The Old Men Cried!

 

Ezra Chapter 3 tells one of the most fascinating stories in the Old Testament. Israel had returned from the Babylonian captivity after about 50 years, to restore the Temple and rebuild the city. They find it in ruin, inhabited by foxes. Quickly realizing they are lacking the resources and craftsmanship to restore it to its original magnificence, they decide to build a smaller and more modest structure.

 

They labored tirelessly for 2 years to clear the rubble and lay a foundation. When it is completed, the Priests gathered the people together to celebrate this glorious achievement.

 

Shouts of praise and rejoicing arose from the congregation, but verse 12 tells us: “…But many of the…old men that had seen the first house…wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 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 noise was heard afar off.”

 

Zechariah stepped forward and asked a thought-provoking question: “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zech. 4:10)

 

Because they couldn’t appreciate the process of starting over, they ended up hating the thing they once loved and cherished.

 

Soon the people became so discouraged they actually abandoned the rebuilding process completely. God had to raise up another Prophet named Haggai, who came on the scene asking another question and making a powerful promise.

 

“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing?” (Haggai 2:3)

 

In verse 9 he added, “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than the glory of the former…” His words inspired the people to rally around a vision and finish the task before them.

 

I see an amazing parallel to where we are as a nation. This pandemic will NOT last forever! We will come out of this. BUT…things will never go back to the way they were before. Time marches on and the world has changed! We are ALL starting over…small businesses, churches, charities, and every other profession will immediately see the harsh reality of life.

 

In a real sense, we’re going back to a Temple that is smaller and more modest. We can either be like the old men who wept and grieved over what was LOST, or we can be like the young men who shouted and rejoiced over that was LEFT. The old men cried because they were emotionally attached to the past but the young people rejoiced because they were excited about the prospects of a new beginning.

 

God had to remind them not to despise small beginnings, but to trust Him to supply what was needed to complete the task, and to focus on the glory rather than the structure!

 

I want to challenge every pastor, business owner, career person, students, and Americans, in general, to listen to the words of these ancient Prophets and let’s not make the mistakes of the old men who cried over what they had lost; let’s rather be like the young men who rejoiced over what is left.

 

Let’s be willing to accept the challenges of starting small, to gathering up what’s left and rebuilding.

 

Let’s remember why we did what we did…what our vision was, what product we were producing, what services we were providing, what our hopes, dreams, and aspirations were.

 

Let’s be willing to learn, adapt, adjust, and retool so that we don’t just do what we did; we do it better than ever before!

 

Let’s depend on God as our source of strength and supply, knowing it’s “not by might, or human power but by His Spirit” that our end will be greater than the beginning!