Ezra 1 Devotional
by Pastor Mark Hudson
This is a rather unusual book because a foreign ruler commissions Jews in Babylon to return to Jerusalem and gives them back their things a previous ruler stole from them. And the book offers more surprises. So, let’s put this book in context. We find Jews in Babylon as they are returning to Jerusalem. They are there because God kicked them out of the land because of their disobedience after He repeatedly warned them to stop sinning. See II Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52. Also in Ezra 5:11ff, the Jews confess that they were kicked off the land due to their own sin.
The first exile was Israel in 722 B.C. when the ten northern tribes were sent into exile. These are called the 10 lost tribes. In this exile the Assyrians removed them from the land, dispersing them in various countries. They are lost in the various countries they are sent to. After the northern tribes were exiled, the southern tribe, Judah, was given an example NOT to follow. But the warning was to no avail. In less than 150 years, guess what happens to Judah?
In 587 Babylon removes Judah from the land of Israel and forcibly took them to Babylon. Some of the poorest of the people of Judah stayed to farm but Nebuchadnezzar torched many of the building and removed many of the objects for worship. What was left in Jerusalem was not in great shape. The Babylonians were ruthless to the temple and the property in Israel.
In Jeremiah 25:9-13, the prophet said they would be in exile for 70 years, but this return seems to be less than 70 years when, in God’s mercy, God ingeniously brings them back to the land with funding from a foreign government. In 538 B.C., God moves a pagan ruler to not only decree that the Jews move back but Cyrus told the Jews God “charged” him to do this. He not only provided the religious objects Nebuchadnezzar stole but then Darius years later, also decreed that the people in the region should also supply the building of the temple in Ezra 6:8ff.
The first few verses are a study in the sovereignty of God and the will of man. The first verses says, “that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus . . . .” If you knew Cyrus at that time, Cyrus was not thinking about Jeremiah or reading his prophecies (as far as we know). Cyrus was not a follower of Yahweh but probably, Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster is his prophet. So Cyrus, although doing God’s will, is not intentionally doing God’s will. So you could say Cyrus did it and you could say God did it.
Clearly God is first. We know that because in Isaiah 44:28, Cyrus is mentioned by name. For a human (or a donkey) to do God’s will, it is not necessary that the water, animal, human loves God and wants to glorify God. As Proverbs 21:1 states, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he wills.”
Why did Cyrus do this? I would suggest guilt or any moral obligation is absent. He could have believed having different faiths praying for him was good. Cyrus called him “the Lord, the God of heaven who “has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house. . . .” That is 1:2 but in verse 3, Cyrus calls hi the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. Later Darius, years later, remarked, “. . . let that (bulls, rams, sheep, oil, etc.) be given to them (the Jews building the temple) day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the kings and his sons.” Was this for stability in the kingdom, good wishes and prayers for the king? Did they expect more revenue in an expanded realm? For whatever reason, Cyrus and Darius find themselves fitting into God’s plan.
In Daniel 5:2, Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, brought the vessels used in Jewish worship and drank wine from them probably singing raunchy songs to their gods and blaspheming the One true God. Now Cyrus is returning them to the Jews. And they will be carried back to Jerusalem. Amazing.
You will notice if you read Ezra, there are plenty of lists and the inclusion of the letters written back and forth. God cares about precision. For those churches that don’t keep a list of members, I suppose they just think this is the Old Testament and things are different now. Yet in Acts 2:41, they counted 3,000 people who joined the church. Someone had to count them. Is that a fair leap to go from Ezra to church membership? At least we know God seems to care about where the tribes camped around the tabernacle in Numbers 2. They could not just pitch their tents anywhere. If you wanted to be a priest or Levite, you couldn’t just volunteer. You had to be a descendant of Aaron or to be a Levite, from the tribe of Levi. God cared very much that the Jews followed His rules. So when Ezra is introduced in Ezra 7, he is listed as a descendant of Aaron. Our God is a precise God.
Remember that Ezra does not leave in chapter 1. He will leave Babylon in chapter 7. This first group are the pioneers. We can only imagine the dangers of the arduous four month journey and the awful conditions Jerusalem and the surrounding area was in. I don’t think they were welcomed with a parade and a week of feasts. And soon opposition from every front. They had an uphill task and it just kept getting harder.
Our dear loving heavenly Father. You can do anything through anyone You choose. Our lives are limited: limited time, limited abilities, limited funds, limited vision, and limited choices. But You can work in small things and the big. We need to place our small god aside and look to an infinite, all-powerful, caring God that You are. You show Your kindness to us in the gospel that far exceeds what You did for those in exile. Help us to keep seeking You. In Christ’s name