The book of Ezra marks an important epoch in God’s dealings with His people Israel. Although seventy years had elapsed, it is yet the continuation of 2 Chronicles, for time does not count with the Jews when in exile from the land of promise. They had lost everything by their sins and apostasy, and God had sent Nebuchadnezzar to chastise them, to destroy His own house which His people had profaned and polluted, to carry them away captive to Babylon, and “to fulfill the word of the Loan by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths” (2 Chron. 36:21).
Nothing could be sadder than the record of the destruction of Jerusalem and the termination of the kingdom as entrusted in responsibility to the hands of man, except indeed the still more fearful accounts of the siege and capture of Jerusalem by Titus soon after the commencement of the Christian era.
The long-suffering of God had been tested in every possible way. In His patient grace He had borne with the highhanded rebellion of His people; He had lingered with a yearning heart, like the Savior when He was upon earth, over the city which was the expression of royal grace; He had sent to them by His messengers, “rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,” and so forth. The sword of His justice thus fell upon His guilty people, for their sins had exceeded those even of the Amorites whom God had driven out before them (see 2 Kings 21:11). God’s throne on earth was henceforward transferred to Babylon, and the times of the Gentiles—which still continue, and will do so until Christ Himself shall establish His throne, the throne of His father David (see Luke 1:32-33; 21:24)—commenced. Lo-ammi, meaning, “not My people”—(it is on this account that God never, in these post-captivity books, whatever His care over them, addresses the Jews as His people) was in this way written upon the chosen race, and they entered upon the sorrowful experience of captivity and banishment under the judicial dealings of the hand of their God.
But now, when the book of Ezra begins, the seventy years of their exile which had been foretold by Jeremiah, had been completed, and Ezra relates the actings of God in connection therewith for the accomplishment of His own sure and faithful word; and it is the character of these which explains the attitude of God toward His people during the times of the Gentiles, and also, to some extent, the peculiarity of this portion of the Scriptures, as well as Nehemiah and Esther. In these books God is no longer seen actively interposing in the affairs of His people, but He works, as it were, behind the scenes, and at the same time, recognizing the new order which He Himself has established, He uses the Gentile monarchs into whose hands He had committed the scepter of the earth for the execution of His purposes.
Bearing these principles in mind, we shall be the better able to enter intelligently upon the study of this book. The book divides itself into two parts. The first six chapters give the account of the return of the captives who responded to the proclamation of Cyrus, and of the building of the temple; the last four, of the mission of Ezra himself.
Ezra 1
There are two things in Ezra 1—the proclamation of Cyrus and the response to it on the part of the people, together with an account of the number of “the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods” (Ezra 1:7), and which Cyrus now restored to those of the captivity who were about to return to Jerusalem. The first verse draws back the curtain and reveals the source of the power which was acting then and through all the subsequent events of this book for the fulfillment of Jehovah’s purposes. It runs, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing.”
Let us pause for a moment to point out how the Lord—whatever the outward appearances—holds the hearts of all men in His hands, and turns them whithersoever He will; how He uses men of all degrees as the instruments of the counsels of His will. The very mention of Cyrus carries us a step further back, “Who,” says the prophet Isaiah, speaking in the name of Jehovah, “raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him” (Isa. 41:2). And again, “That saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid” (Isa. 44:28).
This prophecy was uttered long before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and at least a hundred years before Jeremiah was called to his prophetic work, and thus shows that the eye and heart of God are perpetually upon His people and upon their interests, and that the public events of the world, the rise and fall of monarchies, the advent of mighty conquerors, are but the instruments of His power by which He works on through the governments of the world to fulfill His own purposes in relation to His earthly people. How calmly therefore the children of God may rest amid political confusions and strife! In this way God has designated by the mouth of Isaiah, two hundred years before the event narrated in our chapter, His chosen vessel for the restoration of His people, and for the erection of His house at Jerusalem.
A century passed away, and Jeremiah prophesied during the closing days of the kingdom, alternately warning and beseeching his people—warning them of the certainty of the approaching judgments, and beseeching them to repent and to humble themselves before the God whose wrath they had provoked by their wickedness and folly. It was in the course of this work that he said, “This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD” (Jer. 25:11-12). Also, “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10). First, then, Cyrus is designated long years before he was born into this world and, after another period had elapsed, Jeremiah, while announcing the approaching captivity of the people, proclaims the exact duration of their exile.
But there is yet another instrument, not appearing indeed in this chapter, whom God was pleased to associate with Himself in carrying out His purposes of grace and blessing toward His people.
Turning to the book of Daniel we read, “In the first year of his reign” (that of Darius) “I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes” (Dan. 9:2-3). God had spoken the words concerning, and provided the instruments for, the restoration of His people; and yet what do we find? That one of the captives whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon, the prophet Daniel, had discovered, not by any special revelation, but by patient study of the writings of Jeremiah, that God had fixed the period of seventy years for “the desolations of Jerusalem.”
Thereon, grounding himself upon this infallible word, he gave himself to prayer and fasting, humbling himself before God, confessing the sins of his people, and making supplication for the fulfillment of His own word. “O Lord,” he said, “according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake” (Ezra 1:16-17). Thus Daniel, identifying himself with the state of his people, and in communion with the mind of God, had the unspeakable privilege of becoming an intercessor for Israel, and for the fulfillment of the promises of God. His prayer was heard (Ezra 1:21-27) and we thereby learn that God in His grace permits His people to enter into His own thoughts, and to be associated with Himself in the accomplishment of His counsels for His own glory.
All therefore was now ready; the preparatory work had all been accomplished. In accordance with Isaiah’s prediction, “the righteous man from the east” had been called to the sovereignty of the Gentiles; and it is through him that the appointed deliverance must come. The next action is therefore recorded—“The LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia,” and the following proclamation is the result:
“Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is the God), which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem” (vss. 2-4).
Three things are here announced; namely, the commission which Cyrus himself had received as to the Lord’s house; his royal permission to any of the Jews to return to Jerusalem for the purpose of building the temple; and last, his invitation to those Jews who should remain in his dominion to have fellowship by freewill offerings with those who should depart.
The rest of the chapter is taken up with an account of the effect produced by the proclamation. We say “the effect of the proclamation,” but the reader will not fail to notice that it was He who had stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, who “raised” the spirit of those who offered themselves for the holy work in prospect. Two or three particulars only need to be observed. It is of importance, first of all, to point out that the chief of the fathers who offered themselves for the work were of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. There were also Levites, but they did not count as a tribe, for Levi had “no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance” (see Deut. 10:8-9). It is plain indeed from this and other scriptures that though there may have been individuals from other tribes there were but these two tribes restored. It was only therefore to Judah and Benjamin that Christ, when born into this world, was afterward presented for acceptance; and owing to their having rejected Him, it is they, and they only of the twelve tribes, who will pass through the terrible trouble “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be,” which will be consequent upon the advent and power of the antichrist in Jerusalem. For the same reason the ten tribes will not be collected and restored until after the appearing of the Lord for the salvation of the remnant in the land. (See Zech. 14; Eze. 20:33-44; Eze. 34; Jer. 31:6-14.)
In the next place God wrought in the hearts of the neighbors of those who devoted themselves to the work of the Lord’s house, for they “offered willingly” according to the terms of the proclamation of their substance, helping them with vessels of silver and gold, and more. Last, Cyrus himself showed his interest in the work, in evidence that his heart also had been touched by divine power, by restoring the vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods (see Dan. 5:1-4); and these he numbered unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah (Ezra 1:6-11).
We have thus in this chapter all the signs of a genuine work of God. Concurrence of heart and object is produced in all concerned, whether in Cyrus, without whose permission the captives could not have returned; in the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin who were needed for the actual work of building; or in those who remained who, in having fellowship with their brethren by their freewill offerings, contributed toward the necessary expenses. There were no preliminary meetings to arrange and to come to an agreement, but the union of heart and purpose was produced alone by the action of the Lord on the hearts of all alike. This distinguishes a divine from a human work, and is sure proof of a real action of the Spirit of God. Every needed instrument therefore comes forward at the right moment, for the work is of God, and it must be accomplished.
The last three verses contain the number of the sacred vessels which Sheshbazzar received from Cyrus and brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.