(EZRA 3:8-13)
8Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites from twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. 9Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God. 10Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel. 11They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Have you ever just wanted to stop in the middle of what you are doing, take time to look around at what has been accomplished and give God the thanks for what has been done? I do! It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. It can also do one of two things: Encourage me to move forward with greater determination or cause me to shut down thinking I’ve done enough for the day. Many leadership experts tell us that any task we are involved in is in danger at this point. The halfway syndrome will hit and many people just stop, never to return to the work at hand.
Here in Ezra 3:8-13 we are looking at the people of Judea and Benjamin beginning to return to the land of Israel. They are returning under orders of the king to rebuild the temple (1:1). However, upon returning some of the people pull their support of the rebuilding process (2:68). Either way the building process began. It started with the altar being set back up on its foundation (3:3) and the re-establishment of worship toward Yahweh in the midst of the temple grounds (3:3-4). Now we are looking at the responsibility we play in overseeing the work of God. Last time we saw the importance of the overseeing (3:8-9), but now we focus on an important aspect of overseeing God’s work which is ignored for the most part…celebration (3:10-11).
Why is this so important? Because it helps those in leadership to see what was done and how well it was done. So in some since it can play the role of quality control. Second, God can use it to bring conviction to those who are not doing that good of a job. And it can be used as an encouragement to those who are endeavoring to do the best they can.
There are several things we can see from the passage. First, they celebrated while the work was being done (v. 10). In my illustration I gave the idea of being halfway finished with a project before I would stop and reflect on what was going on, but here they have just started the work...the foundation was just being laid. I believe originally the thought was that they would stop the construction at each level and celebrate God’s goodness. We will discuss why this did not happen at the end of this chapter and all the way through chapter 4. Second, they celebrated in answering each other regarding the goodness of God in the work (v. 11a). Most scholars note that the Hebrew here is giving the idea that one choir stood on one end of the foundation while the other stood at the opposite side. The first group would say, “For He is good,..” and the second group would answer back, “…for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” It was a constant reminder of God’s greatness even though they as an independent nation no longer existed. It also reaffirmed God’s will in the situation.
The second thing which the celebration does is it signifies a reason. In verse 11 the word “because” is used. The celebration was an act of gratefulness and gratitude toward God. In Psalm 24 it says, “1 The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. 3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face--{even} Jacob. Selah. 7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift {them} up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.” Notice how the Psalmist is grateful toward God for creating the world, moving against deceitfulness and bringing salvation. It is no different in our lives we should always be a people who are thankful for all that God has done and even better yet thankful for who He is.
So what can we learn from this section? First, while we oversee the work of God we should not be negligent of rejoicing over the work which God is performing. Too often I believe we do one of two things: We rejoice over the work which God is doing alone or we attempt to over emphasis His person. What I mean by this is that by rejoicing over God being at work alone means we live more by what we see and feel than acting on faith. The other extreme leads to dry dullness which has no expression to our faith. There is a balance we must strike and that balance is found when we choose to rejoice at what God is doing because of who He is. Second, we should celebrate with a reason. The Lord should always be the center of our lives without question. If we focus on the work itself we will become weary of what is going on, loose interest and often despise what we are doing. When our focus is on Jesus Christ and the work He has done for us then gratefulness pores out of our souls. We do what we do for the sake of the Kingdom and for no other reason.
Please let me know what you think and ask any questions you may have so that we can dialogue about these thoughts.
Lord Bless,
Steven
(All verses used is from the New American Standard Version)
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