Hope Renewed

KEY VERSE: “Then rose up … with all of them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is In Jerusalem.” —Ezra 1:5

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Ezra 1:1-8, 11

THE DELIVERANCE OF the Israelites from captivity in Babylon was an important development in the outworking of God’s plan, and divine providence overruled in the experiences of Cyrus, king of Persia, to prepare him for the role which God had designed for him to accomplish. While Satan has been the prince of “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4), the Creator has always directed, in whatever way was necessary, in the lives of rulers and the affairs of government to assure the accomplishment of his purposes. Satan has never been able to interfere with God’s designs.

God is an accurate time keeper. Seventy years was to be the period of the captivity, and in the first year of Cyrus the seventieth year was reached. Then the Spirit of the Lord stirred up Cyrus to issue the necessary decree granting liberty to the captives. The record is silent on the point, but it seems likely that the Lord may have used the Prophet Daniel to stir up the spirit of Cyrus to issue his decree of liberation. Cyrus may also have been influenced by Isaiah 45:1-6.

While Cyrus’ decree gave liberty to all Jews to return to their own country, he realized that probably there would be many who would not desire to go. The Prophet Jeremiah had admonished the Israelites to make the best of their situation in Babylon. They were to build houses and plant gardens. They were to raise families so that their numbers would increase, not diminish.

Evidently, most of the captives followed this admonition, and in seventy years would have had their roots rather deep in their alien home. Most of the older ones among them would have died before the seventy years were ended, so that the decree of liberation would fall upon the ears of those who were young when the captivity began, and those of a new generation. Returning to Judah would have been too difficult for the very elderly, and it is understandable that many of the new generation would not be interested in leaving Babylon.

Because of this, Cyrus admonished that any who stayed behind should grant assistance to those who returned—helping with their expenses for the journey—and also by making donations for the new Temple which he decreed they should build in Jerusalem. This was a good suggestion on his part, and revealed a true interest in those he was setting free.

King Cyrus is referred to in Isaiah 45:1 as the Lord’s “anointed.” This simply means that he was commissioned, or authorized, by God to make possible the release of his people from captivity, their return to their homeland, and the rebuilding of their Temple in Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:2 tells of his decree: “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 an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

Cyrus could be thought of in a limited way as being a picture of Christ, who is the Lord’s “Anointed” to accomplish a greater deliverance—even the deliverance of all mankind from captivity to sin and death. This Is the great work to be accomplished during his thousand-year kingdom.

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