Ezra 03.10 “10 Now 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.”
In todays reading, Ezra recounts
for us the restoration of the altar and sacrifices (Ezra 03.01-06), the Temple restoration
begins (Ezra
03.07-13) opposition to the rebuilding of
the Temple (Ezra 04.01-24), and the work of the Temple is resumed (Ezra 05.01-17).
As with most works of God, the
enemy will do whatever it takes to usurp the work of God. Whether it is
pretending to want to help in the construction process, thus hoping to
infiltrate the ranks and then sidetrack the building project (Ezra 04.01-03).
When that didn’t work, they threatened the builders and even hired counselors
to discourage them (Ezra 04.04-05).
The first job of the people was to
rebuild the altar of burnt offering, which was located east of the Temple (Ezra 03.01-06).
The rebuilding of the altar was crucial to help reestablish the sacrificial
system.
It took some time for the foundation
of the Temple to be laid, in fact seven months after the altar was built! The
delay was caused by the need to gather the materials needed to build the
foundation. Why was this delay significant? The seven-month delayed worked
according to God’s prophetic calendar, making it exactly seventy years from
when they were first deported in 605BC (Jeremiah 29.10; Jeremiah 25.11-12).
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