Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
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Ezra 3
Worship Restored at Jerusalem
Ezra 3:1 And when the seventh month (Tishri) had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
- See Topic: A Chart of Jewish Months
- First of Tishri is the beginning of the High Holy Days lasting ten days.
Ezra 3:2 Then Jeshua (Or Joshua) the son of Jozadak (Jehozadak, 1 Chr. 6:14) and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God (‘ĕlōhîm) of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God (‘ĕlōhîm).
- Zerubbabel was the Jewish prince, or Nasi, next in line to the Davidic throne.
Ezra 3:3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases (foundations); and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), both the morning and evening burnt offerings.
Ezra 3:4 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.
Ezra 3:5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
Ezra 3:6 From the first day of the seventh month (Tishri 1) they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), although the foundation of the temple of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) had not been laid.
- The first day of Tishri begins the ten “High Holy Days” of Jewish Feasts patterned by future Prophecies.
- The High Holy Days are patterned after God’s prophecies of the rapture and the resurrections of the believers the first two days, then seven days of affliction which parallel the seven year tribulation. Lastly Yom Kipper (the Day of Atonement) is the last day of the High Holy Days.
Not Shown on the chart above, is the Feast of Tabernacles which follows four days after Yom Kippur, These are patterned according to the millennium ( 1,000 years) when Jesus reigns on earth in Jerusalem, when “God dwells with man”.
Ezra 3:7 They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, 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.
Restoration of the Temple Begins
Ezra 3:8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak (Jehozadak, 1 Chr. 6:14), 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 twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
Ezra 3:9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah (Hodaviah, Ezra 2:40), arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God (‘ĕlōhîm): the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Ezra 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), the priests stood (they stationed the priests) in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), according to the ordinance (Lit. hands) of David king of Israel.
- The foundation stone must be laid prior to building the temple
- See Topic: The Foundation Stone
Ezra 3:11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ):
“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 (Yᵊhōvâ), because the foundation of the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) was laid.
Ezra 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the 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,
- The Foundation Stone: is also called the corner stone.
- It is common in certain societies to “sacrifice” an animal and bury it beneath the foundation stone.
- See: Topic: The Foundation Stone
- Jesus is the Foundation Stone:
- Isaiah 28:16
A Cornerstone in Zion
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. - Ephesians 2:20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, - Psalm 118:22
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. - 1 Peter 1:20
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you - Revelation 13:8
The Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
- Isaiah 28:16
- The Roman-Era midrash Tanhuma sums up the centrality of and holiness of this site in Judaism: As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world… situated in the center of the world, and Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the center of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the center of the sanctuary, and the ark in the center of the holy place, and the Foundation Stone before the holy place, because from it the world was founded.
~t. Yoma 2:12; y. Yoma 5:3; b. Yoma 54b; PdRK 26:4; Lev. R. 20:4.
- Sometimes, instead of killing an animal, the builder entices a man to the foundation-stone, secretly measures his body, or a part of it, or his shadow, and buries the measure under the foundation-stone; or he lays the foundation-stone upon the man’s shadow. It is believed that the man will die within the year.
The Golden Bough – James George Frazer – Google Boeken. ISBN9781595473837. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
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