Altar, Return, and Throne

The people return from exile and do not begin with houses, but with the altar. Before the walls are raised, sacrifice is offered; before the temple stands complete, its foundation is laid with shouting and tears. This is the right order for a chastened people: first repentance, first worship, first the fear of God. Hippolytus recalls “Jesus the son of Josedech, who returned at that time along with the people, and offered sacrifice according to the law.” The restored community is not made by memory alone, but by obedience.

Zechariah presses the same matter more sharply. The fathers sinned, and the Lord was angry; therefore the sons must not copy them. Return is not a word for the lips only. Clement sets the edge on it: “If you come straight to me, I also will come straight to you but if you walk crooked, I also will walk crooked, says the Lord of hosts;” God is merciful, yet not mocked. He receives those who turn, and He opposes double-minded service.

Then John sees what the builders in Jerusalem served beneath all their labor: a throne set in heaven. The altar below, the prophet’s call to return, and the worship above belong together. The church does not toil before an empty sky. Our prayers, repentance, fasting, alms, and endurance are offered before the One whom angels adore without ceasing. Therefore let your worship be clean, your repentance prompt, and your work steadfast. Lay the foundation again where it has been broken. Turn from crooked ways. Join the earthly assembly to the heavenly one by reverence, purity, and perseverance.