Ezra 1-3
It must have been a hard seventy years in Babylon. But now the Israelites were home. Not only that, but they had the blessing of the king of Persia to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This wasn’t just freedom from the chains of captivity, it was the freedom to finally worship God without fear of death.
The first thing they did was to build altars, and sacrifice their offerings to the Lord. I can imagine the excitement because they all knew without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Blood was finally shed. Praise the Lord!
Then after everyone was resettled in their homes, the building of a new temple on the original site began. When the foundation was laid, a worship service was held. Lots of singing. Lots of praise. Lots of joy.
And lots of tears. The old guys, those who had lived in Israel before the captivity seventy years earlier wept. I’ve heard some sermons condemning them for holding onto tradition, resisting change. I think that’s unfair. The Bible doesn’t tell us what those tears were about except to say the people remembered the temple that was.
Personally, I think these old folks were sad knowing the contemporary temple would be inferior to the temple they had known, and I think they longed for the good old days.
(Sigh)
alighttomyway 
This really touched me. I don’t see those tears as rebellion against change either. Sometimes tears come from remembering what once was, what was lost, and realizing some things may never look the same again. Yet even in the sorrow, God was still rebuilding, still restoring, still present among His people. What a reminder that God can work through both rejoicing and grieving at the same time.
Thank you so much for your words. What an encouragement to know God was still building, still restoring, and still present with the people even in their sorrow. I pray that truth will be an encouragement for someone today. God bless you, my friend. And may He continue to make you a blessing to others.