SERIES O --- RETURN TO THE LAND --- LESSON 03

THE TEMPLE FINISHED

THE TEMPLE REBUILT

From Ezra 5-6

Construction on the temple had been stopped for some time when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied in the name of Adonai to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They encouraged them to begin construction again, so Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Yeshua the son of Yozadak began the work, and the prophets of YHVH joined in to support them. But Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai went with their companions to Jerusalem to talk with the Jewish leaders. [Who gave you authority to rebuild the temple and walls?] they asked. They demanded also a list of the leaders in charge of the construction. But since YHVH was watching over the work, the governor and his companions did not force them to stop building until a letter was sent to Darius the king and he replied to it. This is the letter which Tattenai, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions sent to King Darius: [Peace to King Darius. We want you to know that we have visited the site of the temple of the YHVH of Judah. Workmen are rebuilding it rapidly with large stones and timbers joined into the city walls. [We asked the Jewish elders who had given them authority to rebuild the temple and the wall. We also asked for the names of the leaders so that we could pass this information on to you. [Here is the answer the Jewish leaders gave us: ‘We are servants of the YHVH of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple which was first constructed many years ago by a great king of Israel. However, because our ancestors provoked YHVH to anger, He let Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon capture them, take them to Babylon, and destroy this temple. [‘But then, in the first year of the reign of King Cyrus over Babylon, he issued a decree to rebuild this house of YHVH. He also removed the gold and silver vessels of the house of YHVH from the temple in Babylon, the ones Nebuchadnezzar had carried there, and issued them to Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed as our governor. He ordered Sheshbazzar to take these vessels to the house of YHVH in Jerusalem and rebuild the house of YHVH as it had been before. [‘Sheshbazzar came to Jerusalem and laid the foundation of the house of YHVH. We have been building it since then, but it is not yet completed.’ [We now ask you to search the records in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did issue a decree that the house of YHVH should be rebuilt and tell us what you wish us to do about this matter.] Accordingly, King Darius ordered a search of the Babylonian records, and a book was found in the palace at Ecbatana in the province of Media. Here is the record written in that book: [During the first year of the reign of King Cyrus over Babylon, a decree was issued concerning the house of YHVH in Jerusalem. The decree read, ‘Let the house of YHVH be reconstructed, with strong foundations, as a place where sacrifices are offered. It shall be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide with three layers of great stones in the foundation, and another layer of new timber. All expenses will be paid from the royal treasury. The gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar seized must be returned to Jerusalem and put again in their place in the house of YHVH.’] After King Darius found this record, he sent a message to the governor. [Keep away from this work, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your companions. You must not hinder the construction of the house of YHVH, but let the governor of Judah and other Jewish leaders continue their work. Pay all their expenses from the taxes you collect in your province. Provide daily for the priests in Jerusalem whatever they need for the burnt offerings to the YHVH of heaven -- bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil. The priests will offer sacrifices pleasing to YHVH and will pray for the king and his sons. [I decree also that anyone who violates this order will be impaled on a timber taken from his own house and that his house will be reduced to rubble. May the YHVH who has caused His Name to dwell there overthrow any king or nation which attempts to change this decree to rebuild the house of YHVH in Jerusalem. I, King Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be followed completely.] When they had received it, Governor Tattenai, Shetharbozenai, and their companions hurried to carry out the decree of King Darius. Thus, with the encouragement of Haggai and Zechariah, the Jewish leaders successfully completed building the temple as commanded by YHVH and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar [February 18] in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. With great joy the priests, Levites, and all other Israelites dedicated it. During the dedication ceremony, they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Then the priests were arranged in their divisions and the Levites in their courses to serve YHVH in Jerusalem according to the way it was written in the Law of Moses. Those who returned from the captivity observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at which time the priests and Levites purified themselves together so that all were clean. They killed the Passover lamb for themselves and their fellow priests, the returned exiles, and for those who separated themselves from their heathen customs to worship Adonai with the Israelites. With great joy they and the entire nation ate the Passover feast and for seven days celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The land was filled with joy, for Adonai had caused the king of Assyria to favour them and help them build the house of YHVH.

COMMENTARY

STONEMASONS IN BIBLE TIMES

Temples, houses, palaces, walls, wells, wine vats, tombs and monuments dot the landscape of Egypt and Palestine. These structures have one thing in common: they were all built of stone. Timber was scarce in Palestine. Egypt had almost none. But the hills of Palestine were full of limestone deposits, and there as in Egypt, stone became the indispensable building material. Limestone made an ideal stone, because it is soft and easy to cut; it dries hard in the air, and turns from white to a mellow, creamy ivory colour as it ages over the years. Stones with natural flaws and grooves were the first marked for quarrying. A narrow pick was inserted in the groove and holes drilled along the pick’s length. Pegs inserted in the holes were then soaked with water. As they swelled with moisture, the rock cracked apart along the line of the groove. Sometimes pegs were inserted along the groove without the pick, and hammering them split open the rock. Setting fire to the pegs accomplished the same thing. The roughly shaped stone was then lifted out with bars, hooks and pulleys and moved on sledges and rollers. This was extremely dangerous work: the stones of the Great Pyramid in Egypt weighed from two and a half to fifteen tons each, and if one stone fell it meant the death or maiming of several men. The rough boulders were dressed into even-edged blocks with hammers and chisels. They were then put in place to form the foundation of the structure to be built. The next step required great skill. The cornerstones were laid carefully on top of the foundation tier of oblong stones. Since this marked the start of the actual building, objects thought to bring good luck were often placed in them. The cornerstones in which the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes made deposits contained gold and silver. The remaining stone blocks of the structure were set in place with the help of a plumb line. The Egyptians’ stone blocks were so precisely squared that mortar was very rarely needed; the great weight and exact fit of the stones held the structure together. By Solomon’s day, stonemasonry had become a highly skilled craft. In part, this was due to the influence of the expert Phoenician stonemasons brought in to work on Solomon’s temple. The Jews returning from exile followed Solomon’s example. With the funds they had received from Cyrus, they too hired Phoenician masons and carpenters, and tried to reproduce the glory of a time past.