After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the first activity of the returnees to Jerusalem was to rebuild the altar of burnt offering: “And they set up the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings” (Ezra 3:3). This fact is remarkable in several respects.
Firstly, one might ask why they built the altar first of all. The city was in ruins, the wall was destroyed, the temple was in ruins, but they did not build the city, the temple, or their own houses first. They built the altar.
Surely they were among the people of Psalm 137 who had sat by the rivers of Babylon and wept at the memory of Jerusalem. They had been asked to sing a song of Zion, but they could not do so on foreign soil. They longed to return to Jerusalem. At the latest since God had “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 1:5), “they remembered the Lord from afar, and Jerusalem came into their mind” (Jer. 51:50). But what they had obviously missed most was worship. Were they not in harmony with the heart of God with this attitude? Hadn’t He not done without worship for 70 years?
Let us never forget that the worship of God is our highest and first duty. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:23). And even though Cyrus had commissioned them to build the house, the altar was their first thought. So we too are “being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). This is the highest purpose of why God has built us as His house.
The altar was erected in its place. What kind of place was this? It was on Mount Moriah, where Abraham once sacrificed his son Isaac. It was the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan), where a vicarious sacrifice appeased the righteous wrath of God (cf. Gen. 22:2; 2 Sam. 24:16, 25; 2 Chr. 3:1). It is the place near which the cross of Golgotha would one day stand, the place where the only sacrifice was made that was truly pleasing God. To bring this sacrifice in reverence before God – that is true worship.
But why was it so important to erect the altar exactly where it had once stood? Were there not other suitable places? No, because this place was not chosen by man, but it was the place “which the Lord your God chooses, and His name shall be there” (Deut. 12:11). God Himself chose the place, and no one has the right to move it, not even in days of ruin. And today? The altar is also called “the table of the Lord” (Mal. 1:7). And there is only one (spiritual) place where it can be found: where the name of the Lord dwells, where He is the center and has all rights and all authority (cf. Matt. 18:20). This has not changed even in our days of decline in Christianity.
As soon as the altar was erected, they began with the burnt offerings prescribed in the law. The continual burnt offering is mentioned in particular (Ezra 3:3). We find the instructions for this in Exodus 29:38-46. A year-old lamb was sacrificed every morning and every evening “for a sweet aroma to the Lord.” For them, it was a constant reminder of their salvation through the Passover, when the Lord “brought them out of the land of Egypt” – because the Passover lamb was also a year-old lamb. For God, however, it was a constant fragrance that enabled Him to “dwell among them” (Ex. 29:46). The fire of the altar was never allowed to go out (Lev. 6:5-6). We should never forget what happened for us on the cross. And the fragrance of Christ’s perfect sacrifice is before God daily and forever. He will never forget this sacrifice and can dwell with joy with those to whom He attributes the fragrance of His Son’s sacrifice.
However, not only the prescribed sacrifices were brought, but also “the burnt offerings of everyone who offered a freewill offering to the Lord” (Ezra 3:5). Dear friends, this is very precious. The Book of Leviticus is full of sacrifices that had to be brought, but it begins with the words, “If anyone of you brings an offering to the Lord” (Lev. 1:2). The Father does not command worship; He seeks it! Does He seek it from me in vain? He is waiting for those who are so moved by the beauty and perfection of the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice that praise flows out of their hearts “voluntarily,” without compulsion, to God. “If anyone of you” – does that speak to us?
One last point seems worth mentioning. They built the altar out of fear of the peoples of the lands. Wouldn’t the walls have been more urgent? No, they realized that they first had to restore their relationship with their God. The awareness of the Lord’s presence casts out fear (cf. Ps. 27:5-6). The protection of God’s people lies (even today) in the glory of God’s presence. Where this can manifest itself freely, “none of the rest dare join them” (Acts 5:13). The “unbeliever or uninformed person” who comes in must “fall down on his face, and worship God, reporting that God is truly among you” (1 Cor. 14:24-25).
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