Deeper Commentary
Ezra 3:1 When the seventh month had come and the children of Israel were in the cities- The seventh month could have been the seventh month after they arrived. But at this time they kept the feast of tabernacles (:4), which was to be kept in the seventh month of the Jewish year, so that is probably the month in view here. We note they were in their cities and had to gather to Jerusalem. The intention was that they returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple; but they had gone to their ancestral lands and reclaimed them.
The people gathered themselves together as one man to
Jerusalem- This seems to imply a strong unity amongst them; the same
phrase is found in Jud. 20:11.
Ezra 3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the
priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and built 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- "Rose up / stood up" is a word used often of the 'rising up' of the
exiles to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5; 3:2; 9:5; Neh. 2:18; 3:1). This was
a fulfilment of the command to "Arise... Jerusalem!" (Is. 51:17; 52:2;
61:4). But this 'arising' was to be associated with the dawning of Zion's
light in the form of Yahweh's glory literally dwelling over Zion (Is.
60:1). This didn't happen at the time, because the appearance of 'arising'
by the exiles was only external and wasn't matched by a spiritual revival.
Joshua and Zerubbabel between them were intended to be the priest and king
of the restored kingdom, but when that didn't work out, Zechariah's
prophecies seem to have envisaged the appearance of a singular
king-priest. But this too didn't happen. God was trying by all means to
bring about the reestablishment of the Kingdom despite so much human
dysfunction and disinterest, just as He is today.
Note that Zerubbabel was the adopted son of Shealtiel, and only on that basis was reckoned his "son".
Ezra 3:3 In spite of their fear because of the peoples of the surrounding
lands- The same word is used of the fear and dread which came
upon the peoples of the lands because of the Israelites in Joshua's time
(Josh. 2:9 etc.). The hint is that the exiles were wrong to be in fear of
those peoples.
Time and again, Isaiah’s restoration prophecies told Judah that they should not fear, as Yahweh would mightily be with them in their work (Is. 41:10,13,14; 43:1,5; 44:2,8,11; 54:7,14; 59:19). But Judah feared the surrounding nations- Ezra and Nehemiah are full of this theme. Nehemiah refused to be put in fear by the Samaritan opposition because of his faith in Isaiah’s promises (Nehemiah 6:14). And Isaiah further spoke to Judah’s heart in Isaiah 51:12,13: “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations [s.w. re. the foundation of the temple being laid] of the earth [‘heaven and earth’ often refers to the temple]; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?”. The fact they did fear meant that they had forgotten Yahweh who was so eager to re-establish their Kingdom.
The restoration prophecies had stated clearly that
the returned exiles would not be afraid.
Jer. 30:10: “Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD;
neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and
thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and
shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid”. Isaiah’s restoration prophecies contained not
only many clear commands to not fear at the time of the restoration
(Isaiah 41:10,13,14; 43:1,5; 44:2,8; 51:7; 54:4), but also a clear
statement that if they were truly the re-established Kingdom, they would
not fear: “Thou afflicted, tossed with tempest [s.w. Zechariah 7:14 re.
how Judah was ‘tossed around’ by the 70 years captivity]
I will lay thy
stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires...and all
thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of
the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness
shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for
thou
shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee...
and all thy children shall be taught of the LORD” (Is. 54:11-14). But the
adversaries to the rebuilding did make the returned exiles afraid
(and also Neh. 6:9). Nehemiah exhorted the people not to be
afraid perhaps on the basis of Jeremiah’s words (Neh. 4:14). Their fear
and problem-oriented view of life stopped the Kingdom bursting forth into
their experience. That fear was rooted in an obsessive self-interest that
eclipsed a true faith in that which is greater and larger than us as
individuals. And so it can be with us.
They set the altar on its base- That is, they built it on its previous site.
And they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, even burnt offerings morning and evening- These were the daily offerings commanded for each day under the law of Moses.
Ezra 3:4 They kept the feast of tents, as it is written, and offered the
daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty
of every day required- This was in the "seventh month" (:1). Even with Ezekiel’s prophecies behind him concerning “the prince”,
Zerubbabel was easily discouraged in the rebuilding, and needed the
prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah to encourage him again. He kept the
feast of tabernacles (Ezra 3:4) but without dwelling in booths (Neh.
8:17)- i.e., half heartedly. He could have been Messiah, perhaps-
he may well have been 30/33 at the time of the restoration (Mt. 1:12,13).
When Judah returned, they could have entered into the new covenant,
featuring “nobles [an intensive plural, meaning ‘the great noble’]… and
their governor shall proceed from the midst of them” (Jer. 30:21).
Zerubbabel the Governor could have fulfilled this; but he flunked out. Yet
God lifted up his spirit a second time (Hag. 1:14 cp. Ezra 1:5); he was
given a second chance, such was God’s enthusiasm that he should achieve
what was potentially possible for him. But again, he failed. He saw the
glory of Babylon as more attractive than the hard work required to bring
about Yahweh’s eternal glory in Zion. It is noteworthy how God worked
through this man’s failures, and desired to give him (and all Israel)
further opportunities.
Ezra 3:5 and afterwards the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the
new moons, of all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and of
each one who willingly offered a freewill offering to Yahweh- Their
technical obedience in offering sacrifice was commendable, but it was not
being done according to the commandments for the restored temple in Ez.
40-48. They were still attempting to keep the old covenant, the law of
Moses; ignoring the plain teaching of Jeremiah that they had broken this,
and were being offered a new covenant which was not at all identical to
the old covenant. Their motivation was therefore religious, historical and
cultural, rather than spiritual and based upon God's word.
Ezra 3:6 From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer
burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was not
yet laid-
The work was in three stages. First the altar was built, then foundation of the temple laid (:10-13) and then the temple was built on that (Ezra 4-6). It is commendable that they built the altar first, and God accepted it. There was no need for a temple or any structure to as it were sanctify the altar. Offering can be made to God in any context, without any surrounding religious structure.
The impression given is that they focused upon the sacrifices rather than laying the foundations of the temple, which ought to have been laid out according to the dimensions clearly given in Ez. 40-48. The prophets had often reminded God's people that He was not so interested in sacrifices as in hearts broken in repentance; but their focus upon sacrifice and ritual reflected their lack of repentance.
Ezra 3:7 They also gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters. They
also gave food, drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring
cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that
they had from Cyrus King of Persia- Lebanon was not under
Persian control so presumably they used "the grant" of 'all expenses met'
to order these trees. Again we see how material resources will never be a
barrier to serving God. They were consciously trying to
imitate how Solomon had built the first temple. But instead they should
have been seeking to build according to the dimensions and details of the
plans given to them in Ez. 40-48. Their attempted replication of Solomon
suggests they were rebuilding his temple rather than building the
new structure of Ez. 40-48. Their motivation was in recreating their
national past, following national heroes, rather than moving in line with
the Spirit.
Haggai's prophecy can be dated quite precisely- it was given August-September 520 BC. This was harvest time. And at this very labour intensive season, where all hands had to be on deck out in the fields, the prophet called for a dedication of labour to building up God's house. Yet Judah were too concerned with their own harvests than the harvest of God's glory. They were asked to do something counter-instinctive- to take time out from harvest, and spend that time on building up God's house. And they failed the challenge. But it wasn't that they were simply lazy. Hag. 1:8, a prophecy given 18 years after the decree of Cyrus, orders the people to go up into the hills of Judah and get wood with which to build the temple. And yet according to Ezra 3:7, the decree of Cyrus 18 years earlier had resulted in cedar wood being brought from Tyre and Sidon, enough for the temple to be built. Where had the wood gone? Is the implication not that the leadership had used it for their own "cieled houses" (Hag. 1:4)? It all seems so petty minded. But this is what we are tempted to do, time and again- build up our own house and leave God's house desolate and in a very poor second place. And even worse- Hag. 1:9 records that the people expected "much" harvest, and were disappointed at the poor yields in Palestine. This would confirm the suggestion that many of those Jews who did return from Babylon were amongst the poor in Jewish exile society, and returned in home for personal betterment- rather than because they wished to obey the call of the prophets and establish God's glory in the land. That's a sober warning for all of us who may go through an external appearance of zeal for our God, whilst having very selfish and human motives underneath.
Ezra 3:8 Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house 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 those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem,
began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and
upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh’s house- I noted
on Ezra 2 how very few Levites there were who returned. Only 341 members
of Levitical families are listed in Ezra 2:40-42; and if only males over
20 were counted, that total number may have been as low as only 30- and
that is assuming all the Levites who returned were obedient to this
command, none were sick or handicapped etc. Levites were supposed
to start work at 25 (Num. 8:24,25; a similar reduction was made by David
in 1 Chron. 23:24,27) but they reduced this to 20 because of the lack of
Levites- who had no land inheritance and so were less interested in
returning to Judah. This is tacit reflection of how the real motive of the
returnees was to reclaim their ancestral land, rather than to build the
temple and live in Jerusalem.
Ezra 5:16 says that Sheshbazzar laid the foundations of the temple while Ezra 3:8-10 says that Zerubbabel did. Possibly Sheshbazzar ['glory of the sun god'] was the Babylonian name for the Hebrew 'Zerubbabel'. Or perhaps Sheshbazzar began to lay the foundations, there was a delay, and Zerubbabel completed the work. The delay may have been caused by the famine sent for their lack of zeal to build the temple (Hag. 1:6) as well as the local opposition. Zech. 8:9,10 describes the situation just prior to the foundations of the temple being laid: "...the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built. For before those days there were no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbour". The implication is that the Jewish builders demanded wages for their work and even for the work their animals did; and when they weren't given them, they argued with each other and thus the work stopped.
Ezra 3:9 Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his
sons, the sons of Judah, together, having the oversight of the workmen in
God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the
Levites- "Henadad" means 'the grace of Hadad', a Syrian king.
Even the Levites still had their pagan names. This was all a far cry from the restoration prophecies of
the Gentiles carrying the repentant Jews back to Judah and then themselves
working to rebuild the temple for the Jews (Is. 60:10; Zech. 6:15). The
Jews had to do so themselves, and as noted on :8, there were very few of
them doing the work.
Ezra 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh’s temple, they
set the priests in their clothing with trumpets, with the Levites the sons
of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, according to the directions of
David king of Israel- They were attempting to restore what had once
been, as David had established things, from nationalistic and cultural
reasons, just as they tried to replicate Solomon's usage of cedars from
Lebanon. Instead they should have been trying to rebuild the temple
according to the commands given in Ez. 40-48. This would have been why
some wept and others shouted for joy in :12. The scene would not have been
that impressive, for they only had 100 sets of priestly clothing (Ezra
2:69). The system of praise instituted by David would have only been very
poorly replicated. Ezra 2:41 says that only 128 people from the singing
family of Asaph returned, and not all of them would have been adults.
This was very poor response. We note that apparently the famous singing
families of Heman and Jeduthun didn't return (1 Chron. 25:1).
Ezra 3:11 They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to
Yahweh: For He is good, for His grace endures forever toward Israel. All
the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Yahweh, because
the foundation of the house of Yahweh had been laid- The "shouts"
with which it was laid were the "shouts" of the foundation ceremony
described in Zech. 4:7. This passage describes the Messianic kingdom of
God which could have been restored in Israel at the time. But as explained
on :12, the shouts were tinged with unreality, because it was clear that
what had been built was not in obedience to the dimensions and system of
Ez. 40-48, and was not even the size of the previous temple which the
older men remembered from their youth in Jerusalem. Such great potential
was precluded by Judah's limited vision.
We notice that the young
and old didn’t rejoice together- the old men wept at how small the temple
was compared even with Solomon’s, whilst the younger ones rejoiced. Yet
the restoration prophecy of Jer. 31:13 had spoken of how
"Then shall the virgin
rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together”.
The refrain "For He is good, for His grace endures forever toward Israel" is based upon the frequent usage of similar words in David's Psalms, which they were using for their praise (:10), and in the restoration prophecy of Jer. 31:11. But those scriptures speak of how "For He is good, for His grace endures forever". They have added "toward Israel", and yet as discussed on :4, the restoration prophecies were all about the Gentiles also worshipping at Zion. Here we see the beginnings of a nationalistic, anti-Gentile stream of thought that was to get progressively worse over time.
These words were an attempt to fulfil the resoration prophecy of Jer. 33:10,11: "Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem... the voice of joy and the voice of gladness... the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for His loving kindness endures forever". But those words are prefaced by the prophecy that the sound of joy would be heard in Jerusalem. This sound was heard, but it was mixed with the sound of weeping that the temple was not going to be built according to the required specifications of Ezekiel.
Ezra 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’
households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation
of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice-
The weeping was perhaps because the temple foundations were laid and there was the singing of praise, just as had happened at the dedication of the first temple. But then, God's glory had come down. Now, nothing happened. Ezekiel and the restoration prophets repeatedly spoke of that glory descending visibly onto Zion. But nothing happened. They all knew that they had disregarded Ezekiel's commands of the size and structure of the temple, preferring to just replicate Solomon's temple, the structure they were familiar with and which represented their historical and cultural tradition.
There is the hint in Hag. 2:3-9 that despite the planned temple being smaller than that commanded by Ezekiel, causing some to weep when the foundations were laid rather than rejoice (Ezra 3:12), God was still willing to force through His intention of restoring the Kingdom: "‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn’t it in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel!’ says Yahweh. ‘Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest! Be strong, all you people of the land’, says Yahweh, ‘and work, for I am with you’, says Yahweh of Armies... ‘Don’t be afraid’... ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former’, says Yahweh". Likewise Zech. 4:10 appealing for the faithful not to despise the day of small things.
The language of Israel’s return from captivity as found in Isaiah and Ezekiel all has evident reference to the second coming and the final establishment of the Kingdom. It isn’t just that Israel’s return under Ezra and Zerubbabel was a type of that final homecoming. It could have been the Kingdom- had they obeyed the prophecies. It was all about a potential Kingdom of God. But they were too caught up with their own self-interest, with building their own houses rather than God’s; and so it was all deferred. Using the prophetic perfect, God had prophesied that at the time of the restoration, He would come and dwell in rebuilt Zion (Zech. 8:3)- just as Ezekiel’s prophecy had concluded: “The name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there” (Ez. 48:35). Clearly, Ezekiel’s prophecies could have been fulfilled at the restoration; God was willing that they should be. But human apathy and self-interest stopped it from happening as it could have done. When the foundation stone of the temple was laid, there should have been excited acclamation: “Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7). But instead the old men wept when the foundation was laid, knowing that the temple was nothing compared to what it ought to be (Ezra 3:12). The glory of the restored temple was prophesied as being far greater than that of the former (Hag. 2:9); Is. 60:17 alluded to this in prophesying that “For brass [in Solomon’s temple] I will bring gold, and for iron [that was in Solomon’s fixtures] I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron”. The super generous decree of Cyrus had potentially enabled all such valuable metals to be provided. But it simply didn’t happen, because God’s people were satisfied with a small, inglorious temple so that they could get on with building their own “cieled houses” (the same word is used in describing how the temple of Solomon was “covered”, or cieled, with cedar). And the old men wept at the fact that the glory of the new house was less than that of the earlier one.
Is. 65:17-19 describes the new creation of Zion as it was possible at the restoration, when the former heavens and earth would not come into mind. The former “heavens” of Solomon’s temple did come to mind, and the old men mourned because of how far superior the former had been (Ezra 3:12). The voice of weeping was heard in the streets of Zion, as Judah mourned for their sins of marrying the surrounding nations and breaking the Sabbath.
Many also shouted aloud for joy- The returnees were to lift up their voice with joy at Zion’s restoration. But at the very humble dedication of the temple, the younger people lifted up their voice with joy (Is. 40:9 same words), but the older men wept, as the temple was not even as great as Solomon’s, and certainly not that commanded in Ezekiel and Isaiah.
Ezra 3:13 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 far away-
"The people" may
refer to the people of the land. They did not get a clear message, for it
could not be discerned; when instead the joy of the restored Zion was
intended to be a witness to the Gentiles. Instead they heard a sound which
was a mixture of weeping and rejoicing.
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