Ezra 3:1-13
1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshuaa 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 Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
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.
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 dutyb of every day required;
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 foundationc of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
7 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters;d and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
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 Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.
9 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah,e together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
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 Israel.
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 Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
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:
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.
Ezra 3:1. The seventh month, and the tenth day was the great and holy day of atonement, as explained in Leviticus 16. They had left Babylon in the spring; and being four months on their journey, the priests hasted the erection of the altar.
Ezra 3:2. Jeshua and Zerubbabel. Ezra puts the highpriest first, for all ancient highpriests were princes; but Zechariah the prophet puts Zerubbabel first. Ezra was the uncle of Jeshua.
REFLECTIONS.
Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, and others returned from Babylon in an excellent spirit. They had been instructed and profited by the judgments of God on their country. Hence as the patriarch, on coming to a new district, erected an altar to the Lord, so Israel moved by sanctifying fear, erected a brazen altar to the God of their fathers; that obtaining pardon and his defence, they might be secure from all their surrounding foes. No nation can subsist without religion, and that family which does not surround the sacred altar, has no protection in the day of adversity.
The gathering nation of Israel being now in covenant with God, gave gifts to the Lord's house and service. There were among them who said, The time is not yet come, though they had begun to build for themselves houses of cedar; yet a liberal spirit prevailed, and the body of the people offered of their substance very willingly. That man who cheerfully lends his aid to support the sacred ministry, and to aid every institution for the conversion of sinners, the furtherance of piety, and the help of the poor, shall not want a friend in the day of trouble. When we aid the cause of God by that one act, we do good in every point of view, and for ages yet unborn. No sooner had the Israelites been one year in the land, and reaped a small harvest, than they assembled to bring the firstfruits to the Lord at the feast of tabernacles. The pious and zealous governor had also prepared their affairs so as to lay the foundation-stone of the temple on that festival. This ceremony, so glorious to an afflicted people, was attended with every circumstance of joy and of weeping, which can possibly affect the heart. While the music sounded, and the young people shouted, the aged men wept both for sorrow and joy; and so loud, that the difference in the voices could hardly be distinguished. They had seen the glory of the former temple; and now when they saw the narrow design and scanty preparations for the present house, they could not contain their sentiments of sorrow. Saurin, on opening a small church for the French refugees in Holland, quotes this passage with much feeling. They had enjoyed temples in France, but were reduced to holes and corners, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The mobs, keen of the game as dogs in a chase, had ascended the roofs of their churches and temples, with ladders and hatchets, and in one day levelled them with the ground, for the rewards of plunder. Oh popery, popery! thy day shall also come.