Returning

Ezra 1-2

Welcome to our new series, Ezra and Nehemiah! As we begin this series, I want to talk a bit about how we will approach these books of the Old Testament. First of all, we want to directly understand what these books are saying. These are narrative books, historical books. They tell the true story of one point in the history of God’s dealing with people. We want to understand what happened; we want to understand the context of what happened in light of the rest of Old Testament history; to the degree that Scripture tells us, we want to know why the things that happened did happen. And we want to know how the things that happened led to what happened next. This approach to Scripture, seeking to understand its direct meaning, is critically important.

But beyond this, I believe the books of Ezra and Nehemiah have a lot to say to our hearts. I find there is tremendous value in not just reading as an outside observer, but in placing ourselves into the story, to ask ourselves what it was like to experience the things that are described. By doing so, we learn lessons about our character and about the character of God in a way that sinks in deeply, that perhaps can speak to us in a place within ourselves that is difficult to reach any other way. I believe this is true for all scripture, but I also think it is especially true for Ezra and Nehemiah. And as we go through these books in the coming weeks, I encourage you to prepare your heart, to open yourself up, to make yourself vulnerable, teachable by God as He speaks to you through His word.

I would also encourage you to remember this verse:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Tim. 3:16-17

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote this to Timothy as well as to all future believers in Christ. All Scripture, including Ezra and Nehemiah, is God-breathed, in the Greek, theopneustos, which is a compound word. Theo refers to God, and pneustos is related to pneuma which is spirit, or breath. We have talked about this word before, in our 2009 series on the Old Testament called Broken Vessels. Back then we talked about how it was likely that Paul made up this word – it appears nowhere else in scripture, and nowhere else in Greek literature (except when referring to this verse). Paul seems to have made up a number of words, generally compound words like this, where it seems he could not find an existing word that could convey what he desired to say.

Theopneustos means truly God-breathed, or more precisely, breathed out by God. Paul had available to him other words that meant something weaker. For example, there are other Greek words that would convey that Scriptures are on a “higher plane” than normal writing. But Paul did not use any of these words or phrases. He specifically said theopneustos because it is such an extreme idea. Paul meant to shock us with these words.

The passage goes on to say that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. I don’t know about you, but when I first looked at these words, my thought was, “Wow, that doesn’t necessarily sound like a lot of fun.” But this is not the right way to look at it. Teaching helps us to know the real God as opposed to our misconceptions or fictions about Him. And the more we know Him, the more we will love Him. And if rebuking and correcting make you think of dog training – “Bad dog!” – you are thinking about this all wrong. Rebuking and correcting are about pointing out our blind spots, blind spots about who we are as well as who God is, blind spots about what we are doing, things we don’t see, things that make us miserable. We need to always remember that joy is found in Christ. The more we rid ourselves of our blind spots, the more joy we will have. Rebuking and correcting bring joy. And training in righteousness is in the same mold – we learn, and then we take baby steps of faith, and then we find joy in Christ as our love for Him and our day-to-day relationship with Him deepens.

And I believe this is what we will find in Ezra and Nehemiah. These are not dull, dry history books. They are the Sword. They are filled with life and joy and peace and encouragement. And even though Jesus isn’t mentioned by name, they are filled with Christ. I love this quote I recently came across by C.S. Lewis:

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. – C. S. Lewis, Is Theology Poetry?

This is how to read the Old Testament: by the light of Christ. And we will do this. When lessons in these books remind us of truths from the New Testament, we will drink deeply where it takes us. We will find much to encourage us, much to build up our faith. For as it says in Romans,

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. – Rom. 15:4

And so with that, let me begin the book of Ezra.

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 to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: " – Ezra 1:1-2a

Before we see what Cyrus says, let’s explain what was going on in the history of God’s people of the covenant. The time was about the 6th century BC, to what was perhaps the darkest moments ever experienced in Israel’s history. Spend some time remembering Israel. Remember Moses. Remember how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, bringing the plagues on the Egyptians who refused to let them go and then parting the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land and then closing up the sea when the Egyptian army was in it. From the beginning, the Israelites’ relationship with God was a shaky one, not because of God, but because they wouldn’t trust Him or obey Him. Remember the golden calf, and all the complaining and the revolts and the 40 years wandering in the desert as a result.

Remember how they finally took the promised land, but didn’t obey God in driving out the peoples they were supposed to drive out. Recall the era of the judges, in which the people would cycle between briefly turning to God in their troubles and then going back to their own ways apart from Him when things improved, each man doing what was right in his own eyes. Recall them calling out for a king, despite the warnings that it would not end well if they went down this path.

There were low points, but there were also high points. There was Saul, but there was also David. Remember the establishment of the “city of God,” the city which David made the capital of what would become the Southern Kingdom of Judah, Jerusalem. Remember under Solomon how the magnificent Temple of God was built, and how the very Spirit of God dwelt there. But remember how under Solomon and even more so with the later kings, the kings as well as the people became more and more corrupt. There was the split between the Northern and Southern kingdoms and civil war. But even worse, the people followed after other gods, did detestable practices, and mostly became people who did not even pretend to follow the God who had rescued their forefathers and who had established a covenant with them. That covenant was conditional on their staying true to God, and they broke it as completely as anyone can break any covenant. And so God warned the people again and again through the prophets, but their prophecies were ignored and even despised.

First, God raised up the Assyrians, and they came into the God-forsaking nation of Israel, the Northern Kingdom with its capital in Samaria, around 700 BC. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed. It fell completely.

Judah, the Southern Kingdom, certainly knew all about this, but it didn’t seem to have a significant effect. The people did not repent and turn to God, not in a lasting way. And despite the more and more fervent warnings of the prophets, Judah turned further and further away from God.

And so now God allowed the Babylonians to be raised up. They first made some predatory incursions into Judah and specifically Jerusalem. They captured 10 thousand of its best and brightest young men and took them into captivity into Babylon, around 600 BC. But still the people did not repent. And so about twenty years later, the Babylonians swept into Judah and lay siege of Jerusalem. The night before Jerusalem, the City of David, collapsed, the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, escaped with his two sons, but was soon captured somewhere outside Jericho. He had to watch as his two sons were murdered in front of him, and then his eyes were put out, and he was forced to march a thousand miles to Babylon. We never hear anything about him again. And then we have this:

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. – 2 Chron. 36:15-17

He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. – 2 Chron. 36:17-20

As Jerusalem fell, the grand Temple of God, was burnt to the ground, all that could burn, and all the treasures and holy tools and artifacts were taken away. Israel as a nation, Judah as a nation, Jerusalem as the City of God, was no more. The people of Judah, those left of value to the Babylonians, were rounded up and marched off to Babylon. They were slaves and servants under the mighty kingdom of the terrible tyrant, Nebuchadnezzar. It is hard to imagine the scene, but I would encourage you to imagine it. Rounded up, many of your friends missing or killed, marched a thousand miles to a new life, a difficult life, a life seemingly without hope, a feeling of being abandoned by God, when in fact, deep down, you know that it is you who has abandoned Him.

What was it like? Many passages in Scripture describe the lamenting, the weeping, overseeing the fall of Jerusalem and being carried off into Babylon, and many other passages, although perhaps not specifically speaking of this particular event, also capture the overwhelming emotions of this reality. Try to imagine the complete collapse of America, watching the constitution being thrown out, watching a new dictatorship rise up, and you get a small taste of what it was like. Their situation was so much more extreme, both in the events and in the religious implications. They hadn’t only lost their freedom to worship; they had lost their ability to worship God in the way He had told them to do. They had lost their way to receive forgiveness of sin. And they had lost their connection to the living God whose Spirit had once dwelled in the Temple.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? – Psalm 137:1-4

Scripture foretold this would happen, and it foretold what would happen next. It foretold something that sounded impossible, that the mighty kingdom of Babylon would itself collapse to the growing kingdom of Persia. Beginning with Cyrus I, and on to his son, Cambyses I, his son, Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great), and his son, Cambyses II, the Persian empire would grow and grow until it stretched all the way from India to Eastern Europe and would last centuries.

Ultimately it too would fall, at last, to none other than Alexander the Great, but now we are centuries ahead of the time of the book of Ezra. So let’s pull back.

To set the scene for the book of Ezra, the Persian kingdom has just taken over the Babylonians. All this time, close to 70 years from the first exile (the 10 thousand), and about 50 years from the final fall of Jerusalem, the Israelites, most of them, have been living in captivity in a hard and cruel life. More than a generation has passed. Like the Israelites who were forced to wander in the desert for 40 years, the new generation has only known what they have currently experienced. For the younger ones, all they know of Israel, all they know of Judah, all they know of Jerusalem, the sacrifices, the priests, the Temple, is stories they have been told by the older ones who are more and more dying out. Life is hard, and it is lived day by day. To the younger ones, dreams of returning to Jerusalem were likely met with skepticism at best. But then, Cyrus (likely Cyrus II) becomes king and makes a proclamation, out of the blue:

"'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. Anyone of His people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'" – Ezra 1:2b-4

Wow! This is just incredible! Cyrus says he gives credit for his victory to God, the God of the Israelites! This is not a believer, not an Israelite. Did he do this out of personal faith, or did he do this out of political expediency? We don’t know – but the result is the same, from the point of view of the Israelites.

What do I mean by political expediency? What I mean is that if you want a people to not rebel, if you can find a way to make them happy that doesn’t interfere with your own objectives, go for it. Cyrus, if his motivation was political, believed that these long oppressed and crushed people were no longer any threat at all. Let them go back to Jerusalem, and they will love him and let him collect taxes and continue to lead.

By the way, there is a fascinating artifact that gives archaeological evidence of what it says in the Bible. Called the Cyrus cylinder, it was discovered in the 1800s. A picture of it is shown above. The cylinder dates to the actual time that the decree was given. The text on this cylinder gives additional evidence that Cyrus’ motivations were political, because it praises Cyrus for how he repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries throughout his kingdom. It also describes Cyrus as devoted to the god Marduk, not Yahweh. But again, the reason doesn’t matter! It is God’s timing, and the result is that the people can now, at last, go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.

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. 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. 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. – Ezra 1:5-7

We don’t think of it this way, but couldn’t you say this was another Exodus? On a smaller scale, perhaps, but look at it. People, Israelites, were going to move back to Jerusalem! This was a 1000 mile journey, just like it was to leave, and with Cyrus as king, conditions were likely to improve vastly for all Israelites, including those who chose to stay where they were. But many of them wanted to go, even though the future was uncertain. Which ones? Those whose heart God had moved. I so love that wording! Their hearts were moved by God! The thought of going back to Jerusalem, to rebuilding the Temple, made their hearts quicken, it made them excited! I will come back to this thought at the end of the message.

Note how God even stirred up the hearts of their neighbors – and I would presume that this meant people other than Israelites – those who had something to give, to help those who were to go. This generosity also was God stirring people’s hearts. And King Cyrus even brought out the precious artifacts that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to put in his own temple and gave them to the Israelites.

Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. This was the inventory. Gold dishes: 30. Silver dishes: 1,000. Silver pans: 29. Gold bowls: 30. Matching silver bowls: 410. Other articles: 1,000. In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem. – Ezra 1:8-11

I love these details. I do wonder if someone kept a silver pan for themselves, because everything else is a whole number, yet there are 29 silver pans. I’m joking. But do you notice what is missing from the list? Where is the Ark of the Covenant? Where are its contents, the two tablets of stone and Aaron’s rod that budded and those mysterious Urim and Thumim that had once helped the people of God know God’s will in certain situations where an immediate decision was required?

As we will see, the Israelites are going to rebuild the Temple, but it won’t be the same. I think God had a purpose in this, two purposes, in fact: to help them see that this would not be a total restoration as if nothing had happened, and to help begin to prepare God’s people for the future coming of Christ. This rebuilt Temple would ultimately be destroyed again, and after the destruction – of what was eventually scandalously known as Herod’s Temple, it would not be rebuilt because the days of the sacrificial system would be over, fulfilled in the once and perfect sacrifice of the sinless Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus Christ.

Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah). – Ezra 2:1-2a

Now, I am not going to go read through every name in this list that continues, but it goes on to list the numbers of people returning, apparently grouped by who they were descended from. Starting in verse 36, it lists the numbers of priests, Levites, the singers (descendants of Asaph), the gatekeepers of the Temple, and the Temple servants. These families had their tasks assigned to them going all the way back to Moses. And miraculously, despite being forcefully carried off to Babylon, and despite the lack of faithfulness in the years prior to being carried off, the records were preserved and people knew what families they came from and what they were supposed to do.

In verses 55-58, it goes on to list the descendants of the servants of Solomon. After Solomon built the Temple, it seems he assigned new tasks to certain families beyond those given in the days of Moses. It may be that these tasks included traveling and bringing supplies to the temple; such activities are described as activities of the servants of Solomon in 2 Chron. 8 and 9. These families, too, had kept track and knew what they were to do.

Verses 59-60 mention that some people came up to go to Jerusalem but could not prove that their families were descended from Israel. Did these people go to Jerusalem? Yes, there is every reason to think so, since they are counted in this list. Were there others, who could produce papers, who did not go? Almost certainly there were. Some likely had found a better new life here than others, a life in which they worshiped the local gods and in some cases even renounced their heritage. Such people’s hearts were not stirred by the thought of going back to Jerusalem.

Verses 61-63 mention that there were also some priests who could not prove that they were from the proper families. These could go to Jerusalem, but would not be allowed to serve as priests quote “until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.” Why? Because such a person could use the Urim and Thummim to ask if these people should be allowed to serve as priests and would receive an answer.

The whole company numbered 42,360, besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 200 men and women singers. They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. – Ezra 2:64-67

There are not anywhere near enough animals for everyone to ride on during the long journey back to Jerusalem. Plus, these animals were certainly loaded up with supplies. So the journey of a thousand miles went by foot. The total company included more than the sum of the previous values; these extras were likely additional Israelites from the other tribes, so that both Northerners and Southerners, peoples of Judah and Israel, went together. What a profound reunification this was! The seeds of the split went all the way back to David. And so the prophecy of Jeremiah 50 came true:

"In those days, at that time," declares the Lord, "the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten." – Jer. 50:4-5

Did you notice the 200 singers listed in the Ezra passage? What were they for? Perhaps they were lamenters, “going in tears to seek the Lord their God.” Lamenters are described in funerals in the gospels, and even go back in 2 Chron. 35:25 to the death of Josiah; Jeremiah himself wrote laments for Josiah. Lamenters were people whose job was to sing and wail. Did this do this for 1000 miles all the way to Jerusalem? Perhaps.

When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver and 100 priestly garments. – Ezra 2:68-69

They made it. And there was more giving specifically for rebuilding the Temple. The people, people whose hearts had been moved by God, gave generously for this expensive task.

The priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns. – Ezra 2:70

What was it like to go home after so many years? I am sure there was a mix of emotions; we will talk more about this in future weeks.

But I want to close today by asking, has God ever moved your heart? If you are a Christian, the answer is certainly “Yes.” But how about today? As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. – Psalm 42:1 Do you identify with this verse? Do you thirst for God?

Do you understand that God longs for you? Do you understand the length God is willing to go in order to move your heart? One of the lessons of the fall of Jerusalem is that God was willing to allow His own Temple to be destroyed if it resulted in a remnant who would hunger and thirst for Him. And even this was just a shadow of what was to come. God was willing to allow His own Son to be tortured and killed if it resulted in a remnant who would hunger and thirst for Him. If you are a believer, you – we – are that remnant.

Spend some time today in prayer to Him. How he longs for you to come to Him in prayer! I’m not talking about coming to Him with a list of prayer requests, although in general there of course nothing wrong with prayer requests. I am talking about coming to Him to worship Him, to seek Him, to hunger and thirst for His presence. We don’t have to walk a thousand miles to come to Him; we simply have to open up our hearts. And if you are struggling with your desire, if you feel numb, like you just don’t really want to hear from Him all that much, pray for the “want to.” Prayers like these are prayers that God delights to answer.

And if you are struggling, or stressed, or sad, I encourage you to pray for joy. Pray that you would understand how much God loves you. Pray that you would experience that love. For God desires to give you all this. He desires to restore you just as we have seen Him restore His people to Zion, to Jerusalem.

I close today with Psalm 126:

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. – Psalm 126:1-3

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. – Psalm 126:4-6