Ezra 1 (Part 1) Bible Study (Introduction / The Proclamation of Cyrus) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Book of Ezra Series)

Father, we do ask you from the bottom of our hearts that You

would go before us as we begin a new journey in Your Word.

We also want to give you all our thanks that You have consecrated

these Friday nights in this ministry to be an Oasis for our

souls. That's so many times we've been

able to come and be refreshed and to be convicted and to be

comforted and to be equipped because your word here is

proclaimed and we are not ashamed of it Lord.

And so we ask now that you would provide an awareness of the

anointing that is promised in first John that anointing within

that teaches us the truth and the deep things of God.

We we come in faith. Oh God, and we pray that the

delivery of this introduction would be Spirit empowered and

that our hearts would be prepared to receive everything

that you have in store for us this night.

Lord, we pray that you would apprehend every wandering

thought, every renegade emotion, anything that is outside of your

will. We pray that it would come in

total alignment with your desire for each of us.

We bless you Lord, we give you thanks in advance for what you

have planned through your word in our midst, Jesus name, Amen.

In 586 BC the Babylonian Empire completely conquered the Kingdom

of Judah, and you and I are well aware of the Old Testament in

that many places have described to us just how swift and just

how dramatic the destruction of Jerusalem was.

We also learned a few weeks ago that Babylon completely remove

the remaining people in the Kingdom of Judah, with the

exception of a few poor people in the prophet Jeremiah.

And so we have realized at the closing of Second Kings that

God's promise of an expulsion from the Promised Land indeed

came to pass, and even the Davidic dynasty was not exempt

from it. But along the promises and the

warnings of this exile were comforting words through the

same messengers of God who constantly reminded this people

who are now displaced that their exile into a foreign place was

not permanent. It would not remain that way.

In fact, the leading prophetic voice of that time, the prophet

Jeremiah, gave this wonderful assurance in the middle of his

prophetic book. In Jeremiah 29, verse 10, it

Jeremiah 29:10

reads for Thus says the Lord, after the 70 years for Babylon

are completed, I will visit you, and I will fulfill my promise to

you and will bring you back to this place.

That was not the only time Jeremiah reminded the people

that this was an act of discipline, but it was not a

cancelling of God's covenant. And this prophecy in Jeremiah

2910 is ranked among the most precise and all of Holy

Scripture. It's a remarkable thing that we

find in our Bibles. And so paramount was it that

when it came to the fulfillment, God has given us two books in

great detail to tell us how it all came to pass.

And those books are Ezra and Nehemiah.

And it's going to be our great privilege to consecrate the next

few months to study these books with great attention and

excitement. So that's what we're here to do.

Now, some might be wondering why, after finishing Second

Kings, we're not going to 1st and Second Chronicles because

those books immediately follow Second Kings.

And the answer is quite simple, if you've been with us through

1st and 2nd Kings, we have frequently visited the

Chronicles right in a way to help complete certain stories

and accounts. And so I think it'll be more

helpful to revisit First and Second Chronicles at a later

time as a series. But for now, we are going to

enjoy the book of Ezra. And I invite you to turn there

with me, Ezra, chapter 1, because we are going to read a

Ezra 1 · chapter mention

few verses in a moment. But allow me to offer a few

introductory thoughts and listen again, if you're here, this is a

great time to be at Bible study. It always is a great time, but

especially when we start a new book because you get to start

fresh and you get to be right at the beginning of a study where

you don't get lost if you come later on or you feel like you

have to catch up. So really absorb this time and I

want to encourage you to be faithful in the coming weeks to

actually remain in this journey so that you can fully benefit

from it. So a few things to review in

terms of background of this book.

Ezra and Nehemiah originally are considered a single unit.

In fact, that is still the case in the Tanakh, which is the

Hebrew Bible. And though in our Bibles they

are identified as separate books, they complement one

another so well because both of these books cover the return of

the Exiles to their country. And the record of this journey

back is done so in incredible fashion.

Does anyone remember how many deportations it took for the

people to be removed from Judah NO33?

And interestingly, what we're going to find in our study is

that it will actually be three cycles of return from exile back

to their homeland. And these waves of return will

actually serve as a general yet helpful outline for these texts.

So if you're taking notes, this is a good place to put this in

your margins or wherever you put your thoughts.

The initial wave of return will happen between Ezra chapter 1

Ezra 1 · chapter mention

and Ezra chapter 6, and it will be through the leadership and

Ezra 6 · chapter mention

guidance of a man by the name of Zerubbabel, and we're going to

learn more about them in the coming weeks.

Zerubbabel, the second group of returnees, is described

described in Ezra 7 to Ezra chapter 10, under the direct

Ezra 10 · chapter mention

leadership of Ezra himself. Now here's what's interesting.

Ezra is mentioned and introduced to us for the first time in

Chapter 7. That's kind of strange, isn't

it, since the book is named after him.

So in the last three chapters of this book, do we see Ezra taking

center stage of the narrative? Now the final cycle, the final

round of Return is the entire book of Nehemiah, and it's going

to be through Nehemiah's leadership.

So the focus really of Ezra now as an overview is going to be

studying the first two significant recoveries of the

people as they make their way back to their home, rebuild

their community and more importantly, reestablish their

relationship with the living God.

Now let me make another mention here.

Those three waves are led by three distinct individuals.

And if you look carefully, they're they're all builders in

their own way. When Zerubbabel will lead the

people in the first wave, his primary responsibility is going

to be rebuilding the temple. He's going to lay the foundation

of the temple. We're going to look at that in

greater detail in the weeks to come.

Ezra follows. And when he comes back, he also

rebuilds something. Does anybody know what it is?

The people he's going to rebuild the people of God, he's going to

rebuild their faith. He's going to rebuild their

consecration. He's going to rebuild their

worship. And finally, Nehemiah will

arrive on the scene. And what will he rebuild?

The walls. And that observation alone is an

encouragement to us because God has his men and women who have

their distinct responsibility in building some part of God's

Kingdom. You don't have to be in

leadership. The leaders are very, very

paramount in this narrative. You don't have to be a leader to

play some part in contributing to the fortification, to the

sanctification, to the effectiveness of God's purposes

on the earth. Now, with this in mind, perhaps

you are wondering if Ezra is introduced to us in Chapter 7,

why is this book named after him?

And that's a good question. And the answer beyond Jewish

tradition attributing it to him, is that there is wonderful

internal evidence that shows us that he is indeed the author of

it. So generally, Ezra is written in

the third person, but a shift takes place once you come to

Chapter 7. Let's go there quickly.

Look at Chapter 7 and verse 27 with me.

I'll wait for you to turn there. Ezra 727.

Here's what we read. Blessed be the Lord, the God of

our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of

the king, to beautify the House of the Lord that is in

Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the

king and his counselors, and before all the King's mighty

officers. I took courage for the hand of

the Lord. My God was on me, and I gathered

leading men from Israel to go up with me.

So now we're we're seeing it in the first person.

And this isn't the only place where this happens.

It actually reappears. Excerpts in the first person

will show up following Chapter 7 all the way to chapter 10.

So we're left with only two options concerning the author of

this book. You either have an anonymous

author who is, you know, just telling and recording what took

place historically and then included Ezra's personal

memoirs, or you have Ezra, who is indeed the one who penned

this book. And once the narrative shifts to

his inclusion and his leadership in this return speaks in the

first person. And that's what we believe that

Ezra indeed wrote this. In fact, Ezra seems to have more

authorship real estate in the Bible than one might actually

think. If indeed we do conclude that

Ezra wrote this, then we can actually say that he penned

First and Second Chronicles. Why would we say that?

Because the way Second Chronicles ends the last verses

is virtually identical to how Ezra begins, almost word for

word. And that alone may showcase to

us that the same writer was involved in both works.

And I encourage you to compare those texts at your own time

later. Now, there's so much more that

we can say about the background of this book, but I want to

transition with this final question, and it's an important

one. Is there an overarching theme to

the book of Ezra? There usually is with every

book, and there are more than one.

But I want to say that one of them jumps out at us at the very

opening of this book. The very first verse, actually.

So let's read it together in verse one, Ezra 1.

Verse one reads 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 so that he made a proclamation

throughout all his Kingdom and also put it in writing.

Look at that sentence there, that the word of the Lord by the

mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

That is a major emphasis in this remarkable historical account.

Whatever God says he will do, he will do.

So the fate, the faithfulness of God is, is very much a filter at

the outset of this text. And it's not only seen here in

God actually accomplishing the hopeful message that Jeremiah

proclaimed. You will be there for 70 years,

but you will come back. That's the word that's going to

be fulfilled. It is interwoven throughout this

book in micro testimonies where we see little stories and

anecdotes and we realize over and over it's compacted how God

is reliable, He is trustworthy, and what he says He will

actually do. And He's never late.

And I'm eager to discover these insights.

I'm, I'm so looking forward to see what every chapter has to

offer us. But with the plan tonight, we're

actually going to just stay in verse one, Ezra one, verse 1.

And I, I think and I hope and I pray really that by the end of

the study you will see why that is valuable not to rush.

I mean, it's only a few chapters.

This, this study is not going to be very long.

At least I don't anticipate it to be very long.

But we can't rush what we see here in the very first words of

this book. So here's what we're going to

do. Verse 1 is going to serve as a

launching pad to other Scriptures, but I want us to

read down to verse 4 just to get a more complete picture, and

then we will do what we are here to do.

Let's read again in verse one 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, so that he made a proclamation

throughout all his Kingdom and also put it in writing.

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has

given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he 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 let 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 that each

survival in whatever place he soldiers 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 God

that is in Jerusalem. The first thing that should

strike you and I is this individual that we are

introduced to by the name of Cyrus, who is the king of

Persia. What does the Kingdom of Persia

and its ruler have to do with the people of God who are

supposedly trapped in Babylon? The answer should be clear to us

that while the people were in exile, the Kingdom of Persia

replaced Babylon as a superpower in the ancient Near East.

There's been a shift of governance.

There has been a transfer of power.

Babylon no longer is the dominating force, it is Persia.

In fact, all the events in Ezra and Nehemiah take place under

the Persian government. This is a significant change,

one that is detailed to us in the book of Daniel chapter 5.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

You remember that is precisely where we see this shift taking

place and history accounts to the reality of this.

It's an actually amazing thing to compare what we find here in

the Bible and archaeological discoveries.

But there's something DP here for us.

Looking at Cyrus, king of Persia here in Ezra and Daniel and

other mentions offers more than just how the Bible is

historically accurate. Here's what I want to propose to

you tonight. If you and I actually gather

everything the Bible has to say about Cyrus, then we will

actually come to the place of having one of the strongest

arguments for the divine authorship of the Bible.

In other words, if someone were to ask me why do you believe

that the Bible is divinely inspired, one of my answers

would be, and I don't say this was an exaggeration, I mean it.

I would respond with, have you ever considered what the Bible

has to say about one of Persia's most notable kings?

Here's what I mean. Long before Jeremiah prophesied,

when the people of God were returned to Babylon or or

Jerusalem, he actually had another prophet explain and

predict how it would happen. And that's where we need to go.

Isaiah, Isaiah 44. And look with me at the very

last verse, Isaiah 44, verse 28. You can't afford to miss this.

Isaiah 44:28

This has massive implications for the veracity of the Bible.

Isaiah 44, verse 28, Who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and he

Isaiah 44:28

shall fulfill all my purpose. This is God speaking, saying of

Jerusalem, she shall be built another temple, your foundation

shall be laid. The prophecy continues in

chapter 45. Let's look at verse one.

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right

hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, and to loose

the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may

not be closed. I will go before you and level

the exalted places. I will break in pieces the doors

of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hordes in

secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God

of Israel, who call you by your name.

For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I

call you by your name. I name you, though you do not

know me. To truly grasp how astounding

this prophecy is, you and I have to understand the timing of it.

There is no dispute that this was compiled.

This prophecy was given close to 200 years before Cyrus was even

born. Do you understand what we have

in our hands here? One of the most accurate and

robust prophecies in all of Scripture and all of Scripture.

Now let's try to let's try to understand the magnitude of

this. It would be like, just imagine

with me now, a pastor living in the days of George Washington

and this credible minister boldly proclaims on public

record for the whole nation to hear there is a president coming

by the name of George W Bush, who became president nearly 200

years after Washington. That's why I'm using it.

There is a new leader who will arise by the name of George W

Bush, and not only does he name him by name, but he actually

explains what he will accomplish in his administration that will

actually bring about historical significance, a shift in

nations. What would that sound like for

those who would hear such a prediction?

It would be astounding. It would be amazing.

And for such a thing then to come to pass, well, it's, it's

hard to imagine what would transpire after that.

But that is the kind of precision foresight we're

dealing with an Isaiah's prophecy here.

This is not vague at all. It's naming names.

It's actually foretelling what's going to happen on a global

scale. History to this day can't ignore

it. And this is something for us to

consider. And we have to look at this

prophecy more carefully because the more familiar we've become

with it, the more confidence that we will have concerning the

validity of the Word of God. And I'm sure the the greater

your boldness will be in your preaching to the lost.

So let's look at this. Let's come back to chapter 45 of

Isaiah. Look carefully, verse one thus

says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus.

So Isaiah's prophecy is not just about Cyrus, it's a message for

him. It's to Cyrus, it's to this man

who is anointed. Now think about that.

Who was anointed in Israel? Kings, prophets, priests.

It's very rare where you have somebody who's a Gentile outside

of the confines of Israel who is told to be anointed.

Well, it's happening here. So this was something not just

for Israel to know about, though.

That's my main point. It's something for Cyrus somehow

to encounter. And it is widely believed that

Daniel was the prophet who exposed Cyrus to this prophecy.

That's what Jewish tradition claims.

And it's not so far fetched because we learned in the book

of Daniel that he knew Cyrus personally.

And more than that, we know that Daniel had copies of the

Scriptures. He had prophecies at his

disposal, did he not? How do we know that in Daniel 91

and two, while Daniel is in exile, while Daniel lived

through these transfer of governance, he says, I Daniel

perceived in the books the number of years that according

to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet.

What is he saying? I perceived in the books He had

books he was studying. And we have great reason to

believe that Daniel was very bold in the palace, that with

his great influence, he made known the truth of God.

And so it would not be a stretch to say that somehow, someway,

Cyrus was exposed to this scroll, to this message.

It came to him eventually. Now, whether or not Daniel was

the means by which Cyrus came to know this divine message, Ezra

confirms that he was aware of it.

We read that earlier. We'll see it again at the

closing of the study. What we do know for certain is

the essence of the message. Like Cyrus did What?

What's the summary of this? The whole purpose of this

prophecy is that once Cyrus is born, once he's raised up, once

he accomplishes amazing things, he would realize the God of

Israel has always known me, and He is the reason for my success

and my exaltation. This was to humble this man.

This was to move this man. This was for Cyrus to be

introduced to the true God. And I want you to imagine the

impact of coming across the writings of a prophet from a

different land who lived 180 to 200 years before you.

And in those records, your name shows up and your greatest

achievement in life has been predicted and fulfilled.

That's huge. That's massive.

And as personal as this account is, it conveys A broader truth,

one that would have challenged the hearts of the Jewish people

and stir the hearts of Gentiles at the same time.

What is it that God's compassion, God's power are not

limited to Israel. He works beyond those borders.

He actually can deal with the hearts of those who have no

understanding, no relation, no access to what Israel had.

And so yes, this, this prophecy, it profoundly displays the

sovereignty of God over kings and over lands.

But you can't miss the personal ambition in it.

Is God flexing His ultimate power over all things?

Is knowledge of all things? Yes.

But to what end? What's the goal?

Well, I want to make a case here so that people would not only be

introduced to including Cyrus, but that they would actually

know him, That they would be so moved by how this God has gone

out of his way to make himself real that they would then pursue

him in an intimate way. Look back at Isaiah 45.

Let's look here at verse 5. The Lord continues in verse

five. I am the Lord, and there is no

other besides me. There is no God.

I equip you, though you do not know me.

He's still speaking to Cyrus, but notice what he says in verse

6, that people may know from the rising of the sun and from the

West that there is none besides me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Highlight those words in the beginning of verse 6 that people

may know. I want people to know me, and

I'm going to call out a man who's not even born, that

doesn't even exist. I'm going to write out how he

actually is going to take over the world so that when those who

in his lifetime and beyond realize it, they would

understand that I am the true God.

No other deity can do this and that.

From that place they would know me in a real way, in a saving

way. Can it really be?

Can it really be that this God who has proven that He knows

every detail of the future, who can even tell us in advance

about it in writing, wants all people, no matter your

background, no matter your race, no matter your education level,

no matter anything, to know Him? And yes, it is true.

And in case you doubt that there is a personal element to this,

look down a little bit further than verse 9, Isaiah 45, verse

Isaiah 45:9

9. Woe to him who strives with him

who formed Him a pot among earthen pots.

Does the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making?

Or your work has no handles. So what's happening here?

This is the Lord's way of reminding the reader how futile

it is for anyone to resist the future predicting, nation

shifting God. Woe to you.

Woe to you if you actually try to raise your fist against this

God. That's what he's saying here.

But there is an application contextually that speaks deeper

to the heart. It's almost as though this verse

is saying, why would you oppose this God who again, has gone out

of his way to provide a record of Him predicting the future

with specifics, and at the same time is inviting you to embrace

Him and to enjoy him and to walk with Him.

Why would you do that? And maybe that's a question for

some people here or who are going to listen to this in the

future. Can I ask you something, please?

If you're skeptic in this place, welcome.

But let me speak to your heart. What do you do with a prophecy

like this? What do you do about this actual

foretelling of a man named Cyrus 200 years before he existed?

What do you do with that? Do you just ignore it?

Do you just scoff at it? Are you not at least intrigued

to explore further? Like, do you, do you not

comprehend the potential ramifications, the consequences

if this conclusions is indeed true?

Where do you go with this? You just move on and grab a late

night snack After a study like this, what do you do?

I'll tell you what many have done because I wanted to know

what atheists and agnostics have done with this prophecy and I

wasn't surprised. Unfortunately, many refused to

believe that Isaiah appendix before the time of Cyrus and

doubters of the divine inspiration of God's word say

Isaiah must have wrote this after Cyrus came on the scene.

And you'll even have liberal theologians who will claim that

how convenient, how convenient. It's a sad thing what people

will do. And if that is you, this verse

in verse 9 is actually for you. Woe to him who strives with him,

who formed him. You were fighting against God.

You were intentionally resisting Him.

You were suppressing the truth. What more does God need to do to

prove that this book is from heaven?

Well, there's one more thing I'd like for us to take away from

this prophecy, and it's something that concerns the

people of God specifically. Look again at verse 4 of Isaiah

45. God says for the sake of my

servant Jacob and Israel, my chosen, I call you by your name.

I name you, though you do not know me.

So OK, we we know that the Lord wants to reveal himself to all

people through this prophecy, but he actually now focuses in a

little bit more and he actually says Cyrus, the reason why I'm

doing this also is because I have my people in mind.

Here's a lesson God's sovereign governance over the rise and

fall of nations, the promotion and demotion of rulers, even the

rewriting of laws according to this is always tied to the

growth and the formation of his own people always.

You know, history reveals that when Cyrus actually made this

edict, I'm talking about secular history, there's actually a

cylinder that's been discovered, it's in the British Museum

called the Cyrus Cylinder. It's this clay kind of vase

looking thing with inscriptions on it and actually speaks to and

speaks of what we find here in Ezra 1.

It's a different vantage point, but it confirms what we find

here. And what we discover there is

that Cyrus actually made a proclamation to many displaced

nations, and he actually makes an invitation for all peoples to

return back to their homeland. This was a political strategy.

It was for him to stabilize the region, to win favour within his

empire. And so to the natural eye, what

you would have seen is, you know, this is just a human

rights policy. This is just, you know, a king

who's just a rose to power. And he, he just wants to kind of

introduce himself on the right path, right footing.

And so he just says everybody can go back home.

You go back to your gods, you go back to your families, you go

back to your land. But what is God's word reveal?

Here's what it reveals. This looks like maybe just a

benevolent man, a shrewd man, you know, just implementing

political strategy. But instead, it was all guided

by God with his covenant people and focus.

All of this, all of this movement is orbiting around the

well-being of his own people. And you and I always have to

remember that as a Church of Jesus Christ beneath everything

that is happening. Listen, in this very city, in

this nation, across the globe, what you have to remember is

that God is orchestrating every piece in order to ultimately

listen to this position. His church in a manner where she

will be sanctified and most effective for His purpose.

I'm not sure if we believe that, but here's a text to remind us

of it. As followers of Jesus Christ,

God has not changed. Yes, this is the old covenant.

Israel was in focus. We are in the new covenant.

We are the Church of Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile

combined. As one new man, has God changed?

No, he's not. In fact, what we learn here is

that the Lord will accomplish such purposes even through kings

like Cyrus who don't know God, and yet will use such a man to

display and shower favor towards his people.

But listen, that truth remains, even if governments are unjust

and cruel towards God's own. And one of my favorite examples

of this is something that we covered briefly a couple

conferences ago. It's in Acts 18.

Let's be reminded of that. I want you to see it again in

Acts 18, verse one. This is when Paul left Athens

and went to Corinth. Look at this example once again,

Acts 18, verse one and verse 2. Here's a New Testament example.

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a

Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy

with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the

Jews to leave Rome and he went to see them.

What if I'm fascinating about this tax is that the Holy Spirit

could have simply told us that Paul met this couple, but he

doesn't just do that. He chooses to inform us how he

met Aquila and Priscilla. How did it happen?

You know how it happened? It was through an anti-Semitic

law. It was through the ruler there

in Rome who banished all Jews from the country.

Now put yourself in their sandals for a second.

Imagine that one day you get a knock at your door from

officials saying you have to leave.

You have to leave your business, you have to walk away from your

family. You have to abandon your church

for something that you can't even control.

How disorienting is that? How?

How frustrating would that be? I mean, who are you going to

call? The police?

The police is escorting you out. So you can imagine the tension,

you can imagine the anger, you can imagine the sadness, you can

imagine the tears. They have no choice.

You're being uprooted. And yet it's this very edict

from a secular, God hating Pagan government that would serve as

the catalyst for this couple to meet the apostle Paul in Corinth

and from there to form a relationship that would bless

the early church. In fact, you know this very

well. This couple is one of the most

esteemed in all of the New Testament and they became one of

Paul's closest companions. Where did it all begin?

The Holy Spirit tells us, Claudia is saying, you Jews,

you're out of here. We don't want you here.

So whether it's a pro Jewish leader like Cyrus or an

anti-Semitic rule like Claudius, what do you have the same truth?

God is in control. God is in control.

He's moving, he's orchestrating, he's he has his people in mind

with all of this change with favour or unfairness.

And that is something, listen, you have to believe for your own

life, especially if you are part of the Church of Jesus Christ.

So I really hope we got a taste here of just how significant

this man Cyrus was. And I want to encourage you to

never hesitate to reference him and to use him in your witness

to those who may challenge the reliability of the Bible.

Get more familiar with Isaiah 45, put it together with the

rest of history and ask somebody who would doubt who it's that

Bible is written by man. Yeah, we know that it was

written by man. But God moved by the Holy Spirit

through these men to give the message that he wanted to give

for all humanity. And he moves in history and he's

made prophecy about history made known to us so that what all

people would know him cyber listen to this.

Cyrus has been selected and inscribed in divine revelation

for that very purpose so that anybody who would learn about

him would realize God is real. God is real.

I don't remember the last time I've ever considered using Cyrus

in my evangelistic efforts, but here we are now.

There's so much more that we can say, but we're going to come

back to Ezra one verse one and look at a final thought before

we close Ezra one verse one. Let's read it one more time.

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, we learn just a

little bit about him. Continues here to say 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 so that

he made a proclamation throughout all his Kingdom and

also put it in writing. See that phrase there?

The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia.

That is very important in our understanding of this section of

God's story. As we continue in this series,

we're going to see a lot of stirring of spirits in the very

chapter. We're going to see in verse 5

that God is going to stir the spirits of some of the remnant

to return. When it comes to the building

project of the temple. God's going to stir the spirits

of the leaders of the leaders, including Zerubbabel and those

who have followed His lead into Jerusalem.

Now, what you can take from this at face value is the obvious,

that this just confirms once again that God can influence the

hearts of even kings and that he can miraculously work in and

through him to accomplish his own purpose, right?

We know this, but there's a deeper truth.

It's as though Ezra by the Spirit wants us right away the

reader to understand that what's about to happen.

It's not because necessarily of the goodness of this Pagan king.

Cyrus in this moment will be an agent of Judah's renewal, of

Judah's healing, unless the people fall into the temptation

of giving the credit of their restoration to him.

Ezra wants to let us know the true source, the true power at

work behind the man who is making it happen, God, the

Spirit of God influencing and impressing upon the conscience

and the deepest parts of this man.

Cyrus, for what reason? So that you and I, including the

people that Ezra immediately wrote to, would understand God

is the one who's ultimately restoring us.

What's the lesson? Here's the lesson.

Another theme of Ezra really is about restoration.

What we can take from this? Is that true?

Restoration can only take place through a work of God.

Let me narrow it in. True restoration, that sense.

Of contentment in your. Soul, that realization that you

actually, you actually can testify.

I feel complete. That can only happen.

Through God, only God and the. Sooner you and I.

Believe that and realize that the quicker we will enjoy and

capture the reason why we exist. And the more we doubt.

That and entertain other thrills and ideas, the more you'll be

disappointed the mending. Of your spirituality.

Your identity, your purpose can only be found in him.

It was the. Lord, who stirred up the.

Spirit of Cyrus, it was the Lord who ultimately is reeling his

people back to who they were created to be, you know?

What verse came to mind? And here is where we're going to

end. The last part of the book of.

Lamentations. Lamentations is rarely brought

up in churches. It's not an easy book to talk

about. It's a book of lament, intense

lament. Most people believe it was

Jeremiah who wrote it. Very likely so.

Jeremiah wrote Lamentations as his personal response to the

tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

And he says something at the end.

It's a Lamentations 521. Notice it with me.

Restore us to yourself, O. Lord, that we may be restored,

Renew. Our days as of old.

You see this you? See how precious this text is?

Restore us to yourself. So what?

What? For what reason, O Lord, that we

may be restored? What's Jeremiah bringing up

here? What we're seeing here in Ezra

one true completion, healing, renewal, satisfaction, identity,

purpose can all be known on the path of reconciliation with God.

Reconciliation with God is the sole path to restoration of our

true selves. And here's the thing you have to

understand. You can have your finances

restored, your health restored, your relationships restored on a

horizontal level. But if everything is going well,

if everything else is intact, if everything else is flourishing

but not your relationship with God, you will never be truly

restored. Restore us to yourself so that

we will be restored. It's exclusively and totally

found in God and how you engage with Him.

You always be an empty shell, you always be broken, you always

be wandering as long as you are not connected to God.

This is what we. Find here in the beginning.

Of Ezra, true restoration at the very first verse comes from the

one who made you and died for you.

Lord, we thank you for this brief introduction.

We bless your holy name. Lord, we have indeed tasted the

goodness of your truth, and we are longing to continue in it

until then. Lord, may these things that we

have heard marinate in our hearts, may seep the deepest

parts of who we are. And may truly translate into.

Transformation, Lord, we. Now respond to your voice.

And we acknowledge that you, who know all things and can do all

things, strangely desire us. You actually delight in us that

for those who are broken hearted.

Who are weary and heavy. Laden.

You have the remedy for it, and you invite us to.

Yourself. So Lord for the person.

Here, who thinks that? That fantasy?

Is going to satisfy. Them that those drugs and

supplements are going to soothe them that.

Buying the latest clothes? And putting on this kind of

makeup is going to make them feel fulfilled and beautiful.

Lord, if you. Were not.

In the equation of us being saved and us being satisfied,

please rescue us from our own deception.

And help us remain with you. Because true restoration.

Is in you alone. We give you thanks for this

truth and these reminders. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Let's stand. Let's worship the God who called

a man named Cyrus and knows your name and mine.