Ezra 3:8

THE FIRST LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION

"Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity into Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of Jehovah. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, after the order of David the king of Israel."

All of the ceremonies mentioned here would seem to have been something like what is known today as "Ground breaking." It is a major misassumption to suppose that the structural foundations of the Second Temple were at this time completed. Years would pass before that could occur, during which the opposition of the "peoples of the land" would be vented against Israel in their full hostility.

Bowman, of course, insisted that what took place here occurred during the reign of Darius I, Sept. 21,520 B.C.[11] This writer, however, believes that there were two occasions when the foundation "was laid," and that the one in 520 B.C. was the second. This chapter plainly states that the first time was during the reign of Cyrus, or at least leaves that impression.

"The Levites twenty years old and upward" (Ezra 3:8). Various ages are given in Scripture when the Levites were accounted able to do service in the temple. Those ages vary from the age of 20, as here, up to 25,30, or 35. The reasons for the differences are not given; but one possible explanation is that suggested by Simmons' statement that, "There were 24,000 Levites to see after the work of Solomon's temple (1 Chronicles 29:4); and only 341Levites returned from Babylon."[12] It hardly takes a genius to figure out why they lowered the required age: they needed more men!