Worship Restored


Ezra 6:13-22
13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. 16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. 19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

It took the Israelites only 4 years to complete the rebuilding of the Temple. Now it was time for rejoicing. While the sacrifice is significant (100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and 12 male goats) it was not as huge as the offering made when the Temple was originally built by Solomon. But the worship life of the people has been restored.

The people dedicated the temple with rejoicing. They were happy to reestablish the way of worship commanded in the Law of Moses. Although most of the returnees were from the tribe of Judah, they offered sacrifices for each tribe to signify the unity of the people of Israel in accordance with such passages as Ezekiel 37:22: “I will make them one nation in the land, … and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.”
Brug, J. F. (1985). Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (pp. 34–35). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

What happens when your worship life is disturbed? Is it something you even notice? During my first year of marriage, we were assigned to a field work church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Church had always been incredibly important to me, even as a child. Suddenly I found myself in a church that was, well, the only word that I can publish is – awful. The pastor made it quite clear to me that there was no place for me in that congregation. No, he was not interested in my help with teaching any of the Sunday School classes. No, he did not need my help with VBS or youth group. The worship was tired and the preaching was bombastic. It was a terrible year and I felt depressed on Saturdays knowing that the next day I would have to attend worship in that place. And believe me, no one cared that some lowly seminary student’s wife was unhappy with her church.  When we were released from that assignment, I was jubilant. Suddenly the cloud lifted from my spirit and I was free. My next worship experience, which was at our vicarage placement in Moline, Illinois was filled with joy.

We take our freedom to worship for granted. Maybe while we have that freedom we should embrace this gift and surrender our complacency for appreciation, as the Children of Israel did when their Temple was restored.

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