FEATURED STUDY | June 17, 2026 | A Study on Chapter 2 of the Book of Ezra
Rebuilding the Altar and the Temple
Several years ago, my brother and I revisited the town where my aunt and uncle lived and drove by their home. It occurred to both of us that the house was much smaller than we remembered. The same is true for many of my childhood memories. Returning to the neighborhood I grew up in, I was appalled to see that the “creek” I used to swim in is just a drainage ditch. In our study of Ezra chapter 3, as the foundation was laid for the second temple, some of the older people compared it to the first temple and were disappointed.
Cyrus issued his decree in 538 and the Israelites started returning to Jerusalem. At the beginning of chapter 3 we learn that they had settled in their towns by the 7th month (Tishri on the Jewish calendar). It is not clear what year it was in since it could have taken some time for a significant number of people to return. Most scholars believe it occurred between 536-538. During the 7th month, 3 feasts are observed; the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles (see Lev. Chapter 23).
The leaders realized that their first priority was to rebuild the altar of burnt offerings. There were daily offerings and offerings associated with the various feasts required under Mosaic law. The rebuilding of the altar was supervised by Zerubbabel who was governor and Jeshua (also called Joshua). Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin and is listed in Matthew and Luke in the lineage of Jesus. Jeshua was the son of Jehozadak, a descendent of Aaron who was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar so Jeshua would have been born in Babylon. These 2 men represented the reestablishment the royal and priestly heads of Israel. The prophet Zecheriah wrote extensively about Zerubbabel and Jeshua. While he wrote of the rebuilding of the temple under those 2 men, it was also prophecy of the New Jerusalem after the second coming of Jesus. The 2 olive trees described in chapter 4 may have referred to Zerubbabel and Jeshua and may also have referred to God’s 2 witnesses in Revelation chapter 11. After the altar was complete, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles which required sacrifices for 7 days after which they presented the regular daily offerings.
Next the Israelites began to rebuild the temple. Cyrus had authorized money to be advanced from his royal treasury for the temple (see 6:3-4). Those funds along with freewill offerings of grain, wine and oil were used to pay for materials. Just as Solomon had done, cedar logs were imported from Lebanon for the temple. In the second year after their arrival in Jerusalem, the Israelites began to rebuild the temple under the supervision of Zerubbabel and the priests.
The laying of the foundation was a significant event, and a dedication ceremony was held. The priests were dressed in their raiments and musicians played their instruments. There were mixed reactions from the people in attendance. Some of the people shouted for joy at the sight of the foundation. Some of the older people who had actually seen the temple before it was destroyed wept. They probably remembered the grandeur of the first temple and the sight of just the foundation was not impressive to them.
The older peoples’ memories of the first temple may not have been accurate. They may have remembered the temple as much larger than it actually was. The exact dimensions of the second temple are not recorded, however Cyrus authorized it to be 90 feet high and 90 feet high (see 6:3). The dimensions of the original are described in 1st Kings 6:2, 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.
The older people may have had attitudes similar to some today who place great emphasis on the grandeur of a building rather than the simple cross. Matthew Henry wrote: “These lamented the disproportion between this temple and the former. And, (1.) There was some reason for it; and if they turned their tears into the right channel, and bewailed the sin that was the cause of this melancholy change, they did well. Sin sullies the glory of any church or people, and, when they find themselves diminished and brought low, that must bear the blame. (2.) Yet it was their infirmity to mingle those tears with the common joys and so to cast a damp upon them. They despised the day of small things, and were unthankful for the good they enjoyed, because it was not so much as their ancestors had, though it was much more than they deserved.”
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