The Return to Rebuild
Lesson 10 Notes: Ezra 3–6
Focus Verse
“For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival 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.” (Ezra 6:22)
Outline
- Rebuilding the Temple – Ezra 3
- Resisting Opposition – Ezra 4:1–6:12
- Resuming Worship – Ezra 6:13–22
Engage
Worship is the appropriate posture of all people before their Creator. A proper view of self and of God makes humility, surrender, and gratitude the only acceptable response to Him. Since humanity’s fall into sin,1 people have naturally opposed God, foolishly elevating themselves. Satan, full of fury against God, fuels rebellion and opposes everything that honors Him. Full of grace for the wayward, God makes a way for sinners to seek Him. Only then do the people God created find their purpose and flourish.
God called exiled individuals and families in Babylon to return to the wrecked temple in Jerusalem, where they would rebuild what their enemies had destroyed. They sought to restore not only a physical structure but to reinstitute the rightful worship God deserved, desired, and commanded. Their efforts to worship God met fierce opposition. Worship of the one true God threatens earthly strongholds. The enemies of God fight against the worship of God. Opponents of the exiles attacked their efforts in a variety of ways. In the same way, our submission to God will always meet pushback. God enables His people to worship Him, despite opposition. We worship God because He alone is worthy.
Rebuilding the Temple – Ezra 3
Due to persistent sin, Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed and the Israelites scattered. The books of Ezra (Lessons 9–12) and Nehemiah (Lessons 23–27) show us how God intervened to recover what sin had stolen. The exiles returned to rebuild their homeland, and God restored the temple and prescribed worship expected of His covenant people. Though believers will continue to fail, God steadfastly upholds His promises, never abandoning His people or the commitments He has made to them. For those who belong to God, disobedience brings discipline but not disqualification. Ultimately, faithfulness to God requires the internal transformation Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied.2 The Son of God would take on flesh to redeem a people for God from every tribe and nation. God’s own Spirit would accomplish within broken people what their human efforts could not. Jesus’s teaching parallels and confirms these coming events.3
The Rebuilt Altar and Feast of Tabernacles – 3:1–6
With the returning Israelites settled in their hometowns, the leaders of the expedition focused their first efforts on the spiritual welfare of the people. The seventh month of the Hebrew calendar includes several sacred feasts.4 Therefore, the foremost order of business for the priest Joshua and leader Zerubbabel was to rebuild the altar, which represented the very heart of Israel’s worship. Before its destruction, the Jerusalem temple had been the site of reconciliation for sinful people who humbled themselves before their holy God. God’s law instructed His people to confess their sin and seek atonement by offering animal sacrifices. With the altar reconstructed, sacrifices could be reinstated and the annual sacred feasts celebrated. This had not happened for 70 years.
The restoration of God’s people depended upon the renewal of obedient worship offered to their faithful God. Acceptable worship requires sacrifice for sin. This is true in both the Old Testament’s symbolic sacrifices and Christ’s ultimate sacrifice to which all the slain animals pointed. Overcoming fear of their neighbors, the people gathered in Jerusalem to offer burnt offerings on the newly rebuilt altar. They began to offer sacrifices in the morning and evening on the first day of the seventh month. The returnees also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as God had commanded.
The Temple Foundation – 3:7–11
The returned exiles contributed money and goods to fund the skilled laborers and supplies needed to rebuild the temple. Logs were brought from the Phoenician coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon5 to Joppa, a seaport about 35 miles (56 km) from Jerusalem. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the men who had returned with them began work on the temple itself in the second month of the second year of their return (537 BC). This was the same springtime date on which Solomon began building the First Temple.6
Celebrations erupted when the temple’s foundation had been laid. Following David’s example of praising God with joyful fanfare, priests in fine apparel played trumpets alongside Levites striking cymbals. With thanksgiving, the people sang to the Lord, “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” The grateful people affirmed God’s immovable love for them with great shouts of praise.
Celebrating and Weeping – 3:12–13
Different generations brought varying perspectives to this momentous celebration. Some of the older people who had seen the former glory of Solomon’s Temple wept aloud as they looked at the new foundation laid among the ruins. Shouts of joy and sounds of weeping mixed indistinguishably among the people. Sin had taken them to Babylon; God’s grace returned them to Jerusalem. Psalm 126 vividly captures the intensity of emotions experienced by the exiles amid their returning, rebuilding, and restoration: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy… Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
God brings restoration, hope, and joy from the ashes of sin’s destruction. Isaiah wrote, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives … to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”7 As believers, we can simultaneously weep and worship. Only God can restore what sin has destroyed.
Dying for the Sake of Another
The Doctrine of Substitution
God gave Israel a tangible way to understand the gravity of their sin and His plan to deal with sin’s penalty on their behalf. By God’s design, a system of animal sacrifices taught His people something important. Sin is costly, even to the point of death. The slain animals did not save them but symbolically represented what God would do in the future, a plan more clearly understood through Isaiah 53. Ultimately, the sacrifices that the Israelites practiced, and Zerubbabel and Joshua reinstated, anticipated the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.[^a]
Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, stood in the place of sinners, bearing the full force of God’s wrath against humanity’s sin.[^b] With Jesus as their substitute, believers stand before God not covered in sin but fully clothed in Christ’s righteousness.[^c] Everyone who looks to Christ for salvation receives forgiveness of sin and the power to live a redeemed, transformed life.[^d]
Unless Jesus stands as your substitute before God, you carry the weight of God’s just wrath against your sin. There is nothing you can offer God that sufficiently meets the righteous standards He requires. Without Jesus’s death in your place, you are not prepared to meet God. But meet Him you will, in judgment and condemnation.
Thankfully, Jesus demonstrated His love by dying in the place of all who receive His gift of salvation. His perfect sacrifice as the unblemished Passover Lamb satisfied God’s righteous requirements. He took our sin so He could offer us His unblemished righteousness in its place. With Jesus as your substitute, when God looks at you He sees only Christ’s perfection.
Have you looked to Jesus for salvation?
Resisting Opposition – Ezra 4:1–6:12
Ezra chronicled the resistance to rebuilding in Jerusalem that occurred over many decades, extending through the entire time of Nehemiah. He recorded various forms of opposition but not in chronological order. To help alleviate confusion, we will walk through this segment chronologically, as history unfolded:
- Ezra 4:1–5, 24 — Opposition began shortly after the first return under Zerubbabel, during the reigns of Cyrus (539–530 BC) and Cambyses/Darius (522–486 BC).
- Ezra 5:1–6:12 — More opposition during the time of Darius. God intervened through Haggai and Zechariah. Darius officially authorized continuation.
- Ezra 4:6–23 — Opposition during Xerxes (486–464 BC) and Artaxerxes (464–423 BC) against the city walls (events in Nehemiah).
Ezra grouped the waves of opposition to reveal the long-term, multigenerational struggles God’s people faced.
Rising Challenges under Zerubbabel’s Leadership – 4:1–5, 24
Unsurprisingly, the pioneering builders encountered adversaries from among the people who had inhabited Palestine during the exile. After the Assyrians invaded Israel and deported most of the Israelites, imported foreigners occupied the towns of Samaria, intermarrying with remaining Hebrews and creating a hybrid people, culture, and religion.8 The Samaritans and Israelites maintained a deep rivalry for generations.
God’s enemies often stage attacks in subtle, covert ways. Claiming allegiance to their God, Israel’s enemies slyly offered to join the work. Zerubbabel resoundingly and wisely refused. When their offer failed, the enemies’ true intentions surfaced: discourage, frustrate, and stop the work. They even hired counselors to maximize frustration. The enemies succeeded in stopping progress until the second year of Darius, king of Persia. Though Israel’s detractors initially seemed to succeed, God’s people and purpose ultimately prevailed.
Joshua and Zerubbabel Overcame Challenges – 5:1–6:12
God Sent His Prophets (5:1–2)
Despite the 16-year delay, God raised up Haggai9 and Zechariah10 to rebuke and exhort the people. Strengthened by God’s prophets, Joshua and Zerubbabel resumed the work.
Ongoing Opposition during the Time of Darius (5:3–6:12)
Tattenai, the regional governor, sent a letter questioning the Jews’ authorization. Darius searched the archives, found Cyrus’s decree, and not only permitted the work — he ordered the royal treasury to fund it and threatened death to anyone who hindered it. God’s overruling sovereignty steadied His people to finish the labor.
** **.
Ongoing Challenges Faced Later by Nehemiah – 4:6–23
Rehum and others wrote to Artaxerxes, exaggerating the Jews’ history of rebellion. Artaxerxes ordered the work stopped by force. The city rebuilding stalled for 16 years — but God was not finished.
Resuming Worship – Ezra 6:13–22
The Temple Completed and Dedicated – 6:13–18
In 515 BC, the second temple was completed “on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.” The people celebrated with overflowing joy, offering 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 male lambs, and 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel.11 Priests and Levites were installed in their divisions according to the Book of Moses.12
Passover Celebrated – 6:19–22
The returned exiles celebrated Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. Many locals who had renounced idolatry joined them. They also kept the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for 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.
God restored His people to Himself and led them to worship as He commanded. True worship has always been about heartfelt surrender, not mere external compliance. God enables His people to worship Him, despite opposition.
Take to Heart
Hold Fast
Ezra recorded the plight of the first group of exiles to return. Focused on restoring worship, they rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation amid Jerusalem’s rubble. Enemies soon organized opposition and eventually halted the work. But God intervened through Darius, funded the project, and the temple was completed. The people rejoiced greatly as they celebrated Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God called His people not only to return to the land but to overcome resistance and reestablish the worship He had prescribed.
Apply It
Zerubbabel and Joshua rightly prioritized worship above all else. How do you decide what to tackle first when facing a monumental task? Spiritual priorities should undergird everything — jobs, parenting, marriage, daily survival.
Obeying God does not mean smooth sailing. Almost as soon as the altar fire was lit, enemies circled. God allows opposition to develop our character, grow our faith, and prove His faithfulness. Have you discovered that obedience brings unexpected challenges? What are you learning?
We live in the middle of the story. One day we will be done with sin and death, but today is messy. Good news: God will carry to completion the good work He began in you (Philippians 1:6). How will you find hope in the middle of your story?
Worship is yielding our very lives to God — thinking His thoughts, honoring Him above self, reflecting His character, letting His greatness put obstacles in proper perspective. Worshiping God is a believer’s priority. How will you align your week to make humble surrender your passionate desire?
Scripture Footnotes
Substitution Doctrine Footnotes
[^a]: Hebrews 10:3–5
[^b]: Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:17
[^c]: John 1:29; Hebrews 9:28, 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18
[^d]: John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:7
All Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.