Ezra 1
McGeeCHAPTERS 1 AND 2THEME: Decree and return of a remnant to Jerusalem
Ezra 1:1
DECREE OF CYRUS FOR THE TEMPLE RESTORATIONNotice that right away Ezra puts an emphasis upon the Word of God. Also, Cyrus, king of Persia, is mentioned. He was one of the most enlightened rulers of the ancient world. He was a subject of predictive prophecy. He was named before he was bornalmost two hundred years before his coming as king of Persia. Isa_44:28 says, “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” Isa_45:1 continues, “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.” Cyrus is a type of Christ. Daniel was a prime minister in the court of Cyrus and evidently led him to a knowledge of the living and true God. Cyrus knew what he was doing when he made a decree proclaiming that the nation of Israel could return to their land. We are told that the will of the Lord was fulfilled in that act. Here is prophecy that was indeed fulfilled. It was during the reign of Cyrus that Daniel gave some of his greatest prophecies, including the seventy weeks prophecy concerning Israel. At least one-fourth of the Bible, when it was initially given, was prophetic. A large portion of it has already been fulfilled. Ezr_1:1 is one of those portions of Scripture that has been fulfilled. Over three hundred prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ have been literally fulfilled. There are those who say there are also over three hundred prophecies concerning the second coming of Christ, although I have never checked that out. The birth of Christ was predicted in the Old Testament, and four things were said in connection with it:
- He was to be born in Bethlehem (Mic_5:2).
- He was to be called a Nazarene (Jdg_13:5).
- He was to be called out of Egypt (Hos_11:1).
- There would be weeping in Ramah, a little town near Jerusalem (Jer_31:15). Matthew fits all of these pieces together and gives us the Christmas story. Fulfilled prophecy is what Matthew 2 is all about. Ezr_1:1 is also fulfilled prophecy. The seventy years of captivity were over, the decree was given, and the children of Israel could return to their land. Very few returned, however.
Ezra 1:2
The decree of Cyrus is very important. In the first place, Cyrus said that he had been given all the kingdoms of the earth. I can hear someone asking, “What about the United States of America?” May I say that the United States was not a very interesting place in that day. It was not a kingdom. Cyrus was talking about the kingdoms that existed during his day. Cyrus was the kingpin; “The LORD God of heaven hath given me"he was the man at the top. He realized that God had given him his position. I wonder today how many of the rulers of this world, in this so-called civilized age, recognize that they are ministers of God? They have been put into office by God whether they know it or not! Now I want you to notice the expression, “The LORD God of heaven.” It is a designation of God which is peculiar to Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel. This expression does not occur before we come to these books. You see, after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Jerusalem God could no longer be identified with the temple as the One who dwelt between the cherubim. The glory had departed; “Ichabod” was written over the escutcheon of Israel. Ezekiel had the vision of the departure of the Shekinah glory. For this reason in the postcaptivity books He is “the LORD God of heaven.” Ezekiel saw the vision of God’s glory departing from the temple at Jerusalem. It lifted from the temple and paused to see if the people of God would return to Him and turn away from their idolatry. They did not. It went over the city and the city walls and paused again. But the people did not turn to God. Then the Shekinah glory lifted to the top of the Mount of Olives and waited again. But there was no turning to God. So the glory was caught up to heaven and was not seen again. One day there walked into the temple One who made a whip of cords, and He cleansed that temple (John 2). Although the Shekinah glory was not visibleHe was veiled in human fleshHe was God. He had laid aside His glory when He came to earth, but He was very God of very God and He was very man of very man. Because His glory was veiled, He was rejected and crucified. Although man crucified Him, He is a king. In the Gospel of Matthew He was born a king, He lived like a king, He performed miracles as a king, He taught as a king, He was arrested as a king, tried as a king, and He died as a king.
He was buried as a king. He arose as a king and went back to heaven as a king. He is coming again someday as a king. He is “…the King of kings and Lord of lords …” (1Ti_6:15). Today He is the Lord God of heaven. Don’t go to Bethlehem to look for Him.
He is in heaven. He is at God’s right hand. When the Shekinah glory was removed from the earth, God gave His people into the hands of the Gentiles and sent them into Babylonian captivity. He dissolved the theocracy of Israel and became the God of heaven. He is still that to His ancient people, and He will remain that until He returns to Jerusalem to establish His throne again as the Lord of the whole earth. Jerusalem will then be the city of the great King. Now going back to the second verse of the Book of Ezra, notice that Cyrus very definitely said, “He hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem.” The word charged means that God had “commanded” him to do this. This is remarkable when we remember that Cyrus was a Gentile world ruler at this time! Apparently Cyrus, through the ministry of Daniel the prophet, came to a knowledge of the living and true God. Cyrus now gives permission for the Jews who had been in Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:3
You’ll notice that God has commanded Cyrus to do this, but Cyrus did not command the people to go to Jerusalem; he granted them permission to go up.
Ezra 1:4
Permission was granted to the people to return. Those who did not choose to return were to make an offering of gold and silver and other things of value that would assist those returning to execute this command to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:5
As I have indicated before, there was actually a very small percentage of the people who went up. I don’t want to sit in judgment on them because they may have had a very good excuse for not going up. But, apparently, it was God’s will for them to go up and some did not choose to go. They had settled down in Babylon. I am of the opinion many of them were settled and enjoying the comfort and affluent society of Babylon. Many of them had become prosperous, and so they chose not to go up.
They at least felt that it was not God’s will or the time for them to go up. It’s not, therefore, for me to say that these people are out of the will of God. I do know that later on, when we get to the Book of Esther, we’ll see the story of those who remained in the land; and it’s not a very pretty story. At that time they were definitely out of the will of God. One thing that can be said in their favor is that there was, apparently, no spirit of enmity or of judgment between the two groupsthose who returned and those who did not. Those who remained helped their brethren who went up.
They provided the things that they needed. This has an application and is quite interesting to me. I do not feel that everyone is called today to go as a foreign missionary. I’m confident I was never called to leave my land and to go to foreign people. And I can be very frank and tell you why God didn’t call me to go. I said to a friend of mine, when we were visiting a mission field down in Mexico, and I said it again in South America when I was down there, “I can very easily see why God did not call me. I do not mean to be crude, but I do not have the intestinal fortitude to have stayed down here!” I don’t think I could have endured the slow pace.
I like to see action, and you don’t see that on the mission fieldthings move slowly. God has some wonderful people on the mission field! However, because God didn’t call me doesn’t mean we’re not to support those He did call. We should support those who are doing a good job and back them up with our prayers and our encouragement. This goes for those who are out on the front lines in this country giving out the Word of God. In warfare it is estimated that for every soldier out on the fighting front there have to be ten people behind him getting supplies to himfood, clothing, medical care, and ammunition.
This is true in God’s army today. Now in Ezra’s day the people who did not return felt a responsibility to become partners with their brethren who went back to Jerusalem. The group that returned was of the poorer class. There were “the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites.” They were humble folk. The pslamist says, “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way” (Psa_25:9). These are the ones who had the understanding of the times, and so they returned to their land.
Ezra 1:7
How did Cyrus get “the vessels of the house of the LORD”? Well they were being useddesecratedat Belshazzar’s drunken feast the night that Babylon fell to the Medes and the Persians. Daniel records this: “Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone” (Dan_5:2-4). That very night the city of Babylon was captured.
The Persian kings had put away these vessels, and when Cyrus became king, they were thereGod saw to this. Now these holy vessels (“holy” in the sense that they were for the use of God) are put back in the hands of the priests and Levites who are returning to Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:8
As they were officially delivered to the Jews, we are given some details concerning them.
Ezra 1:9
They represent tremendous wealth. These are sent back to Jerusalem.