Chapter 1.
Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
The Lord moved heart of kind Cyrus. God stirs things in the hearts of leaders in order to accomplish His will. God is in control. We should continually be praying for our leaders and people in authority, that God will move their hearts.
Once God had stirred His heart, he wrote it down. When God stirs up something in your heart, it is often beneficial to write it down while it is fresh in your heart and mind.
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
Yes, king Cyrus had power and authority, but he accredited it to God. He knew that the position of influence and power he had was given to him by God.
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
God stirs and moves people’s hearts. What is God stirring in our heart? Ask Him and be still and listen to what He is stirring in your heart. Write it down and pray about it.
It is important that God stirred their hearts, because the journey was not an easy one. It was a long, dangerous one because the land they were entering was possessed by another empire. But they could rest assured, that if God called them to go, He would carry and guide them too.
The people who went to rebuild the temple of The Lord prepared to go. When God stirs something in your heart, be diligent and prepare as best you can.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[a] 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
gold dishes
30
silver dishes
1,000
silver pans[b]
29
10 gold bowls
30
matching silver bowls
410
other articles
1,000
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
It is a scripture we know very well, but you can see that there were first 70 years of exile. The 70 years of exile and captivity began in 605 BC and the degree Cyrus made to rebuild the temple was in 538 BC. This is 67 years after the exile began. Once the temple was built and the people returned to build the alter 70 years had passed.
We can see that God is faithful to His promises. We can rest in this fact, even if the journey is a difficult one.
History fulfilled
If you read Jeremiah 29:10-14, you will see that the plan was already prophesized and promised.
For thus says the LORD, “When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.” – Jeremiah 29:10-14
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