Ezra 1; 3; 6:14-22
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts 2:38, 3938Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38‑39).
I TOLD you how unhappy the poor Israelites were in Babylon. Many of them wished very much to return to their own country, Canaan, but the kings of Babylon would not let them go back. However, God had made a promise a long while before, that He would let them return some day.
Now there was another king in Babylon besides Darius. This king's name was Cyrus. God had told about King Cyrus in the Book of Isaiah, and even told his name, many, many years before he was born. God put it in the heart of Cyrus to let the poor Israelites return to their own country. For God remembered His promise. Cyrus had been taught to worship idols, yet he believed that Daniel's God was the true God: and he was ready to obey what the true God said.
So Cyrus told the Israelites that they might go back to their own country, and build the temple at Jerusalem. Cyrus gave back to them all the gold and silver things that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple,—dishes, and basins, and cups of gold and silver.
Many of the Jews stayed in Babylon, but they gave the Jews who went to Jerusalem presents before they went away; horses, camels, and asses, to carry their things; and gold and silver and other things.
How happy the poor Jews were to leave such a wicked place as Babylon! But O! when they were come to Jerusalem, how sad to see the walls broken down, and the houses burnt! but still the Israelites were very thankful to God for letting them come there again.
You remember that God never let the people who had lived in the other part of Canaan come back. It was kind of God to let the people of Judah come back.
When they were come to Jerusalem, they set up the altar, and offered a great many beasts on it to show how grateful they were.
They wished to build the temple as soon as they could, and they got a great many carpenters and masons, and they sent for beautiful trees to help to build it.
At last they laid the first stone of the temple upon the high hill in Jerusalem. A great many Israelites all came together to see the first stone laid. The priests stood near dressed in white, with trumpets, and the singers played music, and sang psalms, saying, 'The Lord is good, His mercy endureth forever.'
And when the first stone was laid, the priests blew the trumpets, and the singers sang psalms, and the people shouted for joy.
But there were some old people there, who remembered having seen the temple before it was burnt, a long while ago, when they were little children; and when the other people shouted, these old people wept aloud. Why did they weep? Why had the temple been burnt? Because the people had been wicked. Perhaps the old men were grieved because the people had been so ungrateful to God: and the new temple was not as beautiful as the old one. The noise of the weeping, and the shouting, could be heard a great way off.
The people of Israel were a great many years building the temple. At last it was finished, and the people were very glad. This temple was not so beautiful as the temple Solomon had built, and we never hear that God came down in a cloud to fill it.
You will be glad to hear that the Jews determined to worship idols no more. But though they did not worship idols, they did not love God with all their hearts: so they did a great many other wicked things. There were a few of them who really loved God.
The Israelites lived in Jerusalem and in the land of Canaan a great many years. They were now called Jews instead of Israelites. God sent them prophets sometimes, to teach them, and to put them in mind of a promise that He had made to Abraham. What promise do I mean? That a Savior should one day be born, Who should be their King forever. God had made the same promise to David, and had said that this Savior should be one of his children's children's children's children. Some of the Jews, thought very often of this promise, and longed for the Savior to be born into the world. They knew that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem, where David was born. How did they know that? Because one of the prophets had said that He should be born in Bethlehem, and they knew that His mother would be some person of the family of David, because the prophets had said so; and they knew that He would be the King of the Jews, and of all people—for the prophets had said so.
At last one of David's great, great, great, etc. grandchildren, a woman called Mary, had a son, who was the Son of God; and He was born in Bethlehem.
You have heard about this baby, and how the Jews crucified Him. But you have also heard that He rose again from the dead. You will soon read about Him in the Bible. Do you love this blessed Savior? His Father sent Him to suffer the punishment of Adam's sins, and of my sins, and of your sins, dear children, and of the Jews' sins, and of all people's sins Before the world was made, God told His Son to come and die: and the Son promised that He would come At last He came, and died, and rose again, and one day He will come again. When He comes again, He will bring with Him all those who cared for God's promise, and longed for the Savior to come. Abel will come with Jesus, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and Joshua, and David, and Elijah, and Elisha, and Hezekiah, and Daniel, and a great many more. All these men lived before Jesus came down to die; but you, my dear children, live after Jesus has come. God has kept His promise—Jesus has died for your sins. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Father? If you do, it is a sign that God has put His Spirit into your hearts. Then you too will live with Jesus in heaven, and you will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and David. (Matt. 8:1111And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 8:11)).
The priests arrayed in garments white,
Are singing psalms of sweet delight
In fair Jerusalem!
But listen to the mournful cries,
And O! behold the streaming eyes,
Of yonder aged men.
Those streaming eyes did once behold
The temple fair adorned with gold,
By glorious Solomon!
But since the day the foe rushed in,
Those aged men have captive been,
In mighty Babylon.
Perhaps the sound of those sweet psalms
Reminds them of their parents' arms,
And of their infant years;
Perhaps the thought how Israel's crimes
Provoked the Lord in former times,
Now fills their eyes with tears.
And though the Lord's forgiving grace
Restored them to their native place,
To bless them as at first;
Perhaps they fear lest Israel may,
Provoke the Lord again to lay
Their temple in the dust.
Child
O Father! while I live below,
'Tis well my tears should sometimes flow,
For sins that I have done;
For still my heart's disposed to pride,
And still inclined to turn aside
From Thee, O Holy One.
The thought of all my follies past,
Should make my heart to cling more fast
Unto my gracious God.
In heaven no tear shall dim my smile
For sin shall then no more defile
My garments washed in blood.
Questions on Lesson 40
Who was Cyrus?
What kind thing did he do to the Israelites?
Why did God put it into Cyrus's heart to let the Israelites return to their land?
What did Cyrus give to the Jews?
What did the Jews build in Jerusalem?
What sounds were heard when the first stone of the temple was laid?
Did the Israelites go on worshipping idols?
Did they really love God?
What promise did all the prophets speak of?
Where did the prophets say this Savior would be born?
Of whose family did the prophets say his mother would be?
Did the Savior come at last?
Will He come again?
Whom will He bring with Him?