Return of the Exiles

Transcript

GRS 143
Return of the Exiles
2/2/79
Ezra 1-2
Gil Rugh

We’ve been moving through a consideration of the Old Testament. Just to refresh your minds, the nation Israel came into existence with the call of Abraham, beginning in Genesis 12. The nation Israel was formed when God took the family of Jacob down in to Egypt. For 400 years, they lived in Egypt and grew from just a family of approximately 70 people to a nation of perhaps 2 million people, who came out of the Egypt in the opening chapters of the book of Exodus.

The first king of Israel was Saul, who became king 1050 BC... 1,050 years before Christ, Saul became king over the nation. The first king the nation had had. Saul, David and Solomon were the three kings who reigned as kings over the whole nation of Israel. One united nation under, first Saul, then David and then Solomon. With the death of Solomon in 931, Israel divided into kingdoms. The northern kingdom, comprised of 10 tribes and the southern kingdom comprised of 2 tribes. They existed that way until 722 BC., around 200 years. In 722, the northern 10 tribes were conquered by the Assyrians.

It was the practice of the Assyrians to deport the people they conquered from their homeland to another part of their empire, and bring people from another part of their empire to repopulate the area. So, Palestine was populated with people brought in from another part of the Assyrian empire, a point that becomes important in history. Those people the Assyrians brought into repopulate the territory of the northern kingdom mix with Jews who had remained there. These Jews were poor people left in the land, create a new breed, called the Samaritans. They will come up in our considerations of Ezra and Nehemiah. The southern kingdom as it’s noted, the 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin are sometimes just called Judah because Benjamin was such a small tribe. Judah is the prominent tribe. They continued until the Babylonians conquered it. There were a series of deportations carried out by the Babylonians. The first in 605 BC, the second in 597 BC, the third and final deportation with the complete destruction of the southern kingdom in 586 BC. The southern kingdom effectively ceases to exist as a kingdom.

There is a difference between the Babylonians and the Assyrians in that the Assyrians deported people they conquered to other places in their empire, the Babylonians deported people of the southern kingdom to Babylon and the surrounding areas, but they did not follow a practice of bringing people in and repopulating the area. They left the area somewhat desolate, with the poorest of the Jews that were left behind in the land at that time.

Turn back a few pages to the end of 2 Chronicles 36. In our study of the Old Testament, we did not consider First and Second Chronicles, we studied First and Second Kings. They cover some of the same basic material along with Second Samuel. Second Chronicles has more emphasis on the religious life of Israel in contrast to the books of the Kings. Second Chronicles ends with the Babylonians captivity. 2 Chronicles 36:14, “Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had He had sanctified in Jerusalem.” They were guilty of Idolatry. Verse 15, “And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion of His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.” Then God brought to an end the southern kingdom. Verse 17, “Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.” Hard for us, as we read the account, to appreciate the savagery that would have been poured out on the nation at a time like this. He gave them all into their hands.

The treasuries of the house of the Lord are carted away to Babylon. Verse 19, they burn down the house of the Lord and break down the walls of Jerusalem so that it cannot longer be a fortress city. They burn the buildings in the city. Verse 20, “And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia.” This brings us where we’re going to begin in Ezra. Note the last verse here, verse 21, “To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.” So, we’re told the captivity would last 70 years, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths.

Really, there are two reasons given in this chapter for the southern kingdom being conquered by the Babylonians. First, their idolatry and secondly, they failed to keep the Sabbaths of the land. Turn back to the book of Leviticus 25. One thing you find, God is very, very serious about His word. We think because we ignore portions of His word, pay no attention to it, and nothing happens for extended periods of time, God doesn’t care about it. Well, here is a clear example of how much God honors His word. Leviticus 25, God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, verse 2, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the Lord. ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.” It happens every seven years, you let the land alone. Now they could eat what grew naturally, but they were not to plant and harvest in that seventh year. It was a year devoted to the Lord. The book of Deuteronomy tells us of special activities that went on. The special attention given to the Mosaic scriptures, the Law and so on, during this time. Turn over to Leviticus 26. If you don’t obey the Lord. If you don’t honor the Sabbath every seventh year, verse 33, “You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. ‘Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. ‘All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.” The Babylonian captivity is a fulfillment of verses 34 and 35 of Leviticus 26. For 490 years Israel ignored the seventh-year Sabbath, so God took them all at once, all seventy years at one time. He did what He said He would do. I’ll take you out of the land, I’ll put you in your enemy’s land, and there will be nobody there to plant and harvest in the land, until I collect what is owed.

You see God is serious about the word. 490 years is a long time. I’m sure the Israelites thought, look at how much we’ve gained by planting and harvesting that seventh year every year, rather than letting it go to waste. But it came time for judgement, and that’s what takes place. Down in Leviticus 26:43, “For the land shall be abandoned by them, and shall make up for its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, shall be making amends for their iniquity”, so not only is the land getting the rests of all its Sabbaths, the people are paying the price for their sin by being slaves in a foreign land. “Because they have rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes. Yet despite this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. ‘But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

That connection with the exodus is significant with where we begin the book of Ezra as well. We’re going to have a second exodus for the nation, if you will. They are brought out of a foreign country and brought back into their land once again as God is the covenant-keeping God. You note it has nothing to do with Israel’s faithfulness. Unfaithfulness brings punishment, but God will honor His covenant, I am the Lord. Israel is unfaithful, God is never unfaithful.

The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied the 70 years’ captivity. We read that in 2 Chronicles 36:21, to fulfill what was prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet. Turn over to Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesied at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah 25. We’re really in Ezra, because the opening verses of Ezra pick up on this note with the prophecy of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 25:8, “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant.” Note, these pagan kings become the servants of God for the accomplishing of His will. “and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them a horror, and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the milestones and the light of the lamp. ‘And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. That’s how the writer of that concluding chapter of Chronicles knew it was 70 years. You have been studying the book of Daniel. That’s how Daniel knew. In Daniel 9, he studied the prophesies of Jeremiah and came to understand that as he was in Babylon, the captivity in Babylon would last 70 years. Jeremiah 25:12, “Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon”, and the Babylonians will be overthrown, replaced by a nation and a king, who will tell the Jews, go back to your land. Reestablish your temple and worship your God. Turn back to the book of Ezra. We read, verse 1 begins in Ezra, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia”.

We are ready to pick up in the natural flow. In fact, the first 2 ½ verses of chapter one of Ezra, are a repetition of the closing verses of the 2 Chronicles 36, showing the connection. The verses repeating to show that there is a continuity here that takes place. The book of Ezra is about God’s faithfulness to His promise to restore Israel. The southern kingdom particularly, but His people to their land after 70 years. You know how good God is. For 490 years, Israel did not keep the Sabbath. They owed God 70 Sabbaths. Isn’t God good to take just 70? He could have said, you know you didn’t pay me when you owed me, so I’ll double it and take 140 Sabbaths. But no, you owe me 70, I will take 70. Then there is a return. Now just a little bit about the flow of Ezra, before we get into more of the detail of these opening verses. There’s really two returns to the land recorded in Ezra. The first one will occur in 538 BC, it takes place under Zerubbabel. We’ll see Zerubbabel in the book here. That will be entailed in the first 6 chapters. The second will be under Ezra, and will take place in 458 BC. That will be covered in chapters 7-10. Ezra is the man whose name will be given to the book and is the author of the book. He will not appear in the book until you get to chapter 7. That’s the two main parts of the book, centered on the two returns. There will be a third return under Nehemiah in 444 BC, that’s what the book of Nehemiah is about. In Jewish writings, Ezra and Nehemiah were considered one book. We have three returns that will take place. Similar, there were 3 deportations from Babylon, 605 BC, 597 BC and 586 BC. There will be 3 returns to the land, 538, 458 and 444 BC. I’ve mentioned the book breaks down into two basic divisions. The first 6 chapters center around the first return under Zerubbabel, chapter 7-10 center around the second return under Ezra. In-between chapters 6 and 7, is a period of 57 years. The events of the book of Esther occur between chapters 6 and 7. The book of Esther will not move the chronology along, but it will unfold an event that took place in the Persian kingdom between chapters 6 and 7, timewise of the book of Ezra. The first 6 chapters cover a period of 23 years. Just so you have some kind of idea in your mind of the time period. The first 2 chapters will deal with the events of the return of the people. Chapters 3-6 will focus on the rebuilding of the temple. We often keep a distinction in mind between Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the temple. Nehemiah will focus on the rebuilding of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. A little different emphasis in the rebuilding that takes place.

Alright, the first 3 verses, first 2 1/2 , are the same as the closing verses of 2 Chronicles 36. We come to the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia. Now, Cyrus reigned over the Persians from 559 BC to 530 BC. Many of these dates are clearly established because of secular records left in the annals of these kings. They have been discovered with archeological discoveries. Now he began his reign over Persian in 559 BC. He conquered Babylon in 539 BC, October 539. We even know the month, clearly recorded. [Incidentally, some of you are using the revised Ryrie, the new Ryrie. There is a mistake in the footnote on verse 1. It says October 538. That is an error. It is 539, he has it correct in his introductory material to the book. While you are there, the parenthesis, Daniel chapters 30-31 are obviously wrong too. As you have just studied Daniel you know there are not 31 chapters in Daniel. I think he means the book of Jeremiah, chapters 30-31. If you’re not using this study bible forget what I just said.]

Alright, Babylon is conquered by the Persians in 539, so the first year of Cyrus refers to his first year as king over Babylon. The Old Testament history is not primarily concerned with the preceding period of time. God in the Old Testament is concerned with history as it impacts His people Israel. Besides, Babylon and the conquering of Babylon moved Cyrus to a position in the world. Being the king of Babylon was the position of power and honor and prestige. Here for our purposes, it’s in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, but you understand he’s been king over Persia for 20 years by this point, but now he has conquered Babylon.

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. Jeremiah the prophet, had prophesied years earlier the seventy years’ captivity. Now to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophesy of seventy years’ captivity and a return to the land God moves on Cyrus, king of Persia. So he will send out a proclamation so that Israel can return to the land. Interestingly, Jeremiah had prophesied around 600 BC that the Babylonian captivity would last seventy years and then there would be a return under the Persians. Isaiah almost 200 years earlier had prophesied that Cyrus would come on the scene and do this exact thing. A remarkable prophesy. Turn to Isaiah 44. Some of the prophesies of Isaiah in the last part of Isaiah are so striking that liberals who do not believe in the inspiration of the Scripture do all they can to avoid having to deal with prophetic matters that have been fulfilled. They divide Isaiah after chapter 39, so if you read writings of some of the more liberal oriented writers you will read about deuteron-Isaiah, the second Isaiah. They’re saying he’s not really the same one who wrote the first 39 chapters, these were written much later. So, they want to put much of what was written as prophecy as history because if it was really prophecy and was fulfilled in such a specific way, you would have to acknowledge that God did it. Oh my, then we would have to acknowledge the rest of what God said and then we would have to be converted.

Isaiah, chapter 44, look at the end of the chapter just for our concern right now. Verse 28, keep in mind Isaiah is writing 200 years before this event occurs. Isaiah 44:28 It is I who says of Cyrus. God not only prophesies what will happen, He calls him by his name. Any wonder if you do not believe in the inspiration of scripture you have to come up with another alternative here? It is I who says of Cyrus, he is My shepherd. He will perform all My desire, and he declares of Jerusalem, she will be built and of the temple, your foundation will be laid, thus says the Lord, to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand to subdue nations before him to lose the loins of kings and to open doors before so the gates will not be shut. How specific can you get? God says there is going to come a king on the scene whose name is Cyrus, I take him by his right hand, like I’m going to lead him along. He’s going to conquer nations. Jump down for time, you can read the whole chapter in your own leisure. Jump down to verse 12, chapter 45. It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands. I ordained all their hosts. Who is the sovereign Creator? Man doesn’t like to acknowledge that in scripture either because one of the emphasis in God being the Creator is He is sovereign overall and all must be subject to Him. I have aroused him in righteousness, still referring to Cyrus. I will make all his ways smooth. In other words, God says I’m going to prepare the way. The reason Cyrus conquered Babylon is God had prepared him to do it. He had prepared Babylon to be conquered. He will build My city and will let my exiles go free without any payment or rewards, says the Lord of hosts. That’s going to be clearly brought out in chapter 1 of Ezra as well. This is remarkable. Here you have a pagan king. He has people who have been his servants and his slaves, now he’s just going to say, go ahead and go back. And furthermore, take things with you to rebuild your temple, furthermore here’s all the treasures that Nebudchadnezzar took out of the temple when he conquered you 70 years ago. Take them all back with you, no charge. You say, well obviously, Cyrus got gloriously converted. No, the testimony of scripture is that Cyrus never got converted. Look in chapter 45, verse 4 “For the sake of Jacob, My servant and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name.” Recognize that everything God is doing with Cyrus is for His people Israel. That’s remarkable. Israel looks like a little nothing if you look at secular history of this time. They are a nobody. They are a captured people in a foreign land. This is the man who has the dominate world empire. God says, “I have called you by name.” I have done it all for My chosen people, those little nobodies that are your servants over by Babylon. That’s why I’m doing with you what I am doing. I have given you a title of honor. Now note this last part of verse 4, though you have not known Me. Verse 5, I am the Lord, there is no other. Besides Me there is no god. I will gird you though you have not known Me. We have this confirmed because we have the annals of Cyrus. We have discovered historical records of Cyrus from his time. He is an out and out pagan. He will honor the Jews, tell them to go back, and rebuild their temple because your God is in Jerusalem. But he also worships and honors Marduke, the god of the Babylonians for giving him victory over the Babylonians. And it was Cyrus’s practice to worship and honor all the gods, so don’t get confused. That’s why Isaiah’s prophecy here is so striking. God’s says twice, you haven’t known Me, you haven’t known Me, but I’m doing this. You’re My servant, you’re the one I have anointed, you’re My shepherd. I’m taking you by the right hand, pagan that you are because I’m going to use you to accomplish My purposes with My people. Remarkable! We, as God’s people, should ever tremble or be fearful? We should ever watch the news and wring our hands? You understand all that God is doing in the world today has to do with the purposes He is accomplishing for the good of His people. Now it also is preparation for His chosen people He’s still not done with, Israel. Remarkable.

Come back to Ezra. It would be fun, and I almost did, and we may yet before we’re done in Ezra to read some of the accounts that we have in secular history. It’s awesome. You get in the Bible and Israel is everything. You step back and look at secular history, and you know, send these people back. 50,000 people are going to go back to Jerusalem. Cyrus could have marshalled his army, humanly speaking, and wiped them out like an ant. But here Cyrus sits on the throne over a world empire. Why? Because God chose to do this with My covenant people and I want to use you to get it done. What a God we have. It’s remarkable!

Back in Ezra, chapter 1. So, in order to, and you ought to underline that in verse 1. In order to fulfill the word of the Lord. God’s word is always accomplished. Remember, not one jot, not one tiddle, Matthew 5 says, will pass out of existence without having been fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. It was the Lord acting on the heart of this pagan king so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it in writing saying, thus says Cyrus king of Persia. 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. Again, you read that verse and you might think he’s a believer, but Isaiah 45 makes clear he’s not. Again, that’s confirmed by the writings we have. He makes similar statements about other gods of the time. He was a polytheist in the broadest sense of the word. That’s the way he curried the favor of the people. They could worship their gods and he encouraged them to pray to their gods for him. He performed sacrifices to their gods and those things so he is honoring the God of Jerusalem, the God of the Jews. He is appointing me to build Him a house so obviously, the Jews will be favorable to Cyrus because of the way he’s treating them and honoring their God.

He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. A side note here, we have the reference to the house of God at Jerusalem. In Ezra and Nehemiah, Jerusalem as a name, occurs 86 times in these relatively short books. 86 times Jerusalem will be mentioned. The phrases the temple, the house of God, the house of the Lord, appear 53 times in Ezra and Nehemiah together. These are books that focus on the temple and on the city of Jerusalem. That’s important because our attention is being drawn to what God is doing in honoring His covenant with His people. We will see that as we move into chapter 2.

Verses 3-6, the decree is given. Verse 3, whoever there is among you of all His people, may His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. Any of the Jews who want are free to go back to Judah. Rebuild your temple. Worship your God. Now remember there would be no charge. In fact the people around are encouraged to support them. Every survivor at whatever place he may live, let the men of the place support him with silver and gold, goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Verse 6 all those about them encourage them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, with valuables, aside from all that was given as a free will offering. This would include for sure the Jews who chose to remain in Babylon, and many did. They gave to support the rebuilding of the temple. It may will have included non-Jews also, there’s no restriction placed here.

In the book of Exodus, we won’t turn there, chapter 3, verse 22, chapter 11, verse 2, chapter 12, verse 35, remember we are told that before they left Egypt the children of Israel asked their neighbors for goods and God had placed it on the hearts of those people, those Egyptians, to give it to them. So chapter 12, verse 35 says they spoiled the Egyptians. They marched out, so to speak, being paid for their slavery. So here there is provision given for the people. That’s why I say, there is a second exodus taking place here, just as God had taken His people out of Egypt and brought them into the land. Now you realize there is no Northern Kingdom, there’s no Southern Kingdom, but now He has brought them back into the land. Or is going to again.

In verses 7-11, Cyrus also makes contribution to the temple that will be built. He does this by returning the items that Nebuchadnezzar had taken and put in his treasure house in Babylon. “Also 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; and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. Then you have an enumeration.

In verses 9 and 10 you have some of the more valuable articles. Verse 11 just gives you a summary of everything. That’s why verse 11 doesn’t give you a summary of the totals of verses 9 and 10. Some of the more significant items are mentioned in verses 9 and 10, but obviously we don’t have a list of all 5,400 items. You see that it was a significant contribution that was made.

Sheshbazzar, mentioned at the end of verse 8, he’s also mentioned in verse 11. There is some discussion because, who is this individual? There are a variety of possibilities. I think it is most probable that it is Zerubbabel. This would have been a name he would have been known by in Babylon, Sheshbazzar, but he will be known by Zerubbabel through most of the book. One way that we get to this is in chapter 5:16 “Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the hours of God in Jerusalem”, when you look at Zechariah 4:9. Zechariah is one of the prophets that will appear in the book of Ezra along with Haggai. Zechariah 4:9 says that it was Zerubbabel who laid the foundations of the temple at Jerusalem. You put this together, Ezra says that it was Sheshbazzar, Zechariah a prophet of the time says it was Zerubbabel, seems to point to the fact that Sheshbazzar is Zerubbabel. It seems to me to be the most probable explanation.

You come to chapter 2 and chapter 2 is a thrilling chapter, I recommend it for your devotions. It is a breakdown of all the people who returned with Ezra. It’s one of those chapters, as you read through the bible, if you read through the bible on a regular basis, you come to and you will be able to accomplish two chapters in your reading today, because most of it doesn’t mean anything. You see, you pick up with verse 3, the families, the sons of Parosh, 2,172, the sons of, the sons of and then the number. They are not names that mean anything to us. But, what we have here is a breakdown, and there are really, I believe 8 divisions given down through verse 63. If you use a study bible it will have the 8 breakdowns and that seems to be the way most commentators have broken them down. It fits the text here. Broken down according to leading men, families, beginning with verse 21, the cities that the people are from, the priests beginning with verse 36. The Levites in verse 40. The temple servants in verse 43. Solomon’s servants, verse 55. Verse 59, those who weren’t sure of their genealogy, so weren’t qualified to be supported in the priestly ministry. What is significant, without going through this, is how carefully God unfolds the connection between those who had been taken captive and those who are returning. The physical connection of the people and the land are of foundational importance. It’s not just well, they were taken captive and now we have people returning. No, the people taken captive and the people returning have an inseparable physical connection. We talk about the cities that they are from, the families that they are from, the priestly class. There is an absolute essential connection, physical connection between the people and the land. We must have that fixed in our mind, because somewhere along the line in the study of the bible and bible prophecy, some people go off in to la la land. Now physical connections mean nothing, and Israel is no longer Israel and we’ve moved to some kind of allegorized, spiritualized concept, and this church is Israel.

As far as I know I don’t have a drop of Jewish blood in me. Marilyn does through her mother. In fact, our kids can become citizens in Israel, because now in Israel they take your Jewish line through the mother. When I was over there, it was explained to me by a Jewish man, who was our guide. It’s because they always know for sure that those children were born in the Jewish line because they know who the mother is, somebody else could have fathered them.

You want to say that the church is Israel? Sorry, the church is not Israel. Chapters like this show that when God is bringing His people back to the land, He’s talking about the same people He took out of the land. Nothing else will do. If you don’t get anything else out of a chapter like chapter 2, you ought to have fixed in your mind, there is an inseparable, absolutely essential connection between the physical people Israel and the physical land of Palestine. This takes on a very important significance to these people. They show that they have the right here. They belong here. They are in the covenant line and God is honoring His promises to those covenant people.

Let me just note something under the leaders in verse 2. This list, incidentally, is repeated in the book of Nehemiah chapter 7. Again, this is an important matter. The physical connection is important. Among the leaders who led the way back on this exodus or return you have the name of Nehemiah mentioned in verse 2, Zerrubabel and Jeshua is the priest. He is called Joshua by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, he’s the leading priest. Nehemiah is not the Nehemiah of the book. That won’t happen for 80-90 years so we’re not talking about the same Nehemiah. As we have today, some people have the same name. The same with Mordecai who appears in verse 2 as well, that’s not the same Mordecai from the book of Esther. The events of the book of Esther won’t take place for another 60 years or so, just to mention that because those are two names that will reappear in our study of Ezra and Nehemiah. They are not the men that are prominent in the book of Esther and the book of Nehemiah.

Jump down to verse 64. In verses 64-67 we are told there are about 50,000, rounded off, people who come back to the land. Then we have enumerated the animals that were brought back as well. Verses 68-70 have them arriving back ready to begin construction of the temple. Now it’s a trip of abut 900 miles, a trip that you walk, by and large. Ezra will make the trip in chapter 7, verses 8-9, where he says it took him about 4 months so we get some idea of what we might be talking about. With 50,000 people making the trip it might have taken significantly longer, we don’t know. But we know that Ezra when he led an exodus back took 4 months so we say we could expect this trip would have taken 4 months. That would have been a major thing. You realize there are people here who have been in Babylon 70 years. People that have been born and raised in Babylon. Now you’re going to take all your belongings and start on a trip that’s going to take you 4 months to get back home to a place some of these people will remember it. But many of these people heard about it from their parents but they were born in a foreign land and raised there. It was a significant venture but there’s something in the heart of the Jew that draws them back to Palestine. We see some of that in our day, don’t we? That’s home! I don’t know all of my heritage, I’m basically mongrel. I just don’t have it in my heart to want to go back to any place I might be partly from. But you know? The Jews are drawn back. That’s home. When they’re not going back they want to send their money. God has put it in the heart of the physical Jews that they belong in the physical land. We see it in our day.

So, they make the trip. When they arrive back some of the key people give additionally to help with the construction of the temple. Some of the heads of the father’s household, when they arrived at the house of the Lord, verse 68, which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly to the house of the God to restore it on its foundation. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work. You ought to underline two statements there. They offered willingly, verse 69, they offered according to their ability. Both of these are picked up by Paul in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 8:3 and 9:7 he picks up these two principles to give willingly and to give according to your ability. You see in certain areas what pleases God is the same in the giving here. God asks of us to give the same way, willingly and according to our ability.

That’s a summary of the exodus that takes place under Zerubbabel. Now the rest of the attention will be given to the construction of the temple, the opposition they face in constructing that temple, and getting the job done. You note they start with the temple. They come back in 538 BC and the focus is to rebuild the temple. In 444 BC, almost a hundred years later, Nehemiah will lead a return back where the emphasis will be to rebuild the walls, but for Jerusalem it’s worship in its worship center. Things cannot be as they should be until we have established the place of worship where our God meets with His people. The emphasis will be on the rebuilding of the temple. The re-establishing of the worship in that temple. Incidentally, the Babylonian captivity cured the Jews of their idolatry. That does not mean that they are faithful or true worshipers of the living God but they do not delve into idolatry after this with the way it was condemned and punished.

Just a couple of principles to summarize what we’ve looked at in these two chapters. Number one and of great importance, God is sovereign among the nations of the world. God is sovereign among the nations of the world. We recently studied Daniel and in completing that study in the adult school of the bible. Didn’t that come out repeatedly there? God rules in the realm of mankind. He appoints over it the basest of men. He is sovereign among the nations of the world. Think about it, the God that we call Father, before whose throne we come with boldness and confidence, He is the one who rules in the realm of mankind. He is sovereign among the nations of the world. We as His people should tremble before men?

Number two, God will ensure that His word is accomplished. God will ensure that His word is accomplished. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, in verse 1, in order to fulfill the word of a dead prophet, Jeremiah. God will ensure that His word is accomplished. These things were written for our admonition upon Whom the ends of the ages have come, the New Testament tells us. I have complete confidence that God will see that His word is accomplished right down to the end.

Number three, important point. Pagans can udder great biblical truths, verse two. That’s a great statement. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. That’s a tremendous statement. It’s theologically accurate and it’s true. It comes out of a man who was an utter pagan. So be careful, just because a man utters something that is biblically true and correct does not mean he knows the true and living God. He may just be being used as a mouthpiece. We see that in the New Testament as well when Caiaphas uttered his great prophecy regarding the death of Christ God was simply using him.

Number four, God stirs His people to accomplish His purposes. I may not have mentioned this at the end of verse 5, everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, those are the ones who went back. Those that were in love with God, submissive to Him and God had moved upon their heart to do this. God stirs His people to accomplish His purposes.

God supplies, number five, abundantly for all He calls us to do. God supplies abundantly for all He calls us to do. Verse four uses the proclamation of this pagan king. Verse six, verses 7-11, the king himself, God supplies abundantly for all He calls us to do. Where are all the people who have been living in slavery going to get the goods to enable them to make the trip and when they get there, to live and to build a temple. God supplies. You see how it pervades this doesn’t it? God is sovereign. I think one of the things that is lost with our lack of familiarity with the Old Testament is the lack of appreciation of the complete sovereignty of God. It just permeates the Old Testament scriptures.

Number six, God’s promises to physical Israel regarding a physical land are fulfilled literally, and that’s all of chapter two. God’s promises to a physical Israel regarding a physical land are fulfilled literally. It wasn’t enough that God says look when I promised you the Jews, that you would have the land of Palestine and I would bless you there, well I just meant that allegorically and spiritually. Here you are in Babylon and there are other people around. Well you know you intermarry with them and you stay in Babylon, I just meant these would be spiritual blessings. That is a corrupting of the word of God. That’s not what God meant. That’s not how God filled it out. I take it that continues on. We have promises yet to be fulfilled. Old Testament promises were given to a physical Israel regarding a physical land. To imply anything less than a literal fulfillment is to impugn the character of God. Did you notice when we were in Isaiah, when we were in Jeremiah that God constantly relates the fulfillment of these promises to His character? To His sovereignty? To His authority as Creator? Has that been diminished in any way? Who am I to say, well the physical Israel, not anymore, the physical land, not any more. I have the pattern of what God has done in the past to tell me what He will do with that which is yet to be fulfilled.

Number 7, the principles of giving are the same Old Testament and New Testament area, verses 68-69. We offer willingly and we are to offer according to our ability. It ought to come out of a heart that desires to give to God. What a privilege that I can take of my possessions and give them to my God to be used in His work, in His service. What you give, that’s between you and God. You give according to your ability; I have to give according to my ability. And last, God is faithful to His promises. That includes the curses. Seventy years for the land to have its Sabbaths. You will be taken out of the land and you will live in the land of your enemy. You will suffer the curse that comes from not obeying God. God’s promises are fulfilled; the curses are fulfilled. The seventy years’ captivity is clear evidence of that. God is faithful to His promises; the blessings are fulfilled as well. God restores them to the land as He promised. You note how God fulfilled the promises? When He said through Jeremiah, seventy years’ captivity, He didn’t mean that as some kind of indefinite period of time. Might be fifteen years, might be seven hundred years, you know it just tells you seven is a number of perfection and that’s ten times seven so this will be the perfect amount of time to accomplish God’s plan in His people. Well, doesn’t that make sense? Seven times ten. Well you say I can build all kinds of stories. No, seventy years in captivity meant a literal seventy years in captivity. A return to the land meant a literal return to the land, that’s what we’re talking about. God is faithful to His promises. Aren’t you glad? We talked about our heavenly inheritance today. I have placed my hope in that heavenly inheritance. I would hate to get to heaven and hear “fooled you!” You misunderstood! That was spiritual, I just meant it’s heavenly to live on earth thinking you had something in heaven. What a terrible thing! What a cruel joke! Is that the way we interpret scripture? Praise God when He is faithful to His promises. When He promises judgment He means literal judgment. When He promises hell He promises literal hell. When He promises heaven He promises literal heaven. When He promises punishment it’s literal, when He promises blessings its literal.

What a blessing it is to contemplate scriptures that were fulfilled and carried out in history going back some 2500 years to see the hand of our God at work. To know the same God is the One working in our lives, working among His people the church today. Working in the affairs and empires of the world. When you read the newspaper, when you turn on the news and you see the leaders of countries at work. You realize my God is working to use them for the accomplishing of His purposes and I should churn, worry, and fear? My God has it all under control and ultimately His purposes will be realized for us for our good. Praise God He’s not done with Israel and there’s a final restoration for them as a physical nation in the physical land, experiencing the fullness of this salvation that God has guaranteed. That fullness, they will receive, following the curses and judgment of the seven-year period called the Tribulation. God’s word, not one jot, not one tittle, not one dot, not one comma, not one mark will pass away without all being fulfilled.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord for the wonder again of Your person. We are in awe. You are the sovereign God. You have created all things and you rule over all things. No one can frustrate your purposes. Lord thank you for the blessing of contemplating this key part of Israel’s history and be reminded that you are the faithful God. You honor Your word, You bless Your people. Lord we are encouraged as Your people today, 2500 years later, to know you are the unchanging God. That we can lay hold of Your word and know that it will be fulfilled down to the smallest detail. How thrilled we are to anticipate the full realization of those promises yet to be realized and the glory that awaits those who know You. We praise you in Christ’s name. Amen.