Session 14: Building the Altar and Keeping the Feast (part 1)

Download these notes here: https://humble-sidecar-837.notion.site//Handouts-283b35a87d638014848cde91895674b9?source=copy_link

Ezra 1:5–11; Ezra 3:1–6; Nehemiah 8:1–18

Refreshing Our Timeline

Ezra and Nehemiah do not present a single, uninterrupted narrative.
The text assumes familiarity with decrees, returns, and rebuilding phases.
Care is required to avoid collapsing distinct actions into one event.
Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem
- Issued by Astyages, identified as the husband of Esther (Dan. 9:26).
- Executed historically through Nehemiah.
- Recorded in Nehemiah 1:1–6:19.
- Focus:
  - Restoration of Jerusalem’s walls.
  - Stabilization of the city as a functioning population center.
Decree to Rebuild the Temple
- Issued by Cyrus, identified as the son of Esther.
- Recorded in Ezra 1:1–4.
- Concerned specifically with the house of the LORD, not the city walls.
- Ezra 6:1–7:
  - Functions as a later recollection and confirmation of the same decree.
  - Occurs in the context of opposition and royal verification.
Return Under Zerubbabel
- Described in Ezra 1:5–11.
- Begins with a stirring of leadership and people (Ezra 1:5).
  - Chiefs of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin rise.
  - Priests and Levites rise.
  - All whose spirit God had raised prepare to go up.
  - Purpose:
    - To build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.
- Support from surrounding population (Ezra 1:6).
  - Neighbors strengthen their hands.
  - Gifts include:
  - Freewill offerings for the house of God.
- Restoration of temple vessels (Ezra 1:7–8).
  - Cyrus brings forth vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar.
  - Vessels had been placed in the house of Babylonian gods.
  - Entrusted to Mithredath the treasurer.
  - Delivered to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
- Inventory of returned vessels (Ezra 1:9–10).
  - Gold chargers, silver chargers, knives, basons, and other vessels.
- Summary and destination (Ezra 1:11).
  - Total: 5,400 vessels of gold and silver.
  - Transported from Babylon to Jerusalem.
  - Accompanied by those returning from captivity.
- Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7:
  - Record who returned.
  - Parallel lists of families, leaders, priests, Levites, singers, and servants.
  - Addressed elsewhere (chapters 11–12 of this work).
Summary Observation
- Rebuilding Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple:
  - Proceed under different decrees.
  - Involve different leaders.
  - Serve different immediate purposes.
- Together they form a coherent, ordered historical framework.

Who Was Sheshbazzar?

Introduced briefly in Ezra 1:8.
- Identified as “the prince of Judah.”
- Entrusted with receiving and transporting the temple vessels.
The text provides:
- No genealogy.
- No backstory.
Prudence invites inquiry into his identity.
Unlikely Identification
- Sheshbazzar is likely not Zerubbabel.
  - Zerubbabel means “born in Babel.”
  - The name already reflects Babylonian context.
  - Sheshbazzar is a Chaldean court name.
  - Comparable to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
  - No textual necessity for Zerubbabel to have a second name.
Possible Identification
- Nehemiah presents a different profile.
  - Identified as the Tirshatha (governor) (Neh. 10:1).
  - Holds exceptional trust with the Persian king.
  - Exercises broad civil authority among the Jews.
- Proposed reconstruction (not provable):
  - Sheshbazzar = Babylonian court name.
  - Nehemiah = Hebrew name.
  - Both refer to the same “prince of Judah.”
- Rationale:
  - Explains the title “prince of Judah.”
  - Accounts for the extraordinary responsibility given.
- Nature of the argument:
  - Logical and probabilistic.
  - Not a grammatical or legal identification.
  - A plausible synthesis, not a textual certainty.

The Seventh Month Feast

Ezra 2:70 and Nehemiah 7:73:
- Record the resettlement of the people.
- The people dwell in their cities.
Timing:
- The seventh month (Ezra 3:1; Neh. 7:73).
Significance:
- Marks a decisive moment of national and religious renewal.
Two Perspectives on the Same Feast
- Ezra 3:1–6.
- Nehemiah 8:1–18.
Alternative view:
- Some argue these passages refer to different years.
- This depends on assuming Ezra’s events occurred decades earlier.
Adopted chronology:
- Rejects that assumption.
- Treats both accounts as describing the same seventh-month feast.

Ezra’s Point of View

Ezra 3:1–6 presents a priestly and liturgical perspective.
Emphasis:
- Restoration of worship.
- Obedience to the law.
- Absence of a completed temple does not prevent worship.
National Assembly (Ezra 3:1)
- Seventh month arrives.
- Israelites are settled in their cities.
- The people gather as one man to Jerusalem.
- Unity and intentional movement toward worship.
Leadership Identified (Ezra 3:2)
- Jeshua son of Jozadak rises.
- His brethren the priests rise.
- Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel rises.
- His brethren rise.
- Action taken:
  - Altar of the God of Israel is built.
- Purpose:
  - To offer burnt offerings.
- Authority:
  - As written in the law of Moses the man of God.
Priestly Lineage Note
- Jeshua is the son of Jozadak (Ezra 3:2).
- Jozadak is the son of Seraiah (1 Chron. 6:14–15).
- Ezra is also a son of Seraiah.
- Ezra is therefore:
  - Brother to Jozadak.
  - Uncle to Jeshua the high priest.
Altar Established Under Fear (Ezra 3:3)
- Altar set upon its bases.
- Fear present because of surrounding peoples.
- Burnt offerings offered:
  - Morning and evening.
- First functioning altar since the temple’s destruction.
Feast of Tabernacles Observed (Ezra 3:4)
- Feast kept according to Torah law.
- Burnt offerings offered by number.
- Observance follows prescribed custom and daily duty.
Regular Worship Restored (Ezra 3:5)
- Continual burnt offering resumes.
- Additional offerings include:
  - New moons.
  - Consecrated set feasts of the LORD.
  - Freewill offerings.
Chronological Clarification (Ezra 3:6)
- Burnt offerings begin on the first day of the seventh month.
- The foundation of the temple has not yet been laid.
- Theological emphasis:
  - Obedience precedes construction.
  - The altar, not the temple, is essential for worship.

About this episode