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When did the released Jewish slaves rebuild Jerusalem and the temple?
Ezra 6:14-15 – Nehemiah 1:1-3
The temple rebuilding was completed in 514 BC. Jerusalem itself with protective walls was not rebuilt until 445 BC, 69 years (2 more generations) later.
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The scripture for today, May 31 (5/31), is Deuteronomy 5:31 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“But you [Moses] may stay here [on the mountain] with me [God] so that I may give you all the commands, decrees, and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”
Many people believe that the “Law of Moses” consisted only of the Ten Commandments. But there was much more. It took Moses 40 days to write them all down. How many? Over 600 “commands, decrees and laws.”
Some people today want to dip back into the Law of Moses to get showy types of worship ~ candles, incense, stoning for adultery, instruments of music, choirs, animal sacrifices, separate priesthood, special clothing for priests, and tithing to pay for it all. Jesus nailed the old law to the cross (Colossians 2:14) and created a much simpler New Testament/Covenant!
Other people want to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Why? So they can revert to animal sacrifices and thus nullify the sacrifice Jesus made of himself? James said that, if we keep part of the Law, we are obligated to keep it all (James 2:10).
By calling this covenant [testament] ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear’ “ (Hebrews 8:13). Not part of it. All of it. Hebrews goes on to say that the Holy of Holies is now in heaven, the curtain in the temple is now Jesus, etc. Rebuilding the temple would mean going backward from grace to legalism.
Thank God we do not have to keep all those 600+ commandments in the Law of Moses. They were controlling and tedious, and some were impossible to keep. Why would God give a law impossible to keep? To help us understand that it is impossible for us to be perfect. Finally, understanding that, he was ready to send his Son to earth to be perfect for us.
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The scripture for today, June 30 (6/30), is 1st Kings 6:30 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.”
About 40 years ago it was figured that Solomon put $3 trillion worth of gold in the temple to line the ceiling, walls, and floor. And that figure would probably be around $12 trillion today. Talk about streets of gold in heaven!
There are some people today asking for money to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Even if they accomplished it, what would it do for Christians? The book of Hebrews in the New Testament explains to the Hebrew (Jewish) Christians that they no longer need or want the temple. Why? Hebrews 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant (Testament) ‘new’ he has made the first one [Old Testament] obsolete.”
Let’s look at the temple in a spiritual sense through the eyes of a Christian ~ and of Jesus himself in Hebrews 9:1, Now the FIRST COVENANT [TESTAMENT] had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 7 Only the High Priest entered the inner room [Most Holy Place]…and never without blood.…. 11When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle [temple] that is not man-made. 12. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood [He being the Lamb of God ~ John 1], having obtained eternal redemption. 24. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered HEAVEN ITSELF. For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a NEW COVENANT [TESTAMENT].
So, who of us would want an imitation temple and holy of holies made with hands back in Jerusalem again, along with all the animal sacrifices on the altar, and priests who would have to be of the Tribe of Levi, and tithing and all the other over 600 laws of Moses? It makes no sense.
Thank God, we live in a more spiritual age ~ the age of Christ and the temple of heaven itself.
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“You have not come to a mountain [Sinai] that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storms; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’ “The scripture for today, September 9, is Zechariah 9:9 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Most people think Jesus riding on a donkey made him humble. Not at all. Donkeys and Mules were rides of kings.
Judges 5:9-10 says, “My heart is with Israel’s princes….you who ride on white donkeys.” Supreme Judge Jair led Israel 22 years and had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys (Judges 10:3-4). Supreme Judge Abdon, who ruled Israel 8 years, had 70 sons and grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys (Judges 12:14).
II Samuel 18:9 says Absalom, King David’s son, rode on a mule. In I Kings 1:33,38,44, David ordained that his son, Solomon, ride on his own mule through the street as one proof that he chose Solomon to be the next king.
The people of Jerusalem knew Jesus was not only riding the ride of kings when he entered their capital city, but he was also, at last, fulfilling the centuries-old prophecy they all knew so well (today’s scripture).
This is the humility that Jesus did exhibit: He rode on the colt of a donkey.
Do we blindly follow whatever our religious leaders tell us? Do we know the scriptures as well as we think we do?
#TriumphalEntry, #Ride of Kings, #Donkeys, #Jesus, #Jerusalem
The scripture for today, April 26, is Galatians 4:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.”
What is “the Jerusalem that is above”? Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”
Aha! The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ! So, what is the Bride of Christ? Ephesians 5:25,27 says, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy…and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
The Bible always interprets itself. Search through it, and you will find the answer to all your questions.
The scripture for today, February 22, is Ephesians 2:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Another place in the New Testament, 2nd Corinthians 6:16, says we are the temple of God. A lot of things in worship under the Law of Moses were a literal version of what Christians some day would enjoy in a spiritual and deeper sense.
We have no need for the temple in Jerusalem, for now God dwells in Christians. We have no need for the altar of sacrifice at that temple because Jesus was our final sacrifice (Hebrews 10:4-12). We have no need for the cymbals, harps and lyres played in worship, because Christians play on the strings of their hearts (Ephesians 5:19). We have no need for the priestly system in the Law of Moses because all Christians are priests (1st Peter 2:5). And how do we serve as priests? Romans 12:1 explains it: “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”
What a concept! God does not dwell in temples or church buildings!
He dwells in Christians.
He lives and moves through Christians.
What a privilege.
What a responsibility.
The scripture for today, December 18 (12/18), is Hebrews 12:18ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“You have not come to a mountain [Sinai] that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storms; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’ “
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a NEW COVENANT….”
The first paragraph refers to the mountain on which Moses received what was called the Law of Moses ~ not just 10 commandments, but over 600 ~ over a 40-day period. The second paragraph refers to a different mountain where the Temple was later built in Jerusalem.
Then it shows that Jesus took it beyond the physical so that the Christian Jerusalem is in heaven where angels and the living God dwell.
Why would anyone want to dip into the old Law of Moses to get justification to do showy things in worship? And why would anyone want to rebuild the old Temple in Jerusalem when the new Jerusalem is in heaven? Let us not think of what pleases us, but what pleases God.
