Ezra 5:1–6:22 (ESV)

1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

For us the work of temple building in this present era is the work of building the church and extending Christ's saving rule to preaching the gospel. That is our great work today and our corporate work of advancing God's truth. It is not separated from our individual walks. Notice the way that this passage sets forth the big mission of rebuilding the temple, that then ties in to the fact that the priests, the Levites, the Israelites, and the Gentile converts, all made sure that they were purified in order that they could participate in God's worship. And so for us, our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, has been sacrificed. We, too, worship and celebrate the finished work of redemption in Jesus Christ. That is what we do every Lord's Day. That is what we do, we celebrate the finished work of redemption in Jesus Christ. And as a result of what he has done for us, what do we do? We offer ourselves up as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1–2) and our personal holiness is vital to the health of the body and the health of our mission.1

Brian Borgman