1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Ezra 1:1–2
The time had come. The 70-year exile of the people of God in Babylon was completed. The Persians had captured Babylon by 539 B.C. and the year was 536 (or 537) when Cyrus the king was moved by the God of heaven and Jerusalem to obey what was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah 70 years earlier, to proclaim throughout the land that his people were free to return to their city.
There did not appear to be any resistance to the Lord’s directive on the king’s part, which would seem to be contrary to what a king would normally want to do. Whereas he could have been of the mindset that it was his power by which Babylon was overtaken, and by no means would he relinquish any part of it, he responded to the spirit of God who “stirred” or “roused him from his sleep” to be aware of and act upon Jeremiah’s words with magnanimity and generosity.
To be sure, with the passage of 70 years and the implementation of Jeremiah’s instructions to set down roots in Babylon and be fruitful (Jeremiah 29:4-7) survivors might be initially reluctant to leave. Perhaps they needed the strong arm of the king to motivate them to respond to their own prophetic destiny. This would be like telling me, a 70 year old, I needed to move back to a city I didn’t even remember, that was only familiar to me by way of my parents talking about it, who were now long since gone. Nevertheless, Ezra 1:5 says, “even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.” Again, God did the necessary rousing.
All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. Ezra 1:6
Ezra goes into detail on the king’s return of articles taken from the temple, the “holy vessels,” 5,400 of them. So the survivors were sent on their way with these and gold and silver, and goods and livestock from their neighbors, plus individual “goodwill” offerings from the people of Babylon to rebuild God’s house. This is amazing. God stirred the king, the survivors, and their neighbors to action.
Just like we now long for our future heavenly home that we have not seen, the scriptures were there to provide motivation, and the red carpet was laid out by the king for their return. It is noteworthy that the proclamation, both verbal and in writing, was not to return to the land, but to return to rebuild the temple of God. First things first. In the first eight verses of Ezra, this directive is issued five times. Perhaps he knew that they might become distracted and not accomplish the task at hand.
Here are some obvious takeaways. First, prophecies in the Bible come true. If this one did right on schedule, can we not count on the Lord returning just as he said? Accordingly, we should should be people of hope. Our prayers should be laced with the confident expectation that what has been written will be fulfilled. For example, if Jesus said that he will go to prepare a place for us (John 14:3) then bank on it.
Second, the study of prophecy is not to be the “red-headed stepchild” in our Christian walks. It should fuel us. Push it to the back burner and you rob yourself of tons of hope. Don’t let anyone tell you that there is no need to “take a position” on what the Bible predicts, that Bible prophecies are secondary issues.
Third, God pays for what he orders. Look at the detail provided of what the Lord kept in safekeeping for the return trip to Jerusalem. All the “holy vessels” remained, and human nature was thwarted to cause ordinary people to be extremely generous.
Fourth, there is much value in growing where you’re planted. If we are truly beacons of hope, then shine the light in your neighborhood, in your workplace, at the ballfield, and it goes without saying, in your church.
Fifth, God is not done yet in the city of Jerusalem. You’ll read of other predictions involving the city yet to occur, if you look for them. If you are looking forward to the return of Jesus, some clues lie in the fate of this city, particularly the obvious present absence of a temple. Bible prophecies tell us that there must be another one for us to experience the “end of the story.”
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