“甚至百姓不能分辨欢呼的声音和哭号的声音；因为众人大声呼喊，声音听到远处。” – 拉 3:13
流亡者回到耶路撒冷后，他们的首要任务之一就是重建圣殿，以恢复对神的敬拜。这段经文强调了这个群体对这项工程的兴奋之情，以及他们对上帝再次把他们带回家的感激之情。人们为这项工程付上代价奉献。
但我们也得知，许多上了年纪的人都哭了。他们目睹了旧圣殿的荣耀，没想到新圣殿今非昔比（见哈该书 2:2-9）。
快乐和遗憾有时是并存的。当我们回顾人生，发现自己本应采取不同的行动或做出不同的决定时，我们会悲伤地看到我们的罪对周围人造成的影响。有时，我们只有在上帝恢复我们并欢迎我们回到祂身边之后，才会明白我们错误行为的全部份量。
年长流亡者的眼泪并不意味着对上帝的失望。这些眼泪反映了人们意识到国家的罪孽代价有多重大。古老的圣殿毁于一旦，因为人们悖逆了上帝。
然而，人们想起了另一个关键真理：“（耶和华）是良善的，他的慈爱……直到永远”（第11节）。在基督里，每一个罪孽都被除去，每一滴眼泪都被擦去，剩下的只有得救的喜乐。
祷告
主啊，请赐予我们虔诚的忧伤，为我们内心和周围的罪恶所带来的影响而忧伤。但我们也祈求赐下喜乐，因着你在耶稣里赐予我们的荣耀，我们祈祷。阿们。
以斯拉记 3:8-13
8百姓到了耶路撒冷神殿的地方第二年二月，撒拉铁的儿子所罗巴伯、约萨达的儿子耶书亚，和其余的弟兄，就是祭司、利未人，并一切被掳归回耶路撒冷的人，都兴工建造。又派利未人，从二十岁以外的，督理建造耶和华殿的工作。
9于是犹大的后裔，就是耶书亚和他的子孙与弟兄，甲篾和他的子孙，利未人希拿达的子孙与弟兄，都一同起来，督理那在神殿做工的人。
10匠人立耶和华殿根基的时候，祭司皆穿礼服吹号，亚萨的子孙利未人敲钹，照以色列王大卫所定的例都站着赞美耶和华。
11他们彼此唱和，赞美称谢耶和华说：“他本为善，他向以色列人永发慈爱！”他们赞美耶和华的时候，众民大声呼喊，因耶和华殿的根基已经立定。
12然而有许多祭司、利未人、族长，就是见过旧殿的老年人，现在亲眼看见立这殿的根基，便大声哭号，也有许多人大声欢呼，
13甚至百姓不能分辨欢呼的声音和哭号的声音，因为众人大声呼喊，声音听到远处。
Bittersweet Homecoming
“No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.” – Ezra 3:13
When the exiles returned to Jerusalem, one of their first tasks was to rebuild the temple so that the worship of God could be restored. The text emphasizes the community’s excitement about this project, and their gratitude to God for bringing them home again. The people gave sacrificially for the work.
But we are also told that many of the older people wept. They had seen the glory of the former temple and did not think that this new one would be as glorious (see Haggai 2:2-9).
Joy and regret sometimes go together. When we look back in life and see that we should have acted differently or made different decisions, we can see with sadness the effects of our sins on the people around us. And sometimes we only understand the full weight of our wrongdoing after God restores us and welcomes us back to himself.
The tears of the older exiles did not signal a disappointment with God. Those tears reflected an awareness of how much the nation’s sins had cost. The old temple had been ruined because the people had rebelled against God.
Yet the people recalled another key truth: “[The Lord] is good; his love . . . endures forever” (v. 11). In Christ, every sin is removed and every tear is wiped away so that what remains is only the joy of salvation.
Prayer
Lord God, give us godly sorrow for the effects of sin in and around us. But also give us joy, we pray, in the glory of your gift to us in Jesus. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
