Today’s passage: Ezra 3:1-7
Helpful thoughts:
- Seventy years after the exile, the High Priest and the man who would have been king (Zerubbabel) led the people to worship the Lord again in Jerusalem.
- In the midst of their fear (Verse 3), they offered sacrifices for their sins. (Acts 5:29)
- All that was needed to get started was the altar. However, following the pattern of Solomon, the Jews sent money for skilled labors and materials from Sidon and Tyre (1 Kings 5).
Questions to consider:
- Why were the people who opposed Israel in the land in the first place? How did they get there? Why had there been land to inhabit over the last seventy years?
- What was the significance of beginning to offer sin offerings and being obedient to the Lord’s commands concerning sacrifices and festivals (Like the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles)?
- What had the kings in Jerusalem been doing prior to their exile? How were they evidencing repentance?