May 31, 2023

Ezra 3:1-7 (HCSB)
Sacrifice Restored 3 By the seventh month,  the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem.  2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel  and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.  3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.  4 They celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.  5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month   and for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to  the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord,  even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. 7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they could bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea,  according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.

Andrew Ivey
“And the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.” Unity is a powerful thing. When the people were united in Genesis 11, they made a tower that reached into the sky. But they were united around the wrong thing, pride. So, God put a stop to it. Fast forward to our passage today. The Israelites have returned home from exile, and they united to rebuild the Temple. They will succeed when united in obedience to the Lord’s command. Fast forward again to Jesus’ prayer for His people in John 17. Jesus prays that His people be unified. God works mightily through His church when its people unite in obedience to Him. Imagine what we can accomplish at Temple when we are united in service to the Lord Jesus. Are your words and actions working to unite our church or divide it?