Shouting and Weeping

The Story

For seventy years, God’s people had lived in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem lay in ruins. Solomon’s magnificent temple had been burned to the ground.

Then God moved the heart of a foreign king. Cyrus of Persia issued a decree: any of God’s people who wanted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of the Lord were free to go.

Thousands made the long journey home. They rebuilt the altar first and began worshiping again. Then, in the second year, they laid the foundation of the new temple.

It was a huge celebration. The priests stood in their robes with trumpets. The Levites played cymbals. They sang, “For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise.

But not everyone was shouting. Many of the older priests and leaders had seen the first temple in all its glory. When they saw how small this new foundation was, they wept out loud.

So the sounds mixed together, joy and grief, until “the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping.” And the sound could be heard far away.

Reflection