In this passage, Ezra describes the dedication of the newly built temple in Jerusalem. There is not a lot of fanfare, and the entire event is captured in only three verses of Scripture.

In fact, this dedication of the second temple in Jerusalem pales in comparison with the first temple which was built by King Solomon (1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron. 7:5).

This temple dedication in Ezra, is missing the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, and the presence of a king; not to mention that this temple is significantly smaller than Solomon’s and the sacrifices that are offered here are significantly less.2

But this does not mean that the event is without significance; this dedication may be smaller, and it may appear to have less pomp and circumstance but there is something really important going on among the people of Israel at this dedication.

We must remember that the nation of Israel had been in captivity for 70 years following the Babylonian invasion; 70 years of captivity, slavery, and suffering after being carried away from their homeland to a foreign country (all of this because of Israel’s sin of idolatry according to Jeremiah 25).

And then, at the beginning of the book of Ezra, God makes good on his promise to release Israel from exile and to restore her as a nation (Jer. 29:10 – 14). And do not forget that it has been 21 years from the time of Israel’s release at the beginning of Ezra until now. So, it has been approximately 91 years since Israel has worshipped together in the temple at Jerusalem; Israel has endured the consequences of her sin for 91 years.

For 91 years, God has been teaching his people a few things about waiting “in expectation of blessing by bringing them to a low position”.3 In other words, the humble pomp and circumstance of this event in Ezra matches the humbled disposition of God’s people. Look at the text with me…

EZRA 6:16 – 18…

16And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

Do you know what it is like to be humbled because of your sin? Do you know what it is like to taste the consequences of your sin for a prolonged period of time as you cling to the promises of God for future redemption? Have you experienced those bright little moments of restoration where God gives you a taste of the Heaven you look forward to? 

Think about the excitement you feel when something you have long waited for becomes a reality. That bright little moment where you resist the addiction, that ray of sunshine when the broken relationship gets restored, the break in the clouds where you land the new job, or the glimmer of hope when the sickness subsides.

These are days when God in his provisional kindness, gives us a taste of what is to come on that day when we walk into eternity into the presence of our Savior who is the fulfillment of all good things here on this earth.

Reconciled relationships, victory over sin, recovered health, monetary provision; the days where we experience these things here on this earth are days for celebration. That is exactly what Israel does on the day of dedication after 91 years of waiting.

#1: ISRAEL CELEBRATES WITH JOY (V. 16)

Ezra tells us that all of the people of Israel, including her leaders, all of the exiles who had been set free from captivity, celebrated the completion of the building of the temple with great joy. I imagine that this day of joy-filled celebration was much better than the day of celebration back in Ezra 3 after the rebuilding of the temple foundation where the sounds of celebrating and complaining were heard for miles around (Ez. 3:11 – 13). There does not appear to be any complaining on this day; only joy-filled celebration after 91 years of waiting. And that is not all…

#2: ISRAEL OFFERS SACRIFICES (V. 17)

Ezra tells us that in the midst of the joy-filled celebration, all of Israel offered bulls, rams, and lambs to the Lord as they worshipped him for his provision in the rebuilding of the temple. And not only did they offer bulls, rams, and lambs in worship, but they also sacrificed 12 male goats as a sin offering for each of the 12 tribes of Israel; this was an act of community confession.

Sin is not just an act that affects an individual; sin also infects the family or the community just like a little bit of yeast infects an entire loaf of bread.4 It had been 91 years since the entire community had been able to offer sacrifices as a visible confession of sin and faith in the shadow of the temple building.

This moment had to have felt deeply restorative as the entire community confessed their sin together and verbalized their faith in the God who had just restored them after 91 years in captivity. And that is not all that Ezra tells us about this day.

#3: ISRAEL INSTALLS LEADERS (v. 18)

In the midst of the joy-filled celebration, as Israel offered bulls, rams, lambs and goats in worship and confession, they also installed leaders to administrate the continued worship of God in the temple. And it is important to notice that they did not just haphazardly install their leaders according to whatever new-fangled fad was running through the culture around them. Israel actually installed leaders according to the timeless and ancient instructions that had been laid out by God in his Word through Moses (Ex. 29, Lev. 8, Num. 3; 8).5

So, Israel installed priests for preaching and teaching and they installed the Levites to lead the worship in the temple (this is an oversimplified description). But suffice it to say that after 91 years of not being able to organize large group worship gatherings in a temple building, the people of Israel were now free to worship together as an entire community under the leadership that God had ordained in his Word through Moses many centuries ago. Israel seems to have learned her lesson for the moment after 91 years of exile; they were paying attention to God’s Word as they celebrated the dedication of the newly rebuilt temple.

WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER TO US?

As I thought about what this experience must have been like for Israel after 91 years of captivity because of her sin and her rebellion, I tried to remember moments in my life when I had experienced something similar, and I also tried to think ahead in the grand story of the Bible so that I could lay hold on some kind of application for my life.

I suppose I could have landed on something practical that would apply in the sense of celebration, confession, or leadership. But I really got to thinking about the grand narrative of the Bible and how it intersects with my story.

I spent nearly 22 years of my life running from God and rebelling against him as I lived my life in some of the most despicable sin. The consequences for those 22 years of sin do not go away overnight. The relational brokenness in my family because of my sin, is something that continues to affect us year after year.

Do not hear me wrong, there are some really miraculous parts to my story that God has restored (marriage, children, extended family members, old friends, etc.). God has definitely redeemed me, and he has restored much of the brokenness in my life.

But if I am not careful, I could easily make all of the relational restoration that God has done in my life into an idol. I could live my life for one thing alone: keeping my family together.

And if I am honest, I probably have more days than I realize where I worry about this and spend ungodly amounts of energy or lose untold amounts of sleep over this.

The best way to assess whether or not something good has become an idol in my life is to think about how that thing promises me comfort, acceptance, security, control or power.

Idolatry is an insane little insidious creature because it is so slimy, and it always cloaks itself in the appearance of something good to the extent that God’s glory is diminished in my life.

This is especially true (the slimy, deceptive nature of idolatry) when it gets cloaked in religious language.

This is why we must look ahead with Israel; past the day of dedication after 91 years of waiting for restoration. When we look ahead in Israel’s history to the days of Jesus in the gospels (roughly 500+ years later) we see that King Herod has just completed a massive and expensive temple expansion plan and the community of Israel has splintered into 4 different denominations (Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, Essenes).

The identity of Israel as a whole is more wrapped up in their temple building, their interpretations of God’s Word and their religious practices than being a rescued people who are looking for the Messiah.

When Jesus steps on the scene, he absolutely begins to obliterate Israel’s sense of security, comfort, acceptance, power, and control because they had stopped looking to God to be their hiding place, to be their comforter, to provide their acceptance.

Israel had fallen into the sin of idolatry once again as they leveraged control and power through their religious temple systems.

This is why they are so shocked when Jesus says that he will rebuild the temple in three days after it is destroyed (Jn. 2:18 – 22). Obviously, Jesus is referring to his crucifixion and resurrection, but the people of Israel completely miss the point as they typically do and as we typically do.

This is why it is important to spend time tearing down idols in our lives. Tearing down idols is not just about getting rid of the filthy, dirty things in our lives (like porn, drunkenness and illicit relationships).

It is also about getting after the more acceptable sins of worry cloaked in concern, control cloaked in accountability, power cloaked in administration, comfort cloaked in peace, acceptance cloaked in people pleasing, or security cloaked in hard work.

There are so many ways that our little idol factory hearts can churn out new ways of worshipping something other than the God who has sent his Son to redeem us at the cross of Calvary. Israel’s joy-filled celebration was a commendable thing until it became the ultimate annual thing that replaced true worship that looked ahead to the Messiah.

Israel’s sin offering was a very commendable and godly thing until it became the ultimate way of maintaining outward appearances instead of being concerned with the inner workings of the heart. Israel’s installation of leaders according to God’s timeless blueprint was a commendable thing until it ultimately became a system of power and control.

Can you see how easy it was for Israel to fall right back into the idolatry that landed them into exile 91 years earlier? Can you also feel the immense weight of the grace and the mercy and the never-ending love of God in the grand scheme of things? Not only did God restore Israel from exile but he also foresaw all of what was coming around the bend as Jesus prepared to step into the story in the flesh.

CONCLUSION…

God knew all of the ways that Israel had failed and would fail and yet he still sent Jesus. Jesus still came to this earth with his heart full of joy and his mind bent towards selfless sacrifice at the cross of Calvary.

Ultimately, Jesus would become the fulfillment of everything the temple stood for. His broken body and his shed blood would be the sacrifice that we now celebrate with joy and he is the ultimate leader who would shepherd God’s people perfectly for all of eternity.

In Christ alone, is where our acceptance is found. In Christ alone, is where our comfort rests. In Christ alone, is where we find eternal security. In Christ alone, is where we surrender our desires for control and power.

Acceptance, comfort, security, control and power will never ultimately be found in our annual celebrations, in our religious practices or in our systems of leadership and they certainly will never be found in the shadow of some earthly building like a temple.

These things will only be found in the shadow of a bloody cross, in the doorway of an empty tomb, in light of the hope of heaven. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Derek W. H. Thomas, Ezra and Nehemiah: Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2016), 92 – 93.

3 Ibid., 93.

4 Ibid., 95 – 96.

5 Ibid., 96 – 97.