WORSHIP IS RESTORED AFTER EXILES RETURN
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
EZRA 3 : 1_6, 10-13
Key Verse
“And they sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, “For He is good, for His favour is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid”.
Ezra 3:11
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever been in a situation where you were told by the Police and the Safety Officers that you cannot go home? That has happened a lot nowadays when fires rage and destroy homes and buildings, or rains or hurricanes and flood come and there is no way you can return home after you have been evacuated to a place of safety.
In the case of Israel the situation of being taken away from their home had been very bad for because of the sins of the nation God had allowed the king of Babylon to come and destroy their cities, capture them, and take them as slaves to Babylon. This was the judgment God had warned the people of Israel that would come because of their disobedience and following the ways of idolatry, but they did not listen.
That is the problem with young and old alike. They many time refuse to behave with common sense and avoid danger and judgment. Some people will tell you common sense is not common at all. It is rarely found in anybody.
God however had promised the nation that after they had been disciplined He would bring them back home. They would never again follow the pagan ways of idolatry but would concentrate on worshipping God alone.
God fulfilled His promise and about 50,000 of the Jews returned to Jerusalem and Judah to rebuild the city and the country. This was hard work for the country had been destroyed, and the city of Jerusalem with its houses and the Temple of God had been burnt to the ground. There was only ashes left.
But the returning people from the Babylonian exiles were happy to be home. Not all of them had left Babylon but those that did set about to do the hard work to first build the altar to offer sacrifices to show God they had repented of their sins and were happy God had kept His promises to let them go home after 70 years of captivity.
They diligently set about making the altar exactly where it had been in the former temple built by Solomon. They followed the Law given by Moses precisely for they did not want to displease God.
But Solomon’s temple built at the cost of about 8 billion dollars in today’s money could not be matched by these small group of returning exiles. But they did the best they could. When the older people say this small not so grand Temple and they compared it to Solomon’s grand and decorated Temple they wept. They were glad to be home but they remembered their sins and the fact in front of them that they had lost a lot of the precious things that were in the Temple.
The young people however who had not seen the magnificent first Temple were happy that now the altar had been built and the foundations of the new Temple had been laid. Everyone had worked and carpenters, masons, and tradesmen from all over the region had come and worked hard to build the best Temple they could. The young people did not look back to the past but looked to the future. Everyone was unified, well organized, followed the direction of the priests and the leader, and encouraged themselves in doing the sacrifices on the altar God wanted, and laying the foundations for this new Temple. They now had a place of their own to worship God in the way God wanted. It is very important to understand God wants worship and good behaviour from His people. He does not like sin at all. He knows sin is not good for you. But He loves you, and He has promised that no matter what happens that is not so nice, there is hope, for He has promised to save His people and restore them to a full and happy life. So we do not need to afraid. We will weep when things do not go the way we want, but we will have joy in rebuilding worship of God