Rebuilding the altar
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD’s temple had not yet been laid.
The returnees put first things first when they made the temple sacrifices one of their priorities. The seventh month of the religious calendar was an ideal time to do this, for it was the greatest festival month of the Jewish calendar.
The first day of the seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets, was New Year’s Day in the civil calendar. It occurs at the time of the autumn solstice and is still celebrated today as the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
The tenth day of the month was the great Day of Atonement, the day when special sacrifices were made for the sins of the people and the one day of the year when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place. The omission of this most important day from this account is probably due to the fact that the Most Holy Place (also known as the Holy of Holies) had not yet been rebuilt.
On the 15th day of the month, the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles began. During this time the people lived in booths to commemorate their 40 years in the wilderness. This holiday also served as a fall harvest festival. During this festival, the most elaborate sacrifices of the year were to be offered.
Moses recorded the regulations for the sacrifices of these festivals in Numbers chapter 29. The regular daily sacrifices, the New Moon sacrifices that marked the beginning of each month, and the sacrifices for the other festivals of the year are described in Numbers chapter 28. Leviticus chapter 23 contains additional information on these festivals.
Although this was a day of great joy for the people, the text includes an ominous note. It gives the first hint of enemy opposition and the negligence of the people. These factors would delay the completion of the temple for about 20 years.