NO. 62 THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM

TEXT: EZRA 1: 1- 3 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. (KJV)

Today I am going to give a message entitled “THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM.” We will see what these mean.

Both in Ezra and Nehemiah are written the stories of the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem that are destroyed as the result of the deportation to Babylon. And they are the historical events in the nation of Israel of the Old Testament.

But these are the signs for the future. For in the end time, too, the God’s people will be deported to Babylon, and most of the Church will be like Babylon. They mean the harlot of Babylon mentioned in the book of Revelation. But not all the people will become like the harlot of Babylon, because some true God’s people come out of Babylon as written, “Come out of her, my people.” And the book of Revelation also mentions of New Jerusalem.

So the story of the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem is not only written simply as historical event but also the prophecy and sign for rebuilding of the Temple and the City of true God by God’s people who come out of the Church like Babylon.

Two prophecies are given in the Bible, for the destructed Church, and the rebuilt Church that comes out of the destructed one. For example the prophecies for the seven churches are written in Revelation. We notice the progress of the churches gradually going astray off the right way as we see the churches in Thyatira, Sardis, Laodiceans and so on. But among them there is one that suddenly returns to the right way, which is the church in Philadelphia. I think there is something common between the rebuilding of the church in Philadelphia and that of Ezra and Nehemiah.

We are now going to see the text.

“And he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

There is the king who is charged to build the house at Jerusalem in Judah. That is, the king Cyrus who is the type of the victor in the end time. As we are “a royal priesthood,” the king is the type of the Christians as the victors. The king Cyrus is in other passages expressed as “his anointed” and “my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure.” We understand that the king Cyrus is the sign for the victors who will stand to do His will in the end time.

ISAIAH 45: 1- 3 1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall no be shut;

2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. (KJV)

ISAIAH 44: 28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. (KJV)

As it is written, “and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem,” the Church that once becomes like Babylon and is destroyed will be rebuilt by the victors like him.

His promise in the verse “to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut” remind us of the promise of Christ to Peter, His disciples.

EZRA 1: 7 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods.”(KJV)

That the king Cyrus, the Victor, has brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord which are put in their gods” is mentioned.

After this description, the kinds and the numbers of the vessels are written like how many of the chargers of gold and silver, which is also the sign. That mentions the works of the shepherds who bring the true vessels of God out of the Church like Babylon and lead them into the right worship and service.

EZRA 2: 1, 2 1 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;

2 Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah, The number of the men of the people of Israel: (KJV)

It is written here of the people who come back to Jerusalem out of the captivity in Babylon, which is also the sign of the God’s servants who come back to the true Church and its service out of the Church like Babylon. The names of them are mentioned here and the numbers of them are also written in the latter verses. On the contrary the names and numbers of the people who are carried away to Babylon are not written as a rule in the Bible. Theses are the signs to show the difference between the listed and unlisted in the Book of Life.

EZRA 4: 1- 3 1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel;

2 Then they came to Zerubabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

3 But Zerubabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. (KJV)

EZRA 4: 16 We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river. (KJV)

The people of the other side of the river come up here to help the rebuilding. But Ezra and his people reject them. Why do Ezra and his people reject them who say “Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do.” The river mentioned here symbolizes, I think, the baptism of the water and the Holy Spirit. But the people of the other side of the river mean the ones who have not experienced the baptism or the death of the flesh. So they have nothing to do with the rebuilding.

EZRA 4: 4, 5 4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. (KJV)

We see some points common to the people who object to the rebuilding of the Temple and the City. They are the people who are the other side of the river. If we read the Bible well, we find the expression of the other side of the river many times. They object to the works and the rebuilding of the Temple. The works of flesh restrict those of God.

EZRA 5: 11, 12 11 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up.

12 But after that our fathers provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. (KJV)

The essential works of the victors of God in the end time is the rebuilding. That does not mean to build the completely new other building.

For example the gifts of divers kinds of tongues, prophecy, healing and so on are happening now. Just one or two hundred years ago they were not so remarkable. The wonderful things are happening. Yet these are already written in the Bible, and so it is right if we say that they are reopened. And they are the works of the rebuilding.

“Which a great king of Israel builded and set up.”

The great King of Israel, Christ, has built the Church. But the Lord says that he Church is been destroyed now.

EZRA 9: 1- 3 1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonits, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied. (KJV)

The grief of Ezra is also plainly the picture of that of God over the wrong relationship between the God’s people and the world. We should know it is the very grave problem before God, “the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands.

NEHEMIAH 8: 1- 3, 8, 9, 12- 14 1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.

2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the eras of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.

14 And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: (KJV)

The words of the Lord are read and the people understand them. It is no wonder that the words of God, the law, are read to the people of God, but there is one thing noteworthy in these descriptions. That is, they say many times that the people “understand” the words of God.

What do this mean for the end time? It says that the words of God are not only read but also understood in the end time.

The Lord says of the understanding as below.

MARK 4: 12, 13 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? (KJV)

Jesus says about the understanding of the parables, mysteries and the hidden things in the Bible. So the word of the people’s understanding is the sign and the prophecy for the coming day when the parables and teaching of God are understood.

“For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.”

This is also prophetic. For the prophecy of the end time hidden in the parables of the Bible clearly declares the judgment on the God’s people. When we really understand that, we cannot make ourselves merry.

“And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month.”

“And they found written in the law” is the symbolic writing. The law has been more than hundreds years since Moses day. It is not the first time for them to read of the description of the booths. But they find, understand and carry out the meaning of the booths in the feast in their time. I believe that the booths mean the underground churches.

EZRA 10: 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. (KJV)

The former and the latter rain are related to the harvest. That is, they influence the Pentecost and the great harvest in the end time. So this much rain may point the time of revival.

NEHEMIAH 3: 1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel. (KJV)

Nehemiah has rebuilt Jerusalem. It is written in the descriptions that each has his own responsible part to repair and rebuild the Temple. They are the type of the Christians who will work according to the Word in the City of God, the Church.

Some will build the Church by the prophecies, or by healings, and others by the works of the apostles. But I firmly believe among them that the interpretation of the truth of the Bible will be also rebuilt though once erred.

Let’s do the will of the Lord in the end time.

End.