Ezra 3:2-3
. . . [Built] 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. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord.
When the people returned to the land of Israel from Babylon, everything had been destroyed. The first thing they did was not to build houses for themselves, but to replace the Temple that had been demolished. But even though the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not yet been laid (v. 6), they wanted to worship God. They knew that their power and strength were in the Lord their God, and they immediately went to the instructions and built the altar first, so they could obey God and offer the sacrifices prescribed by The Law, even in spite of their fear of the pagan peoples surrounding them. Worship itself came first, even before the Temple was begun.
Do we consider our Lord worth our worship first, before anything else we do each day?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
