In the closing chapters of 2 Chronicles we witnessed the sad end of the house of David and of the kingdom of Judah. The royal family and the people had been carried away into captivity; Jerusalem, along with its beautiful temple and palaces, had all been destroyed, and its treasured and sacred vessels taken to Babylon. All was lost as far as man was concerned. Seventy long years rolled by, and now we come to a fresh point in God’s dealings with His people—the intervention in grace toward a remnant whom He brings back from captivity into the land.
The book of Ezra, from a historical point of view, has a most interesting account of which there was never the like in the history of the world. God had a very special interest in the return of the Jews to their own land; He brings back a little remnant in order that the true King might be presented to them. In the bright days of their earlier history they were numbered in the millions, but it was only about 60,000 that returned after the captivity. They were a weak little company, but God devotes two whole books in His Word to telling us about them.
More than one hundred years earlier Isaiah had prophesied of a king whom God would raise up and who would send His people back to their own land. He even gave his name, Cyrus, His shepherd, His anointed, who would say to Jerusalem, “Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, thy foundation shalt be laid.” (Isa. 44, 45.) This Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire, conqueror of Babylon and deliverer of God’s ancient people, is a type of Christ, who will judge the world (Babylon) and restore Judah to their land in the last days.
The book of Ezra opens with Cyrus making a proclamation throughout all his kingdom with respect to this return of the Jews to Jerusalem. But before this something else of deep interest and importance had also taken place. A young man of the royal family of David, Daniel by name, had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. He was a godly, devoted young man and because of his excellent spirit, his faithfullness and God-given knowledge, he was highly respected and held important positions under the various Babylonian kings. Daniel was also a student of the Scriptures and from reading the writings of Jeremiah, he understood that the captivity was to be seventy years. The seventy years were not yet up, but Daniel felt that there should be prayer, confession and fasting on the part of his people. In Daniel 9 we read his very remarkable prayer in which he confessed the sins of his pele, that they had failed grievously and departed from that which had been entrusted to them. The Lord sent him an angel with a message from Himself and called him a man greatly beloved. The angel gave him to understand that the Lord would fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah, and then the Lord gave him a revelation of the coming of the Messiah and of His rejection by His people.
One of the things we would learn from this is that the Lord not only wants us to know about His Word in our heads, but to have it also in our hearts. Two things distinguished Daniel: an intense love for the place where God’s honor had dwelt, and an underlying affection for God’s people. It is lovely to see him identifying himself with the state of his people, confessing their sins, and interceding for their forgiveness and restoration. The need today is for devoted souls, divinely taught and filled with the Spirit, who can, like Epaphras (Col. 1:7; 4: 127As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; (Colossians 1:7)), labor fervently for the saints in prayer.
ML 02/22/1959