Ezra 3:1-7King James Version (KJV)
3 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
7 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

Ezra 3:1-7Amplified Bible (AMP)

3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the instructions of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar [in its place] upon its base, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the countries; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord morning and evening.
4 They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinances, as each day’s duty required,
5 And after that, the continual burnt offering, the offering at the New Moon, and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
7 They gave money also to the masons and to the carpenters, and gave food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the seaport of Joppa, according to the grant they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation



These are my thoughts, please share yours.

1 They were one this is the way we the church are to be, they were one in their faith and mission because it was given to them by God they were there to serve and praise God. Jerusalem was the holy city the city that the temple belonged in.

2 The priests made an altar the temple was not quite done but they do not put the temple in front of the Lord the serve Him first, the idea of setting up worship and then making the place of worship. Altars earlier could have been built by anyone but since the time of Moses only the priests were allowed to build altars.

3 We need to overcome any fears of others when we serve God. We should put our fears behind us and worship Him. The world is going to be against us serving Him.

4 They left off where they started a revival in Israel. We sometimes need to get back where we were because things of this world often times lead us away.

5 They followed the laws to the letter. They even gave offerings because they wanted to, the freewill offerings, were done simply to praise and worship the Lord.

6 The building itself was not yet there but the heart of the building was worship, the heart of a church building is the peoples service and worship to God. We should a desire to serve and worship outside the buildings designed for it. Prior to this time they would not do right in the temple and do very sinful things outside and try to pretend it was alright.

7 This shows that they wanted the temple to be built, they know they can worship without it but also know God should once again have His house here on earth. We need to be willing to give for what God puts on our hearts.