Today Our Daily Bread Ezra 3 & 2 Cor 2:14

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

Ezra 3
Worship Restored at Jerusalem
1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak[a] and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, 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. 3 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. 4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. 7 They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
Restoration of the Temple Begins
8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak,[b] and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. 9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah,[c] arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood[d] in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”[e]
Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.
Footnotes:
Ezra 3:2 Spelled Jehozadak in 1 Chronicles 6:14
Ezra 3:8 Spelled Jehozadak in 1 Chronicles 6:14
Ezra 3:9 Or Hodaviah (compare 2:40)
Ezra 3:10 Following Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads they stationed the priests.
Ezra 3:11 Compare Psalm 136:1
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
The first sentence is loaded with revelation- And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
Let’s read its meaning this way-
When the time had come, and all minds were readied by the Divine and complete understanding of unity, and the people of God, those who “go to church”, had all been going outside of the churches and living Christ in their homes, jobs, marketplaces and localities; At that specific time, they were then able to gather together with one purpose, the purpose of God, to win over dissention, arguments, and strongholds of mind that keep the kingdom of God from staying alive in people. They rather gathered on the premise of purposely pursuing peace, making sure anything not resembling its make up would not be able to have its way with them!
In past studies, I’ve seen the word ”Jerusalem” to mean “City of peace” and that it is, today when I looked up it’s meaning again, it also said, ”teaching of peace”. And so, they gathered themselves together as one man (with one purpose) to be taught peace, to teach peace, to live peace!
Those who are saved (Jeshua), made righteous (Jozadak), have asked of God (Zerubbabel) and who have sown in Babylon (Shealtiel), came to the place of peace, both individually and corporately, choosing to lay their differences, the things that separate them from God and one another, down. They choose to say these things are not of as much importance as unity and they sacrificed anything that took away from unity on altars, burning them up completely so that they could not again be recognized or picked up and carried off again!
They also kept the feast of tabernacles (tabernacles are tents, booths, dwelling places……where are we headed here? 1 Cor 6:19 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?...We are the temple and dwelling places of God!) The word “feast” means a gathering, a sacrificial gathering.
Feast of Tabernacles = The Sacrificial Gathering of the people who are calling themselves God’s! (not “god’s” plural, “God’s” possessive- they say they belong to God and what He represents.)
They had to keep this, guard this, see to it that that was not taken from them or mis-prioritized in their lives. They kept the gathering of the body of Christ as a holy God ordained and appointed action. They realized the power in “me’s” and “mine’s” becoming continual “we’s” as a family of unified believers in God the Father and the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

No matter the threats or other offers offered them by the world or other voices, they celebrated God with sacrifices and offerings and gatherings as often as the opportunity presented itself. There was a certain fear and dread offered them from other sources, but their love of God and His people and the lost world who needed them, far outweighed any other offer or fear.

Again, those who were already saved, those who had returned to the Lord, those who knew of Him long ago, those who brought their families with them, those who had received favor, and all who were joined together for praise (all of the meanings of the names in vs’ 8-9) decided to do the work of God together. They decided not only to come and be God’s house and join with His house and those of His house, but they became workers of His house together, seeing a great purpose in bringing this peace they knew to others who needed it so. To fight the enemies of God that plot themselves against people, combating their plots, with the weapon of the increase of the power of unity. They also brought their family members to this place, young and old alike to be a demonstration of God’s temple, each part together making ONE.
They gathered for Praise, knowing praise thwart’s enemy maneuvers, attacks and plans. Whoever they are, wherever they were in growth and maturity, wherever they’d come from and in whatever circumstance they’d been in before coming to this place- they decided to come and to praise. They praised towards one another, instead of fighting an enemy in a one on one or company towards company battle, they faced one another with praise, echoing praise back and forth. It was a prophetic sign to them. Think about it, usually, we are continually fighting battles, from battle to battle, even when we join together we fight corporate battles, we call ourselves an army. This day there was a different demonstration, a demonstration of echoed praise. Not of combat reflection and reactive response. Not praise for attack, not attack counteracting attack, but praise reflecting praise. No battle, just a reflection, just a responsive action, a pure picture of what God so desires from all the earth, from us! What a sign, what a wonder! What a Body! What a bride!

(daily repetitive verse)
2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.