Read: Ezra 3:1-4:24; 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 20:24-25
The seventh month of the second year arrived where they were to celebrate the fall feasts: Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippor and Feast of Tabernacles. They began building the altar to do sacrifices on the Feast of Trumpets. By the time of the Feast of Tabernacles came they were ready to burn sacrifices on the altar just like the law had commanded them to do.
They gave the money that Cyrus had given them to the masons and carpenters and began the building of the temple. The next month they started appointing Levites to supervise the building of the temple. When they had the foundation laid, they celebrated and worshipped the Lord. Many who remembered the greatness of the first temple cried with sorrow but those who hadn’t know the splendor of Solomon’s temple shouted for joy. They lifted up such a noise that people could hear it far away.
Enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that they were rebuilding the temple and tried to infiltrate their group to stop it. Zarubbable, one the the leaders saw through their lies and told them they had no part in the Lord’s work.
Next, they tried to discourage the builders and confuse their plans. When this didn’t work, they sent a letter to Artaxerxes who was then the king of Assyria warning him of the temple that the Hebrews were building. They reminded the king of all the trouble this nation had brought in the past and advised him to stop their work.
King Artaxerxes did a search in the archives and found that the Israelites were indeed a nation that had caused them much trouble so he commanded the work to stop.
The building of the temple is such a parallel to the temple of the Holy Spirit that God is building in us. Satan will do anything he can to discourage us, stir up dissension and oppose us and what God wants to do in us and through us. We cannot get discouraged but keep praising the Lord and keep moving forward.
In Corinthians, Paul reminds us that we are not of this world so our wisdom is not of this world. Our wisdom is from God who created this world and it is much higher. The world will not understand us or our wisdom because it is foolishness to them. They do not have spiritual eyes to be able to see. We do because we have the mind of Christ. The world thought that he was crazy so they will think the same of us. But we have the real truth so we don’t need to get side-tracked into fighting over what man we are following. We are following God who is higher than any man.
Lord, thank you that your wisdom is higher than ours and we always have access to it! Guide us today.
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