Skip to content Journey Through Ezra: The Restoration of God's People in Ezra 1-2 May 12 · 14 min ...more
Journey Through Ezra: The Restoration of God's People in Ezra 1-2
May 12, 2025 · 14 min
Reflecting on how God blessed His people amid captivity and used Cyrus for Jerusalem's restoration in the book of Ezra.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand May 12, 2025 · 14 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Reflecting on how God blessed His people amid captivity and used Cyrus for Jerusalem's restoration in the book of Ezra. ...more Show the full description Show less Reflecting on how God blessed His people amid captivity and used Cyrus for Jerusalem's restoration in the book of Ezra.
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The God of Restoration 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Alright. Today, our journey takes us to the book of Ezra as we look at chapters 1 and 2 verse 7 of chapter 1. Cyrus, the king, also brought0:22 out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. And just a a thought here as we look at the book of Ezra. You know,0:34 many Christians are prevented from, serving god to their full potential because of something that maybe they have done or something that's been done to them in the past.0:46 But god, as we're gonna see in this book, is the god of restoration, Jehovah Rapha, the 1 who restores, the 1 who heals. Now keep that in mind as we look through this book. Alright. Ezra, along0:58 with Nehemiah and, Esther, are the 3 books that close out the historical section of the Old Testament. Now together, these 3 books cover a period of about a hundred years from 51:09 36 to 4 32 BC. Ezra is believed to be the author of the book that bears his name. It was written shortly after the events, that occurred that are1:21 recorded in this book, probably somewhere between 5 56 to 4 44 BC. Originally, the book of Ezra was a part of Chronicles, which he was also the author of.1:33 Now as we look at their the return from captivity, the Babylonian captivity, there are really 2 distinct periods that are covered in these 3,1:45 books. We have 5 37 to 5 16. Zerubbabel is the governor, and Joshua is the priest. During this time, the foundation of the temple is1:57 laid. That was in 5 thirties 5 35 BC, which that technically ends the 70 years of desolation and captivity.2:08 Now rebuilding the temple took almost 2 decades, and we're gonna see why, later. But the prophets during this first period are Haggai and Zechariah, and we're gonna actually look at2:20 those books chronologically as we read through Ezra. The second period covered is from 4 57 to 4 32 BC. This is the 25 year period in which2:32 Nehemiah was the governor of, Judah, and Ezra was actually the priest. Now during this period, the walls of the city are rebuilt and Jerusalem is restored.2:44 Malachi is the prophet during this time period. Now in between these 2 books, Ezra and Nehemiah, comes the book of Esther. Esther becomes queen, in 4 782:56 BC, which we will see creates a more favorable environment for the Jewish people who remain in Persia. Now during the these 2 periods, there are actually 3 returns3:09 to Jerusalem. The first, Zerubbabel in, 5 36, 37 BC, and then Ezra in 4 57, and then Nehemiah in3:21 4 44 BC. Alright. With that background, let's look then at, chapter 1 beginning in verse 1 of of Ezra. In the first year of3:32 Cyrus, excuse me, king of Persia, the word of the lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made3:44 a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. Now recall that Isaiah, nearly 200 years before this, had told of3:56 Cyrus in Isaiah 44 28, quote, who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built in4:08 the temple, your foundation shall be laid. This was 200 years before that. Jeremiah, is referenced in the first verse. He spoke about the length of the captivity4:20 in verse, 12 of chapter 25 of the book of Jeremiah. Then after 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity declares the4:32 lord, making the land an everlasting waste. Now it's, most likely Daniel had actually shared as a counselor to Cyrus the prophetic word4:44 and made this known to Cyrus. Verse 2, thus says Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has charged me. He's looking at the4:56 bat that that prophetic word, Has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let5:07 him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor in whatever place he5:19 sojourns be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts besides free will offerings for the house of the god of god5:31 that is in Jerusalem. And all who were with them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares besides all that was freely offered.5:43 Now, let me think about this for a moment. Okay? The Jewish people had been let out of Judah about 70 years previously. They had been5:55 let out as captives, and nearly everything they had had been taken or destroyed. Now, we see them returning or supporting those who were returning. And and look at all that they had6:07 acquired, silver, gold, precious things, even in captivity. Alright? Even in captivity, god blessed them. I mean, think about that. Alright? What a picture of the6:19 power of god's blessing. God is not constrained by your circumstances, where you might find yourself, where you might work, or what difficulties you you have had, or even the mistakes you've6:30 made. If we will yield ourselves to God and pursue him, God's blessing can reach us no matter where we are. Verse 7. Cyrus, the king, also brought out the vessels6:42 of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus, king of Persia, brought these out in charge of6:55 Mithridath, the treasurer who counted them out to Shezbarazar. Now that's the prince of Judah. That's another name that was the Babylonian name for Zerubbabel.7:07 And Zerubbabel was the godly grandson of the wicked king Jehoiachin. Alright? Verse 9, and this was the number of them. This is amazing to me that the inventory7:19 that they had. 30 basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver, 29 sensors, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and a thousand other7:31 vessels. Verse 11. All the vessels of gold and silver were 5400. All of these did Shehz bazar bring up7:43 when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. Now I wanna go back to what I mentioned a little earlier. Many Christians are kept from their full7:54 potential in serving the Lord because of things that they've done, they've messed up in the past, or things that have been done to them that were, quite frankly, were beyond their control. Look at this. There were8:06 over 5000 vessels and articles used for the worship of God in the temple that had been taken in various raids and in the final destruction of Jerusalem in8:18 5 86 BC. Nebuchadnezzar took him to the temple of his gods where they were either stored, used, or or and profaned. Now these were sanctified vessels. Alright?8:30 It's important. These vessels, if you go back and and remember when we read when they were created, they were sanctified, meaning they were set apart for the service of God and God alone. Then we recall8:42 in Daniel chapter 5, Belshazzar, on the night that, Babylon was conquered, he held this beer bash. Alright? And had the vessels brought from the temple, these8:54 temples, the the the vessels of the temple brought out and used for toast to the gods of gold and silver. And then there was the handwriting of the wall.9:06 The handwriting on the wall, game over. Alright. So what do these vessels of gold and silver used in the temple have to do with us? As followers of Christ,9:18 we are vessels, sanctified, set apart for the service of God. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 21. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,9:30 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, sanctified as holy, useful to the master of the house ready for every good work. I mean, think about this for9:42 a moment. These sanctified and precious vessels, they weren't melted down so that the silver and gold could be taken. Rather, they were carried for miles, miles back to Babylon, apparently9:55 inventoried and closely monitored over the period of captivity. Although profaned by the world, they were preserved by God. And when the time was right when the10:06 time was right, they were restored to his service. If if God cares that much about plates and pans and sensors, what10:18 about you? What about me? What about those that Christ died for that have accepted him as their lord and their savior? What a wonderful encouraging picture of what God can10:30 and do, what God can and will do in the lives of his sanctified servants. Those set apart for for him. Now remember what I10:42 said, God is the God of restoration. He is the God that restores. Jehovah Rapha. He will heal. He will restore if we will just turn to10:54 him. In chapter 2, let me wrap up this very quickly. Chapter 2, we basically have a roll call of all of those who went back to Jerusalem in this first return. You know, I I have to say,11:06 frankly, I'm I am impressed with their record keeping. They keep they kept very good records. And here's what we have. According to verse 64, there were 4236011:18 Jews besides 7337 servants and 200 singers. Now this number is roughly about 11000 more than those listed in verses11:29 2 through 58. They're broken down by family. Some scholars believe that these additional people that were not accounted for in this listing were from the other 10 tribes that returned with Judah,11:41 which verse 70 would support by the use of the descriptor all Israel. Let me just read that real quick. Verse 70. Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple11:53 servants lived in the towns and all Israel in their towns. So an amazing story of god's restoration of returning the12:04 people, and even as we look at even the vessels of the temple sanctified for god's purposes. Alright. We're gonna continue this journey as we look through Ezra and12:16 the final prophetic words of the Old Testament here in our next couple of weeks before we move into the New Testament. Father, thank you for your word. And, Lord, we're grateful12:29 that, Lord, you are in the restoration business. And I just pray if there's anyone that might be a part of this journey right now, this morning, that,12:41 you know, just feels that they're they're hearing these messages that Satan saying they can't be used. They they have, they've messed up or something's happened to them. Lord, if we'll turn to you, you are the12:53 god of restoration, the god of healing. And so father, I pray that you would restore and encourage and strengthen your people. That lord, we would13:05 seek you. And in seeking you, lord, you would use us for your kingdom and your purposes. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Until next time,13:17 keep standing on the word.13:20 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:32 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The God of Restoration
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