Ezra 3:8 - Meaning and Application

There was no real debate among the returned Jews about whether they should rebuild the temple. That question had already been settled, and they were resolved to do it as quickly as possible. What comfort could they really have in their own land if they did not have that sign of God’s presence and the place where his name was known among them?

So we are told how this good work began. It started in the second month of the second year, as soon as the season of the year allowed, after they had finished the solemn observances of Passover (Ezra 3:8). They spent a little more than half a year preparing the ground and gathering materials, which shows how strongly they were committed. When a good work needs to be done, it is wise to begin quickly and not waste time, even if we can see trouble and resistance ahead. In that way, we bind ourselves to the work and also commit God to help us. Well begun is half done.

The work was led by Zerubbabel, the governor, and Jeshua, the high priest, along with their fellow Jews. God’s work usually goes well when leaders, ministers, and the people all agree and work with zeal in their own places. God had given them one heart for this service, and that was a good sign for the future.

They also appointed the Levites, the men set apart for temple service, to help push the work forward (Ezra 3:8). The Levites did this by encouraging the workers and strengthening their hands with good and comforting words (Ezra 3:9). Even those who do not do the work themselves can still do real good by cheering on and helping those who are working.

At the laying of the temple foundation, they praised God in an orderly way (Ezra 3:10-11). The priests used the trumpets appointed through Moses, and the Levites used the cymbals appointed through David. Their music was not meant just to please the ear. It was meant to help the people sing that lasting hymn that never goes out of date: “God is good, and his mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136). All streams of mercy should lead us back to the source. No matter what our condition is, and however many sorrows or fears we carry, we should still confess that God is good, and that his mercy does not fail. This was sung with special meaning here, not only that his mercy endures forever, but that it endures forever toward Israel, even Israel in captivity and as strangers in their own land. Still, God is good to Israel (Psalm 73:1), and good to us. When the church’s life and strength seem gone, its revival should be credited to God’s lasting mercy, because the church continues for that very reason.

The people responded with mixed feelings. There were different thoughts among God’s people, and each spoke according to what he felt. Yet there was no division among them, and the common work was not harmed by these different responses.

Some people, who had only known the misery of having no temple at all, shouted for joy when they saw even its foundation laid (Ezra 3:11). To them, this beginning seemed very great, like life coming back after death. Their hungry souls found real comfort in it. They shouted so loudly that the sound could be heard far away. We should be thankful for the first signs of mercy, even before it is complete. After long ruin, the laying of a temple’s foundation could only bring joy to every faithful Israelite.

Others remembered the glory of the first temple, the one Solomon built, and saw that this new one would likely be much less splendid, whether in size or in beauty. So they wept aloud (Ezra 3:12). If we count the captivity from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, about fifty-two years had passed since the temple was destroyed. If we count from Jeconiah’s captivity, it had been about fifty-nine years. That means many who were alive then could still remember the old temple. It was also a mercy that so many priests and Levites had lived long enough to tell the people what they remembered of Jerusalem’s former glory, and to stir them up as they returned.

Those who wept had some reason for sorrow, if they used it rightly and mourned over the sin that brought this change. Sin spoils the glory of any church or people, and when they are brought low, that is where the blame lies. But they were weak to mix their tears with the public joy and so cast a shadow over it. They looked down on small beginnings and failed to thank God for the good they had, because it was not as much as their ancestors had enjoyed, though it was far more than they deserved. In shared public joy, we should not be discordant like out-of-tune strings.

It was even more serious because these mourners were priests and Levites, who should have known better and taught others how to respond rightly to God’s different dealings. They should not have let memories of former troubles erase gratitude for present mercy. This mixture of sorrow and joy pictures life in this world. Some people are bathed in joy while others are overwhelmed with tears. In heaven, everyone sings and no one sighs. In hell, everyone weeps and wails and no one rejoices. But here on earth, joy and grief are often heard together. Let us learn to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, while keeping our own hearts from being carried away by either one.