(An audio version of this sermon can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/ezra-1-verses-1-11-gods-sovereignty)

Ezra 1:1-11 begins “in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia.” This date should be identified with the first year he had authority over Babylon and Judah in 539 B.C. Cyrus ruled only a small region of the Median Empire (in modern Iran) until 550 B.C. when he took control of the larger empire, later known as the Persian Empire. Under his effective leadership the Median empire expanded in all directions.

Seventy years earlier Israel was conquered by the Babylonians and the people were taken into slavery. Politically, a powerful nation conquered a weaker nation. The prophets and pious Jews interpreted the disaster from a different perspective. The people were unfaithful to God and God gave them over to their enemies. Isaiah interpreted this as a consequence of Israel’s failure to keep the faith.

Cyrus waited for several years before moving against Babylon, which is in modern Iraq. In 539 B.C., life in Babylon was so terrible and the king of Babylon was so intensely hated that when Cyrus entered the city to capture it, no one opposed him. From that point onward, the Persian Empire included all of what we now know as Syria and Israel, in addition to Iran.

Rather than tyrannize his subjects as the Babylonian rulers had done, Cyrus sought good for the people under his reign. Considering the inhabitants of Babylon Cyrus said, “I brought relief to their dilapidated housing, putting an end to their complaints.” Moreover, Cyrus sought to reestablish religions devasted by Babylon, and he highly regarded sacred cities such as Jerusalem (which, however, Cyrus did not mention by name).

In 539 BC, after 70 years in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem. It must have seemed impossible to the faithful that God would first use a pagan king to punish the people and then use another pagan king to save them and restore them to their homeland.

King Cyrus’ decree that the Jews should rebuild the temple fulfilled the prophecies from the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. Although Ezra does not say why Cyrus released the captives to their homeland, the prophet Daniel served in Cyrus’ court. Perhaps Daniel influenced the king’s decision. Throughout the Book of Ezra, God not only stirred others to act favourably toward Israel, but He prompted and encouraged Israel’s leaders. Here, He moved their spirits to go and build the temple in Jerusalem and surrounded them with support.

Why did Cyrus allow the Jews to return to Israel? He may have done so to rally popular support for his regime, but it is interesting to note what he wrote about his respect for the gods: “May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities ask daily…for a long life for me and may they recommend me (to him); …to my lord…” Cyrus seems to have believed that by returning idols to former locations he had in fact returned the gods themselves. In other words, he sought to gain divine favour by restoring indigenous religions and peoples, just like churches that ran residential schools are trying to restore relationships with indigenous peoples throughout the world today.

Cyrus’ actions were part of prophecies  by the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. In Jeremiah 25:11-12, Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of Jerusalem and the restoration of Judah: “And this whole land {Judah} shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says the Lord.”

Rather than comprehensively listing all 5,400 articles of gold and silver, verses 9-11 catalog only the most valuable articles that were brought back from Babylon. The articles of the house of the Lord included the priestly hardware taken from the temple by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar. God preserved these items from destruction during the exile and provided for their return to the Israelites.

In Ezra 1:2-4, Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem and allowed displaced Judeans to return there. In addition, he encouraged those Jews who did not return to offer financial support to those who did. These aspects of the decree fit precisely with what we already know about Cyrus from his own memoirs.

The decree makes Cyrus sound as if he were a “closet Jew.” We know that he recognized every regional god and their limited authority. Unlike Ezra and Nehemiah, he did not affirm the ultimate sovereignty of the one true God, the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nevertheless, this one God chose and used Cyrus to accomplish His purposes. Through Cyrus, the Persian “messiah,” God began to restore Judah.

Who is in charge here? Who is in charge of the world? Ezra 1 answers these questions simply and repeatedly: God is in charge. Ezra 1:1-11 illustrates God’s sovereignty over His people-indeed, over all peoples, and over all of human history. It provokes us to reflect on the scope, security, and scandal of God’s sovereignty. God is described as having the power to move a king who himself claimed to be “king of the world, great king,…king of the four rims (of the earth).” God also moved in the spirits of the Jews who decided to return to Jerusalem. Finally, Ezra and Nehemiah implied that the Lord brought the people up from Babylon to Judah, just like He brought the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

Just as God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to act on behalf of His people, so also can He act in the hearts of those in authority over us to act for our benefit. He is sovereign, and He acts in response to prayer. God not only moves the spirits of unbelievers such as Cyrus to act in certain ways, but He also moves the spirits of His people to particular actions. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial promptings of the Spirit.

God holds sway over all of human history. Human hearts and political processes also stand under the sovereign rule of God. God’s reign is not limited to His own people-He can raise up even a foreign king to fulfill His prophecies. God’s sovereignty does not obliterate human freedom and responsibility. Human beings can and do act contrary to God’s will and will be held accountable for their wrong choices. As we take the fullness of God’s sovereignty seriously, our ways of thinking and acting will change. We will begin to see our secular jobs and spiritual turf as places where God’s standards still apply. We will also think differently about national affairs, such as prayer in schools, poverty, racism, health care, and education. God’s rule extends to every aspect of life, so we can feel secure.

If God is sovereign over everything, then why are things so bad? Why does God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why does God not act when things are bad? Scripture does not solve the problem of God’s inaction or soothe the scandal of God’s sovereignty. In fact, rather than downplaying this scandal, the Bible teaches us to live in the tension by confessing God’s sovereignty in a world full of pain. The Scriptures encourage us to wrestle with God, to cry out in our frustration.

We live in an increasingly heathen and hostile world, and we are seeing governments take steps to limit religious freedom and to promote perversion. The problem is real, but it is not a problem we can fix by going on protest marches or voting. As Christians we have a responsibility to be good citizens of the world, and to be involved in the process by which decisions are made. The ultimate power-the power no human ruler or government can resist-is the power of God. When we face issues, our first response should be to seek His face.

When we struggle with God’s slowness to deliver us, we need to worship Him, to proclaim who He is, and to remember His grace in times past. We join our broken world in groaning while we wait for God to set all things right again. We know that in the meantime, regardless of how dire our situation is, in the words of Romans 8:39, nothing in all the universe “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 606)
2. Roberts, M. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol 11: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1993; pp. 38-51)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Dr. Paul Chappell, “The King’s Heart.” Retrieved from daily@dailyintheword.org
6. Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 29^th Sunday (A), October 22, 2023.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org