Ezr 6:17 | KingComments | STEP | After there had been no more temple service for ninety years, the temple was again consecrated ( ). At this dedication there is no fire of heaven as in the days of Solomon ( ). Also the number of sacrifices contrasts sharply with the amount that Solomon brought ( ). The house does not have the first glory, the sacrifices are less and they themselves are a miserable remnant, under the dominion of the nations. But God is for them the Same, and He is for faith the source of joy. He desires His people to come to Him with the sacrifices they have. A “sin offering for all Israel” is brought. Not that all Israel is present, but in faith the whole is seen. So it is with making the church visible as the one body. If we don’t do it this way, then we are a sect. The sacrifice does not have the size of Solomon’s, but it does speak of the same Christ. In connection with the sacrifices the priests and Levites are given their place for the service of God in Jerusalem ( ). Today all believers are priests and Levites. Every believer has the privilege to sacrifice to God, that is, to worship God. This is what God longs for. Anything the remnant does, it does in obedience to “as it is written in the book of Moses”, that is, in obedience to the Scriptures. This is the only way of blessing. They act entirely in the spirit of Scripture. A prescription, for example, to bring twelve male goats as a sin offering for all Israel on this special occasion is nowhere in Scripture. Yet it is entirely in accordance with God’s thoughts. The Spirit brings the returned remnant to the realization that a sin offering is for the whole people and that the sin offering is the basis on which God can forgive the whole people. The sin offering speaks of Christ and His atoning work on the cross.

‏ Ezra 6:17

Dedication of the House of God

After there had been no more temple service for ninety years, the temple was again consecrated (Ezra 6:16). At this dedication there is no fire of heaven as in the days of Solomon (2Chr 7:1). Also the number of sacrifices contrasts sharply with the amount that Solomon brought (Ezra 6:17). The house does not have the first glory, the sacrifices are less and they themselves are a miserable remnant, under the dominion of the nations. But God is for them the Same, and He is for faith the source of joy. He desires His people to come to Him with the sacrifices they have.

A “sin offering for all Israel” is brought. Not that all Israel is present, but in faith the whole is seen. So it is with making the church visible as the one body. If we don’t do it this way, then we are a sect. The sacrifice does not have the size of Solomon’s, but it does speak of the same Christ.

In connection with the sacrifices the priests and Levites are given their place for the service of God in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:18). Today all believers are priests and Levites. Every believer has the privilege to sacrifice to God, that is, to worship God. This is what God longs for.

Anything the remnant does, it does in obedience to “as it is written in the book of Moses”, that is, in obedience to the Scriptures. This is the only way of blessing. They act entirely in the spirit of Scripture. A prescription, for example, to bring twelve male goats as a sin offering for all Israel on this special occasion is nowhere in Scripture. Yet it is entirely in accordance with God’s thoughts. The Spirit brings the returned remnant to the realization that a sin offering is for the whole people and that the sin offering is the basis on which God can forgive the whole people. The sin offering speaks of Christ and His atoning work on the cross.