Ezra 1:1-11
End of the Babylonian Captivity (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23)
1 Now 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, saying,
2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who 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 build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Ezra continues where 2 Chronicles left off in the history of God’s people from their exile into captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem on the path to restore true worship as the people turned from sin to Him. God used Cyrus, the king of Persia, to rebuild the ruins of the house of God and the walls of the city to bring back the place of worship to give them another chance to follow and worship the LORD in spirit and truth. He moved His spokesman Jeremiah the prophet to bring word to Cyrus and that foreign ruler heeded the words spoken to him, in contrast to the past rulers of Judah who should have had a closer relationship with their own God. This foreign king ruled that he was going to build God a house again in Jerusalem as he was commanded by the LORD who had given him his rule over the nations by grace as he confessed that it was not his own doing. All he had was given by the LORD God of Israel and he bore witness to all who heard that it was so and for that reason he had called the people of God exiled in his own land to volunteer to be part of the rebuilding of the house of their and his God. He made it clear that the LORD God of Israel is God. It is as we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of all kings (Romans 10:9, 1 Timothy 6:15, Philippians 2:11, Revelation 19:16) now. Do we learn from this example to build the house of God (Ephesians 2:19-20, 21-22, 1 Peter 2:4-5) which is the body of Christ, all redeemed believers who received Him and confessed Him as Lord of lords and King of all earthly rulers? Cyrus drove the effort to build God’s house to honor and worship Him out of the ruins sin had brought upon the nation and inspired the people of the LORD to donate whatever valuables they could to restore and maintain the house of God. Do we likewise invest in the kingdom through our local church bodies? Cyrus even restored the precious dedicated things taken by Nebuchadnezzar when the temple was looted and the city leveled, giving it back to the restored captives on their return to bring the worship and sacrifices back as they once had been to honor God and seek forgiveness and redemption with reconciliation through those sacrifices; today we seek to please God and not earn our redemption because Jesus has reconciled us. Our sacrifices now are a response of dying with Christ (Mark 8:34-35, Galatians 2:20) as we take up the cross to bear it with Him and live lives as sacrifices willingly (Romans 12:1) offered to please Him with wholehearted thankfulness in return. May we continue to give our all (in our possessions which have been given us for worship and with our soul’s absolute sacrificial devotion) to restore and keep sincere worship (1 Timothy 1:5, 1 Corinthians 5:8) in spirit and in truth as we honor God in His Son our Lord and Savior. This is the challenge given by the example of Cyrus who was moved by God and who moves us now in Christ by His indwelling Spirit.
