1. Ezra 3:2 (ESV)
  2. Application

Worship according to the Word

Ezra 3:2 (ESV)

2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

They are not settling back down in Palestine and looking around saying, well, what shall we do next? How do you think we ought to proceed? They are not taking up bids on altar designs, going to various contractors and seeing what kind of a price they can get and looking at the aesthetic qualities of various designs saying, which one do you think would be better? Which one do you think is the more attractive? We have got to think of the Canaanites after all. We have got to attract the Canaanites into our form of religion. We need to have a beautiful altar; one that appeals to them and that is culturally relevant. No, that is not what they are doing at all. They are proceeding according to Scripture.1

Terry L. Johnson