Ezra 3 (Part 2) Bible Study (Rebuilding the Temple) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Ezra chapter three. If you don't own a physical copy of the word of God, please come see me after the bible study. I have a gift for you. I really encourage people to have a physical copy of the scriptures with them. And for whatever reason, if you don't possess one, again, please come see me immediately after the service.

I want to help you with that. Ezra chapter three, and put your finger there at verse eight. Now when Cyrus, king of Persia, made his kingdom wide announcement to the Jewish exiles about returning to the city of Jerusalem, he had one main purpose in doing so, to rebuild the house of the Lord. That is what his invitation centered on. Going back to restore the house of worship.

And in the latter portion of this chapter of Ezra, we are actually going to witness the returnees beginning that very endeavor. Now, I say beginning because these exiles will only be able to lay the foundation of the temple before significant challenges arise and hinder their work. But that does not undermine the significance of this historical moment. You have to put yourselves in their shoes. For just over seventy years, this covenant people did not have their temple.

The designated place divinely sanctioned by God himself, where He promised to cover their sin, where He assure them that He would commune with man. And humanly speaking, you would think that it's nearly impossible for this privilege to be restored after all that they went through. But God made many promises, notably in Isaiah 44 verse 28, where he prophesied that the foundation of this temple would be laid again one day. And you and I are now going to witness the fulfillment of that very promise. This is a great achievement, one that is worthy of careful attention.

And that is why we are going to consider at least three things about this exciting undertaking. Three things. The first thing that we will look at are the people in the work. The people involved in the work. Secondly, we will look at the praise for the work.

How the people responded to the laying down of this foundation. And finally, we will consider the perspective of the work. So all starting with peace. Preachers like to do this kind of stuff, by the way. The people in the work, the praise for the work, the perspective of the work.

And if you are engaged until the end of the study, which I hope you always are, we will see how this very section of Ezra will connect to one of the most powerful and undeniable proofs that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is indeed the promised, long awaited Messiah. And not just Messiah, but Messiah who is God himself. I'm sure you're gonna be amazed to see how this links to that incredible truth. It's going to reinforce your faith in who Christ is, and claims to be. Lord, we ask you tonight, again, your word tells us that it is like a mirror.

And so, we pray that we would be honest in this study to see what you say of us, and that wherever there is a blemish, wherever there is anything that is not in alignment with your will, we would repent, and we would conform to your desire. Lord, your word also says that it is like water. So we pray that it would refresh us, that it would refresh our faith, our joy, our peace, our strength. But we also know that your word says that it is like fire. And so we pray that it would consume any hint of disobedience, any growing rebellion, anything that would hurt or grieve the Spirit of God, consume it through the fire of your Word.

And Lord, we also know that your word says that it is like a hammer. So even the most hardened heart, the most calloused heart, the one who is growing cold towards you, you would smash that heart, and that you would melt it again. And it would be tender towards you and your will and your word. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's look at the people the people in the work, beginning in verse eight down to verse nine. 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 Joshua, 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 20 years old and upward to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. 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 Enadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers. Question number one.

Why did the people begin this project, which was supposed to be their primary purpose in returning in the second month of the second year? That seems to be like a delay at first glance. Well, we get one answer from verse seven. Remember what it says in verse seven, that with the funding that came from Cyrus, they hired the Sidonians and the Tyrians to come and to bring cedar from Lebanon by sea. That takes time, doesn't it?

Yes. Apart from other planning, and other purchases, and other things, and other preparations. It took time. It's not that they were hesitating. They just waited for all the material and all the men to arrive.

But there is something else I believe. Beyond the obvious delay, the second month is also the same month of the year when Solomon began building the first temple, according to First Kings six one. So it can be that this was an intentional kind of pursuit that in the second month, they would do this as a way of almost hoping that what they're about to continue in would echo the golden age of Solomon's construction and what he was able to usher in through his leadership. But by the end of the study, we're going to discover that whatever they do here is going to fall very short of the standard that Solomon set when he led a similar project. Now, there's something else that stands out here.

In verse eight and verse nine, the word together is repeated. And so, at the outset of this construction, there is still optimism. The people are excited. They're one mind, one heart. They're doing this together.

They're doing this in unity and we can draw many truths from that. But what I really want to focus on is how the Holy Spirit highlights the age of the Levites who supervise the work. Did you catch that? Look again at the last part of verse eight. The last sentence.

They appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. Why do I need to know how old they are? Well, we can say it's because they want to be obedient. Yes. That is one reason.

They are being obedient. Because the law does spell out the minimum age of the Levites when entering into their office. And there's actually an interesting history of that, that is worthy of exploration. Levi. He's the son of who?

I'm talking about the original Levi. No. He's the son of Jacob. Who's later called who? Israel.

Now let me ask you this. Levi had how many sons? How many sons did Levi have? I'm talking about the original Levi. Did he have one son?

Did he have two sons? He had three sons. Okay. Does anybody know the names of the three sons? Good.

Good. Somebody's got it. Say it. Gershon is one of them. Mirari is the third.

Who's the first? Starts with the letter k. Kohath. Very good. Did you hear it?

Kohath Gershon Merari. Welcome to Friday night Bible study in the Hebrew Scriptures. It's good. We have to repeat these things to remember them. I want you now to turn to Numbers chapter four, because God had given instructions to the descendants of Levi when he formalized and made their ministry official.

These are some of the initial instructions that the Lord gave to Levi, which was the tribe that was set apart to perform spiritual duties at the dwelling place of God. Look at Numbers chapter four, starting at verse one. Numbers four verse one. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi by their clans and their father's houses. From 30 years old up to 50 years old.

All who can come on duty to do the work in the tent of meeting. So Kohath, his first son, how old were his sons supposed to be before entering into the service of the tent of meeting? Good. Scroll down now to verse 29 of numbers four. Excuse me, verse 21.

Numbers four twenty one. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, take his senses of the sons of Gershon also by their father's houses and by their clans, from 30 years old up to 50 years old. You shall list them all who can come to do to do duty to do service in the tent of meeting. Gershon, his sons, how old? 30.

Very good. Now, verse 29 of numbers four, As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their father's houses. From 30 years old up to 50 years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty to do the service of the tent of meeting. So it's clear, isn't it? We can see it.

The original minimum age for all the Levites in the tent of meeting to serve was 30 years old. Now that seems interesting in light of what we read in Ezra, but it becomes even more puzzling as this develops. We don't even get to finish the book of Numbers before we encounter this. In Numbers eight now. Look here, verse 23.

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, this applies to the Levites from 25 years old and upward. They shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. Thirty, twenty five, 20. Let's just deal with this for now. Without any explanation, just a few chapters after the initial and original command, we learn that the minimum age for the Levites drops by five years.

Now notable Jews, rabbis, those who have written material for the Jewish people, unbelieving Jews, have suggested, in attempt to reconcile this, that what we find here in numbers 28 with the 25 year olds, was a type of training, apprenticeship. A way of entering in, not officially, but to become familiar and to become instructed, with lighter responsibilities before they enter into the official office that's described in Numbers chapter four. Now, they wouldn't they wouldn't explain it in that depth, but they would just kind of label it as, well this is just really a training phase from the age of 25 to 30 before they actually walk into and they are officially serving as Levites. And and there is some truth to that, and we don't even have to go to rabbinic tradition to confirm it. All you have to do is compare Numbers chapter four and Numbers chapter eight.

Look at the context and look at the wording to come to a very similar conclusion. In Numbers chapter four, when the Lord said, look, the sons of Levi, they have to start at the age of 30. What's being emphasized there is the responsibility of setting up and tearing down the tabernacle. Remember, this is long before the actual permanent temple. We're talking about the portable tent.

And in numbers four, they were called to set up, tear down, and not only that, but each of the sons of Levi were responsible for different articles of the tabernacle, and to bear it, and to transport it to the next location. When you come to Numbers chapter eight, we don't have that emphasis. In fact, if you look at the context carefully, you learn that there is a broader application being made. That the Levites who were starting at '25 were not to be engaged in that what we find in numbers four, necessarily. Because the Levites had other things to do, especially when the tabernacle was situated.

They would have to watch who comes in and who exits the tabernacle. They'd have to make sure things were clean or they have to evaluate if something is unclean and they had other smaller duties. And so here's how you can make sense of this. Even if you know Hebrew, this helps because when you look at the Hebrew wording for service in comparison to the duty in both chapters, it's different words. Now you may not have access to the Hebrew, but just the context explains it.

So here's how we can make sense of this. The 25 year olds were indeed supposed to be recruited at 25. They were called to deal with different matters in the tabernacle, and once they turned 30, they were supposed to enter in in a more official way and deal with the holy things of the tabernacle. Now that seems to solve this, but just when we thought that we came to a solution with this dilemma, you keep reading your Old Testament, You're studying now about David and you realize that David has it on his heart to build a temple. And as he's making preparations for the temple, notice what is said in first Chronicles 23 verse 24.

These were the sons of Levi by their father's houses, the heads of father's houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from 20 years old and upward, who are to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. So we just made sense of the 30 year olds, and the 25 year olds, and now we fast forward to David's time and he goes, actually, I want to lower the age from 30 to 20. This time, however, we are given a reason. And this is divinely sanctioned by the way. David is not just making up his own rules.

He's not just adjusting the law of Moses. You read in this context that he is being led by God for the blueprint of the temple and all these other things that he's adding. What is the reason? In the very next verse of first Chronicles 23. Look at verse 25.

For David said, the Lord, the God of Israel has given rest to his people and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service. For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were numbered from 20 years old and upward. So what's the explanation? Now that the tabernacle is becoming the temple, and the temple is this permanent structure remaining in Jerusalem, The setting up and the tearing down and the carrying of the burdens of these articles are no longer required.

And since the responsibilities have changed, let's now change the age. Let's bring it down to the age of 20. Let's adjust it. We went through all of that to at least draw two lessons. The first one is this.

As we look at the ages of the Levites, we learn that God desires for you and I to offer up the best years of our lives to his service. The best years. The prime of your life. It's totally possible for the Lord to recruit anybody at any point to do things for his name, even great things. But there is something special about a person who gives the Lord the peak of their strength, energy, agility, mental capacity.

And that's what you find here. The Lord says I want you Levites to consecrate your twenties, your thirties, your forties to me. And notice the retirement age is 50, but that doesn't mean that the Levites were never to engage in temple service. They were not promoted to supervising the younger ones. But what he wanted in terms of full time service was the best years of their lives.

And speaking about Solomon in this study, that's exactly one of his final exhortations in the book where he speaks about the vanity of life. You know, when people want to try to encourage the young, the youth to be consecrated to Christ, they often quote Ecclesiastes 12 verse one. Right? Remember your creator when? In the days of your youth.

Before what? The days of evil come and the years draw near which you will say I have no pleasure in them. And they tend to stop it right there. Yes. Remember you're creator in the days of your youth, but he didn't stop the charge at that point.

He does something else. From verse two down to verse seven of Ecclesiastes 12. Solomon gives a very poetic and descriptive picture of aging, and he provides many illustrations, but the main one is of a house falling apart. It's amazing. And there's there's debate about what part actually signifies what, but when you look at it, it it's kind of plain.

Before your eyes dim, before you slouch over, before you don't find pleasure because of of your exposure to the things of this life, and the burdens and the trials. All these things are given as a charge, as a as an exhortation for the young to give what they can before it becomes harder to serve God. And that's just the truth of the matter. This is something for you and I to consider because there it's so encouraging how many of those here are in that very bracket of time. How much are you truly investing in serving the Lord?

Because look, the Bible is so honest. God is gracious. His arms are always open. Anybody can come to him at any point as I said earlier. But it also communicates that there are going to be undeniable challenges that come as you advance in years.

This is the segment of your brief existence where you can develop your roots and establish habits and create a history with God that can have ripple effects for the years to come. Give your mind over to knowing the Word of God with the freedom that you still have with your schedule, before it becomes more stuffy as it naturally will. Do with it what you can to really serve the Lord. You'll have no regrets. While you have strength in your joints and in your muscles, and while you're still able to to actually endure certain things, lay it all at the feet of the Lord.

And that's what the Lord says here, I'm sure with the Levites. But there's a second thing to learn, that as much as the Lord is ready to recruit the young, this is so important, he still requires maturity. He still requires maturity. Did you notice that the different ages for the Levites corresponded to the level of responsibility assigned to them? So why did he make it 30 years old in numbers four?

Because the responsibility was greater at the time. You're going to have to handle these holy articles, these holy furnishings. You're going to have to be careful with setting up the house of God, bringing it down carefully, not Especially the the sons of Kohath, not peeking into the things yet to cover it with certain materials. So there was a demand for maturity. And then and and once the responsibilities changed by David's time, okay.

We can make it younger now. We can ask the younger guys to come in. And this is really something for those who are eager to serve God in in their younger years. And I've met these young guys and gals, where they're so frustrated, because they feel as though they have the zeal. They have the availability.

They have the energy and yet, things don't seem to be moving. Doors don't seem to be opening. And here's where you have to remind yourself of the following. Be patient. Be patient, because had the Lord not considered the maturity level of these different Levites, it could have done way more damage than good.

And that's something for you and I to consider. And oftentimes, not always, but generally maturity requires time and experience. If you and I have not developed the characteristics and the convictions that are necessary for longevity, you can not only harm yourself, but harm others that you are called to serve. So this is what we see with the people in the work, at least some things, but we now transition to the praise for the work. Come back to Ezra three, and look at verse nine down to verse, excuse me, verse 10 down to verse 11.

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. 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 when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Now there are many things that we can say about this exuberant response of the people. But the one thing that I want to point out is when they praised.

When they praised, or why they praised. Look at the last part of verse 11 again. Because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Now you might expect such explosive acts of worship to be given at the completion of the temple. We're just at the beginning.

This is just phase one. And yet, they could not help, but give to the Lord this honor and this recognition with their talent and with their voices. What does that teach us? It teaches us that you and I must develop the conviction that God is worthy of praise in the process, as much as in the completion. That you and I must recognize God's doing, His grace, His provision, His protection at every step, not just at the arrival.

And you find this pattern all over the Bible. You even see it at another laying of another foundation, far greater in size and scale than what we find here. God spoke to Job directly at the end of that book. And one of the things that he asked of Job speaks to this very thing that we find here. You remember what he said about creation?

Let me remind you in Job 38 verse four. God says, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know.

Or who stretched the line upon it? Or what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone? The cornerstone was the very first stone that you would put down in any construction project. Look at verse seven.

When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. When did the angels of heaven rejoice in song? In creation? The beginning, not at the end. When God laid the foundation.

When he placed the cornerstone. And so that just reinforces what we find here in Ezra, that heaven and earth testifies that God is worthy of our praise at every step. Every step. I'm speaking to those who serve God and are often discouraged, because you can't seem to see the fulfillment of your prayers. The realization of your dreams and your desires.

That no matter how much you seek God, no matter how much you serve him, no matter how much you resist sin and compromise, no matter how much you're able to overcome, a lesser quality of faith and a lesser quality of of serving the Lord, it doesn't seem to be happening the way I hope that it would happen or it doesn't seem to be coming as soon as I would like for it to come. Learn from this. Learn from this. Okay. So here you are saying, Lord, I would love to be on that platform or in that position, so that I can have a greater impact.

Great. And he might grant that to you. But are you joyfully mindful of the opportunities that he's giving you now, right now? Lord, I I want more souls to invest in. I wanna disciple more people.

Time is running out. Okay. Great. That's that's a that's a great and worthy thing. But what about the people that he has allowed you to encounter?

What about them? Are you thankful? And this is what we see here. A common thing among God's servants. They lose sight of the progress, of the very thing that he's doing right under your nose, of the thing that he's allowed right there before your eyes.

So there is a danger looking back. We're gonna find that out in the next section. But there's also danger of looking too far ahead, that you miss what God is doing here. And I think that this is a timely word for this very church. It's a reminder for us that as we are anticipating the next chapter to this ministry story, not to become blind to the very foundation that he has been laying over these past four years.

To really rejoice week after week, year after year, as new ministries start, as other ministries are strengthening. Do we have big desires? Sure. Do do we have a trajectory in mind? Maybe.

But don't become so fixated that you lose sight of the glory of the moment. Enjoy it. Give God glory for it. And this is what we learn from the praise for the work. But now we finally come to the perspective of the work.

This is really interesting. You could say that this is the first time as we're about to read verse 12 down to 13, that this is the first time in the book of Ezra where we find dissonance among this remnant. Who up to this point were united in mind, united in ambition, united in zeal. Let's read it in verse 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, 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. Unexpectedly, there's weeping. And it's coming from one distinct group within this company. Old men who had seen the first house.

So evidently, you have people among the remnant, who even after seventy years of exile, were still alive when they beheld Solomon's temple. And they've now arrived to this historical pivotal moment. The foundation is laid and the younger generation who weren't really exposed to the former temple, they're like, this is amazing. We're gonna rebuild the temple. We're gonna reestablish our worship.

And they're shouting and they're embracing and then in that, there's a mingling of sounds where the older men are actually weeping out loud. Why? Because they could not help but compare the glory of the former temple with the modest progress of this one. And it broke their hearts. And this single observation carries wonderful instruction for us.

Notice what they sang in verse 11. What did they sing altogether? For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. That is a glorious and appropriate truth to ascribe to the Lord and to proclaim, because this group had been what? Forgiven, restored and in real time, they are rebuilding their relationship with God.

So yes, his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel, but please remember this truth. God's love is so strong, so available, that he is willing to erase any sin. And he is willing to always reconcile with us. But that does not promise the erasing of the consequences of our sins. These people are restored to God, but they're still weeping at the loss caused by their own iniquity.

They could not help but be reminded of all that had been forsaken, all that they had been surrendered. Even as they found themselves here standing before God's faithfulness. God moving nations and kings to bring them back to himself that still could not deal with the sorrow that their sin brought to their lives. And and I want to share this as a warning, because love warns, do not entertain any kind of sin with a dangerous mindset that God will forgive you. Don't premeditate your disobedience.

Because there's a lot of reasons why that kind of thinking is wrong and one of them is that it never takes into account how, yes, God is merciful, but you can lose things in this life that you will never recover. Not many preachers will tell you that. And I'll say this, because they don't love their people. There are some sins, there are some decisions that can rob you in this life for the rest of your life. That's how much sin hates you.

Why don't you hate sin with greater intensity? Why don't I hate it, when I realize just how damaging it can be? Just how much it can ruin me? And so there are times though even I am restored unto the Lord that consequences carry over. And those consequences are not signs that God is displeased with me, or that he will always keep me at arms length.

No. That's not the case at all. The context suggests otherwise. It's just the reality of sin. And the most important thing in our lives, even if we sin, is that we are restored to the Lord.

But there are some things, there are some painful ramifications that are not so easily healed. You see that even with I brought this up many times, but we see that even with the plagues in Egypt. Some of the plagues when Pharaoh half heartedly asked to be forgiven or asked for Moses to intercede were immediately removed. Others lingered. Do you remember the frogs?

The frogs didn't just evaporate. They stayed and it says there in Exodus that the land stank. And there are some things that we do that leaves a stench, even though we are restored to God. Remember that. I'm saying this not to discourage you, but to encourage you in your fight against sin.

The next time temptation comes knocking at your door, you would realize you're more dangerous than you're making yourself out to be. And that you would fight it with this truth. But there's another thing to learn. Another lesson emerges here and it is how different generations in a community of faith can perceive God's work differently. And in this case here, you have the older generation that was so attached to past glories that they could not even discern God's work today.

And that's really possible for anybody who's long who's walked with God long enough to have experienced his power, to experience testimonies, to experience ministries and how God used certain ministries, certain local churches, that you're so fixated on that. You're so living in the past that you can't even register the new thing that God is doing. And that's dangerous. That's actually very unwise. You have to be able to come to the realization that living so much in yesterday, even what God has done yesterday, can cripple your faith for tomorrow.

It's actually a form of unbelief. To constantly ruminate over, oh, what the Lord has done. Oh, what God has done. Oh, what he's done at that point of history. Oh, what he's done in that church I was a part of.

Oh, what he's done with those group of friends that I had. When you think like that, you are denying the possibility that God can do greater things in the days ahead. Many people are like this. And it's not just for older generation. It could be those who are just experienced in their walk with the Lord.

And if you struggle with this, I want to encourage you to bring it before God. Ecclesiastes says, it is not wise to say, why were the former days greater? It's not wise because you're bringing harm to your own faith among other things. No matter what you and I have experienced before, you have to always expect greater things to come. And so sorrow over the past has become so ingrained with this older generation that it actually lasted longer than the celebration here.

Do you see this? Maybe you don't see it. You only see it when you read on in the Old Testament. So severe was this pain and so ingrained was this reminiscing of the the glories of the past that God finally had to speak to one of his prophets and say, I need you to send a message to that generation. Does anybody know which prophet it was?

Good. Haggai. Let's go to Haggai in chapter two. And keep in mind that this prophetic message came sometime after the foundation of the temple was laid, not at the moment that people were weeping. So time goes on and God speaks to Haggai in chapter two verse one down to verse five, and he gives them a series of encouragements that apply to us.

And here's the most exciting part that actually points to Christ. Look at Haggai two verse one. In the seventh month, on the twenty first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet. Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people and say, who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now?

Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, oh Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, oh Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you declares the Lord of host.

According to the covenant that I had made with you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. What a word. Again, we learn here in the beginning that he he came, the prophet came in the seventh month. Why is that significant?

Well, if you look more carefully, it's actually taking place at the end of the feasts, of all the feasts. This is the final feasts. But more than that, the seventh month is the same month of the year when Solomon, not built the temple, but dedicated it. That's in first Kings eight verse two. And it could be now that you have this people who are even mindful of the history of the temple.

It was this time of the year when King Solomon dedicated that much more glorious temple Then Haggai shows up. Hey, all you who are left who saw the former glory of this house, what do you think about it now? It's nothing? And he doesn't he doesn't make a case of how this building is far more glorious, more splendid, adorned and dazzled. He doesn't do that.

But he does teach him something about what makes something truly glorious. He goes, God's presence is with you. The significance of this place is not the structure, it's not the architecture. It's it's God's presence and I'm here to tell you that although the building itself is inferior, the Spirit of God is in your midst. Isn't that what counts the most?

Isn't that what's most important? But the promise and the encouragement doesn't end there. Look what he says in verse six. For thus says the Lord of hosts, yet once more in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in.

And I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. Brothers and sisters, this is the time to lean in and pay attention if you haven't up to this point.

Do you understand the implications of this promise and this prophecy? The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former. Now here's in a very a very critical part of this prophecy. Over and over, he emphasizes this house. This house.

What house are we talking about? Well, Solomon built the first temple. We're dealing with the second temple. He's discussing about the glory of the second temple. Now, how have rabbis tried to explain this?

There are two main explanations on their part. Number one, they think, okay. The glory of the second temple is greater than the first because it endured longer than Solomon's. Because you got to remember the second temple went all the way up to when? Seventy AD.

I mean, this is the same temple that Jesus walked into eventually. This is the same temple that Herod would later adopt and beautify and expand, which brings me to the second explanation among rabbis. That it's not necessarily the duration of the temple, but how gorgeous it was in terms of material, in terms of his expansion and renovations. That Herod made this temple far greater than even Solomon's. But there are a few problems with this.

How does that actually justify it being greater in glory than the glory of God that manifested in the first temple? Do you remember what happened at the dedication of the first temple? Let me remind you in first Kings eight ten to 11. You don't have to turn there. Just listen.

In first Kings eight ten, and when the priest came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. God's manifest presence was so potent in the very temple, Solomon's, that the priest could not even enter into it to minister. They have to stay outside. Are you telling me that the duration of the second temple or the gold and the carvings and the expansion in terms of size that Herod brought to this temple is better than this glory?

Because if you bring this point up to your Jewish friends who are studied, they will say, there's nothing more to this than the silver and the gold and the treasures that will be brought to the temple. Because remember, what does he say there in Haggai two? That the silver is mine in verse eight. The gold is mine declares the Lord of hosts. He's speaking about physical glory.

And here's how you need to respond. You would be hard pressed to find the phrase filled with glory and limit that to physical appearance. When you look at kings, when you look especially in Ezekiel, that phrase filled with glory speaks primarily about God's manifest presence in the house of God. And and it's no accident that Haggai is using similar language to the glory of God filling the temple of first Kings eight. It's this temple.

Why is that so important? Because some would even explain it this way, even believers. Okay. Yes. This is speaking about a heavenly glory, divine presence, manifest power.

So it has to speak about the millennial kingdom. It has to speak about the millennial temple. Now why would they have to say that? Because if this is the second temple, then you have to find in this bracket of time where there is a greater glory than Solomon's. So between the rebuilding of the temple here in Ezra and seventy AD, where is this greater glory?

And if you can't identify it, then you have failed prophecy. You have failed prophecy, and that's a big problem. But it's not a problem to the Christian, because we have determined that there is something greater than a cloud appearing in the first temple on a single day. And that is the glory of God taking on flesh. And that glory, not just visiting the temple one day, but on many days.

He cleansed the temple. He purified it. He did miracles in its courts. He entered in. He engaged with people.

He taught. The only way this prophecy in Haggai makes sense is if you understand God in Christ being the greater glory than the cloud that entered in the temple in first Kings. This prophecy is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ And it's one of the most undeniable pieces of evidence that Christ of Nazareth is the Messiah. Why? Because he said that the latter glory of this temple would exceed the first.

So where does that fit? In fact, if you look at rabbinic literature who have commented on the second temple, they would say that there are actually many things that were missing in the second temple in comparison to the first. So they talk about how the divine presence wasn't in the temple. How the ark was not in the temple. How what they call the Shekinah glory.

Shekinah by the way is not that's a Hebrew thing. That's a Jewish terminology. So even rabbis in their own writing say, there are many things missing in the second temple. So they're trying to understand this prophecy and most of them just say it's about the actual structure. That opens up more problems and solutions.

But for us as Christians, this is Christ. This is Christ. He came into that second temple and he came as glory, the glory of God, the perfect radiance of God. And they denied him. They missed it.

There's so many things that we can say at this point. We can compare to Malachi three. We can look at the peace that Christ, He did bring, because it talks about how He's going to bring peace to this place. The peace that they denied. Remember when he wept over Jerusalem?

Oh, if you only knew the the times of peace that I've come to bring. But I want to give you this final thought of the conclusion of this study. Why were the Israelites exiled? Well, because of their disobedience. They committed bloodshed, immorality, idolatry.

They kept going. They kept going. They kept going. Alright. Enough is enough.

You are going to be taken out of the land for how long? Seventy years. I'm gonna give you seventy years before you re-, you can return. The temple was destroyed. Solomon's temple was destroyed and they would be able to rebuild it after seventy years.

The second temple was destroyed in seventy AD. For what crime? A far greater crime. Denying the Messiah. I want you to think about this.

When they committed idolatry at this time, they were expelled for seventy years. When they denied Messiah, it took nineteen hundred years before the people of Israel went back to their land. Nearly nineteen hundred years later, did this dispersed people finally come back to their homeland. I believe even in that you have an indication of just how severe their sin of denying Messiah was. They pushed away the glory.

They missed the prophecy. But remember, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever toward Israel. And even after the denial of Messiah, God made promises to this people. And He promised that He would restore them, and that He would regenerate them and that He would one day rule over them as they would welcome and acknowledge Him as their savior and as their King. They would see that He is indeed the Son of David.

The one that we read about. The one that we've denied. The one that we've killed. And Christ will embrace them and he will show to the world once again just how faithful he is. That's our King.

Never forget Haggai chapter two in your defense of why Christ is Messiah. He is the greater glory that came during the second temple period. What's your explanation? We have the greatest one because he's the truth. Amen?

Lord, we thank you for this study. We give you glory and thanks. My prayer, Lord, with my brothers and sisters is that what we've studied tonight would just wet our appetite and that we would again rediscover just how deep this word is. Just how supernatural the authorship is. And Lord, with all the things that were shared, and all the thoughts and the insights that were provided, may the ultimate end be our devotion to you being greater.

And our love to you being more sincere. So Lord, we rejoice now knowing that we are in the truth. That we in our faith have the backing of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. That over and over again, you confirm to us that Christ is indeed the savior of the world and the soon coming king. May you equip us, not just for knowledge sake, but to win others to the truth.

Help us Lord to grow and to serve you with the best years of our lives. Time is short, oh God. So we do pray for that urgency to be more real, but we also pray for the patience in believing your timing, for your promotion in our lives, and the open doors in our lives. Lord, help us not dwell so much on the past, even on things that are good, but be like Paul, forgetting what lies behind. Forgetting what's there and keeping focus on what's ahead.

Lord, we love you and we trust you. We sing to you now in joy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and Amen. Let's stand and let's worship the living Christ.