Ezra 3

Ezr 3:12-13 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, (13) so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

Have you ever returned to a house you grew up in or a place from your childhood. When you look at everything over again it looks way smaller because you remember it from when you were tiny. Israel was taken into captivity for 70 years. Therefore, anyone who remembered the old temple was very young when they saw it and was no doubt very old now.

We have a funny picture here. The people of Israel were rebuilding hte temple. Now the old temple was built by Solomon. Solomon was famous for his vast amount of riches. Consequently, he had plenty of money to pour into building the temple. The old temple (Solomon's temple) was huge, grand, and breathtaking. The new temple was none of these because Israel was returning as a nation without foundation. Conbine this with the childlike perspective of the old temple and we an see why the old men cried when looking upon these new foundations.

What I find refreshing about this verse is that the others were not crying. They were instead rejoicing at the new temple being built. This is a challenge to us. Our Christian lives are never to be lived in the past. We are never to look at a past outreach or past experience as a way to measure what is being today. If God is truly doing a work, than today is the day for rejoicing. The young people of Israel were all rejoicing over the new temple because they knew nothing of the old one. They were just happy that a house was being built for the Lord. Be glad for the work the Lord is doing today. Do not weep for latter days, because it takes you away from being used in the now.