The temple was rebuilt and consecrated again after opposition, discouragement, and confusion of exile. What a powerful symbol for the remnant to again connect with their tradition...even Passover. Here is the passage from the Message...
"So the leaders of the Jews continued to build; the work went well under the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They completed the rebuilding under orders of the God of Israel and authorization by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. And then the Israelites celebrated—priests, Levites, every last exile, exuberantly celebrated the dedication of The Temple of God. At the dedication of this Temple of God they sacrificed a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs—and, as an Absolution-Offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They placed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their places for the service of God at Jerusalem—all as written out in the Book of Moses.On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover."
Building for the Lord takes time, patience, endurance and most of all obedience.
We can learn this lesson from the Book of Ezra.
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