Ezra 6:16-22
“And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with Joy.” (16) These all came from a place of exile and lived years outside of God’s blessings. Even the rebuilding of the temple took many years as they experienced opposition and delay. However, the dedication of God’s house was to be characterized by a joyful celebration. We often focus our attention on trials and fail to see them as part of God’s process to accomplishing what God is doing. This event was costly involving the appointment of consecrated [purified] spiritual leaders (19). Could it be our failure to purify, or consecrate, ourselves interferes with our celebration? “For the priests and the Levites purified themselves together; all of them were pure. They they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the exiles,…” (20a, b) This celebration of joy was preceded by key elements: First, they had to leave [set apart] the place of exile. Second, they rebuilt God’s house as a gathering place of worship. Third, they dedicated God’s house with costly offerings and began to seek God (21). Finally, they restored God’s calendar of worship and celebrated with Joy. “And they held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the LORD had made them happy…” (22a, b) Regular joyful celebrations of what God has done, is doing, and says, are key to our future spiritual health!