“Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD.”
Our exiles finished out their holy month of Tishri, and now it is time to get to work. As in Solomon’s first Temple, our exiles utilized trading with surrounding cities and their goods to accomplish the task. Because you need things like stones and wood to build.
Then in the second month of the second year of their arrival (probably April/May – a year after they returned to Jerusalem) our leaders Zerubbabel and Jeshua started building, appointing supervisors to make sure the work of the Temple is accomplished.
Can we talk about Temple?
The LORD was very detailed in His description to Moses of the Tabernacle, the first Temple where His Presence would dwell. When talking about how to make the lampstands within, He says to Moses,
“See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40)
And the setup:
“Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 26:30)
And the altar:
“Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.” (Exodus 27:8)
Whoa. The pattern from the mountain seems to be very important.
Let’s talk about why.
Hebrews 8:5 “[Every high priest] serves at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”
So the earthly sanctuary is just a copy. A shadow of what is in heaven.
Revelation 11:19 “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.”
Revelation 15:5 “After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened…”
All this matters on earth because it represents God’s eternal dwelling place in heaven.
And all of it so beautifully prefigures the ministry Jesus – God Who dwelt with us.
“When Christ came as high priest…he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made…
…when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 9:11, 10:12-14)
What a Savior!
Not only that, but now His Spirit – God’s Very Presence, dwells within us when we accept that One Sacrifice.
“God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:17 b)
We are the Temple.
He lives in us, drawing a hurting world to Himself – the only One who heals.
There is no better news than that.