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| Source: Churchdirectory111.com |
Ezra 1:1-4
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel - he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he lives, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
As we start a new series on the book of Ezra, the setting we are given, in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, places this toward the end of the Babylonian exile and by the mouth of Jeremiah refers to the completion of the prophecy mouthed by Jeremiah 150 years before that the exile would last 70 years (Jeremiah 25:12 and 29:10).
And so, in order to bring about his plan, God caused the king of Persia (and now of Babylon) to announce an edict, a command that all his kingdom would hear and obey. He also put it in writing to ensure all his subjects would receive this proclamation.
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
God is the one who initiates this proclamation to bring about the deliverance of his chosen people. God had control of the whole situation from the prophecy in Jeremiah right through to the edict announced by King Cyrus. God was in complete control. Notice that Cyrus knows and accepts this as well. The Lord the God of heaven distinguishes this from any other god, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledges God is the one who has the power. He establishes and destroys kingdoms. Despite his predecessors, Nebuchadnezzar who, in the book of Daniel took the Israelites into captivity, his son, Amel-Marduk and his son, Belshazzar being evil in God’s eyes even though they received warnings, Cyrus knew who the God of heaven was. The truth be told, if you read the accounts of Nebuchadnezzar, Amel-Marduk and Belshazzar, you will also see that God had complete control during their reigns. And why wouldn’t he?
God had a chosen people, whom he dearly loved (Colossians 3:12) and he was not going to abandon them despite their continual and consistent sinning. Therefore, he ensured their survival by exiling them from the promised land and having complete control over their captors. Not only would the people be punished for their wrongdoing, but God factored in a way for them to glorify his name once more with his plan of deliverance.
This deliverance comes in the form of Cyrus.
Cyrus announces that he is to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem and then encourage’s any remnants of the Israelite people to go up to Jerusalem to help build the temple. Not only that, he is announcing that all natives are to support the surviving Israelites with gold, silver, goods and beasts. Does this not reflect the exodus? (Exodus 12:35 - The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewellery and for clothing and v38 talks about the beasts). God provides for his chosen people.
You know sometimes, we feel that God has not provided for us. We struggle on in our mundane lives, some of us struggling between each pay cheque, stuck in a going-nowhere job to earn much-needed coins. Whatever our circumstance the feeling that we are not being given what we rightfully deserve, or those things we believe we are due just because who we are is common to all of us. Perhaps we cry out or shout out to God, demanding that he intervenes or gives us what we want, when we want it!
We are just like those Israelites. They were exiled for a second time for 70 years, most of them were being forced to conform to the Babylonian way of living by the natives and fully integrated into their alien society. They needed a deliverer to bring them out of their predicament into the true home that was promised to them by God.
We too, as Christians are exiles. Exiles from heaven. We have been exiled to earth, we are being forced by the natives of this world to conform to its way of living and we need a deliverer from this exile. We are still awaiting our deliverer Christ Jesus to return again and bring us home to the promised land that God has promised to all who believe.
That is why it sometimes feels like a struggle, why it feels everything is against us sometimes or why we never seem to get a break in life - we are aliens in this world - our citizenship is in heaven.
But take heart, not only did God work through Cyrus to bring his people home, he will work through Christ Jesus to bring us home when he returns in glory. With this in mind, there are two things to consider:
1. God is always in control, no matter what it feels like now, God is still on the throne and is in complete control!
2. Just as the Israelites received riches from the natives, we too, will receive riches in heaven.
