Ezra Lessons

So post your lessons from Ezra 3:10-13, here's mine:

When God works a miracle, it brings tears and it brings joy.

Comments

[Sara Skroh]

People who look to the future live a more joyful life than those who live in the past. God wants us to look to what is ahead of us not what is behind.

[Jim D.]

I see some parallels of this story to Ephesians chapter 2. Read Ephesians 2:19. Like the Israelites who came back to settle the land, because of Jesus Christ we are no longer strangers, but are now citizens of God's Kingdom. In this passage in Ezra they are celebrating the laying of the foundation. In Ephesians 2:20-22 Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation of our new life in Jesus Christ; rebuilding our life into a temple for the Holy Spirit to live. God gives us a purpose for living. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul says that we are God's workmanship, created in Jesus Christ for good works.
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What's the lesson? God is in the life construction business and he can build a new one for you. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation.

[Justin Z.]

I was suprised at how joyful everyone was over just the foundation being finished. The first thought that hit me was to really be joyful for life's small blessings.

The second thought I had was how small blessings from God might just be laying the foundation for something bigger in our lives. Don't get frustrated when you don't get exactly what you ask for. Give thanks for what you are given. God may not give us the whole temple all at once, he might just have to lay the foundation first.

[Becca W.]

As our small group discussed on Saturday night, I think it was Pastor Randy that pointed out the word "weeping" in this passage. It says that the ones who had seen the former glory of the temple "wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid." The word "wept" connotates sadness, as though the Israelites who had seen the former temple were saddened at the sight of the new one.

I think this is a reminder of the fact that YES, we can always restart and God is joyful when we do, but when we run from God, we DO lose something. The new temple was not as glorious as the first, and the Israelites who had seen the former one wept for it.

[Sara]

That's funny because that's exactly what I pulled out of it. I recently read Haggai and Haggai talks to the people about this very thing. He says that some of the prophets were saddened by the temple because they looked at it and knew it wasn't going to be as amazing as the first. So yeah, you do lose things. What was amazing though is that Haggai told them not to be sad, that even though it didn't look like much this temple would be far more glorious than the first. This would be the temple that Jesus would one day walk through. Which goes to show, even though we mess up, God can still have so much more and so much better planned for our lives.

[Jeff]

I didn't have a lot to say like everyone else, but I thought I'd share the lesson I got (it's similar to Jim's):

I need to aim for and celebrate small victories.

When I need God's help to accomplish something in my life, I naturally expect God to help me do it ALL AT ONCE. Yet I've realized that not every goal in my life is supposed to be met in a single moment, like David killing Goliath. Sometimes God just wants me to succeed in something small (like building the foundation for a temple), taking one step at a time to eventually take me to a whole new level. I'm excited about about where God is taking me and thehouse as a whole!

[Jeff]

I meant to say it's similar to Justin's. My bad.