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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-meekin/ezra-chapters-1-6-part-1/
Let's turn to the book of Ezra, please. Our readings this morning are going to be from the book of Ezra. Many will know this. One of the things that I personally face, our brother William has alluded to it, is the fact that we're going to look at six chapters this morning, and I had wondered about perhaps reading some of the sections as we made our way through.
But I don't think I'll do that. I think we'll read now, and then as we make our way through the passages, we'll take stepping stones to the portions already read. I should say we appreciate the warm welcome.
It's my privilege to be here again with our brother Dan and our brother Brandon, and the rest of my beloved brethren here. And we trust that our time will be for blessing and profit to God's beloved people.
Ezra chapter 1, please. And we read at verse number 1. 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, and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all 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 man of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah, and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites with them, whose spirit God had raised to go to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.
And Cyrus the king brought forth 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. Even those did Cyrus, king of Persia, bring forth by the hand of Mithradath, the treasurer, and numbered them unto Shesh-bazaar, the prince of Judah.
And this is the number of them, thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, four hundred and ten, and other vessels, a thousand.
All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Shesh-bazaar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. Now, these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away into Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem, and Judah, every one unto a city, which came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Sariiah, Reliah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpah, Bigvi, Rahum, Banna.
The number of the men of the people of Israel, and so there's a list given in the chapter. Look down to the end of chapter 2. We'll just pick up a reference at the end of chapter 2. It's a most interesting thing.
Look at verse number 68, and verse number 68 says, and some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to, now notice this, the house of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem. There was no house of the Lord at Jerusalem, but in divine purpose, and in the mind of God, God actually has it on the sacred text of Scripture.
They came to the house of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem, and they offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place. They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work, and we have got the details.
Look at chapter 3, please, verse number 1. And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Joshua, the son of Josedach, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Sheltieh, and his brethren, and buildeth the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
And they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of the day required. And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of the set feasts of the Lord, that were consecrated, and of every one that offered a freewill offering unto the Lord.
From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. Verse number eight. Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month began Zerubbabel, the son of Sheltieh, and Joshua, son of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests, and the Levites, and all they that came up out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and look at the end of the text, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.
Verse ten. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites, and we've got some of the details. The end of verse number eleven says, and all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Verse thirteen. So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. Look at chapter four, verse 24, and it says, then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem, so it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.
Chapter five, verse one. Then the prophets Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Idu, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.
Verse two. Then rose up Zerubbabel, the son of Shelteel, Joshua the son of Josedach, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God, helping them. Now in the chapter six, our final reference for this Bible reading will be in chapter six.
Look at verse number 14. And the elders of the Jews built it, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Idu. And they built it, and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which is in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, and offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, 12 he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. And the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.
For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the Passover. For all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel, which were come again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy.
For the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Now that's an extensive reading, but it's necessary just to try to set out something of the profile of this book which is before us.
In my opening I'll try and be as brief as possible, but it is the first Bible reading, and as such we need to try and give something of the setting and the profile of these books, these post-captivity books, that we will be moving into in the Bible reading sessions this weekend.
Of course, maybe the first thing that I think I should mention is the penman of the book. One of the questions that comes up as we consider these books of Ezra and Nehemiah that we will be considering, and then our brother Dan will be taking us into the book of Haggai.
One of the questions that frequently comes up is, who wrote these books of Ezra and Nehemiah? The question really can't be answered with any certainty, but we would suggest that most likely it was Ezra himself who was used of the Lord to compile the record of these two books.
One of the most interesting features is that in our English version, 2 Chronicles is the book that just comes before the book of Ezra. And if you just flip over to 2 Chronicles chapter 36 and look at verse number 22, it says, 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.
And we step from 2 Chronicles 36, and we step into Ezra chapter 1, and we read again, 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. And so what we can very definitely see is that the Holy Spirit has given us a link. And the link is back to the book of 2 Chronicles, and we can see the link in the text from 2 Chronicles into the book of Ezra.
And so I'm quite happy in my own mind and in my own spirit that most likely the penman of this book, the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah, most likely was the man Ezra himself, a ready scribe. By the time we get to the third Bible reading today, our brother Dan will be introducing us to this man in Ezra chapter 7.
He was quick. He was with it. He had the scriptures just at his fingertips. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, the man of God. So the penman of the book, we would suggest, is most likely Ezra, the scribe.
The second thing that I should mention is the profile of the book or the profile of the books. You notice you have a chart there. Our brethren very helpfully have given us a chart. It was originally Mr. Bentley's chart, and we've been able to locate it and we have it before us.
And on that chart, there's five of the post-captivity books. There's another one. I don't think it's mentioned on that chart, but there's six books that largely stand together as we consider this subject.
So we've got the book of Ezra, and we have the book of Nehemiah, and we have the book of Esther, and we have the book of Haggai, and we get the book of Zechariah, and the last one, post-captivity, is the book of Malachi.
You will notice that there are a number of headings that are given on that chart quite helpfully. When it comes to the book of Ezra, the heading that's associated with Ezra is the return. When it comes to the book of Nehemiah, the heading that's associated with Nehemiah is the rebuilding.
When it comes to the next book, the book of Esther, the heading that's given on the chart is remembrance. The Lord remembered a dear Jewish girl in the land of Persia. When it's the book of Haggai that Dan will introduce us to later, we'll notice it's the great subject of rebuke.
When it's the book of Zechariah, it's the subject of revelation, those great visions. Zechariah opens with those eight visions that are given just at the early part of the book, the great subject of revelation.
And you say, what about the book of Malachi? The book of Malachi, sadly, whilst it's not on the chart, I believe, is the great subject of regression. Something that was established for God, a great recovery that was seen.
And then suddenly there's regression back in the hearts of God's beloved people. One of the things that we are going to touch, there will be technical things or semi-technical things that will be touched in these Bible studies this weekend, but one of the things we don't want to miss is the practical import of these books.
And the fact that we in our hearts are just like these people in their hearts, and there was regression back from what God had brought them to, and there's regression back in our hearts frequently from the things of God.
And so the profile of the post-captivity books is noted on the outline in the chart that we have before us. What about the particulars of the books? It has been, and I personally believe that this is the case, it has often been told us that originally the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were most likely one book.
In fact, in many of the Hebrew manuscripts right up until approximately the 15th century, they are seen as one book. So they stand together as one book. That means we can profile and look at the books together.
And that will be helpful for us as we step into our studies this Saturday morning. In fact, when we're in the book of Ezra, moving from Ezra chapter 1 to Ezra chapter 6, we will notice in those chapters that we have a historical review.
Ezra himself is not mentioned in those chapters, but what we have in those six chapters is a historical review back into the kingdom of Medo-Persia, from the kingdom of Medo-Persia back to the land of Judah, to the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, a historical review.
Then when we come to the next chapters that our brother Dan will handle, chapters 7 through 10, we've got Ezra's memoirs. So we keep that in our mind, a historical review and then Ezra's memoirs. When we step into the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapters 1 through 7 is not Ezra's memoirs.
When we're in those chapters, it's Nehemiah's memoirs. When we step into the chapters 8 through 10 of the book of Nehemiah, we're back to Ezra's memoirs. Ezra himself then gives some of his memoirs with regard to some of the details mentioned in the book of Nehemiah.
And the last chapters of the book, chapter 11 of Nehemiah through to chapter 13 of Nehemiah, we're back to Nehemiah's memoirs. So it's quite an easy structure to consider. Chapters 1 through 6, a historical review.
Ezra's memoirs, Nehemiah's memoirs, Ezra's memoirs, Nehemiah's memoirs. And that just sets the setting for the book. Now, we will keep in mind that there will be two Bible readings this weekend on the book of Ezra.
I feel a little bit hard done by. My friend sitting over here, he'll be starting in Ezra chapter 7. You see, when you're in Ezra chapter 1 through Ezra chapter 6, that's a time period of 22 years. Some would say 20, but I think accurately it's a time period of 22 years.
When our brother Dan will start in Ezra chapter 7 through Ezra chapter 10, it's not quite a year, approximately 10 months. So we'll keep in mind that the first six chapters, they cover a time frame for us in the context of the six chapters of 22 years.
When we come to chapter 7 through chapter 10, that will cover a time frame in our minds of just about a year. The other thing I should mention when it comes to the particulars of these books, just look with me into chapter 6.
Look at the end of chapter 6. It mentions, and we read together, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Verse 1 of chapter 7, now after these things in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia.
You say, why are you mentioning that? Well, I mention it for this reason. You see between the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7, there are 58 years. So we keep that in our minds. What I'm trying to do, I recognize I'm throwing a few numbers out, and young people perhaps particularly might be asking, what's the value of all of these numbers?
And why are we getting so many numbers? All of that. Well, we keep in our mind what we're doing is giving you a historical profile of some of the details that belong to these post-captivity books. So keep in your mind that between chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7, there is 58 years.
And you see inside that gap, that's where the book of Esther fits in. So we keep that all in our minds that chronologically, the book of Esther fits in between chapter 6 of the book of Ezra and chapter 7 of the book of Ezra.
And so we've got the penman, and we've got the profile, and we've got the particulars. Maybe I should mention some dates. There are periods. I mentioned some periods last night. And this is going to be pertinent to our studies.
I give you the dates again. Our brethren might develop the dates. I'll just throw them out. When the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon, there were three aspects and three phases of captivity. The first one started in 606 BC.
The second one was 597 BC. And the third one was 586 BC. The remarkable thing is God in His providence, as there were three phases of people taken into captivity, God in His providence has allowed three returns from captivity.
And so with Zerubbabel and with Joshua, that's the first return, Ezra 1. The second return is under Ezra himself, Ezra chapter 7. The third return will be handled by our brother Brandon, and we will get that tomorrow, Lord willing, in the fourth Bible reading.
Now, it's an interesting thing that as in those three phases into captivity, when Nebuchadnezzar took the first phase, it was princes of Judah. When he moved in the second phase, he took gifted men, took young men in the first stage, princes of Judah.
The second phase was he took artisans, gifted men, and he took them to the land of Babylon. In the third stage, 586 BC, he took simply the poorest of the land, scattered the poor through the land, and he took some of the poor of the land back to the land of Babylon.
That's how the devil still works, mind you, in assembly life. Let's never forget now, that's how the devil still works. Do you know how the devil works? He targets first the young men. If he can get the young men to turn away from the things of God, he'll have accomplished a victory, leave assembly life.
The second way that the devil works is this. He'll target gifted men, and if he can get the gifted men to leave assembly life, that's how he does it practically, and then what's left, he'll just make sure that they're moved through wherever they can be.
Beloved saints, there's very practical lessons for us in these post-captivity books. But the interesting thing is this. When these men are returning, under Zerubbabel and under Joshua, there's almost 50 ,000 return, 49 ,942.
That's the first return according to the numbers in Nehemiah chapter 7, 50 ,000. When it comes to what our brother Dan will be telling us, there's about 1 ,800 that are mentioned in the text of Scripture.
Maybe if we add wives, servants, children, that number might grow a little bit to about 7 ,500 perhaps. When you come to Nehemiah, you say, how many will return under Nehemiah? We're not told. It's just a small day.
Beloved saints, one of the things we constantly hear is this. This is a small day. Thank God this is not a small day actually this morning in Mount Sterling. That's a wonderful thing. Thank the Lord this is not a small day as I look around the company here.
One of the things that we get targeted with, it's just a day of small things. Who hath despised the day of small things? And here are these men coming back, and they're coming back to the divine center, and that will give us something of the periods that are before us in this study.
Maybe I will mention maybe three more things. The first thing I mention is this. Not only the periods, but what about the place of the book of Ezra? I mentioned last night that in a Jewish Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah don't occupy the same place in the Hebrew Bible that they do in our English Bible.
Actually in a Hebrew Bible, the order of the books is this. The book of Esther, the book of Daniel, the book of Ezra, the book of Nehemiah, and the books of Chronicles. You say what's the difference? God has actually given us a lovely thing there you know.
The Lord is stirring up this heart of this heathen king. And here he is, and the Lord is stirring up Cyrus, and you say well this is great. Just before the Lord started to stir up the heart of Cyrus, there was something going on in the hearts of God's people.
And that's one of the reasons why the link to the book of Daniel is so precious when it comes to the link to the book of Ezra in the Hebrew Scriptures. You say what was Daniel doing? Read Daniel chapter 9 again.
Do you know what Daniel was doing? He understood by books that the captivity has reached an end. The 70 years is over. And this man was bowing in the presence of his God looking for revival. You know beloved saints, we want revival.
Where does revival start? Personally, I believe revival will start when God's people return again to prayer. In a very dramatic way, there was a man praying. He himself didn't get to return now, but there was a tremendous revival.
And before the revival started, and just at the point where the Lord is stirring up the heart of Cyrus, there's a man on his knees in the presence of his God, and he's praying for the city, and he's praying for the sanctuary, and he's praying for recovery.
And there's a great lesson for us beloved saints in that. And so we get something of the place. Maybe I'll mention the purpose. You say what's the great purpose? Sure, they're in Babylon. Why wouldn't they just stay in Babylon?
Well, we're going to see that the first thing they do when they get back is the altar will be the first thing that's rebuilt. Very precious teaching there. The second thing that will be rebuilt will be the sanctuary.
Great teaching there. The house of God. The foundation will be built. The house itself will be rebuilt. Then the walls are going to be rebuilt. And you say that's all very nice, but what's going on? Do you know what's going on?
God has a purpose in mind. Oh, you say we've got the purpose. He wants worship from his people, the altar. And we go through the sanctuary and the walls. He wants separation from his people. All of that.
God has a purpose in mind. See, when our brother Dan opens up the book of Haggai, we get the purpose. He wants them back in the land. And you say, why is it he wants them back in the land? Yes, he does want the altar rebuilt.
He wants the sanctuary rebuilt. He wants the walls reestablished and the gates put into their place. But what is the great purpose? You see, there's one coming and he's going to come right to that very sanctuary.
And when we get to the book of Haggai in the next Bible reading, the desire of all nations is coming. And God is going to make sure that the ground is going to be prepared before he ever comes. And before he ever steps foot onto planet Earth, beloved saints, there is a great purpose in mind.
Christ is coming. Mind you, the same principle applies to the next coming of the Lord Jesus. And we get that principle seen here in the books of Ezra and in the book of Nehemiah. The last thing that I mentioned, and this is maybe the most precious of all, at least for myself.
It's not so much the penman of the books, and it's not the profile of the books or the particulars of the books and the period in the books and all those other things that I've mentioned. The last thing that I want to mention is this.
What about our pathway through the books? Six chapters. How are we ever going to handle six chapters in a Bible-reading setting? Well, these are not New Testament epistles, so we don't have to go verse by verse.
We will. Some of the verses, we'll take our time and we'll spend moments in them and we'll see the teaching that is in the sections that are before us. But we don't have to do that. What I'm going to suggest to you is the pathway that we are going to take through these chapters.
We're going to spend a little bit of time on the fundamentals of the returnees, and that will be in Ezra chapter 1, maybe a few verses in Ezra chapter 2. Then once we have done with that and had discussion on that, I myself will give a summary that will step from chapter 1 and step into chapter 3, and then we'll spend a little bit of time in chapter 3 verses 1 to 6.
And in verses 1 to 6 of chapter 3, it's not so much the fundamentals of the returnees, it's the foundation that was laid by the returnees. And we'll take a look at that. And after having looked at that for a few minutes, what we're going to do then is give a summary and some statements and we'll take a step from chapter 3 and we'll step into chapter 6.
And when we step into chapter 6, we'll be from verse 14 to verse number 22 and we'll get the focus of the returnees. Now, our brethren, as I make some of those summary comments, our brethren might have questions or additional comments that they want to add to that, and all those comments will be welcome.
We keep that in our mind, but that will give us the pathway. Chapter 1, those verses in chapter 3, those verses in chapter 6, and I do trust with the help of God's Spirit that we'll make our way through these things in the Bible study with the illumination of the Holy Spirit and that it will be a time to profit around the sacred scriptures.
Now, before any other comments or before I make any other comments on Ezra chapter 1, I would welcome any general comments or questions from our brethren about the subject of the return from Babylon or, in fact, about Ezra and Nehemiah themselves and these books that we're going to be looking at.
Justin, Justin, Justin testing. Hello, can you hear me? Nathan says yes. Okay, Justin, in relation to the books, brother John, you've mentioned historic books, you mentioned prophetic books. There are 12 historic books beginning with Joshua all the way through to Esther.
The last three are post-exilic, right? Dealing with the exile and the people that came back. Then when you come to the minor prophets beginning with Hosea all the way through to Malachi, there are 12 minor prophets and the last three, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi are post-exilic.
So it's an easy way to remember just the setting of those books. Very helpful, brother William.
That's often been noted and that's a most helpful way and one of the things that happens in both of those sections of God's word is that they finish with return. There's actually a word that's used, we'll actually see it here, a Hebrew expression that comes up, it comes up at the end of Chronicles and it comes up here in the book of Ezra again, the goings up and it's a very interesting thing that God ever and always has in his mind the goings up of his people.
He doesn't want to leave them in captivity. And brother John, you mentioned this last night but I want to just bring it back to our attention today. Three waves that went into captivity, 20 years. Yes.
Three waves that came back out of captivity, 92 years. Very good. Now that is particularly challenging to us because it's very quick and easy to get away from the Lord. It takes much longer sometimes to get back to him.
Very good. And we can miss, can't we, a day of Bible reading. I'll do double the next day, treble the next day. But if you start to slip away from the Lord, very easy, difficult to recover. Very helpful, brother Dan.
We did mention it last night but I appreciate our brother. One of the problems we faced last night was this, that some of the things we were mentioning, we knew would have to be repeated to a slightly different audience this morning.
So I appreciate our brother Dan mentioning that. Now anything generally, and we'll step then into these verses in Ezra 1, Frank. I just was thinking as you look at the overlay of this, could you see almost like a repetition of the Exodus as well?
And I didn't see if you had said that at the beginning. I wasn't here. But did you bring that out? I didn't, but I see it clearly. Yeah. So there's the leaving of Egypt, the leaving of Babylon and so on.
There's the giving of the law, the importance of the law. There's even the Passover that's mentioned in its importance and so on, right? So that's an important thing. And it needs to be highlighted actually.
I appreciate our brother raising that because it's almost like this is a second Exodus. They were in captivity in Exodus and God brought them out of captivity. They're in captivity here. The Lord brings them out of captivity.
There was a king and when the king released them, he looked upon them favorably. There's a king here when he releases them, he looks upon them favorably. When they were leaving Egypt, they were given gifts.
We see here just as they're leaving Babylon, the king makes sure that there is a measure of gifts that are given to them. As our brother Frank says, when they left Egypt, there was an important placed on God's word.
When we come to these post-captivity books, there's importance placed on God's word. They kept the Passover. Here they're going to keep the Passover. The thing that's missing Frank, no miracles, right?
So as those comparisons have been made, what we are learning is this, that we actually get a dispensational picture in what Frank has mentioned and where we are. Here they are when they come out of Egypt, that was the beginning of the nation's history.
When they come out of Egypt, there was miracles. There's the miracle of the cloud, no cloud here. There was the miracle of the opening of the Red Sea, nothing like that here. There was the miracles of manna and all those various things, none of that here.
What we are learning is this, that we've passed into a slightly different phase related to these people. Now, that's just the same for us, where we are. You see, there's some people want to take us back to the beginning of this period and they want to see some of the miracles that were associated with the beginning of this period, but that's not where we are dispensationally.
We have moved on from that and we actually get that picture right here in these post-exilic books. In addition to that as well, just as soon as they've come back into the land, you've got two men, Haggai and Zechariah, they're prophets.
Sure. But of course, as time unfolds and when Nehemiah comes back in, the emphasis is not so much on the prophets and a direct word from God, but it's the word of God itself that's being read and being taught.
And of course, New Testament prophets today have passed off the scene, but we have the word of God before us.
Very helpful, Dan. Good. Just again, in relation to a general comment, which you mentioned last night, but bears repeating, the reason why, first of all, Israel was in captivity, it was because of disobedience.
They had failed to keep, as you specified last night, the Sabbaths for the land. They were to cultivate the land for six years and the seventh year was to be a Sabbath. They failed to do that for 490 odd years or so.
A total of 70 years of Sabbaths was omitted by the nation in plain disobedience. And then God takes them out of His land and the land keeps Sabbaths for 70 years. And you made a very important point last night, which I appreciated, was the fact that the land belonged not to Israel, not to the Jews.
Primarily, the land belongs to God. And that land, God said in Jeremiah 25, the land would be desolate. In two ways, there would be a captivity. God's people would be taken out of the land for the 70 years and His sanctuary would be removed for 70 years.
There's a twofold aspect to that, isn't there? Which you mentioned. So we think of the captivity of the people 70 years and then the sanctuary itself desolate for 70 years.
Very good. Now, that needs to be just, you see that last comment by William, especially for young believers, that needs to be noted. Because if you're reading through the book of Jeremiah, when you get to Jeremiah chapter 25, you'll read about 70 years.
If you keep reading through the book of Jeremiah, you'll get to Jeremiah chapter 29 and you'll read again about 70 years. Now, many of us, I used to just assume that those 70 years were just referring to the same thing.
They are not referring to the same thing. When you're in chapter 25 of the book of Jeremiah and verse number 11, the Lord specifies that is a period called desolations. When you're in Jeremiah chapter 29, the Lord specifies that's a period called captivity.
Now, they were both 70 years, but the beginning of each of those periods is not the same. And the end of each of those periods is not the same. When you're in Jeremiah chapter 29, the beginning of the captivity was 606 BC.
The end of the captivity was 536 BC. When you're in Jeremiah 25, the beginning of the desolations was 586 BC. The end of the desolations is 516 BC. That's the slate distinction. And one's to do with the people in captivity in Babylon.
The other in Jeremiah chapter 25 is to do with the land. And if you take a note of that and underline that, that will help you when it comes to the book of Jeremiah. And just to clarify that 586, the beginning of the period of desolations was when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple.
Good. So the 70 year period then 516 is finally when the temple had been rebuilt. That's helpful because you see where we're going to be. As we move to, not Jeremiah, but as we move to the book of Ezra and chapter six, when we get into chapter six and the temple rebuilt, that's the end of that period of desolations.
And we will notice just at that point, the temple is standing and the Lord has fulfilled his word. Now that will helpfully actually bring us into verse number one here. 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. Now you'll notice that when it comes to this return from Babylon, it is always up. You'll notice verse number one, the Lord stirred up. Look at verse number three, let him go up. Look at verse number five, then rose up.
Look at verse number five again, whose spirit God had raised. That's actually the same word as verse number one, stirred up. Look at the end of verse number 11, all these did Shesh-Bazar bring up. Look at chapter two, verse number one, the children of the province that went up.
And the great emphasis as we are reading through this passage is this, that it's always a movement upward, back to the sanctuary and back to the house of the Lord.
John, could I ask a question in the first phrase of this book, now in the first year of Cyrus? All right. So Cyrus was the Persian king. The Medes and Persians took over from the Babylonians. You have mentioned here of October 539 BC.
That was when in that night was Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans slain, right? Daniel 5. But we read that Darius the Mede took the kingdom, right? Now, how come we have Cyrus? Here mentioned in his first year.
Thank you.
We've been discussing this in William's house. I didn't shuffle. No, no. William said there'd be no difficult questions. This happens all the time. Yes, all the time. So now the reason why I mentioned that is this, one of the problems we'll actually come across another Darius as we're moving through the book of Ezra.
Now the Darius in the book of Ezra is not the same Darius that is mentioned in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 5. One of the problems that we face biblically and even historically is just knowing who that Darius is in Daniel chapter 5.
It is not Cyrus. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that because in Daniel 6, the end of Daniel 6, it says, Darius, he continued even onto the reign of Cyrus. And the way that Hebrew scholars would render that phrase would make it seem like the Darius and Cyrus are the same man.
Now, do you have a view on that, William?
Yeah, it's a simple view, really. Not a difficult question in my view. You have Darius, the Mede took the kingdom of the Chaldeans. Right. Right. A regional sort of a king. Sure. Whereas we have here Cyrus, king of Persia, right?
He was the federal king, if you will, over the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. So he was the president Trump, right? The other man was more like the governor of the 51st.
Who is that now? No, I think William wants, he wants the U .S. to be the second province of Canada. But I'm not sure about that. But I do think that what he said there is likely the best way to handle it.
Most likely, Cyrus was the king over the empire. Under Cyrus, there was another man, and most likely it's a dynastic name. Just like Pharaoh was a dynastic name in Egypt, Darius most likely is a dynastic name when it comes to the Medes.
Maybe it was one of the generals, Gumbaro, or some of those men. And he took the kingdom, took the kingdom early on in the month of October. And then towards the end of October, 539 B .C., Cyrus himself came, and he came to dwell at least for some point or a short time in the capital.
John, on to more interesting things. Maybe I shouldn't say that. Just to lead you on, the providence of God is huge in Ezra 1, but all of these post-exilic books. So we've just got there in verse 1, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia.
So here is perhaps the most powerful man in all the earth. And he's head of a great kingdom, isn't he, Daniel 2, and all of that. But the Lord is stirring up his spirit. And you come to the end of the period, which is Ezra 6.
And you've been talking about all of that. This is a different king now. He's Darius, a different Darius to the one that we've been speaking about. He's called the king of Assyria, verse 22 of chapter 6.
And again, it's the Lord who is turning the heart of the king of Assyria. And you run into chapter 7. And now you're in a different time period. And it's another king. So now it's not Cyrus. It's not Darius.
Now it's Artaxerxes. But again, verse 27, Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart to beautify the house of the Lord. So it doesn't matter who it is.
Doesn't matter when it is. The period, the kingdom, the king. Doesn't matter. God is in control. Good. And he's stirring and moving these great individuals that his purpose might be fulfilled. And that's vitally important because what God has done, Jeremiah's prophecy must be fulfilled.
What God did was he raised up one empire. That was the Babylonian empire. The way that the Babylonians worked was this. They decided that their policy would be deportation. And so they moved in. They took over an area and they deported the citizens of that area back to their own kingdom.
Well, Cyrus comes on the stage. The Lord raises up Cyrus. And as the Lord raises up Cyrus, now it's a different kingdom. You remember the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel chapter 2. Thou art this head of gold.
Now we're at the second part of the image. And now this is not the policy of deportation. When it came to medial Persia, it was the policy of repatriation. This king decided we don't want people to be unsettled in the land.
The best way not to have an unsettled populace is let's put them back to their own lands. And if we put them back to their own lands, they'll settle in their own lands. They'll be able to worship their own God and there will be peace in the empire.
And God has done this. Now, one of the things that Dan has mentioned, and we'll notice it here, and it'll come up in his Bible reading. Look at verse number one, the Lord stirred up. Look at verse number five.
I mentioned this. The Lord raised up, same word, stirred up. When you get to Haggai chapter one and verse number 14, this man Zerubbabel, it says the Lord stirred up, same word. So when it's the heathen monarch, verse number one, the Lord stirred up his spirit.
And you say, what about the people, the chief of the fathers, the leaders? The Lord stirred them up. And you say, what about Zerubbabel individually? The Lord stirred him up. You know what would be a great thing in this conference?
If the Lord would stir up hearts. If the Lord would stir up some of the rulers that we have, whether it's federally, or I'm not even sure. Yeah, we won't go near some of that politics stuff that our brother has mentioned.
But whether it's outside in the world, or whether it's leaders amongst us, or whether it's individuals, it's a great thing when the Lord stirs up. Excuse me, can I just add one thing to that? Yes. It's wonderful.
And the thing is this, and it's the workings of the Lord. But I think also in addition to that, in verse one, what is emphasized in a joint point is that, yes, these edicts, great rulers are making commands, which are tremendous.
But behind the commands of these kings is the ultimate sovereignty of the king of kings. But there's one more thing. People will say so often, well, the Lord told me to do that. The Lord told me to do that.
The Lord stirred me up. It is in connection with the foundation of it is according to His Word. And that is important, so that what we do must be according to His Word.
That's what Ezra is emphasizing. Just following on from that, Frank, if I may. Isaiah prophesied in chapter 44 this very event 170 years earlier. The Lord saith to Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built unto the temple, thy foundation shall be laid.
Josephus, the Jewish historian, he records that when Cyrus heard these words, that he was so struck by them, it had an impact upon him. It was the Word of God that was backed at all.
And we're going to see that expression throughout the book, right? According to the law of Moses, according to the Word. Ten times Moses is going to be mentioned in the book. Now, you see that that's important.
Actually, we'll give the younger folks here and we'll give all of us a study. This is one of the eight men in Scripture that God actually gives His name before His birth. Most interesting thing. And you can just trace it through the Scriptures.
You'll get two of them in Genesis. You'll get two of them in the Gospels. You'll get two of them, one in Chronicles, one in Kings. And you'll get two in the book of Isaiah. And as our brethren have mentioned, Jeremiah's prophecy is at the forefront of this.
Isaiah's prophecy is right at the forefront of this. So as these men are working, one of the things I've appreciated there by our brethren is this, they are not going against the principles of God's Word.
Now, that's actually expressed. That will bring us helpfully down the section. Because thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, verse number 2, the Lord hath charged me to build him a house. Let's build the house here.
We'll build the house somewhere in Medo-Persia. No, the house is to be built at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Look at verse number 3. Let him go to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord.
And you'll find right through the section, they're going back. They're going back to the land. They're going back to Jerusalem. They're going back to Judah. They're going back to the house of the Lord.
You see, beloved saints, what we're emphasizing is this. There are dear people, and we're not criticizing the people or the systems, but there are dear Christians, and we know them, and they profess the name of Christ, and many of them are genuine believers, and they are putting their time and their effort and their energy into things that are not sanctioned by God's Word.
It is a good thing, beloved saints, that when we build, we are building and putting time and effort and energy into things that are... There is only one place of the name, and that is gathered unto the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
And if you want to build, get into local assembly fellowship and build there for the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus. John, one more comment, then piggybacking on that. There's an expression, I think it's only found in this grouping of books, the Lord God of Heaven.
That's right. The Lord God of Heaven. And that isn't that eerily in the recognition that the fact that the testimony itself is not yet established. He's moving in that light, right? It's quite a particular thing with these post-exilic books.
And so what we're learning is this, that the direction of this is not coming just from these men, not coming from the leaders. It's not coming even from the heathen king. This is coming from the sovereign Lord, the Lord God of Heaven.
And the interesting thing, Frank, is that verse number two, thus saith Cyrus, the Lord God of Heaven. When we step into verse number three, you'll notice, build the house of the Lord God of Heaven. Doesn't say that.
Build the house of the Lord God of Israel. But you say it's only Judah and Benjamin that are going up. There likely will be some from the other tribes, but you will notice. Tell me, beloved brethren, tell me, Frank, why is the emphasis placed the Lord God of Heaven?
And then it's changed, and the emphasis is then placed not on the Lord God of Judah, and not on the Lord God of Judah and Benjamin, but it's placed on the Lord God of Israel. Because there's a unified testimony that he's looking at on earth now, right?
Good. And this Lord God of Israel is the God who gave, and he instituted a covenant with Israel, and he's going to keep that covenant. And so covenantally, we are going to notice that the Lord is keeping his promise to his beloved people.
Now, that's important because we have got to the stage where we're hearing people tell us, well, you see, the church is a great thing, but the church has replaced Israel. That is unbiblical teaching. And so here we are today, and we are learning that even though the 10 tribes were taken into Assyrian captivity 721 BC, even though Judah and Benjamin were taken into Babylonian captivity from 606 BC to 586 BC, the Lord still has in mind one nation, 12 tribes, and they're called Israel.
And very soon when they get back and the altar is re-established, there'll be a sin offering. And that sin offering will be 12 he goats, and that's one, isn't it, for each of the tribes. So lovely to see that principle running all the way through the nation.
Now, Brandon and Ike, we value both you brethren sitting there. Anything that you would like to add to either comments or take us on further down this chapter?
I would have mentioned this earlier, but William mentioned not only the lack of observing the Sabbaths, but the beginning of Jeremiah says the problem was they have forsaken me. And that's what you find in chapter six.
It says they came to seek the Lord God of Israel. So God's desire was a restoration of their hearts and fellowship, first and foremost, before anything was going to be built. Very good.
So restoration to the Lord is the primary focus before anything. And that's a very practical thing for us that when it comes to ourselves, we get away from the Lord. And before there's restoration in the land, and before there's restoration in the locale of the temple, there has to be, first of all, restoration back to the Lord himself.
I appreciate our brother mentioning that. Now, Haggai will emphasize that, of course, but Zechariah too, in his very first message, turn unto me, return unto me, saith the Lord, and I will return unto you.
Very good. The nation as a whole has never done that. From the days of Hosea, the Lord pronounced, not my people, lo am I, right? And in these post-exilic books, God does not call them my people unless it is anticipating that future restoration in Zechariah and so on.
Very good. So it's only a remnant that returns. You want to keep that in mind. It's only a portion of the nation that is going to prove the reality of getting back to God. Good.