The people had great reason to shout and to cry at this amazing time in the history of the Hebrew people. Roughly 1500 years earlier, God had promised this land to the nation that would be formed from Abraham's descendants. History records so many dramatic events since that time: Jacob's family moving to Egypt during a famine, Moses leading their descendants from slavery in Egypt to the wilderness, Joshua leading the people to conquer the Promised Land, the tribes in cooperation under the leadership of the judges, the unified kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon, the divided kingdoms, the utter destruction of the northern kingdom, and the exile of the southern kingdom. Finally the exile was over, finally the people had returned, and when they did, they found that God, ever faithful, was right there with them.

In the United States, we have historical connections that go back about as far as 400 years if we consider our roots in the founding of the Jamestown colony. We might make an academic argument that our roots go to the signing of the Magna Carta 800 years ago, but no one would claim an emotional bond to that treaty establishing the first evidences of a balanced of power in government. However, the time period between the Magna Carta and the present is only half the duration between the promise to Abraham and the time of the restored Israelite nation under Ezra's and Nehemiah's leadership. In every practical sense, God's love had sustained them forever.

Even though the priests returning from exile were overwhelmed with joy at the miracle that God had done in restoring them to the Promised Land, their thoughts were so much smaller than the reality of God. They had laid the foundation for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, not fully comprehending that God had not needed a temple to be with them in Babylon. They rejoiced at God's faithfulness to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not yet understanding that God's love was not limited to one ancestry but to all humanity. They had come back "home", not yet able to comprehend the steady commission from God since the beginning of time that Jesus would echo when He commanded us to "go to all the nations." Forever was a far more magnificent and impossible concept than these worshipers could fathom!

Even with all the educational, technological, and theological advantages that we have 2500 years later, we are not any more capable of understanding "forever" than were the people celebrating the start of the reconstruction of the temple. Maybe we recognize our ignorance better than these people did, but our egos and emotions will often betray that which we know. We will impose or assume limits to God's power and God's love, and we will hurt ourselves and rob ourselves when we do. We are incapable of understanding God, but all we need to know is that God is always faithful.

God promises us forever, so we can know that God will always have time for us, and that God has the patience to lead us back when we stray. God promises us life in an abundance that far exceeds what we recognize as living, and promises us that life will go on forever. God promises us Love, the power that created the universe and formed humanity from the dust, and God gives it to each of us. It is an impossible and eternal gift—accept it, embrace it, and give yourself to it.