“Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.” (Ezra 3:2 NIV)
Judah had fallen. King Nebuchadnezzar had come in to the land and carried off the very best to Babylon: people and possessions alike. He had sacked and set fire to the Temple. He toppled the city wall. He destroyed everything of value in Judea (2 Chronicles 36:18-20 NIV). After the exile, the Promised Land entered sabbath rest: a full seventy years of stillness to make up for the nation’s sin and to tend to the wounds of a wayward people. The prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled and over time, Babylon went by way of Persia. A new king began to reign, a foreign king who was sensitive to the word and will of God, a man named Cyrus.
The God of the Israelites spoke to the king of Persia: Cyrus was commissioned to send God’s people home and to reconstruct their holy temple. Remarkably, he obeyed: releasing the Israelites with instruction and investing heavily out of his own treasury. The Israelites arrived to find their homeland in overgrown shambles. They spent the first few months settling in and then they gathered at the temple grounds.
I’m moved by their first act of temple restoration: the altar of sacrifice. Somehow the Israelites knew that in order to move forward, they first had to be reconciled with God. They did not start with the foundation or removal of the rubble, they began with repentance, with sin offerings.
I realize this is Old Testament and we no longer make sin sacrifices. Jesus is the sacrifice and His blood will cover all sin for all time. That said, we still need to acknowledge our wayward ways, we still need to make repentance a priority. If we want to go forward in the will of God, we must first recognize where we’ve gone wrong.
We are all about grace in this church era, but what is grace if we don’t realize our great need of it? Doesn’t glossing over our sin cheapen the extravagant gift of God? The Israelites – before they began rebuilding – recognized their need for repentance. The Israelites wanted to start off the rebirth of their country on the right foot with their Creator-Sustainer.
I think there’s so much value here for us as modern-day believers: repentance is our reset. It’s our daily opportunity to get off on the right foot with God. Repentance isn’t complicated, we don’t have to bring animals to the altar for formal execution, we simply recognize our sin and confess our need of God’s grace. We can choose an ongoing posture of humility and gratitude – always an appropriate approach of a holy God.
“And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.”
(James 4:6-10 NIV)
Sin should make us sad. And humans sin. It is an unavoidable factor of our fallen condition. Repentance acknowledges this. Pretending we are righteous doesn’t actually make us righteous. It makes us liars. Confession restores righteousness and promotes a healthy relationship with a righteous God. Humility plus vulnerability restores our connection – He already knows our infractions, we may as well own up to them and receive the grace He’s already given.
Lord, please search our hearts today. Find any offensive way within us. Highlight our transgressions with the Holy Spirit for the sake of our relationship with You. We are grateful for Your forgiveness. We cannot forget what it cost. Give us courage to confess consistently and continually re-engage in right relationship with You. Amen.