Ezra 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy.

The great work of restoring the temple of God had begun. The original temple built by Solomon was splendid.  Solomon built the foundation using costly stones and had employed the best workmen of his days; Zerubbabel had only the arms of his own subjects to depend upon. Obviously, the renovated building paled in comparison to the old.

The old men who had seen the first temple remembered its grandeur and glory. The new house, in comparison with the old one, was "as nothing" (Haggai 2:3). The old men cried when they saw the foundation for the new temple. But the young people thought it was great and “shouted aloud for joy.” So mixed were the emotions that the sound of the one could not be distinguished from the sound of the other.

It is a matter of perspective. For those who did not have a point of comparison, this was a great moment. To them, it was the start of better things to come. But the older folks, looking backward, compared the now with the then, were dismayed. To them, things could only get worse; the future was bleak.

Should we look forward or backward? The old generation likes to look backward and becoming pessimistic about the future. The younger generation arrives here with no baggage and look forward with optimism. Should we weep over the lost glories of the former days or should we rejoice in future glory?

Honestly speaking, the past is not that fantastic and the present is not so bad. Our older brethren like to recall the good old days when the church met in a little house in Jalan Geneng. But things today were almost the same as those good old days. As Solomon says: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Back then, they also had strong and weak members, and brethren who worked very hard for the Lord and others who didn’t. They had brethren who knew the bible and others who didn’t read it. What happened? Some who knew the bible and were once active also fell away. The spiritual DNA hasn’t change; it’s the same today.

“But we have wonderful fellowship. Today, we are so cold.” You mean you are cold. Don’t forget that it was only our good sister Baby Tan who did all the cooking in those days. Today, if you and everyone else who think the fellowship is cold would open up your home and their homes to invite Christians for a meal, the fellowship would be even better.

This is a lesson here for all true Christians. The past is history; it contains lessons for us. There are good and bad lessons we must learn from the past. The present is for us to work on so that the future can be bright and beautiful.  Don’t dwell in the past; look forward like the young men who “shouted aloud for joy.”

          

Many shouted for joy because they had not seen the original temple and therefore could not feel affected in that way which the elderly people did. The prophet Haggai comforted the old men on this occasion by assuring them that the glory of this latter house should exceed that of the former, because the Lord (Jesus Christ) was to come to this temple, and fill it with his glory (Haggai 2:7).

Brethren, do not discount what God is doing today. Just because something isn’t as wonderful today doesn’t mean that God is not working. Wasn’t the rebuilding of the foundations the working of God? Whether God chooses to build a larger foundation or a smaller one is not what we should focus on; what we should focus on is that God is building it. And, let us build where God has built.

Let us focus on the wonderful works that are done TODAY and the works that can be done and do it. We can rebuild the good things of the past when we start rebuilding them today. Why wait for others to do it? Be the one to do it! Why weep like those old men who dwelled in the past? Rejoice like the young men. The foundations were the beginning of better things to come. Let us build on this foundation because God has already started working: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). 

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.