GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
EZRA 3:10-13
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10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests, dressed in their robes, took their places with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, took their places with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his mercy to Israel endures forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
We can picture what was happening here a little better when we notice all of the detail. First, only the foundation of the temple was laid down. Therefore what the people were looking at was a large stone floor, the same size as the foundation of Solomon’s temple, but nothing else was built on it yet.
Second, the priests were dressed as they should be for worship and for the festivals, but what the people were looking at was a large clear and clean space in the middle of ruins.
Third, the priests and Levites had their musical instruments, just as David had lined them all up for the procession of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Chronicles 16:4-6).
Fourth, the song that they played and sang was one of the responsive Psalms David had written for the dedication of the temple. These all included the words, “The Lord is good, his mercy endures forever.” We hear these words in 1 Chronicles 16:34; in Psalm 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118 (all throughout), 136:1, and again in Jeremiah 33:11. We know this was responsive because Ezra uses the word “answered, responded” with their praise. So a leader or a choir would sing, and the people would respond, and the music filled the temple grounds as it had so many years before.
12 But when many of the older men, the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses who had seen the first house, they wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, although many shouted aloud for joy. 13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful cry from the sound of the people who were weeping, for the people shouted very loudly, and the sound was heard far away.
What does Ezra mean when he says that the older man who had seen the first temple wept loudly?
1, It could be that they remembered how beautiful the first temple was, and knew that this one was not going to be the same. The new temple was going to be the same size as Solomon’s had been, but there was nothing ornate about it at all. It was plain stones, slab by slab by slab. They were going to have a temple, but it was not going to be like the old one. It would be large, but not majestic. It would be solid, but not beautiful. It would be what their children would know, but it would not be what they remembered.
To this point, Haggai said: “Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?” (Haggai 2:3). And this was after the temple was completed! Also, Zechariah said about the plumb line in the hands of Zerubbabel, “Who despises the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). Perhaps the prophets were rebuking the people for looking back and comparing.
2, It could also be that they were simply grieving over the sin of Israel that caused the exile in the first place, and now, at last, after a lifetime of waiting, the temple was finally going to be rebuilt. The sacrifices could be offered that looked ahead to Christ. The Day of Atonement could be properly celebrated and the atonement of Christ could be prefigured and foreshadowed for all to see. Sin, sent away outside the camp in the flesh of the scapegoat! Sin, removed! Show us this miracle, O Lord!
To this point, Zechariah said, “I will remove the sin of this land in a single day” (Zechariah 3:9). And Zephaniah had said, “I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered” (Zephaniah 3:19). And Obadiah had foreseen: “The Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev” (Obadiah 1:20).
3, It could be that they remembered the first temple’s terrible destruction. The Babylonians burned the gorgeous stones and the bronze work done by Huram in the days of Solomon (1 Kings 7:40, 45). Who could duplicate the carvings of Michelangelo? Who could paint like DaVinci? What they were going to have was more of a wall of cinder blocks that artwork.
To this point, in Lamentations we are told: “All who passed by clapped their hands at you; they hissed and shook their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: ‘Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?’ All your enemies opened their mouths against you. They hissed, they gnashed their teeth, and they said: “We have swallowed her up! Ah, this is the day we were waiting for! We have arrived! We have seen it!” (Lamentations 2:15-16).
I do not claim that any of these must be the only correct answer. All of them have merit and the support of Scripture, as well as the fair and obvious support of what we all know of human nature and the sort of things any of us would grieve over. But the grieving was mixed with the happy shouts and cheers with the rest of the people, so that the sound could be heard from far away.
The Lord had brought his people back, just as he had promised. During the days of the exile, Ezekiel reported the words of God: “When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered thrm from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind” (Ezekiel 39:27-28).
This same Lord God promises to bring us from the bondage of death and the grave, to raise us up without leaving any behind, for Jesus says: “Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (Matthew 18:14). The hands of Jesus will bring us home to our heavenly Father, forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2025
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Ezra 3:10-13 The old men wept