Ezra 3 - The Danger of Nostalgia

Enjoy reminiscing… but don’t let it become your whole world.

SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Cyrus returned the temple vessels Nebuchadnezzar had carried away, showing that the LORD was restoring what exile had taken. The first wave of exiles returned to Judah, each to his own city, and the people gave freely toward rebuilding the house of God. Once settled, they gathered in Jerusalem, rebuilt the altar, and began offering sacrifices again—even before the temple foundation was laid—because worship had to be restored first.

Ezra 3:6–13 (ESV)

⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. ⁷ So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

⁸ Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the LORD. ⁹ And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

¹⁰ And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. ¹¹ And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,

“For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. ¹² But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1, Article 13: The Fruit of This Assurance

In their awareness and assurance of this election God’s children daily find

greater cause to humble themselves before God, to adore the fathomless

depth of his mercies, to cleanse themselves, and to give fervent love in return to him who first so greatly loved them. This is far from saying that this

teaching concerning election, and reflection upon it, make God’s children

lax in observing his commandments or carnally self-assured. By God’s just

judgment this does usually happen to those who casually take for granted

the grace of election or engage in idle and brazen talk about it but are unwilling to walk in the ways of the chosen.

Summary

After being reminded of God’s Sovereignty and faithfulness as the LORD worked through Cyrus to draw His exiled people from lands afar back to their homeland, those exiles, including Ezra, made their way back to Jerusalem, to the House of the LORD, or what was left of it, to rebuild. 

Just prior to our passage, they rebuilt the altar in order to offer sacrifices to the LORD, which had not been done for a number of years.  Now, their attention turns to the House of the LORD itself, and rebuilding begins.  Wood is brought from the north by Tyre and Sidon, as had been done with the previous temple years before.  Not only were the physical components of the temple brought for rebuilding, but also Levites were appointed to supervise the work. 

Then, at long last, the foundation is laid, and everyone broke forth into praise and worship to the LORD, seeing the fulfillment of His Word to them!  Yet, for some, the shout that they raised wasn’t one of praise, but of gloom and sorrow, for they had seen Solomon’s temple, which probably seemed like a lifetime ago before being taken into exile.  Now, having returned, what lay before them did not compare to what had once been. 

Sadly, when we take a look at other books of the Bible like Haggai, even though the two shouts intermingled on that day, the voice of the disheartened won out, for the building of the temple stalled for a while.

  Dig Deeper  

Nostalgia.  It’s an interesting concept, but oh so real.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines 'nostalgia' this way: “a sad pleasure experienced in recalling what no longer exists : a wistful or sentimental yearning for a return to or the return of some real or romanticized past period or some irrecoverable past condition or setting.” 

Every now and again, I come across short videos online that are filled with nostalgic things from the 90’s and early 2000’s when I grew up, and it can be fun to reminisce.  Sometimes my wife and I will show them to each other and ask, “Do you remember that?” all excited about something from our childhood. 

But nostalgia can be a dangerous thing, like we see going on in our passage.  The people who had seen Solomon’s temple remembered it, and dwelling upon it, became disheartened, and their voices were loud enough, and voiced long enough so that building of the LORD’s temple screeched to a halt. 

This is a struggle for each generation as the torch is passed from one to another.  While it can be fun to reminisce, when we hold on tight-fisted to what once was, we can miss out on lifting our eyes and seeing the joy, blessing, and faithfulness of God continuing to work in our churches, our families, etc.  Yes, there are foundational truths that must be held to, but when and where they are upheld, may we be able to rejoice as we see the LORD working in and through each new generation of believers, faithfully proclaiming and sharing the Good News of the Gospel until He returns.  

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll remember and appreciate God's past blessings, but keep your eyes fixed on where He's calling you in the future;

  ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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