Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20100808.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Ezra: Following God For Reconstruction After Group Defeat
Part I: Relying On God To Motivate Others So We Can Do His Will
(Ezra 1:1-11: 2:68)
  1. Introduction
    1. We believers live in the bounds of marital, family, church, business and government institutions, so at times our ability to do the will of God in these institutions is at the mercy of the actions of others in them.
    2. That can be a big trial: if the leader or the subordinate of an institution in which we function does not do what is right so that he or she inhibits our personal capacity to obey God's will in our calling in that institution, we can be tempted to fret about it, and to react with unbiblical, unedifying reactions.
    3. Ezra 1:1-11 with 2:68 offers us believers a great lesson in such a situation (as follows):
  2. Relying On God To Motivate Others For Us To Have Room To Do His Will, Ezra 1:1-11; 2:68.
    1. The book of Ezra begins with the people of Israel and Judah living in captivity away from their homeland due to God's discipline for departing from Him and heeding idols, cf. 2 Chronicles 36:14-21.
    2. However, the prophet Jeremiah had predicted that after seventy years in captivity, the time needed for the land of Israel to enjoy her land sabbaths that Israel and Judah had violated (2 Chronicles 36:21), they would return to the land of Israel once again, Jeremiah 29:10.
    3. For the "grassroots" Hebrew in captivity, one who might read Jeremiah's prophecy might wonder how he would ever get back to the land in view of the fact that he had no national defense, no national leader in power or political leader capable or empowered to persuade the Gentile powers over them to restore them.
    4. Nevertheless, Jeremiah's prophecy claimed that God would visit the Hebrews in exile, that God would fulfill His promise in causing them to return to the land of Israel, Jeremiah 29:10 ESV.
    5. Well, Ezra 1:1-11 with 2:68 shows how that all happened so the lowly "grassroots" Hebrew could return:
      1. Cyrus, king of Persia who had conquered Babylon and now ruled exiled Judah and Israel, made an edict in the first year of his reign in 538 B. C. for the first deportation of captive Jews to return to the land of Israel, Ezra 1:1-4; Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 654.
      2. The first group of Jews had gone into Babylonian Captivity from Israel in 605 B. C., so Cyrus' decree occurred about 67 years into Jeremiah's predicted 70 years of captivity so that by the time the Jewish exiles had rebuilt the temple altar in 536 B. C. (Ezra 3:1-2), the 70 years had almost elapsed, Ibid.
      3. Thus, God had certainly moved in the timing of this edict by Cyrus to fulfill His prophecy.
      4. In addition, the Lord had moved Cyrus' heart in an amazing show of sovereignty to produce this edict:
        1. Cyrus did not consciously follow the God of Israel as Isaiah 45:5b states and as Cyrus himself noted in his famous Cyrus Cylinder where he claimed to follow his pagan god, Marduk, cf. James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 1969, p. 316.
        2. Rather, in his own words on this cylinder, Cyrus claimed he restored all the captured people groups in his empire with their temples in hope that their gods would give him a long life, Ibid., p. 315.
        3. Thus, God in GREAT SOVEREIGNTY ALLOWED this pagan king's FALSE BELIEF to lead him to RESTORE ISRAEL and her TEMPLE so as to fulfill GOD'S WORD!
      5. With Cyrus' edict proclaimed, the Lord motivated socially recognized leaders of the Hebrew people in captivity to heed the edict and return to Israel to rebuild the Jerusalem temple, Ezra 1:5.
      6. This move by the leaders of Israel led other Hebrews of lower social status in their patristic culture to rally around these leaders and financially support their leaders' efforts, Ezra 1:6; 2:68. Cyrus also returned the sacred vessels of the Jerusalem temple held in captivity for nearly 70 years, and he gave them to the returning Hebrew captives to restore their temple worship, Ezra 1:7-11.
      7. It thus became easy for "grassroots" level Hebrews to follow their leaders and financial backers' efforts and so return to the land of Israel in accord with God's will for them, Ezra 2:1 et al.
Lesson: Though it was HUMANLY impossible for "grassroots" Hebrews to leave their captive status in Persia to return to Israel in accord with God's Word DUE to the OBSTACLES of government, finances and their culturally lowly status, GOD MOVED these OBSTACLES so they could DO that will of His!

Application: For room to do God's will in the institutions where we live, we must wait upon the Lord.