God made a deal with ancient Israel: He’d bless them if they’d worship Him and follow His Law. If they chose to ignore God and His Law, they could expect hard times, or even the loss of their country (Lev. 26). In the Old Testament, we read again and again that God sent prophets to warn Israel that they were not obeying God. Consequences were coming. Because they ignored God and attacked the prophets, Israel was conquered and scattered. Even their temple was destroyed.
Decades later, God inspired the king of the invading nation to allow Israel to return home and rebuild their place of worship. “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing, “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah’” (Ezra 1:1-2).
People who had been scattered throughout Persia returned home to rebuild the temple. The day the foundation was laid, a great noise sounded throughout Israel. Some of it was cheering. Some of it was weeping. Ezra 3:12-13 says, “But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.”
Shouts of joy mixed with weeping. Were they tears of joy? Maybe some of them were. Others were tears of disappointment. Solomon built the first temple. It was a marvel. It was stone, overlaid with cedar and olive wood, overlaid with gold. It was a seven year project. It was beautiful.
This new temple? It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t built by a king at the height of his splendour. It was built by refugees returning with what they could carry. The young had grown up with stories: “A long, long time ago, when I was a little girl, we lived in our own nation, with our God, with His Law, and we worshipped at the temple.” The young had never seen Solomon’s temple. They rejoiced to be in the land of their grandparents, with a temple for their God being built.
The oldest among them remembered. I’m sure they were grateful to be home. I’m sure they were grateful to have a temple again. But it wasn’t the same.
God had a prophetic Word for those who mourned the loss of the old temple, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the LORD that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (Zechariah 4:8-10)
God rejoiced at the rebuilding of the temple. God had moved on. It was terribly sad that the old temple was destroyed. It was a place of worship and a work of art. This new temple, while not the same wonder of the ancient world, was still a place of worship. It was where God met His people. It was a symbol that though Israel had abandoned God repeatedly, He had not abandoned them. It didn’t need to be covered in gold. It was covered in God’s glory.
Haggai 2:7b-9 “I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
This new house had a little silver, a little gold. That wasn’t the important part. The important part was that God would settle His glory and His peace among His people.
We all suffer losses in life. Sometimes it’s because we haven’t been listening to God. Sometimes we might not be able to pinpoint the reason. Jobs come and go. Houses are lost to downsizing. Friendships fade over the years. Church programs are cancelled as membership dwindles. We remember what things used to look like. We remember the best we had, before sin or circumstance took away our treasures. We mourn.
Then we need to move on. We can’t hold up God’s current blessings to the blessings of the past and find God’s work wanting. His work isn’t finished yet. God doesn’t give up on our future because of the mistakes and misfortunes of our past.
God brought Israel home. God allowed them a temple again. He promised them a bright future. The new temple wasn’t as gilded as the old temple, but it would have spiritual substance that had been lacking in the past.
Whatever we look back on and long for, we need to let go. If we keep our eyes on what’s behind us, we’ll miss what God is doing right in front of us. When He brings us to a good place where we can worship, we need to rejoice. When He promises us His presence and peace in our lives, we need to look forward with anticipation. What lies ahead might be a promise even brighter than the one we left behind.
Because of a Sticker 