[Chapter 6]

1. Trust God as he builds his temple in you

Ezra 6:1-12
1 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon.
2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it: Memorandum:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide,
4 with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.
5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you, their fellow officials of that province, stay away from there.
7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: The expenses of these men are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop.
9 Whatever is needed--young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem--must be given them daily without fail,
10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted up and impaled on it. And for this crime his house is to be made a pile of rubble.
12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem. I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

In chapter 5, we read that Tattenai a Government official opposed the building of God's temple. He complained to King Darius. The people of God however did not get afraid but trusted in God and kept building. King Darius made a search and God led him to a place called Ecbatana where a scroll written by previous king. King Cyrus, was found. The previous king had given all his support to the building of the temple. The present king, king Darius then passed a law saying that the temple should be build and anyone opposing it would face the death penalty! We wee from this that God is in control! Even Governments are not outside of God's control! Many times, we forget this! We do not trust God but in our actions we do.

Do you look or give into marriage outside the Church? Do you not obey your leaders? Do you take up a job which causes you to compromise on meetings? Do you stop being a disciple because you are persecuted or facing problems? If you've answered 'yes' to any of the above questions, you need to trust God more. We all need to trust and obey. We stop God from building our lives to be a beautiful temple for Him to live in when we don't trust and obey.

2. God loves details in building the temple

Ezra 6:13-18
13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence.
14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the people of Israel--the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles--celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

The temple was completed in 515 B.C. This was exactly 70 years after it was destroyed. (The temple was destroyed on August 12th 586 B.C.) In Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10 God made a promise that in 70 years, the temple would be rebuilt. God cares about specific details. God cares for each person, each situation in the world, each problem in our lives, what about you? Do you care about each contact and follow up? Do you care about every disciple in your family group? Do you care about each visitor that comes and help them to study the Bible? When we build taking care of details we build the way God built the temple.

3. Communion: A reminder of the price for the temple

Ezra 6:19-22
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.
20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves.
21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.
22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

God always instituted things to help us remember Him. In Genesis 9:12-16, God made the rainbow so that we would remember that God will not destroy the world like He did in the time of Noah. The Passover was to remind the people of Israel about how God did not destroy the first born children of Israel in Exodus 11 and 12. It was to remind them how God spared them when He saw the blood of the lamb on the door. For us today our Passover is Christ's Communion. Do you take communion seriously? Do you focus and listen to the speaker? Do you get convicted by your sins of the previous week and decide to accept Jesus' grace given by the blood and repent in the coming week? Communion is the most important time of Sunday Service. It is not a time to talk, joke or fade out.

According to I Corinthians 11:28, it is not right to take the bread and the wine without thinking and examining yourself. Communion is an even instituted by Jesus to change us every week. It help us to remember and appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When we take the bread and the wine without the right heart we bring judgment on ourselves. Therefore, let us remember with gratitude the price that was paid to make our lives a temple for God.