EZRA 1 - Cyprus helps the exiles to return 

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** God controls the fate of nations, and all history moves toward ends which He alone has determined  <R1795>

• Jeremiah predicted the captivity of the Jews would last 70 years (Jer 25:11-12)

• Isaiah, writing in the time of Hezekiah, named Cyrus as the ruler who would fulfill God’s will (Isa 45:1-5)

• The very year this Persian conqueror supplanted the Babylonian kings, he issued a decree permitting the Jews to return home

• The prophecy of Isaiah, and the action of Cyrus, remind us that God is sovereign!

Ezra 1:1-4 NIV

[1] In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: [2] “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. [3] Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. [4] And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' ”

** God is sovereign and He can name one whom He will use for His purposes years before that one even exists  <L127>

• Isaiah wrote his prophecy about 740 to 700 BC regarding the matter of that Persian king named Cyrus, whom he named some 200 years before Cyrus came on the scene to be God’s man

• Cyrus would allow Ezra to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple in 539 BC

Ezra 1:1-2 NIV

[1] In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: [2] “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Isaiah 45:12-13 NIV

[12] It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. [13] I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.”

** No other book in the world contains fulfilled prophecies, including the sayings of Buddha and Confucius, the Quran, the Hindu Vedras, and the Book of Mormon along with the ridiculous nonsensical quatrains of Nostradamus.

In contrast, the Bible contains hundreds of specific prophecies that have already been fulfilled — prophecies about towns, cities, nations, empires, and political leaders, as well as prophecies about the Messiah.

Consider, for example, the prophecy in the book of Isaiah that a man named Cyrus would be the one who would release the children of Israel from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 44:28) which is exactly what happened 142 years later (Ezra 1:1-3)  <R173>

Isaiah 44:28 NIV

[28] who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” '

Ezra 1:1-3 NIV

[1] In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: [2] “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. [3] Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.

** Those God called to return to build the temple, responded

Ezra 1:5 NIV

[5] Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites---everyone whose heart God had moved---prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.

** The people together with their king contributed to the building of the temple

• The enthusiasm of those who returned to Judah was tested by hardship and by opposition from local peoples

• Despite a long delay, the Jerusalem temple was rebuilt and God was again worshiped at the site He had chosen  <R1795>

Ezra 1:6-8 NIV

[6] All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. [7] Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. [8] Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.