When We Follow God’s Plans Ezra 1:1-5 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. 5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. God kept His promise to restore His people. Jeremiah’s message foretelling the end of the exile was true. God chose to liberate the Jews from their Babylonian captivity by using Cyrus king of Persia. Persia was the next major world power in the ancient world. In 539 B.C. Cyrus defeated the Babylonians and controlled the destiny of the Jews. God prompted this non-Jewish ruler to issue a proclamation about the Jews. The prophet Isaiah had earlier described Cyrus as God’s “shepherd” (Isaiah 44:28) and “his anointed” (45:1). The book of Ezra quoted Cyrus’s decree. The Jews could now return home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon’s temple had been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders in 586 B.C. Cyrus identified God as the God who is in Jerusalem. Perhaps Cyrus thought each country had its own “god”. Cyrus also announced that any Jew who returned to Judah would have financial resources to help them. The men of the region might refer to fellow Jews who would help or to the population in general. Either way, the returning Jews would not go back empty handed. The Jews who returned to Judah came from three groups. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin comprised the old Southern Kingdom. The third group came from the tribe of Levi—the priests, and the Levites. They headed back to Judah with one primary task, to build the house of the Lord. They all responded positively to God’s motivation! Like these obedient Jews, our response to God’s motivation should be a resounding “Yes!” God’s story is full of episodes with reluctant leaders, such as Moses and Jonah. The Jews in verse 5 represent the response God wants from all of us. Q. When God gives you a task to do for Him, how do you respond? Are you eager to serve, as Isaiah was (Isaiah 6:8)? Or, do you try to avoid God, as Jonah attempted to do (Jonah 1:3)? Why?
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:25:24 +0000
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