Pastor Matt blessed us this morning with a sermon which continues his study on the life of Joseph.
Graham continued his fascinating exploration of history, of circumstances and of God around the time of Ezra. Well worth a listen!
Ezra Part 2
Ezra 1:1-11
“…everyone whose heart God had moved…” v5
Introduction
It is thought that Ezra wrote this book after the events. If so, though Ezra does not appear in this book until chapter 7 he tells us an important detail about these events. God moved the hearts of the people to return.
Question – what do you imagine he means by this? What did they experience, or what did Ezra observe?
1) Why did God want them to return?
This land was to be the stage set ready for the coming Messiah
2) Why did they return?
There were reasons why they may have not wanted to return. Cyrus issued the decree but they could have said, “No thanks, what about our garden, nice house, and the shops nearby?”
About the Babylonian empire Cyrus took over:
Nebuchadnezzar II the main Babylonian ruler mentioned in the Bible. He succeeded his father Nabopolassar who died while Nebuchadnezzar was on a military campaign against Egypt in Palestine.
Nebuchadnezzar made three attacks against Jerusalem. The first attack against Jerusalem was in 605 BC during the reign of King Jehoiakim, he took some captives including Daniel and his three friends. He confiscated some of the sacred vessels of the temple in Jerusalem. He trained these captives for government service. In ancient times, is was customary for a conquering nation to capture princes from the conquered lands who would be trained and educated. When the throne of the conquered nation became available, the captured princes, now friendly towards his conquerors, would be installed as king.
The second invasion was in 597 BC when King Jehoiakim rebelled and was killed. He seized a much larger portion of the Temple’s treasures. This time Nebuchadnezzar took even more captives from the upper class of Judah including the new king Jehoiachin. Ezekiel the prophet went into captivity at this time.
In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar came for the last time. King Zedekiah had become rebellious. Determined that rebellion would never rise again, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Judah. At the end of a long siege, he leveled Jerusalem and completely destroyed the temple. Most of the survivors were taken to Babylon as slaves.
Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 44 years. Under him the Babylonian Empire reached its greatest strength. Using the treasures which he took from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, into one of the leading cities of the world.
The famous hanging gardens of Babylon were known to the Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world. Perhaps it was a result of their skill with the use of water. The Babylonian’s had piped water to their homes and household cooling systems (air conditioning).
The Babylonian astronomy was among the most advanced in the ancient world. By 2200 BC the equator was divided into three hundred and sixty degrees. they had named the twelve months of thirty days each after the zodiacal signs. 2234 B. C. they had discovered the solar circuit. Their standard work on astronomy was in seventy-two books and was called the illumination of Bel and is now preserved in the British Museum.
Their mathematics was highly complex, and a tablet, named ‘Plimpton 322′, reveals that the Babylonians may very well have known Pythagoras Theorem more than a thousand years before Pythagoras ever lived.
Babylonian mathematics refers to any mathematics of the peoples of Mesopotamia (situated in present day Iraq), from the days of the early Sumerians to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. Our knowledge of Babylonian mathematics is derived from some 400 clay tablets unearthed since the 1850s. The majority of recovered clay tablets date from 1800 to 1600 BC, and feature fractions, algebra, quadratic and cubic equations, the Pythagorean theorem, and the calculation of Pythagorean triples and possibly trigonometric functions.
The duo-decimal system was invented by the Babylonians. A tablet from the library at Larsa gives a table of squares and cubes correctly calculated from one to sixty. They were the inventors of the dial for measuring time. All the peoples of antiquity derived their systems of weights, measures and capacities from them. Their mathematical tables stand unchanged in our text books today.
Glass-making was a respected craft in Babylonia, and many famous buildings, like the Ishtar gate, was made of over 20,000 bricks, covered in shining blue glass, and adorned with artwork in gold and bronze.
It is believed they would have understood how to manufacture a telescope, as a lens was discovered in the ruins of Babylon.
Babylon fell to Cyrus in one night (more of that another week) when Jerusalem still lay in ruins with its temple destroyed.
Why would anyone want to return to the country of their parents, where all lay in ruins and they would probably face hardship?
The returners would not have had the long view of the centuries that lay ahead that we know about. So much was depending upon their obedience. To fail to return would have been to fail the exodus, the leadership of Moses, the battles of Joshua, the sacrifices of those who had died so far.
Because they heard the call of God. How? Had they heard of what God was up to with Daniel? See Book of Daniel chapter 6 to see how God was moving the heart of Cyrus/Darius (note, in book of Daniel Cyrus is called Darius).
See John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
John 10:3,4 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
Psalm 25:9,14 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
3) The people returned
The people responded as communities. The church body, corporate actions like prayer, worship, hearing public reading of scripture. They travelled in groups. Whole communities travelled - shared sense of national identity, see 3:2.
3:8,9. Families worked together.
The people responded as individuals.
See Ephesians 6:13 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
When one person make a stand others are effected. The people moved as a community, who responded in obedience first? Not all followed, some stayed there in Babylon.
- Hear your call.
- Know your call.
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I started a new series today on the book fo Ezra. I warned at the beginning of my preaching that I would not get past the first verse, and I didn’t!
Sermon Ezra, Part 1
“The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus…” (AV)
or “The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus…” (NIV) Ezra 1:1
Intro
Short history of the nation leading up to this time:
A man named Abram (later name changed to Abraham) left his home in Mesopotamia and travelled with his family to what is now know as Israel.
The family multiplied and they all moved to Egypt and became slaves there for a while. They were led out to freedom by Moses and settled back in Canaan (what we now as Israel). They filled the land and became a number of separate tribes. During this time various charismatic tribal leaders, known as ‘judges’ emerged who for short periods got the tribes to work together. We read of this period in the book of Judges. During this period the nation were continually falling away from following God and then coming back again.
After a while the people wanted to be ruled my a king and so we have the period we can read about in the first and second book of king. To begin with they were all united under one king, David being the first to unite all the tribes. After the reign of his son Solomon, the kingdom divided onto Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The two kingdoms were ruled by a succession of kings, some of whom stayed true to God and others did not. God sent prophets to repeatedly warn the nation that it they did not return to Him judgement would follow. God told them what the judgement would be. According to the warning of the prophets, the land was invaded, first Israel the northern part and the inhabitants were taken into captivity by the then superpower - Assyria. Later Judah the southern part was invaded by the Babylonians (who had taken over the Assyrian empire) and they too were taken into captivity, this time to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem was left in ruins. See 2 Chronicles 36 verses 15 to the end of the chapter.
About 70 years later the Assyrian empire was taken over by the Persians under the rule of Cyrus. This is the time of Ezra. More of that later.
Ezra and Nehemiah was one book at one time. The book of Nehemiah continues the story of the returning exiles, but Ezra deals with the rebuilding of the temple and Nehemiah deals with the rebuilding of the city walls.
Ezra as a person does not feature until chapter 7 so we will leave an introduction to this character for a later week.
1) “The LORD moved the heart of Cyrus…” The LORD did it!
I must trust in God whatever comes to pass, whatever fills the news broadcasts.
Here God is seen to be in control. We may not always understand his ways (or even rarely) but they are his ways.
See
Isaiah 44:24-28
This is what the LORD says- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfils the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’ who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’ who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, Let it be rebuilt, and of the temple, Let its foundations be laid.’
Isaiah 45:1
This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
The following scriptures refers to Jeremiah who prophesied that the captivity would last for 70 years.
See Jeremiah 25:11-12
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and will make it desolate for ever.
Jeremiah 29:10.
This is what the LORD says: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
The first deportation began in 605BC and the return was in 538BC. That is 67 years. One answer is to say it is ‘about’ 70 years, anther is to say we do not know if we should be counting from a particular individual.
2) “The Lord moved the heart of CYRUS…” Yes, even him!
There is no person God can not use, or move. See Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
God in control? Yes but we do pray “They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Pray for leaders.
1 Timothy 2:1-3
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour
3) “The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus…” Who is this Cyrus?
[Show map.]
From Media originally, he became the leader in Persia. He conquered Media and this Med-Persian force conquered their neighbour, Babylon, the superpower of the day.
See how God raised up Cyrus, the man who would bring God’s people back the their land.
The tribes of the Medes had united under their king Astyages. The Medes were famous for their fine horses and they knew how to use them in battle. Astyages was known to be ruthless. He was also insecure and lived in fear of losing it all (page 8, lines 1-3). He had a dream about his daughter that she would have child, that this grandchild would take over his throne. So Astyages got rid of her by marrying her off to a prince in the next kingdom south, Persia. The daughter got pregnant so Astyages sent a trusted man to Persia to kill the child. He did not. This child, Cyrus grew to manhood. Eventually the day came when Persia, led by Cyrus, faced the army of the Medes led by their top general Harpagus. Common sense said Cyrus would be defeated but he won. How?
The man who had been sent to kill the baby Cyrus was Harpagus. He said he had carried out the deed but lied. When Astyages found out his treachery he invited him for a meal. After the meal he announced to Harpagus that he had just eaten his son. Harpagus was suitably submissive after that but he did not forget. At the battle against Cyrus he defected to Cyrus’s side.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
a) we know that all things work together
b) for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose
Our God is able!
See:
Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
Hebrews 2:18
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Jude 24
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.
Matt continued his series on Joseph this morning with a fantastic sermon on Genesis 39! Have a listen.
Here are the notes: Joseph in Genesis 39
