UNROLL
First light on a broad canal outside Babylon: in the lower third, Judean exile families load bundles and rolled mats onto donkeys beside low mud-brick houses and date palms, while an old man with a staff stands apart, seen from behind, looking west along the canal road; above, a calm, empty dawn sky.

The Book of

Ezra 1

Seventy years after the fall of Jerusalem, God moves a pagan king, and the road home opens.

11 verses≈ 3 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2The returnCyrus lets them go upChapter 1
  2. 3The altarFoundations laid
  3. 4OppositionThe work stopped
  4. 5–6The templeFinished and dedicated
  5. 7–8Ezra comesThe good hand of God
  6. 9–10RepentanceFaithless marriages confessed

The Proclamation of Cyrus

Midmorning in a square of beaten earth in Babylon before a mud-brick gateway with a band of plain blue glazed brick: a Persian herald in a deep ocher pleated robe holds up a closed, sealed scroll while Judean exiles and Babylonian townspeople listen below, an old Judean man gripping his son's arm.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

0:12

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

From CyrusTo the LORD’s people, throughout his kingdom

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Whoever among you belongs to His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let every survivor, wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.’”

Ezra 1:2–4

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Early morning at the gate of a mud-brick city on the Babylonian plain: three Persian royal couriers ride out at a canter on small sturdy horses, each with a sealed scroll in a leather case at his side, the straight road running away across the flat green land among date palms.

Spoken, then kept

Jeremiah: 70yearsJer 25:11–12; 29:10 ·c. 605 BCIsaiah namesCyrusIsa 44:28; 45:1 · longbeforeJerusalem falls586 BC · 2 Chr 36:19Babylon fallsto Cyrus539 BCCyrus’sproclamation538 BC · Ezra 1:1–4Altar andfoundation537–536 BC · Ezra 3

Whiteboard

The proclamation didn’t come from nowhere. God had said through Jeremiah how long the exile would last, and through Isaiah He had named the king who would send His people home. Then He did what He said.

Pray

He keeps His word

God spoke through Jeremiah, and years later He “stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” to do what He had said. Thank God that His promises do not expire. Bring Him one promise from His Word you are waiting on, and ask Him for patience to trust Him with the timing.

So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem

Ezra 1:5

And all their neighbors supported them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuables, in addition to all their freewill offerings.

Reflect

Stirred to go

God stirred a king’s spirit, and then the spirits of ordinary families, and they packed up and went. Not everyone went. Where might God be stirring you to step toward Him, even if it costs you the comfortable place you know? Write down one step you could take this week.

Cyrus Restores the Holy Vessels

Vessels

The inventory

  1. Or basins

    Gold and silver dishes, utensils

    This was the inventory:

    30 gold dishes,

    1,000 silver dishes,

    29 silver utensils,

  2. Gold and silver

    Bowls and other articles

    30 gold bowls,

    410 matching silver bowls,

    and 1,000 other articles.

In all, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles.

Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

EuphratesBabylonJerusalem

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

The road home

From Babylon to Jerusalem was about 900 miles by the road that ran up the Euphrates and down through Syria, around the desert rather than straight across it. Ezra’s company would later take four months on the same road.

Question

Quick question

Ezra opens by telling us why a Persian king let the exiles go home.

Whose word was the LORD keeping when He stirred the spirit of Cyrus?

You’ve experienced

Ezra 1

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A verse to carry with you

So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

Ezra 1:5

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