Ezra 1:1-11
Q.1. How did God manage to release Judah from captivity? What command did Cyrus give God’s people? What explanation did he give for his actions? – (Ezra 1:1-4)
Judah had been utterly destroyed, and the princes and nobles either killed or assimilated into the Babylonian culture (c.f. 2 Chr.36:15-21; Dan.1:1-4). Therefore the captives had no leadership who could mount a charge against the succeeding Persian Empire. However, that did not stop God from fulfilling His promises through His prophets – 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: 2 … `The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah (Ezra 1:1-2 c.f. Jer.29:1-14). God touched the heart of a heathen king, so that he commanded that the survivors of Judah should rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Those who had prospered while in Babylon and wanted to stay, were urged by Cyrus to still support this effort to reconstruct Jerusalem and the surrounding agricultural lands.
Q.2. Who responded to the call of Cyrus? How did they get back the sacred vessels from the temple? How substantial were the treasures brought from exile? – (Ezra 1:5-11)
This was an arduous and dangerous mission. It was not for the fainthearted. Therefore, the Lord made His selection – Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5). They were powerless to retrieve the sacred vessels, but this was no problem to God so – King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods (Ezra 1:7). This was added to the generous freewill offering of the people, and was placed under the stewardship of Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah (Ezra 1:6 &8). The sacred dishes, bowls and articles of silver and gold totalled 5,400 articles – a substantial treasure (Ezra 1:9-11).