SEMESTER 4
451 – The Rebuilding of the Temple
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: BIBLE SURVEY IV LESSON # 51
THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
Read II Chron. 36:22
, 23, Ezra 1:1-11 and Haggai 1:1 through 2:23.
INTRODUCTION:
1. The destruction of the temple, by Nebuchadnezzar, was a loss that the house of Jacob would never fully recover.
2. It would be rebuilt, but not at all after the former quality and beauty. (Hag. 2:3)
3. Remember that 10 tribes had already forsaken it for the idolatry of Jeroboam. (I Kings 12:25-33)
4. Nevertheless, it was God's purpose to rebuild the temple that He had torn down by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (II Chron. 36:17-19)
5. That activity, both in its design and direction, shall be the discussion of this lesson.
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE TEMPLE
1. A designated place for God’s people to worship.
i. Today the world holds Jeroboam’s philosophy. (I Kings 12:28) “It is too much” to go up.
ii. Men love to use John 4:21-23 to prove this error, but our Lord meant no such thing by it.
iii. God did then and does now, ordain a specific place of worship. (Acts 2:1, Acts 20:7, I Cor. 5:4, Heb. 10:24-25)
2. A place that carried the proper types and formats of worship.
i. All the figures and ordinances of temple worship were figures of Christ.
ii. Temple worship demanded Jehovah God’s instruction for worship, not the abstract expression of the heathen.
iii. They spoke of the historic work of God for His people, thus giving glory to God, not men.
3. The perpetuity of recognition of the land God had promised to Abraham.
i. This temple must be built at Jerusalem, not in Persia where it would have been built if the king had acted naturally.
II. GOD’S MEANS OF REBUILDING THE TEMPLE
1. He moved on the hearts of men:
i. By stirring up Cyrus’s; heart to let them go, even to suggest it. (Ezra 1:1)
ii. By causing enough of the people to desire to go. (Ezra 1:5,6; Ezra 2:64)
iii. By restoring the vessels through Cyrus, which Belshazzar would have destroyed. (Ezra 1:7-11)
2. He provided the monetary needs of people, who were essentially slaves, so they could do this expensive work.
III. GOD’S OVERCOMING OF THE OBSTACLES THAT LAY BEFORE THEM
1. The hatred the Lord’s adversaries had for God and this work.
i. By causing the people to refuse the adversaries help, which was a plot. (Ezra 4:1-3)
ii. By turning their plot to the prosperity of Judah. (Ezra 6:1-12)
2. The natural lethargy of the people of Judah and Benjamin.
i. By stirring up prophets like Haggai and Zachariah. (Hag. 1:1-11)
ii. By stirring up the leaders of the people. (Hag. 1:12-15)
3. By turning complaint into investigation, and that into abundant provision. (Ezra 6:1-15)