Based on Ezra 3 (New King James Version)
“And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. When the builders 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 ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel.’ Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 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 sound was heard afar off.”
Lord Acton said, “History is not a burden on the memory, but an illumination of the soul.” History is a fantastic teacher. And this is one of the greatest values of the Bible; that it is loaded with historical facts. Within its pages are contained the great triumphs and accomplishments of those that sought after God and obeyed the Almighty. Also contained within the Bible are many stories of those who failed miserably due to their pride and disobedience, casting away God’s counsel; thinking that they were more than the Creator of heaven and earth. The Bible even explains the catastrophic fall of Lucifer (better known now as the Devil or Satan), where his pride and covet for the Throne of God destroyed him forever.
The Devil, in his quest to continue challenging God and trying to destroy as many people as possible, tries to temp us in a subtle yet effective manner. You might ask, “What is Satan’s incentive to temp and destroy people?” Well, when you are able to understand the nature of something, then you are able to understand what it is capable of. Since Satan is the complete opposite of God (Satan being 100% evil), then his sole intention is to do that which is evil. Something may all look good at first, and absolutely appealing (which is the lure to the trap), but the end is destruction and condemnation.
So having said that, one of Satan’s main weapons is doubt. Here is where we start getting into today’s passage and how it applies. The enemy will usually try to plant the seed of doubt in a person’s mind. For instance, “Is the Bible true; and should I trust it?” He will then try to plant another seed of doubt which is, “It’s not really that bad what I’m doing”. And yet another seed could be, and now in the context of using Biblical history as a learning tool, “That happened to them, but you are smarter than them; it won’t happen to you.” This is probably one of the greatest tactics he has and people fall into it all too easily because it is appealing, alluring, and almost adventurous; that you are smarter than those others that failed before you. It appeals to a person’s pride and arrogance. And when a person accepts that seed within them, that is the “coup de grace” or the “death blow”. Destruction is just around the corner. It’s just a matter of time.
So what is one way we can look at today’s passage? There were people that were celebrating something great. But there were those that were mourning while the celebration was happening, because they remembered that the former things were better. What had happened to the previous, grander temple that Solomon built? God allowed for the enemies of Israel to come upon them because of Israel’s constant rebellion and sinfulness against Him, because they forget about the One that made them great and granted them great things. Their desire was to do whatever they wanted, and that they were untouchable. Sound familiar?
So here is some Godly counsel: If are doing well now (by God’s grace), honor Him and continue looking for the Lord, or else it will all come down. If you are in a position of starting over or rebuilding, honor and look for the Lord as well, so He can help you through it. Learn from the past so you don’t suffer the same or worse consequences. Stay close to those who look for the Lord also. And finally, forget your pride (because it never helps) and “always” look for God!
Lord bless! John