EZRA 1
Read Ezra 1:1-11
The Lord is faithful and true. When the Israelites were sent into exile as judgement on their idolatry, they were told by the Lord through his prophet, Jeremiah, that the exile would only last for 70 years. Now God is honouring that promise by enabling his people to return from exile and go back into the Promised Land. The Book of Daniel was at pains to say that God is in charge and that is re-emphasised at the beginning of the Book of Ezra. The new king of Babylon was Cyrus, a Persian, who had invaded and displaced the previous king.
Cyrus wrote a letter saying that ‘the God of heaven . . . has appointed me to build a temple in Jerusalem’ and that any of the Israelites who wanted to could go to Jerusalem to build the temple. We don’t know if Cyrus was a believer in the one true God; probably not, but the text here tells us that this decision of Cyrus was due to the Lord moving Cyrus’ heart (v1). God is sovereign and he can and does use people who do not believe in him to carry out his will.
Verse 5 tells us that many of the heads of the families, and the priests, took Cyrus up on his offer and those who chose not to go back to Jerusalem (and history tells us that many did not and that Babylon became one of the great centres of Jewish faith and learning) helped in the rebuilding of the temple by contributing valuables, Cyrus, to his credit, also returned much of the temple treasure that was looted by Nebuchadnezzar.
It is noticeable that this chapter about the people returning to Jerusalem and the Promised Land concentrates heavily on the Temple. We don’t get any commentary about how the felt. Were they rejoicing at the prospect of going home? Were they thankful to God that he had kept his promise? We are not told, and this is perhaps because the emphasis is on what God has done for his people. We will see their reaction in due course, but at the moment the emphasis is on the Lord and his faithfulness. The main point is that the Lord is still with his people. The loss of the Temple when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar was a disaster for the Old Testament people of God because, as well as being the worship centre, it was the symbol of God’s presence among his people. Did no Temple mean that God was no longer with his people? The Book of Daniel showed that this was not the case, but the priority on returning to the Promised Land was to re-establish the Temple as the visible reminder of the presence of God with his people. It was a demonstration that there is hope beyond judgement. They had sinned, they had been judged and punished with exile, but God is gracious and merciful and has brought his people back into his presence. That was good news and encouragement for the exiles of the Old Testament. And it is good news for us; we are all sinners and we will be judged. But we know that there is hope beyond judgement and for us as the New Testament people of God we can be certain of that thanks to the cross of Christ.