Day 70
Ezra 6 - 10
Bible Time Period: Return
You brought the exiles back to Canaan; they rebuilt the Temple and Jerusalem and were taught once more from your Law: Rebuild my broken heart and life as I return to you.
Reflection
While the city walls and the temple were being rebuilt, the national and religious life of the Jewish people also underwent reorganization. In this context it was important that they should be aware of the links between old and new institutions. The altar and the house of God were built on the same site as before (Ezra 3:3; 6:7). The sacred vessels that the returned exiles brought back to Jerusalem were the same ones as Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon as plunder (Ezra 5:14). The priests and the other personnel involved in the liturgy were descendants of the men who had had these functions prior to the exile (Ezra 2:36 - 63). The continuity between the new and the old is something that this book is at pains to point out, for it bears witness to the fact that God guides the course of salvation history, providing new answers to fit changed circumstances, but ensuring that the link with the people's origins is never weakened. (Understanding the Scriptures, page 270)
Today's Reading
You brought the exiles back to Canaan; they rebuilt the Temple and Jerusalem and were taught once more from your Law: Rebuild my broken heart and life as I return to you.
Reflection
While the city walls and the temple were being rebuilt, the national and religious life of the Jewish people also underwent reorganization. In this context it was important that they should be aware of the links between old and new institutions. The altar and the house of God were built on the same site as before (Ezra 3:3; 6:7). The sacred vessels that the returned exiles brought back to Jerusalem were the same ones as Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon as plunder (Ezra 5:14). The priests and the other personnel involved in the liturgy were descendants of the men who had had these functions prior to the exile (Ezra 2:36 - 63). The continuity between the new and the old is something that this book is at pains to point out, for it bears witness to the fact that God guides the course of salvation history, providing new answers to fit changed circumstances, but ensuring that the link with the people's origins is never weakened. (Understanding the Scriptures, page 270)
Today's Reading
Ezra 6 - 10
Commentary
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