In Jason Dohm's sermon 'A Calendar of Remembrance,' he explores Ezra 3:1-7, emphasizing the concept of a divinely instituted calendar meant to remind the Israelites of God's faithfulness and compel them to worship. Despite fear from surrounding peoples, Jeshua, Zerubbabel, and the Israelites unified to rebuild the altar and resume offerings, demonstrating obedience. This calendar, with its daily, monthly, and annual observances like the Feast of Tabernacles, is seen as a means to remember God's kindness and provisions, while pointing to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The sermon highlights the generational shift towards obedience, the importance of overcoming fear to maintain worship, and how these Old Testament practices foreshadow New Covenant realities. Dohm encourages the application of a 'calendar of remembrance' to modern Christian life, focusing on intentional worship and gratitude.

Our verses for today are verses 4 through 7. I'm going to start at verse 1. Chapter 3 verse 1. And when the seventh month had come and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Josadak and his brethren the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Sheil Teal 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. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. And afterward they offered the regular burnt offering and those for new moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. 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 had not yet been laid.

They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the Sea at Jaffa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus, king of Persia. The title of the sermon this morning is, is a calendar of remembrance. And that is a summary of what the whole text is about. God has given a calendar to His people. And He has, He's given us certain points in time that he wants to stop what we're doing and do what he says to do so that we'll remember that he's a God of faithfulness.

And we'll acknowledge the work that He's done out of His kindness and compassion towards His people, and we'll think on God and on His goodness. So God has always given His people a calendar to help them. And that's true in the Old Covenant, and it's true under the New Covenant as well. Last week the title of the sermon was Jesus Christ in the Book of Ezra, and This week's passage is really a continuation of that. But we see Jesus, pictures of Jesus, a shadow of what Jesus will come and be and do in every book of the Old Testament.

Ezra is no exception to that. In last week's text in verse 1, we had this amazing phrase, as one man, at great cost to themselves, because they're living in these broken down cities, uninhabited cities, with a million things to do, even so they drop everything, they come as one man, and they're united in heart to come together and do what God had brought them back from captivity to do, which was to reestablish the worship that God had prescribed. So verse 1 was, as one man. When God revives His people, He unifies His people. In verse 2, we see Jeshua and Zerubbabel, and they represent a great generational reversal.

And they're a sign of hope to us. Their grandfathers, Jeshua's grandfather and Zerubbabel's grandfather led in disobedience, led in unrighteousness, but God broke that pattern. He reached into those generational lines and he changed everything. And he made it so that these grandsons led in obedience, led in righteousness. Completely opposite of what their grandfathers had done.

In verse 2, we also saw this beautiful phrase, as it is written. These are not a people coming back and reinventing something, doing something new. They are happily governed by God through His Word. In verse 3 we saw the phrase, though fear had come upon them. We see a people who are not paralyzed by the fears that they have, but they're actually spurred forward to obey.

Even in spite of their fear. They overrode their fear and they obeyed God because they knew that they should fear God more than the fears of circumstances and life. And then in verse 3, we see the phrase, the morning and evening burnt offerings. And when we went to Numbers 28, and we look at these burnt offerings that God told the people to offer, Every morning and every evening, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, twice a day, we see in Numbers 28, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He is the Lamb that is offered up to atone for the sins of the Lord's people.

He is the grain offering. He is the bread of life and He is the drink offering that is poured out. And we see in seed form in the morning and evening offerings the Lord's Supper. We see the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We see the bread and the cup.

So this week is a continuation of that. It is more of Jesus Christ in the book of Ezra. And it starts with something specific, the Feast of Tabernacles, and then it moves to something general, all the appointed feasts of the Lord. So they're gathering together as one man to Jerusalem for the specific purpose of celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in that seventh month. And then this begins a period of time where this rhythm of life, this calendar of remembrance that God has given to his people under that covenant is being observed.

Let's go to the text in prayer. Oh Lord, would you be so kind as to fashion us into a people with a rhythm of life that causes us to remember and exalt the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you would give us a pattern of life that turns our thoughts towards the coming and the deeds, the works of Jesus Christ, and that He would be exalted because of that. I thank you that you have always given your people a calendar to observe and what a blessing and a help it is to us. Help us to give ourselves wholeheartedly to your calendar so that we might remember. We might exalt our Lord Jesus Christ as He deserves, as He ought to be exalted.

We pray this In Jesus' name, Amen. So let's begin by looking at verse 4. And I'll read that again. Ezra chapter 3 verse 4. They also kept the feast of tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day." The feast of tabernacles, and again we see this phrase that we saw last week as it is written they're coming together as one man in the seventh month not because someone thought it was a good idea because it was written It's worship that has been prescribed by God.

God told them to do it and now they're doing it. So it is out of obedience to what is written. And the Feast of Tabernacles is one of three major feasts in the law. There are three weeks set aside in the calendar of God, in God's yearly calendar for these people. There are three weeks set aside for very specific purposes that they would gather together as one man to Jerusalem to observe each of these three major feasts.

And this one feast that Ezra is speaking of is the Feast of Tabernacles. And you see it in great detail in Leviticus chapter 23, verses 33 through 43. So if we were to go to Leviticus chapter 3, verses 33 to 44, We would see that the Feast of Tabernacle begins on the 15th day of this 7th month. So this is exactly what we see in Ezra 3, 7th month. Then the Feast of Tabernacle begins mid-month on the 15th day of the month.

It is a week and a day. The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles there is to be a holy convocation, a holy gathering of the people of God to kick off the feast of tabernacles. And there is to be no customary work on that day. It is to be a day completely set aside for launching the Feast of Tabernacles. And then at the very end, on the eighth day of this Feast, the last day of the Feast, you see the same thing in Leviticus 23.

You see that it's a holy convocation, another holy gathering of the people of God, and it's to conclude, and there's not to be any customary work done on this eighth day either. So it begins and It ends the same way. Setting aside customary work to launch the feast on the first day and to conclude the feast on the eighth day. In Leviticus 23 verse 39 we read, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land. So this is a post-harvest feast.

You gather in your harvest of various crops, and then you engage in the Feast of Tabernacles. In Exodus 23, it's called the Feast of Ingathering, because it's a post-harvest feast. So most places it's called the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. But in Exodus 23 it's called the Feast of Ingathering for that reason. And when you see the summary of the Feast of Tabernacles in Deuteronomy chapter 16, and we're getting ready to go to that text here in a little while.

But when we get there, we'll see that Deuteronomy 16 characterizes the Feast of Tabernacles by two things. Rejoicing and blessing. And they're connected. It's rejoicing in the blessing of God. And this is why you do it after the harvest.

You look at this bounty that God has given you. How good and kind God has been to you in this harvest that you've taken out of the field with your own hands. And then you just rejoice in the faithfulness of God, in the kindness of God, in the goodness of God. And the harvest is sort of a reminder of all the other ways in which God has been kind and good. So you take this as an opportunity.

The harvest comes in, God has provided for you again, and you take a week to think about all the ways that God has been good and kind and provided for you, and sustained you. So that is really the tenor, the feel, the purpose for the feast of tabernacles. So you make booths or tents or huts, these temporary residences that you make out of branches from leafy trees. You go to leafy trees, you get branches with leaves off of those trees, and then you make these temporary dwellings and you set up these primitive dwellings, and then you live in them for seven days. You live in a tent, a hut, for seven days.

And you do this in Jerusalem. So if you don't live in Jerusalem, you come to Jerusalem with your leafy branches, and you set up your little hut and you live there for seven days. If you live in Jerusalem, you set up this hut on your housetop. So this is the picture. There's a perfectly good house.

Your house, all your stuff's in it, everything you need for your normal life is there. But you don't live in that perfectly good house this week. You go up on the roof with your leafy branches and you make a hut. And you live in your hut for a whole week on top of your perfectly good house, which is a lot nicer inside than your hut for the week. In verse 43 of Leviticus 22, this chapter, this section of Leviticus 23 that describes in detail the Feast of Tabernacles.

So Leviticus 23, 43 we read, That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So it is a remembrance. Remember you were slaves in Egypt. Remember because I'm a good God I brought you out of that slavery, and I made you live in tents.

You know what? The people were better off living in tents, free, free and intense, than they were in Egypt where they had houses. It's a reminder, This feast of tabernacles is a reminder that it's better to have a little and to have God and to be free than it is to have a lot and to dwell in a nice house and have comforts. So this was a time in the calendar to remind them, after God had given them back the comforts. He's brought them into a land where they didn't dig the wells they didn't build the houses and They didn't develop the cities all these were ready-made and given to them.

It was All those things had been done the wells had been dug the houses had been made the cities had been developed God brings them into the land where they didn't labor to any of those things and He gives them their comforts back. But one week a year, He wanted to remind them that they didn't need the comforts. They just needed to be free to worship God. And that if they ever had to choose between their comforts and living in a hut, with the freedom to worship their God. They should every time take the freedom to worship their God.

God would sustain them and be their God and be everything that they ever needed to them in their huts. Also in Ezra chapter 3 verse 4, still talking about the feast of tabernacles, the text says, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. So you have a series of days. Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six, day seven, day eight, feast over. And there are burnt offerings prescribed for each day.

So that's what we're seeing in Ezra chapter 3 verse 4. That is what that verse is talking about. The burnt offerings prescribed for each day. And this is in detail in Numbers chapter 29 verses 12 through 38. And if we were to go to Numbers chapter 29 verses 12 through 38, we would see a prescription for each of those eight days by day.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And that prescription, For every day you had the regular burnt offerings. So the morning and evening offerings would still be offered as usual. Lamb in the morning, lamb in the evening. And then for these eight days, each of the eight days, there would be an additional sin offering of one kid of the goat.

So a kid is a baby goat. You would take a baby goat and each of these eight days you would offer it as a sin offering. And then each day had its own prescription of offering young bulls, rams, and lambs. So three animals, types. One, young bulls.

Two, rams. Three, lambs. And there's a different mix for each day. And it's prescribed by God. Do this on day one.

This number of young bulls, this number of rams, this number of lambs. So the rams and the lambs are easy because the first seven days it's the same. So here's what it is. The rams, two each day for the first seven days of the feast. Two, two, two, two, two, right down the line.

And then on the eighth day, one. The lambs, same type thing, 14 each of the first seven days. 14, 14, 14, 14, down the line, the first seven days. And then on the last day, not 14, but seven on the eighth day. And then the young bulls differed.

Day one, 13. Day two, 12. Day three, 11. Day four, 10. So down by numbers, one at a time, in the first seven days.

Beginning at the number 13 and then just stepping down. 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7. And then on the eighth day, it drops to one young bull. For each one of these animals offered, the rams, the lambs, the young bulls, There's a prescribed grain offering with it. Fine flour mixed with oil.

So for the rams it's two tenths of an ephah. And for the lambs it's one tenth of an ephah. And for the young bulls it is three tenths of an ephah. So an animal offering and a grain offering. Here's what Matthew Henry says about the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Tabernacles was a figure of a gospel conversation in respect of continual weanedness from the world and joy in God. So let's translate that into the language of 2014. Matthew Henry says, The Feast of Tabernacles is about two things. Continually being coaxed out of the world and loving the world. Continual weanedness from the world.

When you wean a child off of breast milk, you don't go from six times a day to zero. You go from six times a day to five times a day to four times a day to three times a day to two times a day to no more, or whatever. You're stepping down. Matthew Henry says, The feast of tabernacles is for this purpose, to wean us off the world. So you come one year and you live, maybe on your rooftop, in a tent, in a hut for a week, to help you to remember that God is the real pleasure in life.

To get you away from that house that has so many comforts. To wean you off of the comforts of the world, to coax you away from the comforts of the world. Maybe next year when you live in that tent for a week, you'll be a little more weaned off of The love of the comforts of the world. Not that God isn't merciful, kind, abundant, giving us those comforts. We shouldn't love them, we shouldn't come to depend upon them.

God should be able to separate us from those comforts, and find us thriving because He sustains us in every other way that we need it. He gives us everything that we need and many of the things that we want. So that we're so satisfied in God that if He pulls away the things that we want, our comforts, that our satisfaction with God is not touched. Our satisfaction with God is not dependent upon our comforts. The Feast of Tabernacles is actually designed to help Wean us, wean them away from the world.

And, joy in God, this tightly related thing. Are you satisfied in God alone? So that you can go live in a tent for a week and it can be a feast at a time of rejoicing. I think Matthew Henry is right. That's what God is doing with the Feast of Tabernacles.

He's weaning them away from the world, causing them to depend upon it less and less, to be satisfied fully in God, and just it's for the joy. It's so that you can go and remind yourself again that you can live in a hut for a week and be full of joy. Be full of joy in the hut. Now verses 5 and 6. Back to Ezra chapter 3 verses 5 and 6.

So verse 4 was the specific thing, the Feast of Tabernacles. Now verse 5 goes more towards the general. Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for new moons, and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a free will offering to the Lord." So, from the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. So verses 5 and 6 are telling us that they came together, they began to do this, and then verses 5 and 6 say that they continued on doing the things prescribed by the Lord. So, He's giving us the starting point, beginning from the first day of the seventh month, and just saying that they continued to do what the Lord had prescribed.

So here in verse 5, he talks about the regular burnt offering. My understanding is that is the morning and evening burnt offerings that we spent a lot of time on in verse 3 last week. So I won't go into that again. Then in verse 5 he also talks about those for the new moons. So as part of God's calendar of remembrance for His people, God had prescribed a certain offering anytime there's a new moon.

So The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. It's based on the phases of the moon. So the beginning of the month is the new moon. And we find the offerings for the new moon detailed in Numbers chapter 28 verses 11 through 15. So if you want to go look that up later, you'll find this specific offering that God had prescribed in Numbers 28, verses 11-15.

And In that text, in Numbers 28, verse 11, we read, At the beginnings of your months, you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord. So at the beginning of every month, there's a calendar entry. There's something you're supposed to put at the beginning of every month. And It's this new moon, beginning of the month, offering. It's to be two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs.

So the same animals as we found in the feast of tabernacles young bulls Rams lambs so every new moon It's two young bulls. It's one ram and it's seven lambs each With its own grain offering which is specified there in Numbers 28, and each with its own drink offering, much like the morning and evening burnt offerings. And then in Numbers 28, verse 14, we read, this is the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year. So lunar calendar, calendar based on the phases of the moon, and the month starts with the new moon. And anytime there's a new moon, there's supposed to be this offering.

Each month, every month, this is on the calendar. We're beginning to see that God is establishing a rhythm of life for His people. A daily rhythm, a monthly rhythm, and now an annual rhythm. Also in verse 5. So we're back in Ezra chapter 3, verse 5.

It says, all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated. So we have the regular burnt offerings, that's daily. We have the new moon offerings, that's monthly. And now we have all the appointed feasts of the Lord. They're not even monthly.

They're more spread out than that. So they are annual events. It's part of the daily, monthly, yearly rhythm of life that God has prescribed for His people. Why? So that they would remember Him.

If God doesn't give us these things, we are so prone to forget. We're so prone to have one day, bleed into the next, into the next, into the next, without thinking about how good and kind and compassionate God has been towards us. So He gives us a calendar. He gives us daily things and monthly things and yearly things so we will remember Him. So we will think about how kind He has been towards His people.

Now we have all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, these yearly feasts. And These three primary feasts where all the people were to come up to Jerusalem. Again, like I said last week, the males are required, but really the normal pattern is for the whole family to come up to Jerusalem three times a year, for three weeks a year, to celebrate these three primary feasts on the calendars. And we have those summarized in Exodus chapter 23 verses 14 through 17. So if you just want to see, hey, what are the three feasts with a basic description, you can go to Exodus 23 verses 14-17 and see that.

They're also summarized in Deuteronomy chapter 16 verses 13-17. So that's another great place to get a summary of each of the three feasts along with a brief description of what they're about. That's Deuteronomy 16 verses 13 and 17. And In just a minute we're going to go look at a large chunk of Deuteronomy 16. So we're getting ready to go there.

Here are those three feasts. Here's the summary of the three feasts. The first in the annual calendar is the Feast of unleavened bread. It's called that in the summary in Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. It calls them the same thing.

Feast of unleavened bread. And the kickoff for that feast is the Passover. It's the beginning of a week long feast, the Passover is. This year, in the year 2014, The Passover is on April 15th. I'm giving you these dates from the year 2014 just to give you a sense of where it falls in the year for Jewish people who are still observing these feasts.

April 15th is the Passover this year. As you can tell right from this first feast, these feasts are about Jesus. They picture Jesus, something about Jesus. Here is another spot where Jesus Christ is in the book of Ezra. These appointed feasts.

The first one in the calendar year is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it's Jesus. It's a picture of Jesus. Paul couldn't say it more plainly than he does in 1 Corinthians 5. Jesus is our Passover lamb. This feast is about Jesus.

There is an atoning work of a lamb that is killed, and the blood is spread on The doorposts so that the destroying angel doesn't give you what you deserve. You're spared because this lamb is killed and the blood is spread on the doorposts. This is just a picture of the work of Jesus Christ. He keeps the destroying angel from giving you what you deserve. This is Jesus.

The feast of unleavened bread is the shadow. The substance is Jesus Christ and His Word. The second feast In God's calendar of remembrance is the Feast of Harvest, is what it's called in Exodus 23. And it's called the Feast of Harvest because it has to do with bringing in the first fruits from the spring harvest. It's called the Feast of Weeks in Deuteronomy 16.

So sometimes it's called the Feast of Harvest, sometimes it's called the Feast of Weeks. This year, June 4th, is the beginning of that. So in the year 2014, the Feast of Harvest will be begun to be celebrated by practicing Jews on June 4th, next week. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus is the first fruits from the dead. So His resurrection is a guarantee of our resurrection.

So the feast of harvest or the feast of first fruits, Jesus is the fulfillment of that as well. The pouring out of the Spirit is on Pentecost, the end of the seven weeks. Pentecost comes on seven weeks plus a day. Seven times seven is 49 plus a day. Fifty days, Pentecost.

So the pouring of the Spirit. Jesus sending the Spirit happened on Pentecost. He is the fulfillment of the feast of harvest. It is the shadow, and Jesus is the substance. The third and final primary feast, when everyone was supposed to come to Jerusalem to celebrate it, is the feast of ingathering, as it's called in Exodus 23, or the feast of tabernacles, as it's called in Deuteronomy 16, or the Feast of Booths Elsewhere.

And that's the feast that's specifically referenced in our text today. That will begin to be celebrated by practicing Jews on October 9th. All of these dates from year to year will fluctuate within about a 30 day band. But this year, the Feast of Engathering or the Feast of Tabernacles will begin to be celebrated by Jews on October 9th. So it's after the fall harvest.

And this is about freedom from slavery. This is about God sustaining His people. So the feast of tabernacles and in-gathering is a shadow, but Jesus Christ is the substance of it. It is His work that frees us from slavery. It is His grace that sustains us.

Now, turn to Deuteronomy 16. That's a summary. Deuteronomy 16 gives us a little more flavor of each of these three feasts. So I want to read Deuteronomy 16 verses 1-17 not to try to teach exhaustively on any of these three feasts, but to allow you to see what Deuteronomy 16 says a little bit about each one of them. Deuteronomy 16, beginning in verse 1, reading through 17.

Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God. For in the month of the Bebe, the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore, you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name." That's Jerusalem. You shall eat no unleavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it.

That is the bread of affliction, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. That you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. No leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight till morning. You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, the going down of the sun at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.

Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it." So imagine the people of God coming together as one man to Jerusalem for a week, around April, Mid-May to Mid-April sometime, to be together for a week, to celebrate the Passover, and to think about this lamb that was slaughtered and his blood that was painted on the doorpost, so that the destroying angel would Passover. Now beginning in verse 9, You shall count seven weeks for yourselves. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a free will offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.

You shall rejoice before the Lord your God. You and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. So here we have the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest, as it's called in Exodus 23. And this year to bring free will offerings.

So you're to bring what you think you should bring to offer, and you are to rejoice before the Lord. And again it says it's a remembrance. Now verse 13, you shall observe the feast of Tabernacles seven days when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, and you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep the sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses.

Because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses. At the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which he has given to you." There are two things you should take out of Deuteronomy 16 in these three feasts. Remember and rejoice.

That's why these feasts. We saw the command, or the exhortation, or the encouragement to rejoice three times in what we just read. And we saw the command or the encouragement or the exhortation to remember twice. These are what these feasts are about. So that you have a time on the calendar.

You drop what you're doing to remember the goodness of God and to rejoice in it. God wants us remembering. God wants us counting our blessings. Because they're from Him. And it's an ungrateful people who can't look at how good God has been to them and take time, Drop everything to consider how good God has been to His people.

Now back to Ezra chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3, still in verse 5, it says, and those of everyone who willingly offered a free will offering to the Lord. So he's covering bases. He's summarizing the Mosaic Law and the requirements of the Mosaic Law. So there are daily requirements, morning and evening.

There are monthly requirements, every time there's a new moon. There are annual requirements, these three feasts, and there are more. But now we have this category, which is directly from the Mosaic Law, the law that God gave through Moses. And it's really a beautiful category. It's the category of just because.

God told you why the other ones. Remember, Rejoice. But now, he wants us to do those things. He commands obedience in those things, but he also sets his people under the laws of Moses at liberty to bring an offering just because. Because they want to.

So things are prescribed and required and they need to obey, but they're also set at Liberty to give beyond what God requires. If they're especially thankful, they can bring more. And God will receive it from their hands. If they're especially joyful, they can bring more. If they're especially heavy-hearted, they can come and make an offering.

For whatever reason, it seems good to you to bring above and beyond what God has required. God has made that permissible. God has said He will accept those offerings. It is the category, the wonderful category of just because. Just because God's been so good to me this year that The three weeks will not contain His goodness to me.

I must bring more. So God gives us a category for an outpouring above and beyond what He requires. So that if you find God being so faithful to you, so kind to you, so merciful to you, so full of compassion towards you, that the three weeks that He's set aside won't contain it. You can come and God says He will accept that with joy. Spontaneous worship can be wonderful.

God requires worship of us, and we're here partly because He requires it. Hopefully not fully because He requires it. Hopefully there are times other than the Lord's Day or maybe later on in the Lord's Day where Sunday morning just couldn't contain how good God has been to us. So we want to pour out more worship because God has poured out His goodness on us. So this time that we're engaged in now just simply is not enough for the worship that we want to offer to our God because of how good and kind He's been to us.

I remember, I hadn't been saved for very long. I bet I could go to this school and this classroom, and I could place myself ten feet from what I'm getting ready to recount to you, which was, I was born again and I was newly born again and I was happy in Jesus. Do you remember what it was like to be newly born again? And your light is a feather and you're just full of joy because God has been so good to you. And I'm in this public school, and I'm in a civics class.

I can see the face of this teacher now. And I'm thinking, I can worship here, right now. No one can stop me. No one will know. But I'm so happy to be born again that in the middle of this public school, in the middle of this classroom, right here in my own little head, I'm just going to worship God.

I can remember worshipping him there in that classroom. Because the regular times of worship were not enough to contain my joy when I was first saved. And so it was an opportunity. Now, None of you homeschool children, don't you use that as an excuse for why you're not doing your schoolwork. If my name gets used in vain in association with that story, I'm going to be very unhappy.

But the truth of the matter is, there are times, if you know the Lord, where you're so happy in Jesus, that the normal gathering times aren't enough for the worship that you want to render to God. If I can, in this sermon, I want to fan the flame of that to say, You know what, I do remember my first love. I do remember when it was all fresh. I do remember bursting with love towards God and joy in God that cannot be contained by the regular gathering times. May it be so among us.

May God stir up our love and our desire to worship Him so it cannot be contained on Wednesday nights. It cannot be contained by Sunday mornings. Finally in verse 6, Ezra makes it clear that the people began offering the burnt offerings before the foundation was laid. They are an eager people to begin doing what God has brought them back from captivity to do. So you could say we're going to wait until we get the foundations laid, or we're going to wait until the temple is a certain level of readiness, but they can't wait.

They can't wait. They're so glad to be back from captivity that they are chomping at the bit to get going. Finally, how should we relate to these under the New Covenant? Morning and evening offerings, New moon offerings, the feast of tabernacles, all the appointed feasts. How should we relate to those?

Paul couldn't be more clear in Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17. In Ephesians chapter 2 verses 16 and 17, Paul says, So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." That's how we relate to them under the New Covenants. We love the shadows. It's beautiful to look back on the shadows, but they're nothing compared to what we have after Christ. They are so much clearer in Christ.

They really are a shadow. And now we can look back through the lens of the New Testament and see with clarity what they could just barely see in a cloudy way under the Old Covenant. It gave them an anticipation of the time of the Messiah, but they couldn't see what we can see looking back through Christ. Jesus is the substance of them. Those were just the shadows.

So the old covenant ordinances are not required of us. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul calls them the wall of separation. Those old covenant ordinances, all that we've been speaking of them, Everything we've been speaking of this morning is an old covenant ordinance that separated the Jews from the rest of the world. It was a wall of separation. And Paul in Ephesians 2 says, God broke down that wall.

Don't be erecting that wall again. Don't you be erecting a wall that God Himself with His own two hands tore down. It was meant to separate the Jewish people and make them a separate special people. But now that wall is down. And the separate people are simply those who have trusted in Christ.

However, God hasn't changed. The covenant has changed, but it's still the same God. And God has given us things that perform the same function. So God gave them a calendar of remembrance to turn the eyes of His people towards Him so that they would remember and rejoice. God has given us things that perform that same function, so that our eyes would be turned towards God And we would remember and rejoice.

God wants His new covenant people to also have a rhythm of life, like the old covenant people had a rhythm of life. Daily, monthly, annually. Things that turn their eyes towards God, so they would remember His kindness and they would rejoice that their God was that good. Two of the great themes in Deuteronomy are two sides of the same coin. So if you go to Deuteronomy, you find two things over and over and over again.

Do not forget and remember. They're just two sides of the same coin. There are two ways to say the same thing. There's a negative, don't forget. Do remember.

You can look at the coin from either side, but they mean the same thing. We're not to forget God. How good He's been to us. And what He expects of His people. And we're to remember.

So how do you do that? How do you remember to remember? Have you ever thought about that? How do you remember to remember? Well, we have mechanisms for that, don't we?

We write ourselves notes, we have things up on the refrigerator, we have decals on the wall, we have things to help us remember to remember God is doing that. He gives us a calendar. He helps us by giving us a calendar to help us remember and to rejoice. Now verse 7. Ezra chapter 3 verse 7.

They also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea to Joppa according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. We have two things here in verse 7. Paying the workers and trading for the materials. So this is about rebuilding the temple, making ready to rebuild this broken down, destroyed temple. So as part of the preparations they're paying workers, they're paying masons and carpenters, and they're trading for the materials that they'll need.

So to rebuild the temple You need lots of stone. Stone was there, but stone is not there. Because the temple has been torn down. You need lots of stone. So you have masons.

The Hebrew word, actually the primary meaning of the Hebrew word here has to do with quarrying. Getting stone out of the mountain. You need a lot of stone for this temple. This temple is massive and magnificent. It was one of the wonders of the world when this temple that they're going to rebuild was completed and then the Romans come to destroy it in 70 AD after the time of Jesus.

So that's this temple that they are starting to rebuild now. It's a wonder of the world. He wants to preserve it for Rome. But they're so enraged at the Jews' conduct during the siege of that city that they go against the orders of their general and they tear it down to the last stone. But it's a magnificent thing.

You're going to need a lot of people hewing stone out of the mountain, and so they're paying nasons. To rebuild the temple, you're going to need a lot of the best wood. The best wood is cedar. It's a very dense wood that resists rotting and insects. Plus, it smells great.

So they're going to be bringing cedar from Lebanon. There is a striking continuity between the first temple and what we see here. So the first temple, David made preparations for it. God told David he couldn't build this temple, So he did all he could. He piled up materials for it.

And when David is piling up materials, it reads just like Ezra chapter 3 verse 7. He is getting the materials from the same places. He is commissioning Masons to go into the mountains to Hewstone out of the mountains. This is 1 Chronicles 22. If you want to go check 1 Chronicles 22 verses 1 through 5, you'll see David appointing Masons to Hewstone and trading with the Sidonians and those from Tyre for cedar, just like this.

That's exactly what happened with the first temple. In 1 Kings chapter 5 verses 1 through 12, you'll see Solomon doing the same. Solomon is trading food for wood, just like Ezra 3, verse 7. 1 Kings 5, verses 1-12, Solomon is trading the same things for the same wood with the same people. Those from Lebanon.

People, those from Lebanon. In 2 Chronicles 2 verses 3-16, I'll say that again, 2 Chronicles 2 verses 3-16, we see Solomon getting cedar from Lebanon. Tyre and Sidon are cities in Lebanon. And they're shipping the wood down to Joppa in 2 Chronicles chapter 2 just like Ezra 3 verses 7. So you have the same people trading the same stuff from the same cities to the same cities.

So let me explain how this works geographically. You have the Mediterranean Sea, which is the western border of Israel. So as you're looking at the map, it's on the left. The Mediterranean Sea is. Then north of Israel, continuing up the Mediterranean coast, north of Israel, you have Lebanon.

Tyre and Sidon are two cities within Lebanon. You can harvest cedars because wood grows great there, but food doesn't grow great there. So that helps you to understand. In fact, we have these northern cities on the coast of the Mediterranean. They harvest the cedars there and then they ship them south to Joppa about 70 to 100 miles.

So you don't have to take them across land and that's good. And then Joppa is almost due west of Jerusalem, and you've got another 35 miles to get them inland to Jerusalem. So it's the route that makes perfect sense. You harvest the wood up in Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon, and you ship it down the coast of the Mediterranean south to Joppa, the port that is closest to Jerusalem, and then you trek it inland to get it to Jerusalem. Listen to Acts chapter 12 verse 20.

So all this sort of appears in the book of Acts in the New Testament after the resurrection of Jesus. Acts 12 verse 20, Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon." So Herod is king in Israel under the Romans. And he's been unhappy with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus, the king's personal aide, their friend, they asked for a piece, because their company was supplied with food from the king's country. So even 500 years later, the same thing is happening.

They can still grow a lot of food in Israel, and they're still having trouble growing it entire in Sidon, but man, can they grow trees. So there's this swap that's happening in the time of David and Solomon. You grow trees, really good trees, really useful trees in Lebanon, because they grow well there. Trees that you can't grow in Israel, but in Israel we can grow food that you can't grow in Lebanon. So there's food growing in one direction and wood coming in the other direction.

Okay, applications. It won't take long. There's just a few. Applications. Build a life with routines that point to Jesus Christ.

Build a life, fill it with routines. Have your routines point to Jesus. Always rejoicing. Always remembering. It's a mechanism that will help you remember to remember, like a note on the refrigerator.

You build a life that has routines in it that point to Jesus Christ, you remember to acknowledge the goodness of God to you through Christ. And you rejoice in it. Anytime you remember how good Jesus has been, you'll rejoice in it. Build a calendar of remembrance. Like God gave to His people in the Old Testament.

Like God has given to His new people. His new covenant people. Number two. Begin with and prioritize what God has prescribed. So it's related to application number one.

As you're building a life with routines that point to Jesus, begin with and Prioritize what God has prescribed. Just figure that God is smarter than you. And that this is where we should always start with what God has given us. That's the Lord's Day and the Lord's Supper. There's other things that God has prescribed too, but that's a good place to start there.

The Lord's Day, having a day to just be with God and to rest and to worship, and the Lord's Supper. So this is an exhortation to squeeze more out of what's already in your schedule. Squeeze more out of it. Be better at the Lord's Day. Be more intentional, be more focused, Bring more intensity to the Lord's Day.

Be better at the Lord's Supper this time. It's part of the Lord's Day. Be more intentional. Be more focused. Bring more intensity to your observation of the Lord's Supper.

We'll be happy. We'll be a happier people as we get better. There's a continuum, right? There's a line of people who are really good and people who are not so good at observing the Lord's Day and observing the Lord's Supper. Because of my position, I should be out here on the leading edge, but I know there are families who are better at observing the Lord's Day and are better at observing the Lord's Supper.

They are more intentional about it. They are more focused. They bring more intensity to it than the domes do. So wherever you find yourself on this continuum, like really good at observing the Lord's Day and the Lord's Supper, or somewhat lacking and needing to bring more focus and intensity to it. Squeeze more out of the time.

You'll be happier. Do this for your own happiness. Finally, once you've done that, Once you've begun with and prioritized what God has prescribed, then consider what daily, monthly, annual patterns would be consistent with the Word of God. What would be a good new moon sacrifice for the wards? Something at the beginning of the month that would just help us to remember and rejoice.

What would be a good annual pattern for the oars? Just once a year, we want to make sure we do this to turn our eyes to God and to help us to rejoice. Let's pray. God, I thank You for this text. I thank You that week by week, no matter what is before us in the text, there's always so many helpful things.

We find ourselves being helped week by week. No matter where we are in your Word, there is such richness, such depth in your Word. And I pray that you would make us good students of it. You would cause this text to be a blessing to us. Help our lives, Help us to have a rhythm of life that helps us to remember and rejoice before you.

If we'll think upon you, our God I know will be filled with joy. How kind you've been to us. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen.