Thoughts for the Day

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

‘Thus says King Cyrus 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 in Judah. Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’

The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbours aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.....All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Periodically, over the next few weeks we shall look at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Jesus would have been brought up on the story of the horrendous sacking of Jerusalem and the exile of God's people to Babylon, and then of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. The return was accomplished in three waves, the first around 538 BCE under the leadership of Zerubbabel (called Sheshbazzar here) when the rebuilding of the Second Temple began, then some years later a second group returned under the leadership of Ezra the priest, when worship was restored. Finally, under Nehemiah's leadership more exiles returned and the walls and gates of the city were restored.

Firstly, though we see that God stirs Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia to release the Jewish captives so that they can return home. It's possible that it was the prophet Daniel who initiated this by showing the king Jeremiah's prophecy made many years before about the fall of Babylon and of Israel's captivity. Isaiah also gives the same prophesy and even includes the name Cyrus (Isaiah 44.24-28).

However, only a remnant were to return, perhaps the 2nd and 3rd generation Israelites liked the comforts of Babylon too much. After all they were not slaves, and maybe it was easier to forsake the God of their ancestors to fit into society.

Today, we should hold onto the fact that God works through unexpected people, and that even when the luxuries of this world pull people away from Him, God still works with His faithful to achieve His purposes.

Heavenly Father,
may we stay steadfast to our commitment to You,
even when others fall away from their faith.
May we look for the work of Your Spirit
in unexpected places,
and be brave enough to follow Your Spirit
wherever He may lead us.
Amen.