"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "It's Adar ... We Can!"

"It's Adar ... We can!"

"Who is there among you of all his people? His God

be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem,

which is in Judah, and build the house of the

LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,)

which is in Jerusalem."

(Ezra 1:3)

The rebuilding of the altar in the Book of Ezra

It was the month of Adar, February to March, which in the annals of Jewish history, encompassed many significant events, but we will center on one, the rebuilding of the second temple occurring in the Book of Ezra. The temple was completed in Adar (February to March) of 515, 21 years after the work started in 536, and 4.5 years after Haggai began his prophesying. This was 70.5 years after the temple had been destroyed on August 12, 586.

Ezra noted that the command to rebuild the temple was from God himself. God worked through the orders of pagan Persian kings, Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, workers, prophets, and of course, the Holy Almighty God was always moving behind the scenes.

You say, "What does all this have to do with me, today, in 2012?" That's a good question, because "Adar" has come around once again; it's March once again; and the temple is being rebuilt once again. Huh? The temple is referred to as a place of worship, and it can also mean a person's body. The temple of the Lord Jesus Christ in earth today is His bride, the Church, and it's being rebuilt, revived, inspired, increased, reorganized, infused, divided to multiply, broken up to stand up, regioned to enlarge, gathered in to spread out, solidified to pour out ... It's an Adar, Ezra, God ordained, heaven-sent operation! And, YOU, are involved. What? You'll see ...

The question is, today; who will rebuild the temple? The tabernacle of David is being restored. That is Worship, continual worship, and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ is occurring and growing all over the world. The times and the seasons are calling for MORE worship, more praise, more sacrifice ... Ezra's rebuilding of the temple began with "rebuilding the altar" ... the Altar is always first. Why? The sacrifice was the way to God through the shedding of blood ... in the old Testament, the shed blood covered the sin, for a short time ...

Blood MUST be shed to cover sin. Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross, which eliminated animal sacrifices of the old Testament; Jesus Christ became the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and He shed His blood to cover the sins of all mankind "forever." "It is Finished;" the blood of Jesus Christ took sin away for eternity, but we must come to Him in repentance to have the blood applied to our hearts. Thank You, Lord!

Temple rebuilt

"And the people of any place where survivors may now

be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and

livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

(Ezra 1:4)

The temple was rebuilt because people gave all they had; it's really no different today. The work of God requires tithes, offerings, donations, inheritances, giving of all kinds, and currently, it seems the Lord of creation is wanting us to give our all ... Why? Because time is short! "Oh brother, you're talking about The end of the world again?" you say. It depends on what people mean when they say "end of the world." We know there WILL BE a new heaven and a new earth; there WILL BE a Rapture of the Church, when the Lord "catches away" His bride in the air before the great and terrible tribulation period; there WILL BE a Second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and there WILL BE a millenium of a thousand years of peace. How do we know? The Holy Bible says so; how de we know it's true? Everything has been fulfilled that was prophesied up to the Rapture of the Church and those events following.

"...O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in

heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant

of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way."

(I Kings 8:23)

Rebuilding the temple was not easy; there were setbacks, delays, sin that had to be dealt with ... What? Building programs are always attacked by satan, whether they are construction buildings, building of unity among the people of God the world over, building of hearts to a platform of continual worship, building a New Church Order, building a Rapture-ready congregation, building a people after God's own heart, or building a World congregation by one Prophet - from one main Church - by one mandate from ONE God! But, there's a verse in Ezra which I love:

"Then all the congregation answered and

said with a loud voice, As thou hast said

so must we do."

(Ezra 10:12)

Don't ya' love it? I'll tell you who loves that verse; it's the Pastors, the Anointed of God, the Sent, the Chosen who lead the multitudes, the Father of the Nations ... That's who loves it!

So what about You and me, and Adar? From what I read about it in Jewish history, it's a time to "Give it all you've got." It's a time to rebuild, restore, resume, rectify, reconnect, and resurrect ... We could do some, or all, of those things in our families, in our Churches, in our neighborhoods, in our world, couldn't we?

Hey, we've come this far; it's time to grab a guitar, a sitar, a shofar; lay aside the scars; you're God's star; gone is yesterday's tar; you have the risen Lord which no man can mar; Rise Up, it's Adar!

Let the month of Adar be a new beginning for you. You say, "But, there's a lot wrong in my life; I don't see how anything can change." "Anything" doesn't change, WE DO! Huh? It starts with us, turning it all over to the One who made us ... The Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord; then we repent, deeply and sincerely; we ask Him to fill us with His Spirit; and we get baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. If you've done all that; then Worship! It's Adar; rebuild David's tabernacle within your own heart ... Worship the Lord for WHO He is; start with a three-day fast; a Bible reading schedule; prayer at least an hour a day ... It's time to rebuild. We all are in Adar, and we all are working on the "temple;" ... it always pays off to work on the temple ... and complete it!