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Ezra Chapter
Six
Ezra 6
Chapter Contents
The decree for completing the temple. (1-12) The temple
is finished. (13-22)
Commentary on Ezra 6:1-12
(Read Ezra 6:1-12)
When God's time is come for fulfilling his gracious
purposes concerning his church
he will raise up instruments to do it
from
whom such good service was not expected. While our thoughts are directed to
this event
we are led by Zechariah to fix our regard on a nobler
a spiritual
building. The Lord Jesus Christ continues to lay one stone upon another: let us
assist the great design. Difficulties delay the progress of this sacred
edifice. Yet let not opposition discourage us
for in due season it will be
completed to his abundant praise. He shall bring forth the head-stone thereof
with shoutings
crying
Grace
grace unto it.
Commentary on Ezra 6:13-22
(Read Ezra 6:13-22)
The gospel church
that spiritual temple
is long in the
building
but it will be finished at last
when the mystical body is completed.
Every believer is a living temple
building up himself in his most holy faith:
much opposition is given to this work by Satan and our own corruptions. We
trifle
and proceed in it with many stops and pauses; but He that has begun the
good work
will see it performed. Then spirits of just men will be made
perfect. By getting their sins taken away
the Jews would free themselves from
the sting of their late troubles. Their service was with joy. Let us welcome
holy ordinances with joy
and serve the Lord with gladness.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezra》
Ezra 6
Verse 1
[1] Then Darius the king made a decree
and search was made
in the house of the rolls
where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
A decree — To search the rolls in Babylon
where search was first
made; but not finding the edict there
they searched in Achmetha
or Ecbatana
and found it.
Verse 2
[2] And there was found at Achmetha
in the palace that is
in the province of the Medes
a roll
and therein was a record thus written:
Achmetha — The royal city of the Medes and Persians.
Verse 3
[3] In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the
king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem
Let the house be
builded
the place where they offered sacrifices
and let the foundations
thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits
and the breadth
thereof threescore cubits;
Cubits — Those proportions differ from those of Solomon's
temple
which was but thirty cubits high
only the porch was a hundred and
twenty cubits high
and but twenty cubits in breadth. Either therefore
Solomon's cubits were sacred cubits
which were larger than the other
and
these but common cubits. Or
the sixty cubits of height are meant only for the
porch. And the word rendered breadth
may be rendered the extension or the length
of it; it being improbable that the king should give orders about the breadth
and none about the length of it.
Verse 12
[12] And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there
destroy all kings and people
that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy
this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be
done with speed.
Destroy — Tho' this temple was at length most justly destroyed
by the righteous hand of God
yet perhaps the Romans
who were the instruments
of that destruction
felt the effects of this curse. For that empire sensibly
declined ever after
'till it was wholly destroyed.
Verse 14
[14] And the elders of the Jews builded
and they prospered
through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.
And they builded
and finished it
according to the commandment of the God of
Israel
and according to the commandment of Cyrus
and Darius
and Artaxerxes
king of Persia.
Through the prophesying — This is a seasonable
intimation that this great and unexpected success was not to be ascribed to
chance
or to the kindness or good humour of Darius
but unto God only
who by
his prophets had required and encouraged them to proceed in the work
and by
his mighty power disposed Darius's heart to such kind and noble purposes.
Verse 21
[21] And the children of Israel
which were come again out of
captivity
and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the
filthiness of the heathen of the land
to seek the LORD God of Israel
did eat
Children of Israel — Probably some out of
each of the twelve tribes.
Verse 22
[22] And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with
joy: for the LORD had made them joyful
and turned the heart of the king of
Assyria unto them
to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God
the God of Israel.
Joyful — He had given them both cause to rejoice
and hearts to
rejoice. God is the fountain whence all the streams of true joy flow.
Of Assyria — Of the king of Persia
who was
now king of Assyria also
here so called emphatically
to note the great power
and goodness of God in turning the hearts of these great monarchs
whose
predecessors had been the chief persecutors and oppressors of God's people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezra》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-5
And search was made in the house of the rolls.
The search for the decree of Cyrus
Learn--
1. Honest and thorough investigation promotes the interests of
religion and of the Church of God.
2. The advantage of written history.
3. How great should be our gratitude for the sacred writings. (William
Jones.)
“The house of books.”
One of Mr. Layard’s most valuable discoveries was that of a set of
chambers in a palace at Koyunjik
the whole of the floor of which was covered
more than a foot deep with terra-cotta tablets inscribed with public records. A
similar collection has been recently found in the neighbourhood of Babylon. In
some such record-house the search for the edict of Cyrus was made. (W. F.
Adeney
M. A.)
A record thus written.
Record of the year
The record here referred to was of what had been done for the
house and service of God. It was a religious record such as I propose we should
now read of the past year. Records are made of changes of what is altering from
day to day in that great empire of change of which we are all subjects. This
law of change is often spoken of as a melancholy law. It is better to regard it
as the decree of growth and progress. It is the ordinance of escape from old
limitations
and the impulse of rising to new stages of life to gain fresh
energy of thought and will. A state of sameness or immobility would be in truth
a wretched doom. The record of any year is not a record of sadness or decay
alone
even as respects this world
but very much of delight and advancement.
I. The first
chapter is that of new being
birth and growth. Many houses have been made the
scenes of holy gladness by the gifts of God’s creative and inspiring power.
What trust so great as that of a living spirit
with its own individual nature
and with capacities for a peculiar development of intellectual and moral
strength? With what reverent
trembling sense of responsibility it should be received!
What office so high in rank
so great in opportunity
so large in patronage or
susceptible of good
with such hope and fear wrapped up in it
as the parental
once? What expanding of outward nature or unfolding of earthly ambition is
really so grand and affecting as that of an undying soul? No changes of
material growth
of splendid seasons and solemn spectacles can equal this. It
makes the purest inspiration of love
it turns self-sacrifice into a pleasure;
it plies the inventive faculties with all knowledge and wisdom to provide for
the beloved object; it draws the mind into long foresight of its benefit and
improvement; and by the force of mingling filial and parental communications
exalts the soul to a perception of the relation of all to Him who is the common
Father. Life’s record
then
is not all of gloomy change and irreparable
privation
but of strength enhancing
existence renovating
and of new
possession.
II. But i must turn
this illuminated leaf of the record to a pace veiled in shades. It is the
record of sickness and decline. And what shall we say of this change? We cannot
make our record all pleasant and cheerful if we would. The skeleton that the
Egyptians carried to their banquets will intrude upon every feast of our
earthly joy and fling its ghastly shadow both across the avenues of our
immediate thought and along the vistas of our farthest recollection. But
although sickness comes with very sharp instrumentalities
yet she comes with a
bright retinue. Patience
resignation
spiritual thoughts of God and of
futurity come with her. As the most blazing effulgence of heaven sleeps within
the black cloud
so in the lowering darkness and eclipse of bodily suffering
often lies the very brilliance of a spiritual and Divine glory.
III. We now turn the
last leaf of our record. It ends
like all earthly records
with death. God by
His Son Jesus Christ lifts up the burden of sadness that settles down on a
record like this. Being dead in the body
our departed friends yet speak for
truth and goodness more loudly and more persuasively than when their words fell
on our outward hearing. They have gone that they might awaken our virtue
and
that they might chill and discourage our worldly lusts. Like the stars
though
with a warmer attraction
they lift and beckon us up. The light burns on
the
fountain flows
the music sounds for us. Neither is this final change and
record in the providence of God a ground for lamentation. It is rather a
declaration of our native dignity as His children. It is the announcement of
our glorious destiny. It is a summons to us to gird up our loins
trim our
lamps
watch and be ready. (C. A. Bartol.)
Verses 1-5
And search was made in the house of the rolls.
The search for the decree of Cyrus
Learn--
1. Honest and thorough investigation promotes the interests of
religion and of the Church of God.
2. The advantage of written history.
3. How great should be our gratitude for the sacred writings. (William
Jones.)
“The house of books.”
One of Mr. Layard’s most valuable discoveries was that of a set of
chambers in a palace at Koyunjik
the whole of the floor of which was covered
more than a foot deep with terra-cotta tablets inscribed with public records. A
similar collection has been recently found in the neighbourhood of Babylon. In
some such record-house the search for the edict of Cyrus was made. (W. F.
Adeney
M. A.)
A record thus written.
Record of the year
The record here referred to was of what had been done for the
house and service of God. It was a religious record such as I propose we should
now read of the past year. Records are made of changes of what is altering from
day to day in that great empire of change of which we are all subjects. This
law of change is often spoken of as a melancholy law. It is better to regard it
as the decree of growth and progress. It is the ordinance of escape from old
limitations
and the impulse of rising to new stages of life to gain fresh
energy of thought and will. A state of sameness or immobility would be in truth
a wretched doom. The record of any year is not a record of sadness or decay
alone
even as respects this world
but very much of delight and advancement.
I. The first
chapter is that of new being
birth and growth. Many houses have been made the
scenes of holy gladness by the gifts of God’s creative and inspiring power.
What trust so great as that of a living spirit
with its own individual nature
and with capacities for a peculiar development of intellectual and moral
strength? With what reverent
trembling sense of responsibility it should be
received! What office so high in rank
so great in opportunity
so large in
patronage or susceptible of good
with such hope and fear wrapped up in it
as
the parental once? What expanding of outward nature or unfolding of earthly
ambition is really so grand and affecting as that of an undying soul? No
changes of material growth
of splendid seasons and solemn spectacles can equal
this. It makes the purest inspiration of love
it turns self-sacrifice into a
pleasure; it plies the inventive faculties with all knowledge and wisdom to
provide for the beloved object; it draws the mind into long foresight of its
benefit and improvement; and by the force of mingling filial and parental
communications exalts the soul to a perception of the relation of all to Him
who is the common Father. Life’s record
then
is not all of gloomy change and
irreparable privation
but of strength enhancing
existence renovating
and of
new possession.
II. But i must turn
this illuminated leaf of the record to a pace veiled in shades. It is the
record of sickness and decline. And what shall we say of this change? We cannot
make our record all pleasant and cheerful if we would. The skeleton that the
Egyptians carried to their banquets will intrude upon every feast of our
earthly joy and fling its ghastly shadow both across the avenues of our
immediate thought and along the vistas of our farthest recollection. But
although sickness comes with very sharp instrumentalities
yet she comes with a
bright retinue. Patience
resignation
spiritual thoughts of God and of
futurity come with her. As the most blazing effulgence of heaven sleeps within
the black cloud
so in the lowering darkness and eclipse of bodily suffering
often lies the very brilliance of a spiritual and Divine glory.
III. We now turn the
last leaf of our record. It ends
like all earthly records
with death. God by
His Son Jesus Christ lifts up the burden of sadness that settles down on a
record like this. Being dead in the body
our departed friends yet speak for
truth and goodness more loudly and more persuasively than when their words fell
on our outward hearing. They have gone that they might awaken our virtue
and
that they might chill and discourage our worldly lusts. Like the stars
though
with a warmer attraction
they lift and beckon us up. The light burns on
the
fountain flows
the music sounds for us. Neither is this final change and
record in the providence of God a ground for lamentation. It is rather a
declaration of our native dignity as His children. It is the announcement of
our glorious destiny. It is a summons to us to gird up our loins
trim our
lamps
watch and be ready. (C. A. Bartol.)
Verse 4
And let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.
A believer’s expenses
I. What are our
expenses? The expenses referred to in the text are those connected with the
return of the Jews to their own land
the rebuilding of the temple and its
continual sacrifices.
1. Our release from the thraldom of sin involved enormous expenditure
(1 Peter 1:18-19).
2. The important steps of public profession of faith in Christ
and
of union with His Church
need peculiar supplies of grace.
3. There is much new material to be built up in our habits and life.
4. Our bodies being temples of the Holy Ghost
every physical power
and every mental faculty should be “a vessel unto honour
sanctified and meet
for the Master’s use.”
5. Our hearts are altars whereon should be offered the sacrifices of
worship and praise.
II. Where shall we
find means to meet these expenses?
1. The Word of God’s truth.
2. The throne of His grace.
3. The fellowship of His people.
4. The dispensation of His providence.
5. The opposition of His foes.
The Persian monarch was naturally Israel’s enemy
yet God arranges
that he shall pay Israel’s expenses. Even the lions we may meet shall supply
sweet honey for our nourishment and refreshment.
6. The work of Christ (Philippians 4:19).
III. How shall we
act in the presence of such abundance?
1. We need not be afraid of exhausting Heaven’s treasures.
2. We dare not be slow in availing ourselves of these supplies.
3. We cannot help wondering at the goodness of the King.
4. We will not forget to express our gratitude to the King.
5. We must not be so selfish as to hide these glad tidings. (R. S.
Latimer.)
Verses 6-22
Verses 8-11
Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these
Jews.
The Scriptural warrant for an established Church
Look at this history
and consider candidly the great principles
involved in these facts. Consider--
I. Who these men
were who issued these decrees concerning the building
and concerning the
supplies of the house of God at Jerusalem. They were Gentile kings.
II. What it was
that these kings ordered. They ordered--
1. The building of the house
and that the expenses incurred thereby
should be taken from the king’s treasury.
2. The supply of the house
with every item of all the details
necessary for carrying out the worship of God--rams
and lambs
and bullocks
and wheat
and wine
and oil
and salt
according to the appointment of the
priests.
3. They assigned certain reasons why this should be done.
4. They insisted upon all this by imposing a heavy penalty upon any
recusant subject. The penalty in the decree of Darius was death; the penalty in
the decree of Artaxerxes was varying
according to the discretion of the
executive magistracy
“whether unto death
or to banishment
or to confiscation
of goods
or to imprisonment”; but in each case
there was a penalty for
non-payment.
III. The parties
addressed in the decree
and included amongst the contributors. These were not
the people only who approved of
and could enjoy the worship of the house
but
they included also the adversaries
who did not approve of--who could not
enjoy--and who would not join in the worship of the house; yet
although they
did not approve
although they would not join in the worship of that house
they were compelled by the king’s decree to contribute to the expense of
building
and to the continued supply of the materials of that worship. And
remember all this was done by those kings
according to the commandment and in
harmony with the revealed will of the Lord God of Israel. (H. M’Neile
M. A.)
Verse 9-10
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of
heaven.
Sacrifice as a rule of supplication unto God
I have made choice of this passage to show that sacrifice
was a rite of supplication to God
wherein the supplicant came not with his
naked prayer
but presented something unto God whereby to find favour in His
sight. The thing presented was a federal gift
consisting of meat and drink
in
the tender whereof as a sinner he recognised himself to be his God’s vassal and
servant
so by acceptance of the same he was reconciled and restored to His
covenant by the atonement and forgiveness of his sins. For as according to the
custom of mankind
to receive meat and drink from the hand of another was a
sign of amity and friendship
much more to make another partaker of his table
as the sinner was here of God’s
by eating of His oblation: hence those who came
to make supplication of the Divine Majesty whom they had offended were wont by
this rite to make way for their suit by removing the obstacle of His offence.
1. It is often said of Abraham and Isaac that where they pitched
their tents they also built an altar
and “there called upon the name of the
Lord”; but an altar is a place for sacrifice; therefore sacrifice must be a
rite whereby they called upon the name of God.
2. The same appears by the speech of Saul (1 Samuel 13:12)
which shows that to
offer a burnt-offering was to make supplication (1 Samuel 7:8-9).
3. This is further proved by Psalms 116:13 : “I will take the cup of salvation” (or
drink offering) “and call upon the name of the Lord.”
4. The same is implied in Micah 6:6 and also in Proverbs 15:1
where sacrifice and prayer
are taken the one for the other.
5. The like may be inferred out of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication
of the temple and the Lord’s answer thereto. In the prayer no mention is made
of sacrifice to be there offered
but only that God would be pleased to hear
the prayers that should be made in that place or towards it. Nevertheless
when
God appeared to Solomon in the night
He said unto him
“I have heard thy
prayer
and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice” (2 Chronicles 7:12). From what has
been said we can understand in what sense the ancient Church called the
Eucharist a sacrifice
and how harmless that notion was
viz.
they took this
sacrament to have been ordained by Christ to succeed the bloody sacrifices of
the law
and to be a means of supplication and address to God
in the New
Testament as they were in the Old
by representing the body and blood of Christ
unto His Father
according to His appointment. (J. Mede
B. D.)
Verse 14
Verses 14-22
And they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai.
The true pulpit the best promoter of honest industry
It--
I. quickens the
power of thought. He quickens public thought most who presents the most
startling subjects with the highest enthusiasm. The true pulpit does this. The
subjects it presents are the most vital to man’s interests
the most
stimulating to his inquiry. They involve the sublimest facts of nature and the
grandest truths of inspiration
the highest interests of man now and for ever.
Hence there is no power equal to the power of the true pulpit to break the
monotony of mind and set the wheels of intellect ageing. This being so
the
attendant on a true ministry will be--
1. The more qualified to form a good plan of action.
2. The more practical sagacity he will have to adapt means to ends.
3. The more solicitous he will be to execute his plan.
II. Supplies the
timid with motive for action. The man who has been made thoughtful by the power
of the pulpit is made to feel that the more successful he is in his business--
1. The more useful he is as a citizen.
2. The more useful as a religionist. (Homilist.)
Prophets and builders
The prophet and the builder must always go hand in hand. It is
noticeable that the builder seldom or never goes first
but invariably succeeds
the intelligent and ardent speaker. This is only another way of saying that
thought precedes action. When men think deeply they are preparing the way for
laying massive foundations by persons who could not themselves have entered
into such intellectual strife. The one must not despise the other. Haggai built
nothing
nor did Zechariah probably lay stone upon stone; on the other hand
Zerubbabel may not have been a man of active thought
and Jeshua may not have
been gifted with eloquence; but they all worked together--the first man
seeing
the truth of God and feeling the burden of the zeal of heaven
excited the
sentiment of the two
that they might proceed to give practical and visible
effect to the noble prophecies dictated by the Spirit. It is in vain for
hearers to complain of preachers when they themselves are not prepared to carry
out the word of the Lord. (J. Parker
D. D)
God requires men to work
God puts the oak in the forest
and the pine on its sand and rock
and says to men
“There are your houses
go hew
saw
frame
build
make.” God
builds the trees; men must build the house. God supplies the timber; men must
construct the ship. God buries the iron in the heart of the earth; men must dig
it
and smelt it
and fashion it. Clay and rock are given us
not brick and
square stones. What is useful for the body
and
still more
what is useful for
the mind
is to be had only by exertion--exertion that will work men more than
iron is wrought
and will shape men more than timber is shaped. Again
in the
spiritual world God requires men to work. He gives them certain things
and
then says
“Go
work.” He requires them to work in building up His spiritual
temple as much as He required the Jews
in days of old
to work in building up
His earthly temple.
The building of God’s temple
Men are like workmen set each by the architect upon some single
bit of carving. One has given him to fashion a fragment where incompleteness
breaks a promise of beauty. Another has set him only level lines and surfaces
of blank monotony. To one it falls to carve a head without a body; to another
a
lovely face; to many
patterns seemingly of little grace or meaning. But the
task of each demands long labour and utmost care. At last the various blocks
are put together
and
lo! there rises a glorious cathedral
filling eye and
heart with its majesty and loveliness
destined to draw to it and shelter
within itself one generation after another of devout worshippers. So
the
temple of the living God
the heavenly Jerusalem
is building through the ages.
Whoever
in high place or in low
is living the life of fidelity and love
is
carving a stone for the fabric. (George S. Merrian.)
The erection of church
There is no book that throws more light upon the obligation of
building temples for God
and the spirit that should ever inspire it
than that
of Ezra.
I. In building a
Christian temple we express our felt connection with the spiritual world. All
building may be regarded as the expression of some sentiment
instinct
or wish
of human nature. Markets
senate-houses
theatres
hotels
have all risen as
the effects
embodiments
and realisations of some principle in our common
nature. But these are all for our material wants and interests. In building a
house for God we declare that we have other relations than those that connect
us with this material system
other wants than those of the body
other interests
than the secular and the physical. We thus attest our connection with the
spiritual universe
our relation to eternity
our moral obligation to the
Infinite
our desire for communion with God.
II. In building a
Christian temple we express the idea that we require special manifestations of
God. In the temple of nature God is portrayed in every object and proclaimed in
every sound. But we feel that some other manifestation is required. In nature
we can only see Him as the Almighty Creator and Absolute Sovereign; we want Him
to appear in another relationship
one more suited to our fallen condition; we
want Him to appear to us a redeeming God--one mighty to save. Had we not sinned
we should need no such manifestations of God as we seek in the erection of
temples. The temple of nature would suffice. There is no temple in heaven; God
is seen in all
loved in all
worshipped in all.
III. In building a
Christian temple we attest our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1. As a revelation from God intended and adapted to meet the
condition of sinners.
2. As necessary to all men
through all times. We feel that while
coming generations may not require our systems of philosophy
our
ecclesiastical polities
our schemes of government
our codes of laws
they
will require the gospel; and hence we rear a temple for its proclamation.
IV. In building a
Christian temple we express our philanthropy. We are not building merely for
ourselves
but for others; not even for our contemporaries
but for posterity.
A Christian temple true to its mission is the greatest blessing to society.
There the most soul-elevating ideas are proclaimed. Of all ideas to which men
are subject none are so important as the religious. Other ideas will arouse
certain faculties--some the intellect
some the imagination
some the
emotions--but this the entire man. Other ideas act upon human nature as the rays
of winter upon the soil; under its influence only a few germs will be evolved
and a few plants will grow; but this
like the glowing beams of the vernal sun
will penetrate the deepest depths with its quickening energy
cause every
seed-bud to burst into life and expand into fruitfulness. The mystic rod of
Moses was not so mighty as the instrument the religious teacher wields. He
lives nearest the heart of the world; he is up at the head springs
out of
which proceed the issues of life. True religious ideas wherever proclaimed are
the chief blessings of the world. In Christian temples such ideas are brought
to bear with all their force upon the human mind; by them men are made to feel
their obligations to be truthful
virtuous
benevolent
and Godlike; evil is
subdued
hearts are changed
and souls are saved by these ideas. Christian
temples are to society what tides are to the ocean
what the winds are to the
atmosphere; they stir the mass and keep it pure.
V. In building a
christian temple we express the idea that public worship is to be perpetuated
by human instrumentality. We have reason to thank God that He has left such
work as the building of temples to us. Had the necessaries of life sprung from
the earth
so as to require no labour
the physical energies of man would never
have been developed. Had knowledge come into our mind without the exercise of
our faculties
we should never have known anything of intellectual force. In
like manner
had everything in religion been done for us
so that no demand
would have been made upon our benevolent sympathies
we should have been beings
of morbid religious sentiment
and without any force or greatness of character.
(Homilist.)
The second temple
From this subject we learn--
1. That man in this world needs a sanctuary
in which he may call on
the name of the Lord his God. We are closely bound to the material globe
and
the holiest affections. The most spiritual exercises naturally cling round some
sacred spot where we
have been accustomed to meet with God and with His people. Speaking of an old
village church
Washington Irving says
“For my part
there are feelings that
visit me in a country church
amid the beautiful serenity of nature
which I
experience nowhere else; and
if not a more religious
I think I am a better
man on Sunday than on any other day of the seven.” This principle lies deep in
human nature. Among the most sacred memories of life are the childhood
recollections which carry us back to the old familiar church
which then seemed
so grand and impressive
where with father and mother we reverently worshipped
God.
2. We learn that toil and sacrifice enter into the building of these
sanctuaries. God does not ask for that which costs us nothing. Sacrifice may
not be needed by Him
but it is necessary for us
and without it human nature
cannot attain its highest
and best.
3. We learn not to neglect the sanctuary. (E. B. Mason.)
Kept the dedication of
this house of God with Joy.
Dedicating the temple
I. The building
of God’s house was carried on in face of obstacles. Every important work has
its hindrances. No great results have been achieved without meeting obstacles.
But men have always been found qualified for the hard tasks. A clear brain
boundless energy
and unflinching will are hidden away in the right man
ready
to be revealed at the right time. The tremendous barriers that stand before the
waiting and needed reform chill the courage of the many
while they also arouse
the energy and provoke the will of the true leader. Haggai had counted the cost
and knew exactly what he had to contend against. There was the cry of
procrastination. “The time is not come--the time that the Lord’s house should
be built.” “The time is not ripe” is a phrase that might often be interpreted
to mean
“the people are not ready.” When any reform is pressing
you hear a
clamour for delay. There are some who take counsel of their fears rather than
of their faith. When Lincoln read his Proclamation of Emancipation to Seward
the Secretary of State counselled delay
until at last the President took the
matter into his own hands and sent the message of liberty ringing through the
land. Haggai understood the reason for delay
the people were filled with
self-love and desire for display.
II. The building of
the temple had a moral and spiritual influence on the people. At the dedication
they offered a sin offering of “twelve he goats
according to the number of the
tribes of Israel.” When once the temple was furnished
and the people saw all
the appointments complete and an altar standing before them and in use
their
sense of sin was aroused. The first sacrifice on that new altar was for their
sins. With their new house they began a new life. The house of God in a
community stands for a spiritual idea. The school-house and college stand for
the intellectual needs of man. The moral and spiritual side finds its exponent
in the church. These silent memorials of God’s grace compel us for a moment to
think of duty and the hereafter
and they are suggestive of the rest that
“remaineth.” A reverential soul can worship God anywhere
but a house dedicated
to Him is an aid to such worship. While there we are released for the time from
the distracting sights and sounds of outside life
and under the singing of
hymns and the uplifting influence of prayer the mind becomes calmed for the
consideration of truth.
III. The house of
God is the home of joy. The Oriental expressed his feelings in most
demonstrative ways. He shouted
clapped his hands
and danced when happy
and
these extravagances were carried into his religious worship. Worship with the
Jew was a natural channel for the display of feeling
while the Occidental
suppresses his emotion in worship. We need more naturalness in the house of
God. We come before God to express ourselves
not to suppress ourselves. The
very truth proclaimed in God’s house is fitted to produce the liveliest
emotions. Mankind ought to be induced to come to the house of God because of
the abundance of peace to be found there. The view of God should be the one
fitted to draw all hearts to Him. A young man
homeless and lonely
wandered
through the streets of one of our cities. He could get no work
and had had no
food for some time. Despair had seized his soul
and in that frame of mind he
entered a church and dropped into a back seat. The sermon was being delivered
and it presented such a view of God and emphasised certain elements of truth
that it deepened his despair
and he rushed from the church and threw himself
into the river. This ought not to have been. There are stem truths in the
gospel
yet to give them undue prominence
and make them overshadow the obvious
intent of the gospel is to deprive it of its essential quality of hopefulness.
The house of God stands for the best and brightest and cheeriest in human life.
(Monday Club Sermons.)
Dedicating the temple
We are here advised as to the accessories by which the builders of
the temple were enabled to succeed.
I. God was with
them. All along He had been predisposed in their behalf. We also are exhorted
to work out our own salvation because it is God that worketh in us both to will
and to do.
II. God was pleased
to communicate with them through his ordained servants. Haggai was an old man
whose strength lay largely in admonition. Zechariah was younger
more inclined
to the dreaming of hopeful dreams and the seeing of bright visions.
III. They were
encouraged by the favourable attitude of temporal princes. The dedication took
place in the month Adar
“the month of splendour
” so called because of the
brightness of its suns and the beauty of its flowers.
1. A hundred bullocks
two hundred rams
and four hundred lambs were
offered in sacrifice; “and for a sin offering
twelve he goats for all Israel.”
There is something pathetic in the mention of these he goats. Ten of the twelve
tribes
having out themselves loose from their brethren
had little or no part
in the building of this temple
but they were remembered
and a place in the
sin offering was Sacredly reserved for them. It was as when mothers set vacant
chairs for their absent
wayward sons on thanksgiving day. Whatever might
happen
the religious unity of Israel must be preserved. In like manner the
Church of Christ
however parted asunder by the controversies of the past
should be at one in the work of the kingdom and in the rejoicings of the
triumph of Christ.
2. At this dedication the ancient order of service was restored. The
assignments of the priests and Levites date back to the time of Moses (Numbers 3:6-10). It does not follow that
because a custom is old it is obsolete. Prayer is as old as human want
like
the air we breathe
and time can make no improvement upon it. It should be
observed that the Feast of Passover was among the venerable customs which were
revived at this dedication. It was a foreshadowing of the atonement of Christ
without which all other pomp and circumstance of service are a dumb show. (D.
J. Burrell
D. D.)
The joy of dedicating a house for the Lord
I. We observe in
general that the joy with which the children of Israel
etc. Kept the
dedication of the house of god arose--
1. Because of the consideration of its being now completely finished.
2. Of their regarding it as a token of God for good
a demonstration
at once of His faithfulness and favour towards them and of the delightful
prospect which it held out to them of their enjoying with comfort and with
advantage the public ordinances of religion.
II. But more
particularly this joy arose--
1. From the consideration of their having been honoured and enabled
to build a house to the Lord their God.
2. From the consideration of its being a means of promoting the glory
of God.
3. From its being a means of securing the observance and extending
the benefits of religious ordinances to future and succeeding generations. (G.
B. Brand.)
The dedication of the second temple
I. The occasion
was one of joy. Hebrew and Christian worship are joyful
because believers
worship a revealed God of salvation. Heathen worship is a straining or groping
of man after God (1 Kings 18:26-29).
II. The service was
one for which all who had to take part in it had previously purified
themselves.
III. There were
burnt offerings as a token of the consecration of the people heart and soul
afresh to God.
IV. There were sin
offerings. In Divine worship there should always be a recognition of sin
and
of Christ’s having “put away sin” by the sacrifice of Himself.
V. There was the
observance of the passover. They loved God because God loved them; this is the
order now
and we cannot reverse it (1 John 4:19).
VI. The feast of
unleavened bread was kept joyfully for seven days.
1. In token of national unity and fellowship.
2. In token of their desire to cultivate purity.
VII. The new
national life thus inaugurated had far less of pomp and show about it than were
seen in the days of Solomon. But there was more of spiritual power (Haggai 2:9). (C. Clemance
D. D.)
The dedication of the temple was characterised by
I. Religious
rejoicing. The reasons for this were--
1. Protracted labours brought to a close.
2. The honour offered to Jehovah their God.
3. The benefits which were likely to accrue to men through their
sacred edifice and its worship.
II. Devout
gratitude.
III. Deep humility.
IV. Appropriate
arrangements for its future use. (William Jones.)
Verse 21
To seek the Lord God of Israel
Seeking God
Birds are very fond of catching the last evening rays of a
winter’s sun
and are often to be found in the afternoon on banks facing the
west
or swinging
if there is no wind
on the topmost branch of trees.
On the mountains
too
all birds
as the sun gets low
take to the slopes to
face the west
whilst in the morning they betake themselves to the eastern
hanks and slopes to meet his rays. Golden plovers
in the evenings
ascend from
elope to slope
as each becomes shaded by the intervening heights
until they
are all collected on the very last ridge which the sun shines upon. God’s
children resemble birds in seeking light
only the light they seek is the light
of goodness
and truth
and righteousness which comes from God. They seek the
Source of Light
and turn away from the darkness. (S. S. Chronicle.)
Verse 22
For the Lord had made them joyful.
God the joy-bringer
I. God is the
joy-maker.
1. The object of much that God does is simply the blessedness of
human hearts. The poorest creature that lives has a right to ask of God the satisfaction
of its instincts
and every man has a claim on God to make him glad. God pays
all cheques legitimately drawn on Him
and regards Himself as occupied in a
manner entirely congruous with His magnificence and infinitude
when He stoops
to put some kind of vibrating gladnesses into the wings of a gnat that dances
for an hour in the sunshine
and into the heart of a man that lives his time
for only a very little longer.
2. God’s method of making us glad is by putting Himself into us. The
secret of all true human well-being is close communion with God.
3. By His providences He gives the secondary and lower gifts which
men according to their circumstances need. He gives whatever is contributory to
any kind of gladness; and if we are wise we shall trace all to Him. Our common
mercies are His
love-tokens and they all come to us just as the gifts of parents to their
children do
with this on the fly-leaf
“With a father’s love.”
II. The obligation
and wisdom of taking our god-given joys.
1. Be sure you take Him. When He is waiting to pour all His love into
your heart
and all His sweetness into your spirit
to calm your anxieties
to
deepen your blessedness; to strengthen everything that is good in you; to be to
you a stay in the midst of crumbling prosperity and a light in the midst of the
gathering darkness
be sure that you take the joy that waits your acceptance.
2. Recognise Him in all common mercies
because He is at the back of
them all. Everything ought to be vocal to us of the loving-kindness of our Father in heaven. Link
Him with everything that makes your heart glad. God does not desire to be put
away high up on a pedestal above our lives
as if He regulated the great things
and the trifles regulated themselves; but He seeks to come as air into the lungs
into every particle of the mass of life
and to fill it all with His purifying
presence.
3. Recognise Him in common joys.
4. Be sure that you use the joys which He gives. There are two ways
in which you can look at the world and at everything that befalls you. There is
enough in everybody’s life to make him sad if he selects these things to dwell
upon. There is enough in everybody’s life to make him continually glad if he
wisely picks out these things to think about. It depends altogether on the angle
at which you look at your life what you see about it. For instance
you know
how children do when they get a bit of a willow wand into their possession.
They cut off rings of bark and get the switch alternately white and black
white and black
and so on right to the tip. Whether will you look at the white
rings or the black ones? They are both there
but if you rightly look at the
black you will find out that there is white below it
and it only needs a very
little stripping off of a film to make it into white too. No Christian man has
a right to regard anything that God’s providence brings to him as such
unmingled evil that it ought to make him sad. We are bound to “rejoice in the
Lord alway.”
5. Be sure that you limit your delights by God-made joys. There is
nothing sadder than the joys that come into a life and do not come from God.
Let us see to it that we do not fill our cisterns with poisonous sewage
when.
God is waiting to fill them with the pure river of the water of life. Does my
joy help me to come near to God? Does it interfere with my communion with Him?
Does it aid me in the consecration of myself? Does my conscience go with it
when my conscience is most awake? The alternative presented to each of us is
whether we will have surface joy and a centre of dark discontent
or surface
sorrow and a centre of calm blessedness. The film of stagnant water on a pond
of rottenness simulates the glories of the rainbow
in which pure sunshine
falls upon the pure drops
“but it is only painted corruption after all
and if
a man put his lips to it
it will kill him. Such is the joy which is apart from
God.” (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Cheerfulness
Cheerfulness is the root of constancy; for there is no more shifty
and unreliable person than your curmudgeon
who is the slave of his own
caprices; it is the best assurance of life
health
and wealth; it is the sign
and evidence of steady and energetic mind. It will make a fruitful youth
a
happy manhood
and a serene old age. It is the “open sesame” to many secrets
which the discontented and peevish strive hard to discover but always miss; it
is the magic medium of friendship
if not even of love; where there may be lack
of special tastes and sympathies
cheerfulness will do much to supply their
place. As water to the flower
so is cheerfulness to the mind. It keeps all
green and sweet
and sends forth a gracious savour that is imperceptible
but
wins all by its perfume. By cheerfulness a man’s powers of work and production
are doubled; he has
as it were
taken in a set of working partners most ready
to aid him in every task and enterprise. Cheerfulness keeps all the faculties
in good condition
so that they are ever ready to do their utmost without
strain. (Dr. Japp
in the “Argosy”.)
.
Joy favourable to religion: sing and rejoice
One bright summer’s day we noticed a lark; at first we could not
see it
but with the eye shaded by an uplifted hand it was soon detected. There
it flew
a little speck
a dim spot in the Italian-blue sky
pouring down
floods of music. On it went
higher and higher; as long as it sang and
rejoiced
it arose. But when the song ceased its flight ceased too. Thus is it
with our souls; they ascend Godwards while we sing and rejoice. “Rejoice in the
Lord; for you it is safe”; take refuge in the citadel of heaven-sent bliss
and
you are secure
against many a Satanic attack. (T. R. Stevenson.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》