Returning
and Building the Temple
In the Old Testament, the Israelites
sinned and turned away from God. Their kingdom was destroyed and they were
exiled. Seventy years later, God bestowed His grace upon them and turned back
to them, moving the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia to make a proclamation in
all his realm, allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to build their temple.
(Ezra 1:1-2) So in the year 538 B.C., the first group of returned exiles, under
the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, went back to their country to rebuild
the house of God. (Ezra 2:2, 64-68) Because of opposition from external enemies
(Ezra 4:23-24) and the selfishness of the returnees (Haggai 1:4-6), the
reconstruction of the Holy Temple was halted for around 14 years. With the
encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they started again and
finally in the year 515 B.C., the Holy Temple was completed. (Ezra 5:1) In the eight month of the
second year of King Darius, after speaking through the prophet Haggai, God
spoke these words through the prophet Zechariah, ˇ§Therefore tell the people: This is what
the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will
return to you,' says the Lord Almighty.ˇ¨ (Zechariah 1:3)
Our Lord wanted to use the preceding
words to exhort those returnees. On the one hand, God did not want to see these
exiled and returned people sin again and emulate their ancestorsˇ¦ betrayal. On
the other hand, God wanted to remind the people to return to Him. At that time,
the people were known as ˇ§returneesˇ¨. In status and position, they had been the
ˇ§exiledˇ¨ and had lost everything. Now because of the grace of God, they had
returned and were building the Holy Temple in the Lordˇ¦s name. Still, God
reminded them that it was not just the physical return of their bodies to the
City of God, but the return of their hearts to God that was more important. The
Lord affirms spiritual reliance on Him, so man must turn away from his evil way
and evil practices of the past (Zechariah 1:4), abide by Godˇ¦s word, keep His
covenant, and follow His way. Only that is truly returning to God.
The New Testament church of today has
been chosen by the grace of God, and we have been saved from sin and
corruption. Once we were lost in transgression, exiled by sin and the
traditions of the world. But the great love of God has made us alive with
Christ (Ephesians 2:5), so that we can return to God and be holy. Therefore,
many times through the words of the apostles God has reminded us, who being of
the New Testament have faith as our foundation to be the children of Abraham
(Galatians 3:7), not to be circumcised in the flesh, but to be circumcised in
the heart so that we become true Jews (Romans 2:29). If we sincerely turn to
God, we must put off the old self of the former way of life and all moral filth
(Ephesians 4:22, James 1:21), put on the new self (Ephesians 4:24), and clothe
ourselves with Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14). Therefore, we must often ask
ourselves introspectively, ˇ§Have we put off the corrupt practices we had before
we believed in the Lord?ˇ¨ Through the redemption and sacrifice of His beloved
son, God sought and found our group of lost souls. Of course He hopes that we
no longer live the debauched life of a prodigal son inside the kingdom of His
beloved son. He wishes that we will turn to Him with one mind, and build up the
church for Him. For only those who truly turn to the Lord in spirit can
successfully build the house of the Lord, just as the people of Israel in those
days had to turn to God in their hearts before they succeeded in finishing the
Holy Temple.
Thank God for cherishing and choosing us
Gentiles to be taken under His name, and as well building the ruined temple
through us! " 'After
this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the
Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things'ˇ¨ (Acts
15:16-17) In the history of the Israelites there were 3 instances of the
building of the Holy Temple, but the houses of the Lord were all destroyed
later by the betrayal and sins of man. In this end time, God has changed the
method of the building of the temple. He wants to build up the church, so that
we who are the temple of the Holy Spirit can be successfully built up because
of the return and submission of man in spirit to God.
ˇ§My son, give me your heart and let your
eyes keep to my ways.ˇ¨ (Proverbs 23:26)
By: Daniel To