
for these gospel
times. Just so our need of an atonement is the very first of our needs. The
nature of God’s law, the example of God’s servants, the
enmity of the
world and Satan (Revelation 12:11) combine to teach us this
truth.
having come to
were they all to do next? The place of sacrifice was
restored. Out of the
many kinds of sacrifices connected with it in former days,
which should
they place on it first? That which God had appointed for
sanctifying the
beginning and end of each day (v. 3). This quite in
accordance with the
very first use of the original altar itself (Exodus 29:28),
and with the
happy consequences thereby secured (ibid. 43-45).
Also with the many
remarkable successive injunctions of Numbers 28., 29., where
we find it
expressly commanded that whatever special sacrifices might
be ordered on
any day — whether for the Sabbath (v. 10), or new moon (v.
15), or
passover (v. 23), or any day of it
(v. 24), or Pentecost (v. 31), or
feast of trumpets (Numbers 29:6), or day of atonement (v.
11), or
feast of tabernacles, or any day of it (vs. 16, 19, 22, 25,
28, 31, 34, 38)
—
these regular daily sacrifices were always to be offered
“beside.”
Also with the prominence given
to them in I Chronicles 16:39-40;
II
Chronicles 2:4; 13:11; 31:3. Also with the peculiarly grave character
attached in Daniel 8:11; 9:27; and 12:11 to their cessation
and
interruption. Indeed, from a spiritual point of view, and
regarding this
people of
seem always presented to us as the very pulse of its life.
How fitting,
therefore, in the endeavor to restore that Church’s suspended
animation,
to attend to them first. How important, also, under the new
economy, THE
PERPETUAL
INTERCESSION OF CHRIST! “He needeth
not daily,
as those high priests” (Hebrews 7:27), to offer for sin; “for this He did once
[for
all]
when He offered Himself.” But there is a need that He himself
should continually be pleading this one
sacrifice on our behalf. On this
depends our justification (Romans 8:34). On
this in every way our salvation
(Hebrews
7:25). Herein is the pulse of our life. So we seem to be
taught by such passages as Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20.
And so,
with regard especially to the restoration of that life when
impaired or
suspended (just as with
I John
2:1-2 respecting this great Intercessor or “Advocate,” and the
effectual plea of His death. “If any man sin,” as
every man does
(Ibid. ch. 1:8-10), and so begins to die, as every sinner then
does, here
is his way of escape.
CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST
OF TABERNACLES (v. 4).
Emboldened by their successful restoration of the altar of
burnt sacrifice,
Zerubbabel and Jeshua allowed the people to
gather themselves together
and
celebrate the autumnal festival, though they can scarcely have made it
on
this occasion a “feast of ingathering.”
4 “They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written,
and offered
the daily burnt
offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty
of every day
required;” As it is written. According to the mode of celebration
prescribed in the law; i.e. for seven consecutive days, from
the fifteenth to
the
twenty-second of Tisri, with burnt offerings every
day, and a holy
convocation on the first day and the last, and a “dwelling in tents”
during
the
whole period (see Leviticus 23:31-42). The
daily burnt offerings
by number, according
to the custom. The offerings for
each day of the
festival are carefully laid down in Numbers 29:13-38. We must
understand that all the
particulars there enjoined were carefully observed.
PERMANENT
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DAILY SACRIFICE, THE
SET FEASTS, AND
THE OFFERING OF FREE-WILL OFFERINGS
(vs. 5-6).
Having set up the altar, and celebrated the particular
festival
which the revolving year happened to have brought round, and
which it
would have been wrong to neglect, the exiles re-established
permanently
three things:
1. The daily sacrifice
which was for atonement
2. The celebration of
the new moons and other regular feasts for public
thanksgiving and the acknowledgment of God’s mercies; and
3. The practice of
allowing the people to bring offerings whenever
they pleased, to be offered on the great altar by the priest
or priests
in attendance. This for private devotion, the payment of vows, and the like.
5 “And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both
of the new
moons, and of all the
set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated,
and of every one
that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the
LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt
offerings unto the LORD.
But the foundation of the temple of the LORD
was not yet laid.: The continual burnt offering. This
is beyond a doubt the daily
morning and evening sacrifice, called “the continual burnt offering” in
Exodus 29:42 and Numbers 28:3-6. The clause is not modified
by
the
succeeding words, which are additional, not exegetical, and which
should not be translated, as in the Authorized Version, both of the new moons,
but,
“and those of the new moons.” The returned exiles kept henceforth
regularly both the daily morning and evening sacrifice, and also
that
appointed for the new moons (Numbers 28:11-15), and those
appointed for the other “set feasts,”such as the passover and the feast of
Pentecost. And of every one
that willingly offered. Nor was this all. The
practice was resumed of sacrificing on the great altar at any time
any freewill
offerings that individual Israelites might bring (see Leviticus 1.,
2., 3.,
etc.).
Thus provision was made for all that was most essential in the ritual
of
religion, while the temple itself still remained unbuilt.
The Worship of the First
Year (vs. 4-6)
In connection with the worship of the first year after the
return of the
children of
AIR.
Ø They had their
altar rebuilt.
o
This was the first
thing done, because it was essential.
Sacrifice
is interwoven with all the ceremonies of worship
according to the law. The principle of sacrifice is no less
essential under the gospel. Ponder the thought that there
can be no true worship without
sacrifice.
o
They lost no time
in this. They came forth from
the spring. The
journey probably occupied four months (compare
ch. 7:9). They had therefore barely time to get housed
before
the seventh month came, upon the first day of which they
were
“as one man” at
worship should have
prompt and early attention.
§
Forsaking
§
seeking
§
building an altar,
§
keeping the feasts.
Ø
But the foundation
of the temple was not yet laid. This recalls the
worship of the patriarchs.
o
That of the first
family eastward of
and 4:3; etc.).
o
That of Noah emerging
from the ark (Ibid. ch. 8:20).
o
That of the Hebrew
patriarchs in
13:18;
15:9-11; 22:13; 26:25; 33:18-20). Learn, worship
may be genuine without being elaborate (see John 4:23-24).
Ø There appears to have been no celebration of the
ceremonies of the
great day of atonement.
o
The daily sacrifice
commenced on the first day of Tisri (v. 6). The
great day of atonement was due on the tenth of the same
month,
of which there is no mention. The narrative carries us at
once to
the feast of tabernacles, which followed on the fifteenth day.
o
The reason of the
omission is found in the want of the temple.
The
sprinkling of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry
would be impossible (see Leviticus 16.). There was no most
holy
place for the high priest to enter (see Hebrews 9:7, 25).
There was
no altar of incense (see Exodus 30:10). Lesson: If we cannot
worship God as we would, we should worship Him as we can.
RELIGION.
Ø
Foremost amongst these
was the feast of tabernacles.
This was one of
the great annual festivals.
o
The passover. This was held on the first day of Abib
—
instituted to
commemorate the events connected with the
exodus from
o
The feast of
first-fruits. This commenced with the
putting in of
the sickle for the
harvest. Also called the feast of weeks, for
it lasted seven weeks, while the fruits of the earth were
being
gathered. Lesson: We
should recognize God in all our blessings.
In
all this rejoicing the Israelites still kept up the memory of their
emancipation from
o
The last was the
feast of tabernacles. In the present case this
came first. This arose from the accident of its occurring
first
after the return from
a providence, for the feast of tabernacles has a peculiar
relation
to gospel times (see Zechariah 14:18). This feast also
called the
feast of ingathering, for it was a rejoicing over the
garnering of
the harvest and vintage (Deuteronomy 16:13-16).
Not
so called here, for there would be no extensive ingathering in
this first year. There was a remembrance of the deliverance
from
in the wilderness. In this celebration the people could not
but
associate with this their own recent deliverance from
Lesson:
In all our festivities let the grateful remembrance be
present with us of our
spiritual emancipation from the
o
Particularly note that
they “offered
the daily burnt offerings
by number according
to the custom as the duty of every day
required.” On each of the days during which this feast lasted
there was a
difference in the custom (see Numbers 29.).
“As the duty,” etc. Hebrews, “the matter of the day in
the day.” Learn:
§
Every day brings its own
religious duties.
§
We must do the work
of the day in the day.
Ø They offered also the continual
burnt offerings.
o
The daily
offerings. These
were never interrupted. They
continued morning
and evening throughout the year.
o
Those of the
Sabbaths (see Numbers 28:9-10). The
word
Sabbath
is applied not only to the seventh day of the week,
but indifferently to all the Jewish festivals (Leviticus
19:3,30).
o
Those of the new
moons (see Numbers 28:11-15).
o
Additional to all
these were the free-will offerings of the people.
The
services of religion are not to be taken up fitfully, but must be
steadily observed. They
are not irksome, but delightful to those whose
hearts are brought into sympathy with them by the grace of
God. This
grace should be diligently sought.
PREPARATION OF MATERIALS
FOR
THE REBUILDING
OF THE
When the restoration of religion had progressed thus far, the civil and ecclesiastical
rulers turned their attention to that object which had been specially mentioned in
the
“decree of Cyrus” (ch.1:2-3), the
rebuilding of the temple. And, first of all,
it
was necessary to collect building
materials, wood and stone, which were the
chief materials of the first
temple, and which Cyrus had particularized in a
supplementary decree (ch.6:4)
as those to be employed in the construction of
the second.
7 “They gave money also unto the masons, and to the
carpenters; and
meat, and drink, and
oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of
to bring cedar
trees from
the grant that they
had of Cyrus king of
They gave money
also unto the masons. The exiles had no
doubt been employed by the Babylonian monarchs to a large extent
in
building, as their ancestors had been during their sojourn in
Consequently, among those who returned there were many
masons
and
carpenters. These were now set to work by Zerubbabel,
and
received their wages in money. And
meat, and drink, and oil, unto
them of Zidon, and to them of
received their wages in kind. As
and
grew but little corn, it had always to depend mainly for its supplies of
food on its neighbors, and generally drew the greater part from
(see Acts 12:20). Hiram had
furnished materials to Solomon for the
first temple on condition of receiving wheat, barley, wine, and
oil
(II Chronicles 2:15). Zerubbabel
made a similar arrangement at the present
time with the Tyrians and Sidonians.
To bring cedar trees from
to the
Phoenicians conveyed it to the coast, perhaps sometimes
letting it pass
down the rivers, and, collecting it on the coast into large rafts or “floats”
(Ibid. v.16), took these by sea to the roadstead of Joppa (
Hence it was conveyed by land a distance of thirty-five
miles to
have been cut and carried off both by the Egyptians and the Assyrians. The
forests must in the ancient times have been far more extensive
than at
present. According
to the grant that they had of Cyrus. A special grant
of
Phoenician timber, made by Cyrus, seems to be intended. Though Cyrus
had
not conquered
conquest of
time been a Babylonian dependency.
The First
Feast (vs. 4-7)
“Also,” v. 4; “afterward,”
v. 5; “but,” v. 6; these are the three
stepping-stones of this passage. After making a good beginning in
restoring
the
daily sacrifices, the people “also”
kept their first feast. “Afterward”
they did what they could in restoring the observance of all the other
ordinances and feasts of Jehovah. “But,”
it being impossible to do this
satisfactorily as they were then situated with regard to the temple, they
further proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for
commencing its
erection, which was, after all, their great work. Such seems to be
the order
here of thoughts and events.
seventh month having now come, the feast of tabernacles
would be that
nearest at hand. We cannot, therefore, exactly consider them
to have
chosen this as their first restored festival; but we can see
indications that
they specially welcomed it, and observed it with much joy.
The seventh
month also brought round the feast of trumpets and the day
of atonement;
yet the observance of these, if now observed at all by them,
was not of
such a kind as to be considered worthy of special mention.
The first thing
mentioned is the daily sacrifice; the next, this feast of
tabernacles. If not the
next thing that occurred, therefore, it was certainly, to
their thoughts, the
next thing in importance. Observe, also, what is expressly
recorded as to
the spirit in which they observed it. The regulations for
the observance of
this feast were amongst the most intricate in the whole book
of the Law.
Many
victims of many kinds were required for its due observance; some
the same, some different, for all its seven days in
succession; those required
for the eighth day being different, again, from them all
(see carefully
Numbers 29:12-38). All this, as there found “written,”
if not as also
added to by long-established “custom” (see John 7:2, 37-38
for a
supposed reference to a “custom” of this kind), as “every day required,”
they fulfilled. How
great, how manifest their pleasure in learning, in doing
all. This not to be wondered at when we bear in mind the
peculiar
joyfulness of this annual feast. As the feast of ingathering
or harvest
(Deuteronomy
16:13-15; Exodus 23:16), and as the feast which
celebrated the close of their wanderings (Leviticus 23:40,
42-43), it
was, even more than the passover
or the Pentecost, a special season of joy.
Accordingly,
while we read in the passover
of the bread of affliction
(Deuteronomy
16:3), and read once of rejoicing at Pentecost (ibid. 11),
we read of it twice (ibid. 14-15) in this case. Also,
in the history of
we find mention of certain special cases of peculiar joy, all connected with
ideas of permanent habitation and finished toil, when this feast was
celebrated with peculiar glory (see reference to Joshua in I
Kings 8:65;
I Chronicles 17:1, 5; II Chronicles 7:8-10; Nehemiah
8:9-18).
No feast,
therefore, in every way, could have been more appropriate to
their case.
peculiarly suitable to them this timely festival, it was not
the only thing they
observed. On the contrary, besides that which they had
previously
reinstituted (as again referred to in v. 6) they attended henceforward now
to all things enjoined in God’s law. They kept up still the continual burnt
offerings (mentioned specially again perhaps because of
their special
importance), and began from this time to order regularly all
monthly, or
annual, or even occasional rites — “the new moons,” “the set
feasts,” “the
freewill offerings”
of individuals. All that the Lord had “consecrated” or
directly enjoined, all that He had also declared His
willingness to accept,
they gladly observed. In short, they
restored in spirit the religious year,
and
as far as they could, in their circumstances, brought back in this respect the
old days.
“but” in this
case — THEY COULD NOT AS YET DO ALL.
They had
the proper altar and priests; to some extent the proper
vessels; also the
requisite knowledge and inclination; and, in a certain way,
the requisite
means. For all this, however, to be done as they should be,
with proper
state and significance, and as
more than ever, there was needed a proper house. To this
matter,
accordingly, they next turn. Its very “foundation” at that time was not laid,
and could not be as things were. But the necessary
preparations could now
be seen to, and must be, indeed, without delay. For example, they could
arrange as to wages, etc. with those workmen who were to
work on the
spot, as we read in the beginning of v. 7. Also with those
to work at a
distance (“them of Zidon and
cedar trees in
which last particular it is to be noted that they followed
the example of the
wise king himself when building the first temple, as well in
choosing the
right persons as in adopting the right route, and in
offering the right
remuneration, viz., not “money,” but “meat” and so on (I
Kings
5:6, 9,
11; II Chronicles 2:8, 16; also Acts 12:20). Further, we find
that they asked for no more than they were already
authorized to ask by
King Cyrus
(end of v. 7). It would be well if all
business transactions
were equally prudent and fair, especially
those which have to do in any way
with God’s service. Seek
out the hands that are truly skilful, offer them
what it is worth their while to accept, ask of them only
what is lawful, this
makes the man of business and the man of honor as well. And
in doing
business on God’s account the
man of God should be BOTH. May not
this
whole passage teach us yet another lesson in regard to doing
God’s work?
There is
always something, whatever our circumstances, that we
can all do
in that line. We can begin if we cannot complete. We can
prepare if we
cannot begin. Even where we can do nothing ourselves, we may
engage
others to do it. Moreover, if we really seek to use such
opportunities as we
have, our endeavors are quite sure to be accepted and
blessed (Mark 14:8;
II
Corinthians 8:12). This applies to learning as well as doing
God’s will
(John 7:17).
Acceptable
Service (vs. 1-7)
When the 42,000 Israelites arrived in the land whither they
went forth, they
took peaceable and glad possession of their old homes; many, if not most,
of
them returning to the very fields and homesteads from which their
fathers had been led away. They then showed a piety which was
partly the
fruit of the long discipline they had passed through in
of
Jehovah, on this their return, was characterised by:
into good condition the long-forsaken fields; agriculture
must have been
neglected, and there must have been a strong demand for the
most active
and unremitting labor. Nevertheless, without any edict or
decree from any
spiritual or secular authority, “the people gathered themselves
together as
one man at
business employments and household duties and repair to the
sacred city
for the worship of God. And when there, they “willingly
offered a freewill
offering unto the Lord” (v. 5). Their service was, as ours will be, the
more acceptable because unconstrained, spontaneous, the
prompting of
individual piety. Not the mandate of an earthly master, but the will of our
Divine
Lord, the love of Christ, should constrain us to activity and
liberality.
(v. 1),
and built an altar on the very same basis as that on which the old
altar had stood (v. 3). They were right in this. For it had
been very
specially enjoined that only
on that one site should sacrifices be offered
unto God. They had
regard to a precise injunction in thus confining their
offerings to one place. No such restrictions limit our
worship. The hour has
come when neither on one mountain nor another shall men
worship the
Father (John 4:21). Wherever the people of God meet in
sincerity and
earnestness, there they “behold
His mercy-seat.” “Every place is
hallowed
ground” to the devout heart. Yet there is such a thing as
propriety of place.
Still “the Lord loveth the gates of
His house,
to unite regularly with His people at the table of the Lord, is a
useful and acceptable service.
altar of the Lord. It is
a most excellent thing for any society when those
who are influential in the Church and those highly placed in
the State unite
and do not divide their influence, strengthen and do not
weaken one
another’s hands, in the promotion of morality and religion.
Solomon’s
temple as their sacred edifice wherein to worship, it was natural
that the people should desire something more than a rude
altar reared
under the skies. But so eager were they to return to the old
sacrifices,
which had so long ceased to be offered, that they could not
wait for the
erection of a building; before the foundation of the temple
was laid (v. 6)
they began to present burnt offerings unto the Lord. The
apathetic soul will
be ready enough to find an excuse for irreligion, for
leaving unoffered the
sacrifice that is due; but the eager-hearted will be prompt
to substitute one
instrument for another, that
the service may not be unrendered. A feeble
piety will yield to the first check. Spiritual earnestness
will be ingenious to
devise means, and will anticipate the hour when all outside
circumstances
compel to devotion. Do not let God’s praise remain unsung
because a full-
toned organ is not at hand for accompaniment, nor let His
truth be
unspoken because there are no fine walls to echo its
proclamation.
number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day
required” (v.
4). There
must be room left for some play of spontaneity, or our spiritual
life will become mechanical and lose its animation and
elasticity and
beauty. But there must be also regularity: constant services, daily devotion,
morning and evening prayer.
dwell harmoniously together, not only in every home, but in
every heart.
the mercy-seat: their fear led them to seek God —
they set up the altar for
fear of the people by whom they were surrounded (v. 3); and their
joy
also led to devotion — they
kept the joyous feast of tabernacles, and united
in the service in which gladness
of heart prevailed (v. 4). The truly
devout man is he with whom all paths lead to the throne of
grace; to whom
all things, however varied and unlike one another, suggest
the thought of
God; who brings his burden of grief and fear, as well as his
treasure of joy
and hope, TO THE FEET OF
THE MASTER!
LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE
CEREMONIAL ON THE OCCASION (vs. 8-13).
Seven months were occupied with preparations. The winter
was past, and the
spring had arrived. It was the second month, Zif,
the month of “blossom,’’
corresponding to our May — the same month in which Solomon had laid
the
foundation of the first temple (I Kings 6:1) — when Zerubbabel
judged that the time had come for commencing the foundation of
the
second. The correspondence of the month was no doubt intentional,
like
the
correspondence of the foundations of the altar (v. 3), and was to
mark that all was to be as before, that nothing was to be
wantonly
changed. Zerubbabel and Jeshua presided; but to Zerubbabel
is assigned
the
chief part in the work. “The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the
foundation of this house” are
the words of God Himself to Zechariah
(Zechariah 4:9). It was arranged that the work should
commence with
a
religious ceremonial, natural piety here suggesting what was not recorded
of
the “first house,” though it may have
occurred and not have been put on
record. The ceremonial consisted chiefly of praise, and was
accompanied
with sacred music, according to the pattern set by David and Solomon in
their sacred processions and ceremonies (I Chronicles 15:19, 24;
16:5;
II Chronicles 5:12, etc.). Their special parts in it were
assigned
beforehand to the priests, the Levites, and the people.
8 “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
from twenty years old
and upward, to set forward the work of the
house of the LORD.” In the second year. In
B.C. 537, the second year of Cyrus
in
coming) to the (ruined)
house of God (ch. 2:68), began Zerubbabel,
and
the others, and appointed the Levites.
Small as the number of the
Levites who returned with Zerubbabel
was, to them especially was
entrusted the work of the
house of the Lord, i.e. the superintendence of
the
workmen employed to rebuild it (see v. 9).
9 “Then stood Jeshua with his sons
and his brethren, Kadmiel and his
sons, the sons of
the house of God:
the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their
brethren the Levites.” Jeshua here is the head of the Levitical
family mentioned
in
ch. 2:40
as “the children of Jeshua,”
and Kadmiel
is the head of the other
family.
corrupt reading, as Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:43) has “Hodevah.” The
sons of Henadad, who are
here united with the Jeshuites and Kadmielites,
constitute a third Levitical family, which
(as the text stands) was also
engaged in superintending the work. But there is some reason to
suspect
that the passage is an unauthorized addition to the true text.
10 “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
and
Jeshua) laid
the foundation of the temple, they
set the priests in their apparel —
the rich apparel, designed “for
glory and for beauty,” which the law required
(Exodus 28:40; 40:27-29), and which the people had recently
provided
(ch.2:69). With trumpets. To
blow with trumpets was always the
duty of the priests (Numbers 10:8; 31:6; Joshua 6:4; I Chronicles 15:24; 16:6;
II Chronicles 5:12), to praise God with cymbals the task of
the Levites (I
Chronicles 15:16, 19; 16:5; II Chronicles 5:12-13; 29:25,
etc.), perhaps because
the
trumpet was regarded as the instrument of greater dignity. After the
ordinance of David. David’s ordinance on the subject is first expressed
briefly in I Chronicles 15:16; afterwards, more fully, in vs.
17-21 of the same
chapter. The musical service of Zerubbabel
fell short of the “ordinance of David,”
since it comprised neither psalteries nor harps, which were an
essential part of
David’s system. Apparently, the musical
skill of the Levites had declined
under the depressing circumstances of the captivity (see Psalm 137:2).
11 “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
when they praised the
LORD, because the foundation of the house
of the LORD was
laid.” They sang together by course. Literally, “They replied
(to each
other),” or sang antiphonically; the burden of their
song being, that
God was good, and His mercy towards
Chronicles 5:13; 7:3, where the Levites of Solomon’s time
are reported to
have praised God similarly). All
the people shouted with a great shout.
Shouting on occasions of secular joy and triumph has been
practiced by
most nations, both in ancient and modern times. But religious shouting is
less common. Still we hear of such shouting when the ark
of the covenant
was
taken into the Israelite camp near Aphek (I Samuel
4:5), and again
when David solemnly brought it up from Kirjathjearim
to Jerusalem (II
Samuel 6:15). Shouting appears also in the Psalms (Psalm
47:5) and in
Zechariah (Zechariah 4:7) in connection with religion. It is always
indicative of religious joy.
12 “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:”
Many… who were
ancient men, that had seen the first
house. The old temple had
not been destroyed so much as fifty years.
Consequently, there would be many who could remember
its grandeur and
glory. These persons, when
the foundation of the (new) house
was laid
before their eyes, wept
with a loud voice. It was “the day of
small things”
(Zechariah 4:10). The new house, in comparison with the old
one, was
“as nothing” (Haggai 2:3). The difference was perhaps not so much in
the
dimensions (see note on ch. 6:3) as in the size and
quality of the
foundation-stones (I Kings 5:17), the excellence of the masonry, and
the
like. Solomon had employed the best workmen of one of the greatest of
the
Tyrian kings; Zerubbabel
had only the arms of his own subjects to
depend upon.
13 “So 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.”
One, it would seem, was as loud as the other; neither
predominated. This,
which would scarcely be possible among ourselves, was not
unnatural in
the
East, where those who lament utter shrill cries, instead of weeping
silently. Herodotus describes the lament of the Persians for a lost
general
as
“resounding throughout all
The First Stone (vs. 8-13)
We now come in this story to a very critical time. The
great work of the
restoration of the house, for the sake of which the partial
restoration of
ch. 1:1-5; also 6:3, noting further how, in fact, all
recorded in
Ezra, and even in Nehemiah, may be regarded as
introductory, subsidiary,
or
supplementary to this point), at last is before us. We read, on the one
hand, of the very last step in the way of prelude and preparation. We read,
on
the other, of the very first step in the way of actual construction. In both
we
shall find how much importance is attached to the juncture.
engaged, as also, we may suppose (the “second month of the second year”
having arrived), the proper materials being now on the spot,
it only remains
to arrange, before finally starting, for proper
superintendence. Who so
likely for this as those who had a kind of family fitness or
hereditary call to
that work, viz., the Levites of sufficient age? And what so
proper an age
(i.e. if second thoughts are best) as the age
fixed by the “last words of
David” (I Chronicles 23:27, compared with vs. 3, 24-26; and see
II Chronicles 29:25 as further evidence of the authority
attaching to all
David’s arrangements concerning the house)? Such,
accordingly, was the
precedent followed by all concerned in this case. All who
helped to make
up the whole “remnant” that had returned to
both leaders, and by express mention the priests and
Levites, and by
implication all other Israelites) approved of this plan. And
all thus called
and “appointed,” i.e. all those
Levites belonging to those families which
had that hereditary acquaintance before referred to, equally
approved of it
too. Two families of such have been already mentioned among
those that
came up (ch. 2:40). We find
mention now for the first time, though
not for the only time (Nehemiah 3:18. 24; 10:9), of a third,
viz., the
family or “sons of Henadad.”
Possibly these may have come up at some
subsequent date, or it may be that they only form some minor
division,
which, as being specially qualified for the work now to be
entered on,
come specially now to the front. In any case it is a
significant indication of
the universal readiness on the part of all qualified Levites
“to
set forward
the work.” Indeed,
in this “last preliminary” this seems the principal feature
presented to us, this marked
unanimity of WILL and JUDGMENT. As
they appear to have traveled from
arranged in distributing the people (ch.
2:70), as they had all agreed about
erecting the altar (v. 2), so are they all of one mind also
in this
finishing touch. We may well believe that it was one secret
of their happy
progress so far. There is nothing so
fatal as the absence of unanimity in
building a house (Genesis 11:6-8). Nothing so effectual as its presence,
especially where God’s house is concerned (see Zephaniah
3:9-10;
John 13:34-35; 17:20-21; also Acts 4:32-33; Ephesians
2:19-21; I Peter 2:5).
stone. (Contrast, as a description of utter destruction,
Matthew 24:2.)
How
important a step this was considered may be seen by noting the
formalities observed on the occasion, being almost identical
with those
observed at that more than royal progress described in II
Chronicles
5:4-14
(compare also I Chronicles 15:27-28). How significant too these
formalities were in themselves. “Trumpets” are used commonly
on
occasions of state, to notify the approach of the sovereign,
to draw
attention to proclamations made in his name. In the Old
Testament we find
them employed to “sound an alarm,” or assemble the
people, or proclaim
the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:8-10; Numbers 10:9-10; Joel
2:1,15;
Amos 3:6); and that generally, though not always, in the
hands of
the priests (Joshua 6:6, 8, 13; Judges 7.; I Chronicles
15:24; 16:4-6;
II
Chronicles 5:12). The priests, therefore, as here, sounding these,
and clad in official garments, made the occasion one of
state in God’s
name, as though Himself present and speaking peace. On the
other hand,
the cymbals and songs of the Levites, praising God again in
the ancient,
national, and highly-esteemed manner (I Chronicles 16:41;
Psalm 136.;
and the prophecy of Jeremiah 33:10-11), was a kind of
response to
that voice. One is almost reminded of the “goodwill towards man” and
“glory to God in the highest,” when the foundation-stone of redemption
was laid in Christ’s birth (Luke 2:14). How important also
the occasion
was found to be in practice. Well begun is half done.” A foundation-stone
is both a proof and a promise — a proof of much, a promise
of more. How
much had now been accomplished! How great a step at last
taken I How
much more might be hoped! When the heart is full of such
feelings, what
can it do but shout out (see Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 9:9).
Compare
also the shout of Xenophon’s returning ten thousand
when they
found out how far they had traveled towards the goal they
desired on first
catching sight of the sea. Just so the men
here. “The foundation is laid. We
shall soon
have the house. Praise God.” So they felt, so they shouted in the
exuberance of their joy. So may a Christian also, when
laying, as it were,
by simple faith in Christ,
the “foundation-stone” of his hope.
With these
“pleasures of hope,” however, there were also sorrows of
memory. Some
fifty years or thereabouts before then there had been
another house on that
spot. There were “ancient men” present there who had seen it
in all its
glory. They could see it still in their minds. To them,
therefore, this present
“foundation-stone”
recalled years of shame, and terror, and agony. Oh, that
such a thing as this should ever have been required! That
there should ever
have been this pitiable necessity for thus beginning again!
That there should
be such a scene around them as they saw at that time (see,
even long
afterwards, Nehemiah 7:4; also Haggai 2:3; Zechariah 4:10)!
Bursting
into uncontrollable tears at these thoughts, they filled the air with
their cries. It was impossible indeed for any to distinguish
which kind of
cry prevailed most, the
cries of sorrow or those of joy. No
wonder the
story adds that “the noise was heard afar off.”
Regarded, indeed, from a
typical and prophetical point of view, has it ceased echoing
yet (see, inter
alia, Psalm 118:22-24; Isaiah 28:16; I Peter 2:4-8)?
Thought,
Work, and Feeling (vs. 8-13)
coming,” etc. We
can easily imagine any orator among the company of the
returned Jews making out a strong case for leaving the
building of the
temple till better days should dawn. The sufficiency of the
altar already
reared for the practical purposes of devotion; the readiness
of God to
accept any offering that came from the heart, however mean
the outward
circumstances might be; the insecurity of their present
state; their
incompetence to build a temple which would compare with that
of
Solomon;
the imperative necessity that existed to spend all their strength in
consolidating their new-gained liberty; the wisdom of
waiting till they
could do something worthy of the God they worshipped, etc. —
all this
might have been made plausible enough, perhaps was so made.
But if so, it
was overruled by the true thought that to the God who had redeemed them
from bondage, and given back to them their old liberties and
their beloved
land, they owed the very best they could offer, and that at
the earliest
moment. The
first-fruits, they had long learned, belonged to Him who
gave them everything. It was meet and fitting that as soon
as ever they were
established in their own old land they should build to Him,
the Source of all
their blessings, the best house they could rear. This was a
true thought of
theirs, and should find a home in our minds now. Not
anything that will do,
but the very best that can possibly be done, for God. We should not be
content that “the ark
of the covenant of the Lord should remain under
curtains” while we dwell in a “house
of cedars” I Chronicles 17:1).
Whatever,
in the affairs of His kingdom, is improvable should be improved.
The slain
lamb is to be “without blemish.” The building should be without
disproportion; the singing without discord; the service
without mistakes.
Let worthiness, excellency,
beauty, grace be offered to Him who has given
us not only the necessary and indispensable, but:
Ø
the exquisite,
Ø
the delightful,
Ø
the glorious.
Let
nothing detain us from the immediate service of Christ.
their design with great carefulness and method. They
committed it to the
Levites,
who were most interested and best instructed — to those of them
who were of a suitable age (v. 8); they sent to
money (v. 7); while, for love, the high priest and the
priests overlooked
and directed the work, and saw that
all was according to the book of the
law of the Lord.
The work was quickly begun, but it was not hurriedly and
slovenly dispatched. Each part was wrought by those who were
specially
adapted for it. No amount of zeal in the cause of God will
make up for lack
of intelligence and adaptation. We must build up the
spiritual house of the
Lord — the
but guided by a wise and intelligent adoption of the best
means and
appliances. Generous impulses must be sustained by sound
methods, or the
cause we have at heart will suffer, and instead of joy and
exultation will
come sorrow and shame.
picture can be found even in the Bible itself — that book of
tenderest
pathos and truest poetry — than the scene recorded in the
closing verses of
this chapter. The Jews, pure in heart and godly in spirit,
have ever been
capable of the most profound emotion. Here was an occasion
to call forth
the fullest joy and at the same time the tenderest
grief. Once more, on the
ruins of the ancient sanctuary, the new temple was about to
rise. It was the
hour from which a new era in their nation’s history should
date. It was an
act from which the devotion of a reverent people for many a
long century
should spring. Patriotism and piety lent their strong and
hallowed
influences to ennoble and consecrate the scene. Feeling
touched its deepest
and rose to its highest note. And when the aged fathers, the
ancient men,
remembering the perished glories of the temple on which the
eyes of their
youth once rested with such pride and joy, wept as they
looked on its ruins;
and when their tears and lamentations mingled with the
shouts of gladness,
resounding far and wide, that came from all the younger men,
who rejoiced
with great joy at the sound of the sacred songs celebrating THE GOODNESS
AND MERCY
OF JEHOVAH there was such a scene as can never have been
forgotten by any of that goodly throng while life and memory
remained.
Thus hand in hand go joy and sorrow, inseparable
companions, along the
path of life. Thus do they stand together round the same
altar, under the
same roof. Thus do they
mingle their smiles and tears at the same hour and
scene. “Shadow and shine is life, little Annie, flower and
thorn,” says the
aged grandmother in one of our poems; and in another we read
most truly
that
“There’s
not a string attuned to mirth
But
has its chord in melancholy.”
“We thank
thee more that all our joy is touched with pain,” sighs
another
tender spirit. That which forms so constantly recurring a
strain in our
poetry must be, and is, a prevalent and abiding feature of
our life. Ill is it
for those who have no other portion than the pleasures of
the present, no
other heritage than the satisfactions of earth and time.
Well is it for those
who thankfully accept earthly joy and the shaded brightness
of the present
time as flowers that spring at the touch of God’s finger
along the path of
duty and devotion, intended to help us onward in that goodly
way,
speaking to us of the fuller
blessedness which the future holds in its folded
hand for them that are faithful unto death.
The Founding
of the
The worship of
was
such as could be conducted around an altar in the open. The people
naturally felt how imperfectly they could fulfill the law of Moses
without a
temple, with its courts, its veil, and its sacred furniture. They
did not let
discouragement paralyze them, but taxed their energies and resources.
These words bring under our notice:
Ø
What was required? (see v. 7
o
Here we read of “masons.”
These suggest the quarrying and
cutting of stones, and their transportation to the site
(compare
I
Kings 5:16-18).
o
“Cedars of
Lebanon” are mentioned. These suggest
also other
kinds of timber.
The trees had to be felled, transferred to
or Zidon, thence floated to Joppa,
and conveyed across the
country to
suggested by these hints.
Ø
How did they meet the demand?
o
Indirectly, by the
gifts and sacrifices offered in connection
with their worship at the altar. These were required for the
support of that worship.
But the spirit of the worship thus
encouraged animated them to further efforts. So it operates
still under the gospel.
o
Directly, in their
additional subscriptions of cash and kind (v. 7).
These
gifts rewarded the workmen of
I
Kings 5:11; II Chronicles 9:10). Also workmen of their own
nation (compare I Kings 5:13-15). How anticipative of the wide
spirit of the gospel that Jews and Gentiles should be
jointly
concerned in this typical work!
o
Do not these efforts
shame those of Christian congregations?
Here
were under 50,000 persons, all told (see ch.
2:64-65),
equal to about fifty out of the many thousands of our
Christian
congregations, undertaking this great work! What are we,
each individual,
doing towards the building of the spiritual
temple?
Ø
The appointment of
officers for the building (vs. 8-9).
o
Zerubbabel had supreme command (see Zechariah 4.). This he
had as of the seed royal, and representing David and
Solomon.
o
Jeshua the son of Josadak, as high
priest, was associated with
Zerubbabel.
o
The priests of the
courses were his seconds in command —
captains of the hosts of workmen.
o
The Levites were made
foremen over the workmen. “And
appointed the Levites,” etc. (vs. 8-9). There
should be order
in everything
connected with the work of God.
Ø The presence of all things essential to the ceremony.
o
The stone itself was
there. This was a type of Christ, the
Foundation
of the living temple (see Psalm 118:22-23; compare
with Matthew 21:42-44; Ephesians 2:20-22; Isaiah 28:16;
8:14;
compare with I Peter. 2:6-8).
o
Zerubbabel was there to lay the stone. In this he, too, typified
Christ
(see Zechariah 4:6-10). This language has unmistakable
reference to the
triumphs of the Messiah.
o
Jeshua the son of Jozadak was there to
witness it (see Zechariah
3:9).
In this he, too, was a type of Christ, our great High
Priest (see
Zechariah
3., and Zechariah 6:9-15). Essentials
in religion are
those things which concern Christ. These should be held
as
fundamentals.
Ø The provision for the celebration of praise.
o
There were the
trumpeters. These were the priests, distinguished
by their apparel {see Numbers 10:8, 10).
o
The Levites, sons of Asaph, struck the cymbals. This was “after the
ordinance of David” (see
I Chronicles 16:4 6). The Levites also
led the singing. This was responsive. The burden was “Praise
and
thanksgiving be unto the Lord;” the response, “Because He is
good, and His mercy endureth for
ever towards
leaders of praise in Christian congregations should
be godly
persons.
Ø There was the emotion of the people.
o
Excitement was so
strong that it vented itself in
shouting.
o
Ours should be intense
as we realize the glorious things
foreshadowed.
Ø There was the emotion of the ancients.
o
While “all”
shouted “because the foundation of the house of
the Lord was
laid,” yet on the part of many the
shouting was
mingled with wailing.
These were the ancients who looked
on the ruins of the
in its splendor. They saw a mere handful of people, THE
RELICS OF A GREAT NATION as they remembered it.
They
looked upon their chief magistrate, a dependent upon
the Persian king, in contrast with what they remembered of
the earlier representatives of David and Solomon.
o
The passion of the
weepers was such that it rivaled that of
the exulters. No interests are
so vital as those of religion.
None should move us so deeply.
Ø The outsiders heard the sound.
o
Those “afar
off” were the Gentiles (see II Kings 27:6).
o
The nations of
the world should be made to hear the sounds
of CHRISTIAN EXULTATION
The Joyful and Sorrowful in
Religious Worship (vs. 8-13)
Here we have illustrated the power of a right leadership,
the wisdom of
devout cooperation, and the progress of a great enterprise (vs.
8-10).
Ø
That God will deign to
consecrate by His Presence the temple erected.
God
will dwell in the temple made with hands; what a condescension
and benediction is this toward man; hence the joy.
Ø
What God is in Himself to those who worship Him. “Because He
is good, for His
mercy endureth for ever toward
Ø
In the strength which worship imparts during the trying circumstances
of life. Who can tell the gladness
put into the heart of
arduous task by their worship. Worship inspires joy in time
of difficulty.
Ø
In the progress of
religious enterprise. Another house to be erected for
moral uses.
Ø
In religious youth the
joy of worship is eminently strong. Natural feeling
combines with spiritual delight.
loud voice” (v. 12).
Ø
That sin has thrown
life into such a condition that a temple should be
necessary.
necessary the material aids to worship.
Ø
That disobedience
should ever violate the holy sanctuary of God. The
first temple had been destroyed; its glory had departed.
Ø
That the best temple
man could build should be so poor and imperfect.
The
poverty of their work awakened tears.
Ø
That the temple should
be so little cared for by man, and that so little
good should be gained by its frequenters; so many of their
comrades
were left in
WORSHIP. “So that the people could not discern the
noise of the shout of
joy from the noise of the weeping of the people” (v. 13).
Ø
A scene in the soul.
In the soul joy blends with sorrow.
Ø
A scene in the
sanctuary. In the same Church joy and sorrow blend in
the experience of the worshippers.
Ø
A scene in the world.
Sorrow and joy blend on earth.
Ø
Not a scene in heaven;
there no more tears.
The Foundation Laid
(vs. 11-13)
The weeping of these old men was the first check on the
enthusiasm of the
builders of the temple. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the
prophecies of Zechariah and Haggai, which illustrate them, are a very
troubled history: sorrow, disappointment, and indignation again and
again
break out; but until now there had been no consciousness of
hindrances, or
the
consciousness had been suppressed. The time of preparation, which
is
pre-eminently the time of hope, was over; the people stood face to face
with the work they had undertaken; its difficulties were before them; they
felt the poverty of their resources. But though the enthusiasm of the
multitude was checked, it was not daunted; the hope of the younger
men
overrode
the depression of the elders;
the influence of their sacred festival
sustained them; the popular feeling was wiser and more healthy than
the
despondency of the leaders. The work of preparation had been carried
forward with spirit. Not more than a year, probably a good deal
less (v.8),
had
elapsed since “the chief of the fathers”
had come “to the house of
the Lord which is at
accomplished in the organizing of labor and the collection of materials
for
the
building (v. 7). Patriotism, wisdom, and piety had been manifested in
their plans. The whole remnant of
the
work, not only of those who had returned, but also of those whom the
military leaders of
importance to carry away (compare v. 1 with II Kings 24:14; 25:12).
The
daily sacrifices had been early re-established, that the courage
of the people
might be sustained by their faith in the God of Israel (vs.
3-6). Great
carefulness was manifested that all things should be done according
to the
law; they were scrupulous
in their obedience of God (vs. 2, 4,
and
ch.
2:59, 61-62). A beautiful simplicity and hope appear in the
counsel of “the Tirshatha” (ch. 2:63), the
expectation that the LORD
would again reveal His will for their practical guidance. The
responsibility
of
all this action must have been felt by the “ancient
men” “of the priests
and Levites;” overstrained feeling may have been one reason of their
weeping. Among the causes of their grief, notice these:
There was
a great contrast between Solomon’s temple and the ruins which
were around them; between the glorious past of
demoralized condition of the nation now. But the greatest
contrast was
between the energies of their own youth and their present
inability to rise
to the demands of a great occasion. “We receive but what we
give.”
Difficulties
are a spur to a young man’s courage; the consciousness of
power shows itself in the
desire to struggle and to overcome.
BEEN MADE TO THE
DECREE OF CYRUS. “Forty
and two
thousand three hundred and threescore” was the number of “the whole
congregation” that
offered themselves for the return; and of these a large
proportion were persons professionally engaged about the
temple. “The
priests and Levites” mourned
that their readiness met with so small a
response from the people. Some of the leaders of the nation,
noble men
hearing noble names, were there; but many also of small
account, “a mixed
multitude,” like a
great proportion of our modern emigrants, unable
to
succeed anywhere and eager for any change (ch.2:58-63). The “great
middle class” of
the Gentiles.” The
feelings of the ancient men would probably exaggerate
these facts.
THE WORK FOR WHICH THEY HAD RETURNED
MAY HAVE
ALREADY APPEARED
IN MANY. Only “some of the chief of the
fathers offered freely” (ch. 2:68; cf. with the phrase “chief
of the
fathers” in our
text). Zechariah (ch. 7.) speaks of the greed which
characterized the nation during the captivity; Haggai first, and Malachi
long afterwards, indignantly rebuked it in the men of the
restoration
(Haggai
1:3-4, 9; Malachi 1:6-10). The great grief of the old men, however
natural, would have seriously hindered the work. The want of
hope, and
the selfishness which made many plead hopelessness
as an
excuse for
abandoning their efforts, were the sins against which Zechariah and Haggai
had to testify. The frank impulse which led the multitude to
shout for joy
was wiser than the weeping. It anticipated the subsequent
teaching of
Nehemiah
under similar circumstances (Nehemiah 8:10), “The
joy of
the Lord is your strength.”
Ø
The mingled character of all human work. We begin in
enthusiasm
and
continue in depression. There is the contrast of the actual with
the ideal; the sense of accumulating difficulties; the
consciousness
of failing powers; the perception of imperfection in all
human
instrumentality. The work remains, though the feeling
changes;
remains to be done, remains when it is done. “Duty remains,
and
God abideth ever.” “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
Ø
The advantage of fellowship in labor. Many weep and many
shout
aloud for joy; and this is well, for each can temper the
emotion of, and
furnish help to the other. “‘Tis
held that sorrow makes us wise;” but
happy ignorance is also blessed. Care is good, and so is the
occasional
outburst of joy that sweeps care away. Blend old and young
together;
the old with memory which is the nurse of great purposes;
the young
with the passion to make a future for themselves.
Ø
The cause that can bind true men in a fellowship of labor. IT IS
THE CAUSE OF GOD, the
cause in which we can worship together
as
well as work together. “They sang together by course in praising
and giving thanks
unto the Lord;” “all the people shouted with a
great shout, when
they praised the Lord, because the foundation
of the house of
the Lord was laid.” A
common faith in God
and
God’s call harmonizes all diversities of
feeling.
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