“By Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God,…giving thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15).
“And when the seventh month had come,…the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem” (Ezra 3:1). For seventy long years the temple site had lain in ruins. The newly arrived inhabitants were using the revived Jewish calendar, with Abib (Mar-Apr) being the first month since the Lord changed it at the time of the Passover in Egypt. Now it was time to start again. United by a common objective, “the people gathered together as one man.” Jeshua and Zerubbabel, with the religious and civic leaders, “arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God” (v 2). Did they feel like Melchizedek, surrounded by idol worshippers, yet boldly serving as priest of the Most High God? Or like Abram building his first altar to Jehovah at Shechem, to his knowledge the only believer around, and “the Canaanites were then in the land” (Gen 12:6)? Here’s what we’re told: “Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings” (Ezra 3:3). There is a higher road of unswerving faith: “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid” (Ps 56:11). But the lower road, with its twists and turns, will get you to the goal, too: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (v 3). It may not be as smooth, but in the end it’s just as sure because God is altogether faithful. The morning offering began at sunrise and continued until sunset. The evening sacrifice burned through the night. Today, we have unlimited access to the Lord. Some of the sweetest times can be “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches” (Ps 63:6).