Commentary - Ezra 3:1-7

Bird's-eye view

In this foundational chapter, the remnant of God's people, having returned from exile, demonstrates what it means to put first things first. Before they build their houses, before they secure their borders, and even before they lay the foundation of the Temple, they build the altar. This is a profound statement of priorities. The center of a restored covenant community is not a building, but a sacrifice. Led by Jeshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor, the people gather as one and reestablish the central act of worship prescribed in the Law of Moses. They do this in the face of palpable fear of their pagan neighbors, showing that true obedience is not the absence of fear, but faithfulness in the midst of it. The re-institution of the daily sacrifices and the celebration of the Feast of Booths marks the restoration of the nation's liturgical heartbeat. The altar is the foundation of the foundation, the place where God meets with His people on the basis of an atoning sacrifice. Only after this is established do they begin the practical work of gathering materials for the Temple proper. This chapter teaches us that all true reformation and rebuilding must begin with the worship of God, as He has commanded, centered on the provision of His sacrifice.

Outline

Context In Ezra

Ezra chapter 3 marks the first great act of the returned exiles. Chapters 1 and 2 detailed the decree of the pagan king Cyrus, stirred up by God to release the Jews, and provided the census of those who made the journey back to Judah under the leadership of Zerubbabel. They have arrived in a desolate land, surrounded by peoples who are not their friends. The question is, what will they do first? Will they build fortifications? Apportion farmland? Establish a government? No, their first corporate act is to rebuild the altar of burnt offering. This act sets the spiritual trajectory for the entire book. The altar must precede the Temple, and right worship must precede the rebuilding of the culture. This chapter provides the basis for the joy at the laying of the Temple's foundation later in the chapter, and it also establishes the spiritual conflict that will erupt into open opposition from their neighbors in chapter 4.

Key Issues

The Foundation of the Foundation

When a man decides to build a house, he first lays a foundation. But what is the foundation of the foundation? What is the bedrock upon which everything else must be built? For the people of God, for any society that wants to call itself Christian, the answer is the worship of God. And not just any kind of worship, not a vague spirituality or a religion cooked up from our own sentiments. It must be worship centered on the bloody sacrifice that God Himself has appointed for the atonement of sin. The returned exiles from Babylon understood this. They came back to a pile of rubble, and the first thing they set up amidst the ruins was the altar. They knew that before the house of God could be built, the altar of God had to be functioning. Before the walls of the city could be raised, the claims of God had to be honored. This is a permanent lesson. All our efforts to build, whether in our families, our churches, or our nations, are exercises in vanity if they are not founded upon the altar of Jesus Christ, our only sacrifice.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Then the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities. And the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

The timing is significant. The seventh month, Tishri, was the great month of festivals in the Jewish calendar, containing the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths. They are not just returning to a geographical location; they are returning to God's calendar, to His appointed rhythm of life. And they gather as one man. This is not a mob, but a congregation. It is a covenant people acting in corporate unity. The exile had scattered them, but the call of God has re-gathered them with a single purpose. They have settled in their various cities, but they understand that the center of their life together is Jerusalem, the place God chose to put His name.

2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

Here we see the leadership acting in concert. Jeshua is the high priest, representing the religious authority. Zerubbabel is the governor, the descendant of David, representing the civil authority. They are not in competition; they are working together to build the altar. This is the biblical pattern of distinct but cooperative spheres of authority under God. Their goal is specific: to build the altar of the God of Israel. And the purpose of that altar is singular: to offer burnt offerings. This is not a stage for a performance or a platform for a speaker; it is a place of blood and fire. And crucially, they do this as it is written in the law of Moses. Their worship is not based on what feels right or what might be popular, but on the explicit commands of God's Word. This is the regulative principle of worship in its infancy.

3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, burnt offerings morning and evening.

This verse gives us the motive, and it is a surprising one. They did this "for they were terrified." A better rendering might be that "a terror from the peoples of the lands was upon them." They were a small, vulnerable group surrounded by hostile neighbors. What is the biblical response to fear? It is not to build a wall first. It is not to negotiate a treaty. The first and most important act of defense is to fly to God. They build the altar because they are afraid. Their fear drives them to the only source of true security. They consecrate themselves to Yahweh, and by re-instituting the morning and evening sacrifices, they are placing their entire nation, day by day, under the providential and protective care of the God of the covenant. This is an act of profound faith, not in the absence of fear, but in defiance of it.

4 They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the legal judgment, as each day required;

Having re-established the daily sacrifices, they now observe the first great festival on the calendar. The Feast of Booths was a remembrance of their time in the wilderness, living in temporary shelters, wholly dependent on God. How fitting for this generation. They are in a new wilderness, surrounded by dangers, and they are reminded that their true security is not in stone houses but in the presence of God. Again, notice the emphasis on scriptural obedience: "as it is written," "the fixed number," "according to the legal judgment." This is careful, detailed, conscientious obedience.

5 and afterward there was a continual burnt offering, also for the new moons and for all the appointed times of Yahweh that were set apart as holy, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to Yahweh.

The liturgical life of the nation is being fully restored. It is not just the big festivals. It is the daily grind of faithfulness, the continual offering. It is the monthly observance of the new moons. It is all the appointed times God had set apart. And it includes room for the individual Israelite to bring a freewill offering. This is a picture of a comprehensive life of worship. It is structured and regular, but also personal and voluntary. The entire rhythm of their lives is being recalibrated to revolve around the altar.

6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh, but the foundation of the temple of Yahweh had not been laid.

The writer makes the point with crystal clarity. The worship began before the building began. The sacrifices were ascending to God from the old foundation of the altar while the foundation of the Temple was still rubble. This is a critical theological point. The substance of worship is the sacrifice, not the sanctuary. The way to God is through the prescribed atonement, not through an impressive building. For the Christian, this is a picture of the gospel. Our relationship with God is not established by the quality of our church programs or the size of our budget. It is established solely on the foundation of Christ's finished work on the cross, our altar and our sacrifice. The altar comes first.

7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Only after the worship is established do they turn to the building project. And notice that this is a practical, economic affair. They pay wages. They engage in international trade with the Phoenicians, just as Solomon had done. They are operating within the political realities of their day, under the authority of the "permission they had from Cyrus." Faithfulness to God does not mean checking out of the real world of commerce and politics. Rather, because their worship is rightly ordered, their work can now be rightly ordered as well. The altar sanctifies the work of the masons and carpenters. The worship of God gives meaning and purpose to the economic activity.

Application

The church in the modern West is in many ways a returned remnant. We are living among the ruins of a Christian culture, and we are surrounded by the "peoples of the lands" who are increasingly hostile to our faith. The temptation is to be terrified, and in that terror, to pursue worldly solutions. We are tempted to think that what we need is a better political strategy, a more impressive building, a more culturally savvy program, or a bigger budget.

Ezra 3 calls us back to first things. The first thing we must do is rebuild the altar. We must re-center our entire existence as churches, families, and individuals on the altar of Jesus Christ. This means the cross must be central in our preaching. The atonement for sin must be the foundation of our worship. Our obedience must be shaped "as it is written," not by the fads of the culture. Our response to the fear of man must be to double down on the public, corporate worship of the living God. We must establish the daily, continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in our homes and hearts.

We need to learn that the altar comes before the temple. A living church worshiping on the foundation of the cross in a rented storefront is infinitely more powerful than a dead church rattling around in a cathedral where the altar is just a museum piece. Let us get the foundation right. Let us build the altar, and then trust God to provide for the building of the house.