By: Matt Marcantonio
The beginning chapters of Ezra display redemption and triumph for God’s people, yet it was birthed out of pain and agony. King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple that Solomon built, which spurred on the exile of Israelites to Babylon.
After 70 years in exile and following Nebuchadnezzar’s death, the captives from Judah were allowed to return home by the new King – Cyrus of Persia. Approximately 50,000 people made the journey home and King Cyrus allowed them to rebuild the Temple.
They started with the Temple’s foundation and covered their building efforts with praise along the way. They worked tirelessly in unity as the foundation was built!
With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. – Erza 3:11
Talk about a joyous time … right? For some it was. For others it was a harsh reminder of what was. Between the people there was discord. After all this effort, some of the younger generations were ecstatic that progress was being made – a new Temple was created. The first step was completed.
The older generation – who were around to see the first Temple – were outwardly upset because it could not compare to the previous Temple.
“But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.” Ezra 3:12-13
The last verse is such strong word-picture that we can envision. A body of believers who fought to be back where they were had an opportunity to be a part of God’s vision – a prophecy Jeremiah spoke about years earlier. Yet, still, there was shouting and weeping mingled together so loudly it could be heard in a distance.
I wonder what everyone around them thought when they heard this. King Cyrus and his officials and staff were not believers. Many in Jerusalem had forgotten who God was. As a token of good gesture, King Cyrus allowed them to rebuild a Temple and the first impression he and the community sees is shouting and weeping mingled together.
Where you fall in the generation bracket is irrelevant. For all of us, as time goes on there will be new generations doing new things with each generation after having to intentionally decide if they will shout for joy for what God’s doing today and tomorrow, or will we moan and weep aloud because it doesn’t look or feel like it did many years ago.
Our response – together – as a collective unit called the Body of Christ is what a community is examining to see if our unity is transcendent on the who, what, where, why, how of The Church as we’re solely focused on His vision for our communities – whatever it looks like in generations to come.
