10/7/2018 Ezra 3

And while you're turning there and marking your spot, that last song we sung was called We Believe by a group called the Newsboys. But the words were not original words by the Newsboys. That comes from the Apostles' Creed that the early church fathers set out and gave to the church as a memory aid to know and to learn and to be able to put into words what we believe.

Why Creeds and Confessions Matter

Creeds are important. Some people would say we don't need creeds or confessions in the church. Friends, we do need creeds and confessions in the church. We need to know what we believe and we need to be able to articulate what we believe because there's a world that is dying lost that needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And if they need further information, they ought not need to go to Dr. Phil or Oprah Winfrey or anybody else for helpful advice. A Christian needs to go to God for advice. And as Christians, we ought to be able to communicate from God's word what God says about matters of doctrine.

And so the Apostles' Creed says this, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried.

The third day he arose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost and the term that's used here, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, that's not talking about the Roman Catholic Church.

It's speaking of the Church Catholic or Universal, all the redeemed of God, the communion of the saints, we believe the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and of life everlasting, amen.

What a good creed to put to memory to help to encourage you. Kenny talked to us this morning in Sunday School about how the psalmist, the Sons of Korah, who wrote the 42nd and the 43rd Psalm, we're taught to encourage, we're taught to seek encouragement from the God, and we're taught and we're called to, well, we're not taught and called to be this, but it's the example that is given as a heart pants after the waters, the psalmist said, so my heart pants after you, oh God, and I would ask you today, are you thirsty?

Are you hungry? Because every week, week in and week out, you get a regular dose of the Word of God, and the Word of God ought to be a satisfying for you and I, amen. Blessed is he who seeks hungers and thirsts after righteousness, though Jesus said, for he shall be filled.

If you leave God's house unfulfilled, if you leave God's house dissatisfied, it's because, not because you're not getting the Word of God. I know we joke a lot, but, and it happens many times, I thought about setting some chairs up here, and some of you may have wondered if I had to set them up here, what these chairs were up here for, I'll go ahead and set one up here, I'm going to take this right here.

Some of you might say, well, who would sit up there in front of everybody? I'm thinking about making this the sleeping section. You're a regular sleeper? This is going to be a specially dedicated section just for you, sleepers.

Some would say, who's going to sit up front and sleep? I can't sleep and be hid back there. Buster, let me tell you something, there's an issue if you're sleeping on God. I don't care who you are, if it's me or whoever, there's an issue.

We ought to devote our full time and attention to the Word of God, no matter who is preaching the Word, whether it be sir, whether it be myself, whether it's Kenny teaching, whether somebody else is in here and they're preaching the Word, it may not be exactly the style that you like, but nevertheless, if it's the Word of God, God deserves your full attention.

A few weeks ago, I'm just going to clear the air here for a couple of things, a couple of weeks ago I got up here and I said I was going to try to minimize the time I preached. I was rebuked promptly after church by two folks, because I don't need to necessarily limit the time I preach, I know that, but everybody says, well, don't preach an hour and a half just because they said that.

I'm not, I'm going to preach as long as it takes to get through the text of Scripture that we're looking at. Now I do my best not to ramble, I can give an honest estimation of myself, I don't think I ramble a whole lot.

If you catch me rambling, then tell me I'm rambling, after church. But as a rule, I try not to do it while we're in the text. But I wanted to clear the air on that, so I was rebuked, I apologized, I told them it's harder to study to preach for 40 minutes than it is to study to preach for 50 minutes or an hour, because I'm trying to cut back and skim back all that is in the text that we've studied for, but you deserve all that we're able to give to you.

So we just want to encourage you to take what the Word of God says. So Ezra chapter 3, let's go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll read the third chapter of the book of Ezra and try to give you that exposit, the third chapter of the book of Ezra, give you things to study and consider throughout the week, so that throughout the week you can study and know the Word of God better.

Heavenly Father, I come before your throne this morning just to say thankful that we have the privilege and this honor to be in your house today. Thankful God that you have given us the privilege and the honor, dear God, the joy in the presence, Lord of the Holy Spirit, Lord, for when we come as the church, as one, are gathered and united to lift up your blessed and your holy name, God, something that I believe that takes place.

I can't necessarily speak for anybody, Lord, but myself, but takes place in my heart and in my mind that I am encouraged and my soul is lifted up, dear God, when we get together and sing praises unto you.

And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that we have the privilege and the honor to go to the Word of God, Lord, today. I'm thankful and I know and I admit that I am incapable of communicating it in the best way possible known to man.

But heavenly Father, I pray that you would take what little bit that we give unto you of our time and of our mind, take it, magnify your blessed and your holy word, exalt your name above every name that is named.

Holy Spirit, teach us and instruct us in the ways of righteousness from your word, help us to rightly divide the truth of your word, and God, to echo the words of the psalmist, help me that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart might be acceptable in your sight, O God, for it's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen and amen. Ezra chapter 3, the Word of God, reads this way. 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 Joshua, the son of Josedec, 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 offering 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 basis 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 grain, offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. Afterwards, they offered the regular burnt offering and those for the 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 carpenters and food and 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.

Verse 8,. Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, Joshua, the son of Josedek, 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 20 years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.

Then Joshua with his sons and brothers, Cadmiel with his sons and the sons of Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God, the sons of Hinnadad with their sons and their brethren, the Levites.

When the builders laid the foundations 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 responsibly, 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 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.

The Rebuilding of the Altar and the House of God

Remembering, having read God's word, now reminding you where we are. Remember in chapter one, we find how the children of Israel were released from Babylonian captivity, just as the Lord had said. In chapter two, we see how God marks out and keeps his own people.

Remember, in that crowd of somewhat around 50 ,000, that's just the guesstimation, somewhat around 50 ,000 people, the Lord knows them that are his. In chapter three, what we're going to see here today is the beginning of that rebuilding process, remembering who it was that was called to build and why they were there.

But first off and foremost, remember this, that the book of Ezra, the book of Ezra can be summarized. I'm summarizing it. This is what I'm suggesting to you here today. The book of Ezra is a book of revival for the people of God stood in need of reviving in the midst of their bondage.

Kenny talked to us this morning. The Sunday school lesson taught us this morning how folks go through depression. Depression is a very real thing. It is a bondage. It is something that presses down on us.

But I'm thankful today that depression or not, I go through periods of depression, whether you all realize it or not. But friend, there is a greater power that pulls on me than the power that pushes down on me.

The people stood in need of revival. They needed hope is what they needed. Seventy years in captivity, though they knew they deserved to be there, though they knew why they were there, they still sought the hope of God.

God is the only hope today. Do not seek hope in any other. No matter what it is, sickness, pain, sorrow, death, heartache, trouble, tribulation, peril, persecution, nakedness, hunger, whatever the case may be, I'm telling to you today, according to the word of God, seek the Lord in all things.

They sought revival of hope. There was it is a revival of the house of God. See what they had been without in hundreds of 150 or so years before. Probably somewhere thereabouts. And these are not exact periods of time, so you don't necessarily need to take that as a gospel.

I wasn't able to get the exact years, but I'm giving you the estimated somewhat maybe to 150 to 75 years thereabouts. Before this had taken place, the house of God in Jerusalem had been completely destroyed and this house of God in Jerusalem that God had set up so that God's people would worship him God's way.

God had set up and prescribed the methods and the manners in which the people of God were to worship. Now, what had happened with the people of God, the children of Israel, they had been without this privilege.

They had been without this honor for so long of a time. My friend, they began to lose hope. They began to lose heart. But they remembered what God had said. That God fulfilled his word and God brought them back to Israel for this one purpose that the house of God would be rebuilt.

It was a revival of the house of God. It was a raising of the house of God that had been destroyed and torn down. The book of Ezra is a revival of the preaching of the word of God. As we continue to move through this book, not in this chapter necessarily today, maybe somewhat to some degree.

But in the next coming chapters, we're going to see some things, chapter five, six and seven. Primarily, we're going to see that the work that was done, that the success that was had was due to the word of God himself.

That's what it was due to. And friend, if we're going to have any success as a church body, it's going to have to be because everything is founded and predicated upon the word of God. And nothing else.

It was a revival of the preaching of the word of God. It was a revival of prayer. Friend, when do you find yourself praying? Most when you're in need, when you're in trouble, when you're hurting and when you are helpless.

Friends, let that always be the case. But let it not be the only case that we seek unto the Lord in prayer. Praise is very much as important part of prayer as is crying out for help unto God. Amen. He deserves our praise.

The psalmist said in one place, it is good for us to give thanks unto the Lord. The book of Ezra is a revival of prayer. It's a revival of repentance. Friend, we are always to be repenting as Christians.

What? Yeah, we need to be aware of who we are. We need to be aware that we ain't as good as we think we are, that we know we're close to it. This past week in Bible study, we was reminded in the book of Job, what Job's friend Bildad told him and what Job had to really come to the place where he said, I agree with that, too, was this.

He referred to himself as a maggot and a worm. You know what? Before this week, before we read that, Kenny, really the only time I ever really thought about that term you are hearing the word you maggot use would be in movies where you see drill sergeants talking to talking to the folks underneath them that they're training.

You're a maggot. You're a worm. Well, the Scripture teaches us that we are maggots and that we are worms before God. But God in his grace and his mercy loves us. Amen. That is good. We have nothing whatsoever that we can offer unto God.

It was a revival of repentance. It was a revival of confession of sin. But this this is part of what needs to happen in the church on a regular basis. We always need to be repenting. We always need to be confessing our sins unto the Lord.

One Man United by the Spirit of God

So let's let's move into the text here. Notice in the very first verse, the very first verse, when the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in the cities. The people gathered together. How?

As one man, as one, as one man into Jerusalem, 50 ,000 people united in one effort and in one cause, and that is to say that the house of God was rebuilt. What causes this to happen? It's the spirit of God.

If you turn back to chapter one in verse five, then the heads of the father's houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved. Anything lasting, anything that is effectual in this life of the church will always be because it is the work of God.

For any work done by man and built upon man is going to crumble and it's going to fall. But friend, the foundation of God stands sure. It is unshakable. They moved this one man. Verse two, notice this.

Then Joshua, the son of Josedek and his brethren, the priests, we see the priesthood here and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. We see what Matthew Henry refers to it as magistrates, which would be the government because Zerubbabel was basically the governor of of the people of of Israel when they came into came back into Jerusalem.

So we see the priesthood. We see the magistrates and we see his brethren and all the people and they arose and they built the altar of God in Israel to offer burnt offerings on it as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

If you would turn back over to the book of Leviticus very quickly and mark your spot there, we're going to go there here in just a moment. We're going to read a couple of more verses. Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, Leviticus chapter twenty three.

Notice what the word of God continues here, 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 the evening 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 yet been laid. Notice the first thing that they said to because friends, you realize this to this book of Ezra, 10 chapters long, but it takes place over the span of probably somewhere between a hundred to two hundred and sixty five years.

So what we're reading in 10 chapters was God working through means of his providence sovereignly over the lives of his people over the course of time. Everything is not done in an instant as we wish it would be.

Amen. How many of you like things to be done in an instant? I like to be able to think it and it be done, but generally that ain't how it goes. So keep that in mind as we go through the book of Ezra that these periods of time are taking place, that there's many obstacles that they face, that the roundabout cities around about Jerusalem were still occupied by enemies, people who were against the work of God being completed.

But they were there because God sovereignly called and appointed Cyrus to say unto them, let him go, let him go to Jerusalem, let him build the house of God. Let us make provisions for them. God provided in all of these things.

But notice this. The very first thing that they said to do because they could not have it all done at once was they said to build the altar. Friends, before we we need a church building, we need an altar, we need the altar.

And they realized this, they needed the altar of God because the altar of God, that's where the work was done. Friends, if you're going to be saved, it's going to be because there was an altar built on Calvary one day, two thousand years ago, where Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, propitiated for your sin and mine.

It was the altar and the altar was the first thing upon their minds to do, to get done. And they said it. And as history teaches us, this altar was built on the very foundation or the base that the original altar was built.

They didn't try to go and build it on a different area. They didn't try to make a new platform. They built on the existing foundation. The foundation of God stands sure. Having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his.

The foundation has not changed. The walls may have been destroyed, but the foundation is sure it's unshakable. That is a hopeful thought unto them and it is a hopeful thought to us today. So they set to build the altar, the first order of business was setting up the altar of God and know this.

I want to say this prayer takes work. Well, you mean I got to sweat and I got to cry and I got to do all those things. I'm not saying you got to do all those things, but it takes an intentional effort for you to deny yourself and to seek God's face because we are in this flesh, our flesh fights and our flesh battles with us and our flesh is do this or do this before you go to prayer.

But friends, the Holy Spirit of God, we're taught according to the Holy Spirit to seek God first and in all things. So they set to build the altar upon its original base, upon its original foundation.

Obedience to the Feast of Tabernacles

Verse three, fear had come upon them. They had opposition. They were fought against tooth and nail, really through chapter three. And next week when we get into chapter four, this was one of the challenges that I faced this past week in studying because, you know, we're always saying, look at the context, read what happens before and read what happens after.

I've been studying this for months now trying to prepare for these messages. But even this past week I had in digging into this chapter three, I began to get curious a little bit about the opposition.

And in chapter four next week, Lord willing, we'll see that opposition. But there was a period of time, probably about 70 years, where the work was ceased. Because there were folks in the land who sent message to the king, we'll see that next week, that if the king let this go on, that the king wouldn't get the tribute that he deserves to get.

And so the king said cease the work. So for a period of time, the work ceased. Now, for us, a modern day application would be this for us, because it's important to be able to relate these things without using them as prescriptive text.

But in relation to this and how it is with us, friends, we get disgruntled, we get dismayed, we get disheartened. If fewer people come to the church for a month than they do at this time, at the last year, friends, God is sovereign.

Our job, our responsibility as the body of Christ is just simply this, stay faithful to God, stay faithful to his word. And as Paul taught in Corinthians, Paul plants Apollo's waters, but God will give the.

Increase.

But we keep praying, we don't give up, we trust God. So fear came upon them, verse 4, they also kept the feast of the tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.

The work that they were set to, to offering the offerings that God required. And I want to say this to keep this in mind. Let's let's keep a let's keep a line, a definite, defined line of demarcation here.

We are not called today to make sacrifices to please God. We do not have to burn animals. We do not have to burn people. We do not have to cut ourselves. We do not have to whip ourselves. The price has already been paid.

But for the purpose of our learning and understanding the context, this was still a time before the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made was made, that they were called to actually provide sacrifices unto the Lord.

And it was work. It was work, and if you turn back over to Leviticus, and I just want to read verse chapter 23, Leviticus, verse 33, we're just going to look at that feast of the tabernacles there for a moment, because the scriptures, it puts that forward.

They also kept the feast of tabernacles as it is written. And notice this, verse four, five and six, notice very closely, they were zealously obedient to the word of God, meaning this. Let me put it in plain terms.

They were eager to obey God and his word. Are you eager to obey God and his word? Is is the desire to to serve God in your heart and in your life greater than the desires of your flesh? I'm going to tell you, according to the spirit, if God has saved you, he will make the desire for him greater than the desire of your flesh.

For if you are saved by the grace of God, you did not get only Jesus Christ as savior, but you got him as Lord and master. They kept the feast of the tabernacles. Leviticus 23, verse 33, the word of the Lord says this concerning the feast of tabernacles.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel saying the 15th day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the.

Lord.

So he says on the seventh month, which is when this is taking place on the 15th day, this was to be a perpetual keeping for the children of Israel. He said, keep the feast for seven days to the Lord. On the first day, there shall be a holy convocation, meaning a Sabbath, a day of.

Rest.

He said, you shall do no customary work on it for seven days. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord on the eighth day. You shall have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made by fire to.

The Lord.

It is a sacred assembly and you shall do no customary work on it. These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. You see, this is continually repeated there to be making sacrifices unto the Lord, a burn offering, a grain offering, a sacrifice.

And besides all your vows and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to.

The Lord.

Verse 39, also on the 15th day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day, there shall be a Sabbath rest and on the eighth day, a Sabbath rest.

So the first day, a Sabbath coupled bookended by an eighth day of Sabbath. So once they completed their their worship unto the Lord, they were to rest on the eighth day. He said this and verse 40, you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees and willows of the.

Brook.

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. He's saying, take these branches of these trees. And basically what they were doing was making wave offerings. They were constantly waving them unto the Lord, which is typify, which typifies what actually took place when Jesus came into Jerusalem.

For they waved palm branches unto him and they shouted Hosanna in the highest. This was a tip top in a picture of what was to take place. And he says in verse 41, you your generation, you shall keep it a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year.

It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. God had not changed. Therefore, God's word had not changed unto them. Therefore, they were to practice these things that God had set up.

Verse 43, and he said this, you are verse 42, you shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. And here's where if you dig and you search, you'll see that the word of God gives clear explanation of what the Feast of Tabernacles was about and the Feast of Booths, which was a part of that, that your generations may know that I, the children of, that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

I am the Lord, your God. So Moses declared to the children of Israel the Feast of the Lord. So they were made to dwell in tents that when God took the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, he gave unto them a work to do.

And this work to do was on the seventh month of the year and the 15th day of the year to begin to observe these feasts and to begin to offer these burnt offerings and to dwell a part of these feasts were to dwell in tents, signifying and showing unto the children of Israel that the tabernacle, their tabernacle, the place that they were covered by their housing was only a temporary provision.

But God was making an eternal provision for them. And just as he did for them and just as we are by promise, the children of God, according to the word of God, God has made an eternal home for his children.

Jesus told us in John Gospel chapter 14, have beloved, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. For in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.

Behold, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also. And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive you unto myself. How many years have gone by?

I can't tell you how long it's been since Jesus promised that. But I know this. He is faithful. And if we were able to, friends, when we get to heaven, we'll be able to go to some of these saints of God that went through Babylonian captivity.

And if you went up to any of them and you asked them, is God faithful and true to his word? They tell you without a doubt, you know, he is faithful and he can sit us down for however long they wanted and tell us about how bad it was in Babylonian captivity.

But how God came through, just like you said he was going to do. God is faithful. Praise the Lord. They kept the peace of the tabernacles. They kept those, made their free will offerings unto the Lord.

The Foundation, Worship, and Joyful Praise

Let's go to verse 8. Now in the second month of the second year of their coming, back to Ezra chapter 3, verse 8. Second month of the second year of their coming. So we see some time had gone by from the time that they built the altar and began to practice these feasts.

The second year had gone by. So two years have already gone by. And the Bible says that Zerubbabel, the magistrates, the son of Shealtiel, Joshua, the son of Josedek, the priesthood and the rest of the brethren and the priests and the Levites and all those who had come out of captivity to Jerusalem began work and appointed the Levites from 20 years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.

What did they do? The very first thing they went to praying unto the Lord. They went and to seek the face of God. Friends, that must be our starting spot. If we're going to have any direction, if we're going to know where to go or what to do next, we must seek the face of God.

And notice this in closing, go down to verse 10. The builders laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord. The priests stood in their apparel with trumpets. The Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord according to the ordinance of David, king of Israel.

By the way, I think you can go over to see the First Chronicles or Second Chronicles to see the ordinance that King David had set up for the priests and the Levites and the singers. Remember, in this crowd of 50 ,000 or so people, there was probably 43 ,000 Israelites and about 7 ,000 folks who were simply their servants and who were in the choir, so to speak.