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, wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy. Ezra 3:12
Some relatives of our lived in a lovely big farmhouse, with fancy gables and impressive verandahs. I loved to go there, just to admire the place. And our relatives enjoyed living in such a lovely home. But one stormy day, the house was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Until the folks could arrange for a new place, they built a small tarpaper cabin on the site. The first time I went to see them after the fire, I almost cried. Where once stood a beautiful house now sat a tiny ugly shack. What a disappointment! How much more disappointed were the old men of Israel when they saw the pitiful replacement being planned for the glorious temple that was so beautiful and impressive! How some of the Lord’s people in their senior years must weep over what has become of the godly testimony of our Assemblies!
Those old priests and Levites remembered the original temple. Throughout their long years in Babylon, they had remembered, and they longed to see it again, even though they knew it had been destroyed. Now, as a replacement temple began to rise, they were disappointed. They could not help but lift up their voices and weep. That’s how older saints feel when they see the decline among the Lord’s people. They grieve over the lack of respect and reverence that creep into some of our meetings. They mourn the lack of appreciation by young people for the New Testament principles on which our Assemblies are founded. They sorrow over the infiltration of immorality and worldliness into our speech and our attitudes. They notice the ways in which the little foxes of materialism, evolution, and social media keep nibbling at the vines, spoiling the tender grapes of appreciation for the things of our Lord.
Even as the old-timers were grieved at what was lost of the old temple, there were many who cheered the laying of the foundations of the new temple. Although these folks had no memory of the old temple, they rejoiced that a house for God was being built. We can’t expect the young folks of today to know about the early days. But we can appreciate their zeal in the Gospel, their efforts to carry their load of Assembly responsibilities, and their grasp of the truth as it is being taught among us today. If things have slipped, we need to still appreciate what we have and hold of the truth, and to rejoice that God is allowing us to continue a testimony for His Name.
Regret for the losses of the past should not cause us to let go of the precious reminders of the Lord’s presence among us today. -Jim MacIntosh