Musk oxen are herd animals, and groups of two or three dozen animals are sometimes led by a single female. Herds use cooperation to deal with attacks by arctic wolves. When threatened, they “circle the wagons” and array themselves with their young in the middle and their sharp horns facing outward toward their foes. A cornered musk ox can be a fearsome enemy, charging with its massive bulk and attempting to use its horns to deadly effect. (From National Geographic Musk Oxen online article)
When Musk Oxen work together the calves are protected. If even one Musk Oxen will break rank all the calves can be killed. There is a great need for unity among the heard. Guess what? The Lord’s people need unity too. In our passage Ezra chapter 3 the Lord’s people did work together!
The first two chapters of Ezra tells us that the exiled people returned to the promised land. But something even more important is taking place. The Lord’s people are returning to God. Now unity among the remnant group is essential.
Ezra is the story of how God takes a defeated people and moves supernaturally to send them back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. They will also rebuild the temple and revive true religion.
Solomon’s temple was destroyed and laid in ruin for 70 years. Then as prophesied by Jeremiah, God raised up a remnant to return to Israel. The Babylonian empire that conquered Israel and exiled the Israelites were themselves overthrown.
God moved the heart of the Persian King, Cyrus, to declare, orally and written a decree that Israelites in Babylon who desired should go back to Israel and rebuild the temple.
In Ezra Chapters 1 & 2 Zerubbabel leads the people back. It is a second Exodus of sorts. This time less than 50,000 came back. That is small when you consider the 1st Exodus was 600,000 men plus women and children. That brings the total to over 1 million that journeyed to the promise land in the 1st Exodus.
The Phrase in Ezra, “the Hand of God” sums up what was happening. The Lord was in this return. It was part of his masterplan.
The gracious hand of the Lord was upon Ezra. (Ezra 7:6,9)
The Lord Moved the heart of Cyrus. (Ezra 1:1)
The eye of the Lord was watching over them. (Ezra 5:5)
God is calling His people to a renewed emphasis on their religion. Ultimately this was about the relationship between God and His people. This included building a new temple. The overall theme is together we build. It was the Lord’s call, and it would require the Lord’s people to be united.
The story of Ezra with the rebuilding the temple is an encouragement to see how obstacles can be overcome when God’s moving hand is behind his people. There is power in the unity of God’s people working together.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. (Ezra 3:1)
The rebuilding of the temple is going to require unity. They need everyone to be all in for this one. For the people of Israel to accomplish what God called them to do this remnant was going to do what should take the whole nation, but they needed to be unified. They needed to be together we build on this one.
When the Lord calls his people to a great work, the leader will need to build unity. The Musk Ox is our illustration. It does not mean the leader of the heard defends the wolves, it means the leader calls the heard to circle up and everyone must work as one.
That is why for us to accomplish what the Lord has called us to, we begin with a call of unity. We begin by working together like we are one unit. We are a family of God. A dysfunctional disjointed family will fail. A unified family will accomplish the task.
The 1979 Pittsburg Pirates won the world series. They lost 64 games that season but, good enough to make the playoffs. Then going into the playoffs they adopted the disco song by Sister Sledge, We Are Family. They worked together, they worked as one and went on to win the Word Series that season.
They believed that the unity of their team was the key to their great accomplishment. We are not a baseball team or a heard of Musk Oxen, but we need the unity they found to accomplish great things. We combine unity and dependence on God to accomplish great things for God.
As believers we are a family. We can be a unified family and attempt great things for God. We need to go in everything with faith in God and unity. That is what the remnant who returned to Jerusalem did. They gathered as one in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
It was their sense of purpose that brought them together in unity. When the remnant arrived in Jerusalem, the temple, Solomon’s temple laid in ruin. It was a pile of ruble and it had been like that for 70 years.
They went to live in the various cities they were from, but they came together with a unified purpose. Rebuild the temple. If they do not come together, they will not accomplish this vision to rebuild the temple. Their mission was guided by the hand of God, and they needed unity to complete the mission together.
To rebuild the temple the people of the Lord must return to the Law of God. The remnant had an opportunity in a new way to be God’s covenant people.
Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. (Ezra 3:2)
Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. (Ezra 3:4)
Their return began by the people rededicating themselves to God. Most appropriately their first task as a unified returned people was to build the altar. The fact that they built the altar first symbolized that the returned people were putting God first.
It was not that there was not danger threatening them. It was not that they would not feel more secure if the walls were built first surrounding the altar. It was that in spite of the dangers and fears they were trusting God and building the altar first.
There were not going to trust in walls or military might. That was what failed them before. Their exile was a result of putting might and power before the Spirit of God. There were two contemporary prophets that encouraged and sometimes rebuked the returned people.
The two prophets that spoke as contemporaries were Haggai and Zachariah. What they were doing seems to be exactly what Zechariah would remind them of later in the building process when things were tough and the building came to a halt.
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)
They built the altar as it was written in the law of Moses. If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use. (Exodus 20:25 NLT)
After the altar was built sacrifices were offered the same day. The sacrifices were an important part of the peoples giving.
After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. (Ezra 3:5-6)
The altar was put first before building the wall. We can draw a New Testament application of the believer putting Christ first in all situations. What results in that is a giving that honors God. There was an abundance of giving at this stage of rebuilding the temple.
Not only did they begin right away with sacrifices and the giving associated with these sacrifices, but there were freewill offerings brought. Ultimately for the temple to be rebuild is going to require giving of time, talent and treasure.
There is opposition from those around them. They did all of this, building the altar and making sacrifices despite the fear of the people. The subsequent chapters bring out just how real the opposition was to their work.
The Samaritans first asked to join in the work. They were intermarried with surrounding people. This meant that they also worshipped other gods besides the one true creator God. The Samaritans controlled Jerusalem after the fall.
When the returned remnant refused their offer to join the Samaritans opposed the work. The Israelites were unprotected, physically speaking without a wall, but they depended on God.
The building of the altar and the reestablishment of the sacrificial system and offerings represented a major accomplishment. It was a testimony to what can happen when God’s people work together in unity and depend on their Lord.
It calls us to a unity as a people. It means our priority is to seek the Holy Spirit not on might earthly power. Our first priority is to put our Lord Jesus Christ first in everything we do. With unity and Jesus first commitment to God we will accomplish God’s purposes through us.
