Introduction:
A. The story is told of a minister who was giving the children’s sermon one day at his church.
1. He had decided to talk to the kids about how to write a good sermon, in hopes of inspiring some to grow up and go into the ministry or become a Sunday School teacher.
2. So he asked the children, “What makes a good sermon?”
3. Of course all the little kids raised their hands high and proud.
4. “Yes Johnny?” the minister said, and Johnny answered, “A good sermon needs a good beginning.”
5. “That’s right, Johnny,” replied the preacher, “We call that the introduction. What else makes a good sermon, kids?”
6. Little Susie raised her hand. “Yes, Susie?” the preacher said. “A good sermon also needs great ending,” said Susie.
7. “You are so right,” the preacher responded, “we call that the conclusion, and it is one of the most important parts. Anyone else?”
8. Little Billy had his hand up, so the preacher called on him. “Yes Billy?”
9. Billy said, “Well, I know you don’t do it this way, but in a good sermon, the introduction and the conclusion should be as close together as possible!”
B. Having a good beginning and a good ending, and having them as close together as possible is not only a good formula for sermons, it is also a good formula for a successful project.
1. As you know, we are in a sermon series on Ezra and Nehemiah called “Restoring and Renewing the People of God.”
2. Since it has been a couple of weeks since our last sermon from the series, let’s do a brief review.
3. God had brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses, and had made them into a great nation, with powerful kings like David and Solomon.
4. Unfortunately, God’s people split into two nations – the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah.
5. Both kingdoms became unfaithful, and God warned that their unfaithfulness would lead them to being conquered and being taken into exile.
6. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 724 B.C. and then the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians in 587 B.C.
7. Through the prophets, God had not only foretold of the exile of the southern kingdom, which would last for 70 years, but God had also prophesied that Cyrus, king of Persia would allow them to return and rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem.
8. Soon after Cyrus came to power in 538 B.C., he made an edict that gave the Jews the permission to return and rebuild.
9. In our last sermon, we saw that a little over 42,000 Jews took him up on the offer and returned to Jerusalem.
10. After their 4 month journey, Ezra chapter 2 ends with these words: The priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns (Ezra 2:70).
11. That’s where we want to pick up our story today.
C. Let’s keep in mind what those Jewish pilgrims found when they returned to Jerusalem.
1. The city was in shambles, and the temple lay in ruin.
2. Let me ask you, where would you begin to rebuild if you had been part of the group?
3. Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start a project, isn’t it?
D. I’m reminded of a restoration project that a friend of mine had undertaken.
1. He had found an old abandoned 1942 Ford in a field and had bought it for almost nothing.
2. He invited me over one day and was excited to show me his progress on the restoration.
a. We went into the garage where he had the whole vehicle disassembled.
b. What little was left of the body was removed from the frame and the motor was sitting by itself.
c. I asked him if the motor worked, and he said he didn’t know yet, but it probably would have to be rebuilt.
3. Then he got so excited and said he has something special to show me.
a. We went into the house and he brought a special box from his bedroom.
b. He opened the box and proceeded to unroll something from its’ careful packing.
4. What he showed me was the 1942 Ford’s dashboard ashtray that had been beautifully chrome-plated.
5. It was indeed lovely, but with all the work that needed to be done on that car, I’m not sure I would have started with the ashtray! (He was a smoker)
6. But perhaps there was some genius in where my friend had started – he chose something small that he could get done quickly that would represent a finished component in this long restoration project. Unfortunately, he died before he could see it through.
E. In today’s section of the story of Ezra, we are going to see something similar.
1. The Israelites have a huge restoration project ahead of them.
2. Where should they begin?
3. What could they start with that would give them an immediate sense of accomplishment, but would also be important to the whole project? We shall answer that question in a moment.
4. Let’s look at the story and draw some lessons for our lives.
I. Story
A. Ezra 3:1 says: When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.
1. Our best reconstruction of the dates and times for this event in Israel’s history says that they arrived back in Jerusalem in the 4th month of 537 B.C.
a. So they took a little time to settle in and get a few boxes unpacked.
b. Before they knew it, the 7th month had arrived.
2. The 7th month was the most significant month of the Jewish year.
a. It is called the month of Tishri, and on our calendar falls in late Sept. or early October.
b. The 7th month was their new year, which today is called Rosh Hashanah.
c. The Feast of Trumpets signaled the new moon of the 7th month and thus the beginning of the new year.
d. The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur was the most significant day on the Jewish calendar and fell on the 10th day of Tishri. On that day, the high priest would offer blood sacrifice in the holy of holies to atone for their sins.
e. If that weren’t enough, this month also contained the Feast of Tabernacles that began on the 15th day and lasted for 7 days. That feast commemorated their freedom from Egypt and how God had provided for them during their wanderings after the Exodus.
f. It seems that this significant month and these important feasts were just what the returnees needed.
g. They needed a new beginning which the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets supplied, and they needed to be reminded that the Lord was their deliverer and provider, which is what the feast of Tabernacles would give them.
3. So, it was the 7th month, and all the Israelites who had returned to Judah and settled in their towns, now traveled to Jerusalem to meet together as “one man.”
a. That expression “one man” expresses their unity.
b. After the many long years of dispersion in Babylon, they were now a unified group and gathered to show their solidarity and cohesion as a people united in service and praise of God.
B. Verse 2 continues the story: 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
1. It would have been easy for them to be content with the fact that they had returned and resettled in Judah, but there was more important business for them to attend to.
a. They had come with the mission and commission to rebuild the temple of the Lord.
b. But like my friend with the car restoration project I mentioned a few minutes ago, rather than start with the entire temple, they decided to start with a small part of the project that would have immediate results and blessings.
2. So the first thing to be built was the altar of sacrifice.
a. Abram had marked his arrival in that land in the same way, by setting up his altar as a bold Amen to God’s promise (Gen. 12:7).
3. Notice they built it in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses.
a. This slide shows pictures of what the altar might have looked like. (Top left - how it might have looked when it was portable and associated with the tabernacle. Bottom right – how it might have looked like when it was made permanent at the temple site.)
b. I love the fact that they searched the Scriptures and followed God’s rules.
c. Even though most of them had not seen the temple or the altar, nor had they worshiped there, all they had to do was go back to God’s instructions and follow them.
C. Verse 3 says: 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
1. I’m sure the people who had lived in Judah for the past 70 years were suspicious of those exiles who returned.
2. Suspicious people are not usually friendly people.
3. Yet in spite of the returnees’ fear of the people, they proceeded to obey God and rebuilt the altar and resumed the prescribed daily sacrifices.
a. Our call to obey God must trump all our fears as well.
4. Jewish sacrifices had not been made at the temple in over 70 years, so imagine the emotion felt by the Jewish people and the priests when the altar was rebuilt and the sacrifices were resumed!
5. At the end of the chapter, we will see some of how they must have been feeling.
D. Verse 4 says: 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.
1. The returnees took out their calendars and noticed it was time for the Feast of Tabernacles, and so they immediately did what they needed to do in accordance with Scripture.
2. For over 70 years, no one had been following God’s instructions, but now all they wanted to do was to know and do the will of God.
3. And even though they had just settled down in their new homes, they immediately abandoned them for seven days as they lived in tents and retold the story of the wilderness wanderings.
E. Verses 5 and 6 give us this summary: After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD's temple had not yet been laid.
1. So even though the temple had not yet been rebuilt, the altar had been rebuilt and was put in service to the Lord.
2. The people studied the law and followed it by conducting the specified feasts, sacrifices and offerings.
3. The returnees were off to a good start – the entire mission had not been completed, but it had been started, and started at an appropriate place – worship.
F. Verse 7 tells of the second step in their restoration project: 7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
1. All of this looks very similar to what King Solomon did when he built the first temple back in 1 Kings 6 and 2 Chronicles 3.
a. Solomon worked out a deal with the king of Tyre.
b. Solomon would send him wheat, barley, wine and olive oil as payment for logs.
2. So the returnees hired the contractors and made the necessary purchase of materials.
a. I’m sure that all of that took a lot more time than it does in our day and time.
b. They couldn’t just run down to Home Depot, or make an order online.
c. Those logs had to be floated down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and then brought across land to Jerusalem – not an easy or quick job.
d. I’m sure the negotiations were made easier by Cyrus the King of Persia’s authorization that we learned about in chapter 1 and are reminded of here.
G. Verses 8 and 9 continue the story: 8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. 9 Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah ) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers--all Levites--joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
1. Back to our time line, the 2nd month of the 2nd year, would be April/May of 536 B.C.
a. It is interesting that this is the exact month that Solomon began to build the original temple (1 Kings 6:1).
2. So with the necessary materials in hand and the necessary workers hired, the leaders, Zerubbabel and Jeshua appointed the Levites to supervise the construction of the temple.
3. Delegation and supervision are so important to the success of any enterprise.
a. Why did they choose the Levites to be the supervisors?
b. Was it because they were skilled construction workers who knew all the trades?
c. No, it because they were experts in the scriptural design of the temple.
d. It was their job to be sure it was built according to God’s blueprints.
H. Let’s look at what happened when the foundation was finished: 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 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.
1. The foundation is certainly the most important part of building any structure. If the foundation isn’t right, then nothing will be right.
2. And the completion of the foundation is certainly an accomplishment worth celebrating.
3. If you have ever been part of a construction project – either a new home or an addition – it begins as a big mess with a hole in the ground.
a. The footers are laid, then the concrete blocks, and it begins to take shape.
b. But when the foundation is completed there is the real sense that now the building can really take off and be finished.
c. So the completion of the foundation is an important step.
d. One that is worthy of a big celebration.
I. Notice how the completion of the foundation had two opposite responses from the returnees: 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
1. Why did those who had seen the former temple weep rather than rejoice?
a. Were they tears of sorrow for the cause of the destruction of the original temple?
b. Were they tears of joy because the temple was finally being rebuilt?
c. Were they tears of longing for the past, or sorrow that the rebuilt temple may never have the splendor of Solomon’s temple?
2. Whatever the reason, God’s people worshiped together making a joyous noise unto the Lord that was heard far away.
3. I wonder what those people of the land who heard the noise were thinking.
4. In our next sermon, when we look at chapter 4, we will discover what the neighbors thought and did.
II. The Application
A. There are a number of powerful things we can learn from this section. Let me encourage us to wrestle with two things.
B. First of all, we learn the priority of worship.
1. Before they could begin the reconstruction of the temple, they first had to reconstruct worship.
a. In many respects, worship should always precede work and should be a priority over most things.
b. That’s true on a daily basis, before begin our work each day, we should devote some time to worship.
c. That’s certainly true on a weekly basis, Sunday is the first day of the week (and is the Lord’s Day), and we should dedicate that day to worship, so we will be ready for the rest of the work week.
d. Worship precedes work.
e. Worship is not the end of our service, but just the beginning.
f. We come to worship to be fed, challenged, trained and energized, so we can go out and serve.
2. As a priority, let me encourage us to always put worship ahead of work, even as we consider where we will live.
a. I’m always impressed when I see people who are looking at a new job possibility who first make sure there is a good church for them to worship and work with.
b. If there is no good church in the area, then they won’t even consider taking that new job.
c. I’m equally discouraged when people take a new job somewhere and haven’t even considered where they will worship.
d. Or they move to a new area and don’t make worship a priority immediately.
e. I don’t care if all the boxes aren’t unpacked yet, or I don’t care if we are tired, we need to be in church on the first Sunday in a new area.
f. God must come first, and worship must be a priority.
g. When people move into a new area and don’t start with church immediately, many times they never get started again.
3. Another thing we learn here about worship is that the emotions are to be involved.
a. We must worship in spirit and in truth – we must engage our head and our heart.
b. When we worship, the same song may bring out different emotions for different people.
c. Some will rejoice and others may mourn – tears may flow – all our emotions are welcome.
d. Emotionless worship is something to be avoided – it is an oxymoron.
4. One last thing I want us to consider about worship is Whom we worship.
a. In today’s passage in verse 11, the words they cried out with praise and thanksgiving were: “He is good, his love to Israel endures forever.”
b. When we approach God in worship, that should be our basic mindset and understanding.
c. God is good and His love endures.
d. That was true for Israel both when they were in captivity and when they were freed.
e. That is true for us whether we are experiencing hard times or easy times.
f. God is always good and His loves always endures – that should fill us with praise and thanksgiving!
C. Second, we learn the priority of the Word.
1. Ultimately, what God says about our worship and work is what is most important.
a. What any person says or thinks is not as important, but what God says and thinks is all important.
b. The Scriptures are all-sufficient and contain all of the instruction that is needed for the guidance of those who would be faithful to God in any period of the church.
c. 2 Tim. 3:17 says that the word “thoroughly equips us for every good work.”
2. What we have seen in today’s section is that the returnees, who hadn’t had the opportunity to worship God at a temple or with an altar for over 70 years, could begin to do so in the right manner by following God’s Word.
a. All they had to do was look at the instruction manual and follow the commands.
3. In the history of Israel we have seen over and over again that when they stopped following the Word they got themselves into trouble.
a. But all they had to do to get back on track was get out God’s instructions, brush them off and start following them.
4. How many of us have made a mess of things when we have tried to put something together without following the assembly instructions?
a. How many of us have gotten so lost when we have refused to stop and ask for directions?
5. The amazing thing we have seen in church history is that at any point in the last 2000 years of the church, a church can get back on track simply by getting back to the basics of God’s Word.
6. Today I see so many churches and Christians getting off track by following the lead and teaching of people who downplay the importance of the Bible.
7. Many people think they are smarter than God or know better than God, after all, the Bible is an old book and we are living in very modern and advanced times – right? Wrong!
8. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:23-25: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
a. The truth is: people come and go, but God’s Word remains and it never changes.
b. We have been born again through the living and enduring Word – that’s all we need!
9. The apostle John ends the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible with these words: I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (Rev. 22:18-19).
a. We must have the upmost respect for the Word of God.
b. We must do our best not to add to it or take anything away from it.
c. Our job is to trust and obey the Word of the Lord.
D. Let me leave you with this question: What does God want you to do in response to this lesson?
1. What is God’s Word to you today? In what way do you need to trust and obey the Lord?
Resources:
Ezra-Nehemiah, by Mark Throntveit, Interpretation Commentary Series, 1992
Ezra & Nehemiah, by Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1979
Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther, by J. Vernon McGee
Restoring Religion, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
What Are You Waiting For?, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
Work It!, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
What’s All the Racket?, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
