Ezra 1:1 (KJV)
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, saying,
Whenever I think about the topic of revival, my mind goes to the book of Ezra.
Honestly that is due to just one passage in Ezra[1],
Ezra 9:8-9 (KJV)
And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
But it’s a strong passage and one worth our study.
Since I have a burden to pray for a reviving this year, it seemed appropriate to study and preach Ezra this year.
This is an historical document, written about the same time as 1 and 2 Chronicles, around AD 457 and probably by the same writer.
The writer is a priest by the name of Ezra.
He is called in this book “a ready scribe”
Ezra was a new type of priest.
Originally the priest’s functions revolved around the Temple.
But Ezra was a priest who grew up in Babylonian Captivity. He could not get to the Temple.
So instead, Ezra devoted his time to the study of the Word of God.
This man, they say, was foundational to many things we accept as typical Jewish tradition today.
· He organized synagogue worship
· He founded the order of the Scribes (known for copying the Bible)
· He Helped establish the current Old Testament Canon
· He arranged the Psalms[2]
The occasion of the writing is the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity and then the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
I think we can summarize the whole book around the major characters of the book
· There is a divine authority
· There is a house of God
· There is a people of God
· There is a man of God and
· There is the Word of God
If you accept my summary, then I want to suggest to you that each of these is inherently necessary for Biblical revival.[3]
I would like to begin the study by simply making some observations for the first verse
Notice the little word
I. NOW
Ezra 1:1 (KJV)
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, saying,
That is a strange word to begin a book with. It implies a continuation of a thing, not a new beginning.
In fact, that is more likely what it is.
Old Jewish scholars believe that 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah were all written by Ezra and were originally just one book.
So, look at what you see in 1 and 2 Chronicles.
It is a history of the people of God, beginning with Adam. The very first word of 1 Chronicles chapter 1, verse 1 is Adam.
It is the record of the children of God beginning with Adam, all the way through to the end of the Babylonians captivity.
The last two verses of 2 Chronicles read,
2 Chronicles 36:22-23 (KJV)
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, 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, saying,
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
Sounds like a repeat of the first 2 verses of Ezra, doesn’t it?
First and Second Chronicles and Ezra are not three separate books with three separate authors and three separate purposes.
They flow one to the other and to the next to accomplish one message.
I want to tell you, that is exactly what your Bible is.
· It’s not sixty-six books collected together in one binding
· It’s not even Old Testament and New Testament[4]
This Bible is only one book, with one author[5] and one message.
It was written over a period of about 1400 years. There were about 40 unique penmen employed in the writing. We have some insight into their personalities and the circumstances of their times BUT THIS BOOK IS THE WORK OF GOD.
Its purpose is to describe the perishing condition of all mankind and to tell them the only way to be saved from the perishing.
· No matter what shade of skin a person has
· No matter where they have grown up
· No matter what religion their parents taught them
All humanity:
· Fell at the same time[6]
· Faces the same judgment[7] and
· Finally, can only be saved through the same Saviour[8]
Notice with me secondly,
II. CYRUS
Ezra 1:1 (KJV)
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, saying,
In my estimation there are four different persons we should probably acknowledge from this text.
Firstly, Ezra
He is the penman.
We ought not to forget him.
Secondly, Isaiah
Though he is not here mentioned, Isaiah is the one God used to foretell that it would be a king named Cyrus that would allow Israel to return home.
Isaiah 44:28 (KJV)
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.
The thing is, Isaiah wrote those words about 150 years before Cyrus came to the throne.
Cyrus wasn’t even born when Isaiah said that.
I’m telling you, the author of this book is not a man, but the Holy Spirit of God!
Thirdly would be Jeremiah.
He is mentioned in Ezra 1:1 that the decree for Israel to return and rebuild the Temple was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah did not go to Babylon but
· He did tell the people that they should surrender to Babylon and
· He did tell them that they would be there just 70 years before they were allowed to return.
The fourth man is Cyrus
What comes to my mind is, How did Cyrus come to make his proclamation?
Adam Clarke suggests perhaps Daniel,
· Who knew when the 70 years were fulfilled, and
· Certainly would have known the prophecy of Isaiah, and
· Did know Cyrus[9]
told him.
I am not going to argue against any of that.
But the Bible does say that it was the Lord that stirred up the spirit of Cyrus.
A person can say
· whatever they want to say to
· whomever they have opportunity to say.
And the thing they say might be true.
But it is the Lord that stirs up the spirit of men.
My job as a preacher is to tell whomever I can what the Bible says.
It is not my job to stir up the spirit of the hearer.
There are a ton of people who attend the services of a church, whose spirit never does get stirred.
That is not the pastor’s fault, nor his responsibility.
His responsibility is to tell the truth.
It is a matter of the hearer whether he will take heed to it.
Concerning Cyrus, I like what Matthew Henry said,
“It is said of Cyrus that he knew not God, nor how to serve him; but God knew him, and how to serve himself by him”
I finally want to return to Jeremiah and observe what the verse says concerning him
Notice the word,
III. FULFILLED
Ezra 1:1 (KJV)
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, saying,
The Bible does not say that the word of the Lord might be accomplished. It says that it might be fulfilled.
To accomplish a thing is to finish what you began.
To fulfill a thing focuses on the original order.
Cyrus didn’t just finish what he wanted out of the Jews.
Cyrus fulfilled, obeyed, finished what God had ordered one hundred and fifty years ahead, and what God had determined would be seventy years.
The proclamation of Cyrus wasn’t his doing at all.
This was the doing of God.
And Jeremiah’s part was to speak the truth God had shown him.
I want to remind you that, for Jeremiah, speaking the truth came at no small price.
· Almost no one believed him
· All the other preachers said he was wrong
· He spent time in prison for his preaching
· He got depressed and wanted to quit
· He died having apparently failed at getting the Jews to listen
But in the end, “the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah [WAS] fulfilled.
Conclusion
I want to end by asking you this,
Would this be sufficient for you?
If you died, an apparent failure in this world, but still true to your convictions from the Word of God – would that be enough?
I want to tell you that it is all that God requires.
And to compromise the truth of God’s Word for ease or success is an eternal mistake.
[1] Notice the use of the word “reviving”. This is why I have elected to pray for reviving this year instead of revival.
[2] Ezra is sometimes credited with writing Psalm 119. For that reason, I have been studying it as well and would recommend we all read it very carefully over the next few weeks.
[3] There have been movements labeled by men as revival. Lacking these characteristics, I question whether they were biblical revivals at all.
[4] When I was on the plane to the Ark Encounter, I got to speak briefly with a young man from India studying computer science in Southern California. He asked me if our church used, as he called them, “the old book or the new book.”
[5] The Holy Spirit of God. 2 Peter 1:20 (KJV)
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[6] The sin of Adam
[7] Eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone, reserved for the Devil and his angels
[8] The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
[9] Daniel 10:1 (KJV)
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment