Ezra 3
This was a short and sweet chapter, so I thought a short and sweet blog would be in order. Did you catch these verses? "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: 'He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.' And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid." (vs 10-11)
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I love it when something in a piece of literature carries a double meaning. I think there’s an example of this in verse 11. It says the people rejoiced because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. In one sense, of course, the author is talking about the physical foundation of the temple. It had been decades since there had been a temple of the Lord in Israel, and to see it rebuilt after all that time must have been an incredible experience.
However, I also think the verses revealed another type of foundation: He is good; his love endures forever. This is the ultimate foundation of everything God is and does. He is always good. His love endures for eternity. There is nothing we can do to make Him stop loving us. There is nothing we can do to make Him retaliate against us. His love and His goodness are the very foundations of who He is. And if anything, that should make us give a great shout of praise to the Lord!
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