The Foundation Before the Foundation Text: Ezra 3:1-7
Introduction: Worship on the Rubble
We live in an age of pragmatists. When faced with a crisis, a threat, or a monumental task, the modern evangelical mind immediately resorts to flow charts, strategic plans, and feasibility studies. We want to secure the perimeter, raise the funds, and organize the committees. We believe that if we can just get our structures right, our programs funded, and our walls built, then perhaps, at the end of it all, we can dedicate the finished product to God. But the Word of God consistently teaches us the reverse. Our returned exiles in the book of Ezra provide us with a foundational lesson in godly priorities. They have come back to a wasteland. The holy city is a ruin, the temple is a heap of rubble, and they are surrounded by hostile neighbors. By any human calculation, their first priorities should have been walls for defense and houses for shelter. But that is not what they did. Their first public, corporate act was not construction, but consecration. Before they laid a single stone for the new temple, they rebuilt the altar. They understood a principle that we have largely forgotten: worship is the foundation before the foundation. The altar must be established before the temple can be built. A right relationship with God is the necessary precondition for any successful work for God. What we see here is not just an ancient building project; it is a permanent lesson in first things.
This passage confronts our man-centered, therapeutic age with a blast of cold, bracing, God-centered reality. We think worship is something we do when we feel safe, prosperous, and inspired. The remnant teaches us that worship is what we do because we are terrified, vulnerable, and commanded. It is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is not a celebration of our strength, but a desperate clinging to God's strength. In a world that is falling apart, in a culture that despises our faith, the first and most important thing we can do is gather together as one, build the altar, and offer the sacrifices God has commanded. This is not escapism; it is the most profound form of engagement with reality. It is spiritual warfare conducted with fire, blood, and prayer. It is the declaration that Yahweh, not the surrounding peoples, is the one to be feared.
The Text
Then the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities. And the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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. 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.
(Ezra 3:1-7 LSB)
Unified and Located Worship (v. 1)
We begin with the gathering of the people.
"Then the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities. And the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem." (Ezra 3:1)
The first thing to notice is their unity. They gathered "as one man." This was not a loose collection of individuals pursuing their own spiritual journeys. This was a corporate body, a covenant people, moving with a single mind and a single heart. True reformation is never individualistic. It begins when God's people set aside their petty squabbles and personal agendas to seek the Lord together. This unity was not the result of a team-building workshop; it was the fruit of a shared repentance, a shared deliverance from Babylon, and a shared desire to obey God. They understood they were a people, a nation, before they were individuals.
The second thing to notice is their location: "to Jerusalem." They did not set up convenient local altars in the cities where they had settled. They came to the place where God had chosen to put His name. Worship, for Israel, was not a generic, abstract principle. It was tied to a specific place, a specific history, a specific covenant. For us, under the New Covenant, the principle remains. We do not have a geographic center, but we are commanded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We gather to our Jerusalem, which is the public, corporate worship of the Triune God, where the Word is preached, the sacraments are administered, and the saints are gathered. Individual piety is essential, but it is no substitute for the commanded, corporate gathering of the covenant community.
Obedient Leadership (v. 2)
This unified movement was not leaderless. It was spearheaded by the proper authorities.
"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." (Ezra 3:2)
Here we see the two arms of godly authority working in concert. Jeshua is the high priest, representing the ecclesiastical authority. Zerubbabel is the governor, the descendant of David, representing the civil authority. This is a beautiful picture of church and state operating in their proper spheres, united in their submission to the law of God. They are not in conflict; they are partners in reformation. Both the priest and the governor see it as their duty to lead the people in the public worship of God.
And what is the basis for their action? It is not popular opinion, or a new vision, or a pragmatic assessment of the people's needs. They built the altar and offered the offerings "as it is written in the law of Moses." Their worship was Scripture-regulated. They did not invent their own liturgy. They did not try to be innovative or relevant. They simply did what the book said. True worship is an act of submission to God's revealed will. The central question in worship is not "What do I find meaningful?" but rather "What has God commanded?" All true reformation is a return to the book.
Courage Born of Fear (v. 3)
Now we come to the central motivation, and it is a profound paradox.
"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." (Ezra 3:3)
Mark this well. They did not build the altar in spite of their fear; they built it because of their fear. The Hebrew says a "terror upon them from the peoples of the lands." They were a tiny, vulnerable remnant surrounded by suspicious and hostile neighbors. Their natural, fleshly response would be to hide, to keep a low profile, to focus on building fortifications. Instead, their fear drove them to the only place of true safety: the altar of God.
This is faith in action. They feared the peoples of the lands, yes, but they feared Yahweh more. They knew that their only hope for protection from their enemies was to be in a right relationship with their God. The daily burnt offerings, morning and evening, were a constant declaration of their dependence, a constant plea for atonement, and a constant act of covenant renewal. The altar was their shield. The smoke ascending to heaven was their true defense system. This is a powerful lesson for us. When we are afraid, when the culture turns hostile, our first move must not be to political maneuvering or strategic retreat. Our first move must be to the throne of grace. Worship is warfare. A church on its knees is more powerful than an army with banners.
The Fullness of Obedience (v. 4-5)
Their obedience was not partial or selective. It was thorough.
"They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written... 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." (Ezra 3:4-5)
They did not just restore the bare minimum. They restored the full, joyful, liturgical calendar that God had given to Israel. The Feast of Booths was a week-long celebration, a remembrance of God's faithfulness to them in the wilderness. How appropriate. They were in a new wilderness, living in makeshift dwellings amidst the ruins, and their first instinct was to throw a party to remember that God is faithful. This is not grim, duty-bound religion. This is robust, joyful, feasting faith.
Notice the rhythm of their worship. There are the daily offerings, the weekly Sabbaths, the monthly new moons, and the annual feasts. God's worship is meant to structure all of our time. It provides the rhythm for a godly life and a godly culture. And within this structure of commanded worship, there is also room for spontaneous devotion: "from everyone who offered a freewill offering." God's law provides the grammar, but it does not forbid poetry. True biblical worship is a beautiful blend of form and freedom, of divine command and human delight.
First Things First (v. 6-7)
The sixth verse brings the central point of the chapter into sharp focus.
"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." (Ezra 3:6)
Here it is, stated plainly. Altar before temple. Worship before work. Communion with God before construction for God. A church is not a building; a church is a people gathered around the altar. They had a functioning church the moment the first sacrifice was offered, even though they were standing in an open field surrounded by rubble. We have inverted this. We think that if we can just build the impressive building, launch the slick programs, and attract the big crowds, then we will have a church. The remnant of Israel knew better. You can have a people and an altar and have a church. You can have a multi-million dollar facility without an altar and all you have is a religious country club, a hollow shell.
And notice what happens immediately after worship is re-established. Verse 7 tells us, "Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters." The work of rebuilding begins only after the priority of worship is secured. And where did the resources come from? They came from a people whose hearts had been reoriented by their encounter with God at the altar. Worship unlocks generosity. Worship fuels the mission. When we put first things first, God provides for the second things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things, even the cedar logs from Lebanon, will be added unto you.
Conclusion: Our Altar on the Rubble
The story of Ezra's altar is our story. We too are living among the ruins of a once-great Christian civilization. We are surrounded by the peoples of the lands who are increasingly hostile to our faith. We are often terrified, and we should be. The temptation is to think that the solution is primarily political, or educational, or cultural. But Ezra calls us back to the first thing, the main thing.
The altar they built was a shadow, a type. It pointed forward to the true and final altar, which is the cross of Jesus Christ. The morning and evening sacrifices they offered could never finally take away sin. They pointed to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who was offered once for all for the sins of His people. He is our altar, our priest, and our sacrifice.
So what does it mean for us to build the altar on the rubble today? It means we must, as a people, gather as one man. It means our first priority, in our lives, in our families, and in our churches, must be the worship of the Triune God according to His Word. It means we must be a people of the Lord's Table, constantly remembering the sacrifice of Christ. It means our response to the fear of man must be the fear of God, which drives us to our knees. Before we can rebuild our culture, we must rebuild the altar. Before we can see reformation and revival in our land, we must restore the centrality of worship in our own midst. Let us therefore learn the lesson from the rubble of Jerusalem. First the altar, then the temple. First worship, then work. For this is the foundation before the foundation.