They arose and built, though fear came

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and 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 though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. . – Ezra 3v2,3

Mary and I went to Vianden Castle in nearby Luxembourg Saturday. It was fascinating to look at the images of the reconstruction of the castle. It had lain in ruins for hundreds of years, but now it is a beautiful and impressive structure.

I can’t imagine what it was like for the first workers to go in when they decided to rebuild the castle. Where do you start with this mess?

It was a similar situation when the book of Ezra opens. By chapter three the Jews returned to Jerusalem to find the city in ruins. The temple had been torn apart. Figuratively or literally not a stone remained in place. It was time to dig in and rebuild, but where do you start?

They had the right idea. The first thing to do was to rebuild the altar so that the sacrifices could resume.

But they were afraid of the people who lived there now. The nation had been gone for many years, and the new inhabitants were not going to go easily. It was a scary and daunting task.

But still, despite all that, they ‘arose and built.’

Building required courage and faith instead of cowardice and fear.

We are often faced with similar circumstances. We know that there is a work that needs to be done. But then fear paralyzes us and we don’t get started. And we all know that if we don’t get started we will never get it done.

God is not the author of fear. He is the author of faith.

Fear or faith. These folks chose rightly. Which will we choose?