In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endures for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid”, and in chapter three and verse twelve of Ezra, Ezra shared how, “many of the priests, Levites and chief of the fathers … wept with a loud voice” where we read,
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
The verse reads, “But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, ...” Ezra began with the words, “but many of the priests” which means “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover a great, numerous and abundant amount of the spiritual officers and chief rulers” “and Levites” which means “and the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and was the third son of Jacob by Leah who were specially set aside by God for His service” “and chief of the fathers” or “and the head, top, upper and principal of the founders and the heads of households, families and clans ”, “who were ancient men” which means “that existed as elderly and older male human beings” did the following. Ezra said the elderly “priests, Levites and principal heads of the households” did the following.
The verse goes on to say, “that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;” Ezra continued with the words, “that had seen the first house” or “who looked at, inspected, perceived and observed the initial, primary and former dwelling place, habitation, abode and temple of Jehovah God”, “when the foundation of this house” which means “at the time and moment the base belonging to the current dwelling place, habitation, abode and temple of Jehovah God” “was laid before their eyes” or “in front and in the presence of their, “the priests, Levites and principal heads of the households” physical eyes, vision and sight, “wept with a loud voice”which means “bewailed, cried aloud and shed tears accompanied by exceedingly great and intense sounds of uttered words”. Ezra shared how the older “priests, Levites and heads of households” observed the foundation of the new temple and burst out in tears accompanied by exceedingly intense uttered words.
Finally the verse says, “and many shouted aloud for joy.” Ezra concluded this verse with the words, “and many shouted aloud” or “and a great and abundant number of priests, Levites and heads of households, blasted a signal and sound” “for joy” which means “in mirth, gladness, gaiety and pleasure”. Ezra ended this verse by sharing how other “priests, Levites and heads of households” cried with loud voices because they were pleased and happy with the new foundation.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra about two reactions to the “foundation” of the rebuilt temple being established. The older “ priests, Levites and heads of households” were sorrowful over the newly established base, however, the younger “priests, Levites and heads of households” were joyful over what they observed. We shall see why there was a difference in their response in our next verse, but let us consider how people can view the same feature and have different reactions to them. God desires a personal relationship with all of us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when we yield our lives to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins grant us everlasting life and give us the opportunity to view things in His Kingdom from His perspective which will cause us to have joy and gladness within our souls regardless of our age.
Next time Ezra shared how, “the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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