In our study of Ezra chapter one, we look at God's promise of an open door for the return of His people to Jerusalem. In this, we see a picture of the work of Jesus Christ in opening the door to heaven and our salvation.
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In the first year of Koresh king of Persia, in order for the word of ADONAI prophesied by Yirmeyahu to be fulfilled, ADONAI stirred up the spirit of Koresh king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his whole kingdom, which he also put in writing, as follows:
This book is a historical book and, at this time, God's people were in captivity. The prophet Jeremiah had spent years and many tears warning the people that, if they did not repent, they would be taken into captivity. He also told them that their captivity would last seventy years and that is what this verse refers to. They did not repent and so God's presence left the temple and it was destroyed with the people taken into captivity. We see that God has opened the door for the people to return to Jerusalem by speaking to the heart of King Cyrus.
"Here is what Koresh king of Persia says: ADONAI, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms on earth; and he has charged me to build him a house in Yerushalayim, in Y'hudah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! He may go up to Yerushalayim, in Y'hudah, and build the house of ADONAI the God of Isra'el, the God who is in Yerushalayim. Let every survivor, no matter where he lives, be helped by his neighbors with silver, gold, goods and animals, in addition to the voluntary offering for the house of God in Yerushalayim."
During this time, King Cyrus had come to know of God through the prophet Daniel. The phrase "God of heaven" began in the book of Daniel. We see, in his proclamation, the authority that the king has to open the door for their return and the fact that he did not compel the people to go but instead gave them the opportunity. This is a picture of how Jesus opened the doors of heaven to give us the opportunity to go there to be with Him. We also see that all of God's people were required to provide the materials to build the temple. This is a picture of God's desire for all Christians to work together to bring people into His kingdom.
The heads of fathers' clans in Y'hudah and Binyamin, along with the cohanim, the L'vi'im, and indeed all whose spirit God had stirred, set out to go up and rebuild the house of ADONAI in Yerushalayim.
We notice that it was God who prompted the people to go and rebuild the temple. This is a picture of the way we come to salvation in that we are called by God and respond to His call to our hearts. As Christians, our job in sharing the gospel is much the same as the servants that carried Cyrus' proclamation.
All their neighbors supported them by giving them articles of silver, gold, goods, animals, and valuables, besides all their voluntary offerings.
In this verse we see that a movement of God is accompanied by the provision of God. We see that God's people did not leave for the work in Jerusalem empty handed. This is the same type of thing that happened when His people were brought up out of Egypt (see Exodus 12). The same thing applies to us today who are in Christ. If God has called you to do something, then, you should see the provision of the resources that are required. Too many these days are talking of their great ministry but then begging for someone else to provide the resources to do it and that is not the pattern for a great movement of God.
In addition, Koresh the king brought out the vessels from the house of ADONAI which N'vukhadnetzar had taken from Yerushalayim and put in the house of his god. Koresh king of Persia had Mitr'dat the treasurer bring them out and make an inventory of them for Sheshbatzar the prince of Y'hudah. The list was as follows: Gold basins 30 Silver basins 1,000 Knives 29 Gold bowls 30 Silver bowls of a different kind 410 Other vessels 1,000 In all there were 5,400 articles of gold and silver. Sheshbatzar took all of them along when the exiles were brought up from Bavel to Yerushalayim.
In this passage we see not only the provision of God but the favor of God as the king gave back the things for service in the temple. The provision that we saw before was from surviving Jews while this favor is from the king who is a Gentile. In this, we see a picture of the coming church as described in Acts where Jew and Gentile work together for the kingdom of God.
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