September 9, 2026
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Reading along with us in Ezra and James? Here’s today’s reading:
Ezra 3 (NIV)
Rebuilding the Altar
1 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it,……Continue Reading
How exciting it must have been for the people seeing the initial work on the temple being done. The altar was most important to establish the giving of sacrifices in worship to God. And then the foundation of the temple was laid. And what a sight it must have been to see the priests and Levites in their proper places worshipping God. We can understand how some would be saddened by this temple not comparing to Solomon’s, but how much more important was the new thing being established in Jerusalem and the exiles doing the work to make it happen. And expectations always need to be adjusted when fewer resources and people are available for any project. It also important to embrace what you have under God’s direction and provision rather than regretting what we don’t have.
Years of captivity. They had learned their lesson. They begin worshiping God through sacrifices, even before the temple foundations were laid. To obey God from the heart not just out of habit. Nice to read an uplifting chapter at this point in history of Israel
Ezra 3
Ezra 3
Ezra 3
Genesis 25-26
Rebuilding of the altar and the temple. Definitely understandable the mixed emotions of the people. What a wonderful thing to see restored and to be back on the land He gave them but also a reminder of how far they had fallen away. To now be in this position with so much less than when Solomon built. But the reality is that we make choices and while God always forgives a truly repentant heart and never leaves us, we still have to deal with the fallout of our decisions and sometimes that makes life look very different for a time and season.
“Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings.”
Ezra 3:3 NKJV
The people are afraid understandably, but they continue in worship and obedience.
Ezra 3