Ezra 3-4

“They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD” (3:3).  The exiles who returned to Judah were vulnerable; they were not an organized army, but instead families who wanted to rebuild their lives.  Threatened by the “people of the lands” (ch 4), without strong defense, they immediately set up an altar to worship God.  Having lost Jerusalem because they had chased idols, they had learned God was their true protection.

“The people gathered as one man to Jerusalem” (3:1).  The world’s weapons can’t help us. We find our unity and strength, as God’s people, when we gather to worship Jesus.