Will We Cry Or Will We Praise

Because of Israel’s refusal to abandon their idols and worship the one true God, they were chastened by the Lord and were taken away into captivity by the Babylonians. This captivity was to last 70 years, Jer. 25:11-12. This 70 year period began in 605 B.C., when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar invaded and subjugated Israel. Later, in 586 B.C., after Israel rebelled against him, Nebuchadnezzar completely destroyed Jerusalem, the temple and all the temple furniture. He also carried off all the treasures of the temple at that time. For the next 70 years Israel lived in captivity without a temple and without the feasts, sacrifices and rituals prescribed by the Law. Cyrus the Persian overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C. and in 538 B.C gave permission for the Jews to return to their homeland. Almost 50,000 Jews left Babylon and returned to Palestine. Three years later, in 535 B.C, they laid the foundation for a new Temple, thus ending the 70 years of their captivity.

Our text records for us the laying of the foundation for this new temple. For many of the Jews present that day, it was a time of great joy. The Bible says they “shouted aloud for joy,” v. 12. But, others who were there that day could not shout about what they were seeing. Instead, the Bible says, they “wept with a loud voice,” v. 12.

The question is why is it that one group is so excited and is praising the Lord, while the other group is sad and weeping? I believe the Bible holds the answer to that question. I also believe that by answering that question, we can also uncover some very valuable truths for our church today. Today, as the Lord gives us liberty, I want to preach on this thought: are you going to cry, or are you going to praise. When we look at the story we see that the young men of that generation shouted, worship God and praised him while the old men cried, whimpered, and Wept. And New Galilean God has something here for us, in this passage, if we are willing to receive it today.

When we revisit the scripture we see that the old men remembered something, the older men remembered the first temple.

They remembered the magnificence, the grandeur, the splendor, the brilliance, the gold and the glory of the first temple. They remembered the old days when the temple of the Lord was one of the wonders of the ancient world.

They remembered a temple that, if built today, would cost multiple millions of dollars to build. They remembered a temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat.

They remembered that within that Ark were tablets containing the Law of God that was handed down to Moses.

They remembered the Shekinah glory cloud that filled the temple. They remembered a day when Solomon’s temple was literally the House of God.

They remembered how good it was to show up at church and have a good time by praising and worshiping God.

But what they realized and what they understood is that this new temple would never be the same, in Hag. 2:3 it says: Haggai 2:3 “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Do you not see it as it was? In other words they could see that it would be smaller. They knew that they did not have the resources to rebuild it like it had been all those years ago.

They realized that all the things that made the first temple precious, the Ark of the Covenant, and its contents, the mercy seat, and the Glory Cloud, was gone forever. Understanding the magnitude and the extent of the seriousness of these facts broke their hearts and the old men wept bitterly.

There are many with us today who remember the days of old, The Glory days of the church. We remember a time when the Word of God and the House of God were held in high regard by all. Some of us can remember a time when the fear of God was on the community; even those that were lost and unsaved respected the things of God. Some of us remember the day when pulpit and pew were both filled with the Spirit of God. We remember a time when God’s presence and His power were manifested in the Lord’s house, we remember how souls were saved, and the men and women of God shouted how we made it over, and how the storm clouds has passed over. We remembered how the church enjoyed the power of God.

The Saints who can recall those days look at the church world today with a shattered heart, as they long for the things that have passed. There are many who are haunted by the ghosts of the past. I can say that I am guilty of looking back to the days of people being healed in the church. I miss the days where the church was a place that I can take my burden to the Lord and leave them there. I remember the days when it was easy to praise the Lord from the time devotion started until the benediction was given. That’s what they remembered.