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| Source: CCFLA |
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. Then Joshua 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. 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. Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 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.
As we have been reading, King Cyrus has announced the end of the exile of Judah, they are to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of the Lord. Not every Israelite chose to return, however, some were comfortable with their lives in Babylon. They had no doubt intermarried with Babylonians, had families and were happy with the lives they had created. God, we are told, moved the spirit of those he had chosen to return.
Now, the people have arrived they are set to begin building the temple. We are told the people are settled back into their lands in the seventh month. On the first day of this month, all those who had returned were gathered in the centre of Jerusalem. As we have read, this is once again recognised as the city if Yahweh and the people are gathered for one purpose: to begin laying the foundation rocks of the new temple.
However, notice their first task is the not laying of the foundation rock (the end of verse 6) but to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Their first task is to build an altar and follow the commands of Moses by observing the numerous sacrifices in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
Now, remember, this is a time before Christ Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for us negating all other sacrifices were not necessary any longer. Therefore, at the time of the Israelites returning to Jerusalem after their second exile from the Promised Land, hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, they were commanded by Moses to perform a number of sacrifices regularly for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the atonement of sins.
It stands to reason that the first thing they would have to do before anything else was to seek atonement for their sins. What were their sins? Well, what was the reason for God punishing them in the first place? They had committed adultery and worshipped other gods before God, despite all that God had done for them. So, after the 70-year exile, the people of Judah had to seek forgiveness for their sins. Once they had done that, they would be able to move on.
That is not all, however. These Israelite people were commanded to rebuild the temple of the Lord in order for the glory of the Lord to dwell among his people (as found in Exodus 40:35), a fairly important job, but not the most important. They chose to seek God first, seek his forgiveness before doing anything else.
Hundreds of years later, Christ Jesus said these words, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33). Christ is reiterating what the Israelites did in Ezra and what God wishes of his people today. Jesus also said much later when asked what the greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.”
As Christians today, our first task is to seek God and his righteousness before all other things. No, we don’t need to do a variety of sacrifices every day like the Israelites had to do, Christ has already been sacrificed for our sins once and for all (1 Peter 3:18), but we should consider spending time with God every day. The best way to do this is by spending time in Scripture and in Prayer.
No time? Life too busy? Start too early in the day? Not a morning person?
Just think about what Christ Jesus did for you…Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
He took on God’s wrath to the point of death, even the humiliating death on the cross so that we would not have to.
Will you choose to seek him first as a result, or will you choose to stay in the happy, comfortable life you have created for yourself?
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