Daily Devotions
February 16th, 2010 by Pastor SolleyEzra 3:1-3
3:1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.Here we have the company of returning Jews who would rebuild the temple, the walls of the city and try and restore things as they once were. Notice the first thing they did was rebuild the brazen altar. That was where God could deal with sin in His people. It was the place of sacrifice that greeted the people as soon as they stepped into the courtyard. Sin must be dealt with before one can serve God, before one can be blessed by God, before one can have the joy of the Lord. Remember these are the people of God and by the end of this chapter they are serving, they are blessed and they have the joy of the Lord restored. But before that could happen sin had to be dealt with. Sin was taken care of, daily at the brazen altar. At times when it seems your joy is gone, that you cannot worship and serve, that blessings are not to be found look within. God cannot use us, bless us, give us His joy when we have sin in our lives.