If you have your Bibles with me, meet me in the book of Ezra
chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1.
I trust that you were there last week, and if you weren't here in
person, hopefully you listen to the recording.
It might have been a surprise to us that in the opening verses of
this book, we were not introduced to the one whom the
book is named after. In fact, we learned last week
that Ezra does not even appear in this study until Chapter 7.
More surprising, perhaps, is that at the very outset of this
text, we're not even met by an Israelite nor Judea.
In fact, we are immediately introduced to a Gentile Cyrus
King of Persia. Cyrus King of Persia is
mentioned three times in the 1st 2 verses, and also Cyrus is the
first person to have his speech recorded in this book.
And we discovered in our introduction how significant
this figure Cyrus is, not just in this particular narrative,
but in our understanding of the precision of God's prophetic
word. Because Cyrus was predicted by
Isaiah by name, even the details of his career nearly 200 years
before his birth, it's one of the most significant passages in
all of Scripture. But we're not finished with
Cyrus just yet because last week we looked at how the Lord
Almighty prophesied about Cyrus. And tonight we're going to look
at Cyrus's own proclamation in the name of the Lord because he
is now going to make an edict. We learn in verse one that Cyrus
made a proclamation throughout the Kingdom and even put it in
writing. And clearly Ezra has preserved a
copy of that very letter for us to read.
And so we're going to complete this chapter tonight, but we're
going to begin by looking at Ezra 1, verses 2 through 4.
Pause and meditate as we always do, bit by bit, part by part.
Let's read it now together, shall we?
Ezra on beginning in verse 2. Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia,
the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the
earth, and he has charged me to build them a house at Jerusalem,
which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his
people, may his God be with him. And let him go up to Jerusalem,
which is in Judah, and rebuild the House of the Lord, the God
of Israel. He is the God who is in
Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in
whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his
place, with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts,
besides free will offerings for the House of God that is in
Jerusalem. Father, we ask with the
sincerity and the purity of our hearts, that we would know your
power in the study. Hey, You would gently and
clearly guide us through every detail, every verse, every cross
reference in a way that is rememberable, in a way that is
easily understood, in a way that more importantly will be obeyed.
So Lord, we come to you now in faith, trusting that you will be
here with us as you have been in every study.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. You know, there's an ongoing
debate about Cyrus and the debate surrounds whether or not
he was an actual believer after he learned that he was explained
before his existence. And I don't want to spend time
engaging in that debate. Instead, what I want to do is
see here how this man offers meaningful lessons for the
believer in verse 2 alone of his proclamation.
I believe there are at least two things that we can learn about
obedience, obedience to the Lord.
And if you're a note taker, get your instrument of writing out
immediately because here's what we understand from Cyrus in this
letter right away. The first thing that stands out
to me is that Cyrus shows us that right revelation of who God
is is essential to cultivating the right response to His will.
How does he begin this edict? Look again at verse 2.
The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the
earth. Where did you learn that from
Isaiah's prophecy? But it's clear that he didn't
just understand the message, it made an impression on him.
This is more than just a simple acknowledgement of the unmatched
authority and ability of God. This is Cyrus realizing that
this sovereign being knew him personally.
Remember, Isaiah 45 gives us Cyrus's name so long before he
enters into the scene. Isaiah 45 tells us what Cyrus
would accomplish. And so Cyrus, in understanding
this, realizes that this Almighty God knows me, He
selected me, and He is the source for all my success.
This is a man who understood that this God is worthy of my
surrender. And that is a revelation that
stirred Cyrus to prioritize the rebuilding of the House of God
in Jerusalem and the liberation of the Jewish people.
And in the same way, I want to make this argument that you and
I believe in what God says and reveals about himself is
absolutely essential to formulating the very foundation
of joyous and zealous obedience. Faith in what God has said.
I emphasize faith in what God has said.
Not just had knowledge. There are a lot of things that
Cyrus did not know about the Lord.
I mean, he's a Gentile, he's a Pagan.
But what he did know about God, he wholeheartedly believed, and
with childlike faith that enabled him to make this bold
step, this incredible decision on behalf of the people that he
had no relation to. What was it?
The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the
earth. That was the light that he had
received. He responded to it with faith,
and it led to this quality of obedience.
Shallow awareness and weak faith and who God is will always
result in shallow and weak obedience.
Always. And again, it's not just the
accumulation of knowledge, it's what you do with that knowledge.
It's you understanding. Like Cyrus.
This personally applies to me. I believe that, and this is what
it demands of me. Then.
Now, we don't know exactly when Cyrus learned about his role in
God's restorative plan, but I want to tell you that the
quality of his obedience is refreshing.
Refreshing not just because, again, he's a Gentile who's
obeying the God of Israel, but because when he learned his role
in God's plan, he prioritized it.
Do you know how I know he prioritized it?
Go back to verse one. When did he decide to do this?
In the first year. In the first year of Cyrus, king
of Persia. In other words, the moment he
was promoted and he, he had the power and the authority to
execute such a thing, He did it, He did it.
Can you imagine, Cyrus, a Gentile exemplifies and models
to us that there should be no delay in our obedience, no
hesitation. There should be an urgency
actually, the moment you learn what God asks of you.
Now the question is, how do we arrive to such a wonderful kind
of compliance to the will of God?
While I go back to the main point, knowing what God had said
and really believing that it applies to you, having faith
that this is personal, this is for you.
God is calling you out. Not just the church at large,
not just people, not just numbers you by name.
There's a second thing, however, that we learn about Cyrus's
obedience, and it is this. He obeyed God for God.
So in the previous point, we can
say that we learned how Cyrus was able to obey.
He was exposed to the truth. His faith connected with it and
it launched him into this place of righteousness.
How he obeyed is clear. Now we learned why.
Why did he do this? Well, it's, it's plain in verse
2, the Lord has charged me, God told me to do it.
And no further explanation, no hint of any other agenda, just
simple God told me to do it and I'm going to obey him.
And that realization is further confirmed when we rediscover
Cyrus's original call by the writings of Isaiah.
So let me ask this question and you can answer it if you know
it. What chapter in Isaiah gives us
the greatest detail about Cyrus? Anybody know?
Anybody remember Isaiah? What good.
You might be quizzed on that at the end of Ezra, Isaiah 45.
And I want to now bring to you a verse from that chapter that we
did not look at in Isaiah 45 because what we read last week
was only a fraction. There is more about Cyrus, so
let's turn there to Isaiah 45. And I'm going to ask you to
Scroll down to verse 13. Notice what I said here about
this man. It says here I have stirred him
up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level.
He shall build my city and set my exiles free.
Not for price or reward, says the Lord of hosts highlight that
last part. Not for price or reward.
In essence, what God is saying when He prophesied about Cyrus
was that he would carry out this work entirely free from any
self-interest or personal gain. And I want to encourage us today
by using this point about Cyrus to identify the spirits work in
our lives. One of the signs that the Holy
Spirit is truly moving in our hearts and leading us into His
will is that we are motivated to serve Him without selfish
ambition. And if you can honestly sit here
and say that you are drawn towards a ministry, or that you
want to grow. Or you may be even asking the
Lord for a gift, purely because you want to bless the Lord.
Simply because you want to bring pleasure to Him.
Solely because you want His name to be exalted, even if that
means you disappear in the process, then that is a
wonderful indication that it is God Himself who is stirring your
spirit. Look at that language again in
verse 13. I have stirred him up in
righteousness. And then in Ezra one, we learned
that it was the Lord who stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus.
And so one of the ways you know that God is doing a work in you
is that not just your obedience is obvious, but the motive of
your obedience is clear. You can say with a clear
conscience that I'm not doing this to satisfy something of
myself. I'm doing this because I truly
want to bless God. Now, let me stay on this point a
little longer. This is so crucial, this purity
of heart. Not only should we ask for it,
but we need to protect it because that posture is
absolutely necessary for further and greater opportunities and
service to God. Let me give you a New Testament
example. Have you ever wondered why
Timothy was so special and useful to Paul?
I believe I have a verse to prove why that was the case, and
I'm not going to give it to you right away.
You have to look at it for yourself in Philippians 2.
Look at Philippians 2 for a moment and notice what Paul says
about Timothy as he's preparing him to go to the Philippians.
He says something about Timothy himself.
Philippians 219 down to verse 21, Paul says, I hope in the
Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be
cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him who
will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus
Christ. So why did Paul recruit and use
Timothy, at least in this context was because Paul had
many conversations with Timothy. Paul observed Timothy, Paul
watched him, and over time he was able to say this young man
is special for one simple reason.
He wants to do everything for Christ.
The thing that brings him the greatest desire and pleasure and
and satisfaction is Christ. Whatever he does or doesn't do,
he keeps Christ in mind. And I want to let you know
there's a lot of young people here at our study, and I'd love
to see that you have so much life ahead of you should the
Lord preserve you. But if you want more doors to
open for you, then understand that what he's looking for is
exactly what he found in Timothy.
I scan your heart and I find something there that your heart
beats for my Son Jesus, that your heart longs to truly bring
a smile to Him. That that anything that you
endeavour to do, you prioritize His glory.
That's who God looks for when He's ready to use somebody.
Keep that in mind to continually fight off those tempting
thoughts, those things that want to take root in your soul, that
you want to do this for notoriety.
You want to do this so that you can feel more wanted or loved or
appreciate it. Delete all of that by the power
of the Holy Spirit and ask God for the same testimony that
Timothy had. I want my interest to be wrapped
up with Christ and in Christ alone.
Cyrus would obey God without a price tag, without any
particular reward for his own benefit, simply because God for
God alone. Let's come back to Ezra now.
We looked at verse 2. Let's finish this edict.
In verse 3, Cyrus makes an invitation.
This isn't a command, by the way.
He's making an open invitation to the Exiles to return to their
land. But he addresses 2 categories of
people among the Jews, and this is something significant for us
to consider. Have you noticed what is
emphasized in this edict? What's really the goal of it?
What's he really getting at? It's the rebuilding of God's
house, the House of the Lord. The House of God appears in each
verse of this edict. Verse 2, verse 3, and verse 4
shows up every single time. It does not mention the Jews
returning to their homes. It doesn't say anything about
them being restored to their businesses or coming back to
their cities or their tribal allotments.
None of that. The thing that is prioritized,
the dominating goal of this whole thing is to restore the
House of worship. And that shouldn't surprise us.
It makes total sense, actually. Why?
Because the very reason why the Jews are in exile is because of
their hypocritical devotion. It's because of their idolatrous
ways, their neglect of true worship.
So it's fitting then that the Jews first priority in returning
to their homeland is to then rebuild the dwelling place of
God, to mend that again, to restore their worship.
And we're going to get into the two categories of people in a
moment here that he's addressing.
But I want us to remember what we talked about in the
concluding thoughts of our last study, that this point again is
surfacing, that true restoration for the brokenness in the loss
in our lives can only be realized in reconciliation with
the Lord. This letter essentially says
look, before you reclaim anything, before you recover
anything, what needs to be re established is the place where I
called for you and I to meet the House of God.
We need to rebuild that before anything else can be touched or
addressed. And in the same way, whatever
may seem to be falling apart in our in our own lives cannot be
truly mended, cannot be truly healed until you and I are truly
restored to the Lord. That has to be priority #1 so
many things can be solved in our marriages, in our relationship,
in our ministries and society if we establish the vertical
element of our relationship before we try to address
anything horizontally. And that's what we see here.
That's the principle. Go back and rebuild your
relationship with God before anything else.
Don't even think about anything else, and everything else will
fall into place. But this also teaches us that
God's agenda, listen, God's work, God's house is our first
priority. Seek first the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness. Seek first.
Look, I've met many Christians over the years, and I've met
many Christians who identify with the Kingdom of God.
But sadly, some cannot say with confidence that it's first.
And from time to time, as we coast through life, we have to
pause and ask ourselves this question.
Does my life revolve around the Kingdom of God, or is it in a
compartment competing with other things?
Because for many people who pay lip service to the Kingdom of
God, I find that they compromise that priority.
Other ambitions and goals and and desires and endeavors get in
the way of what should be first. And so even in here in the Old
Testament, we see and it's very interesting and unique time of
history that God is establishing that principle.
Go back to your homeland, yes, but first seek my house before
you rebuild your own. That's actually the message of
the prophet Haggai. You find it over and over again
in different periods of redemptive history, and it's no
different in the new Covenant. Seek first. 1st So all my big
plans and desires, where's God in that?
Or is it your comfort where you want to build a family, where
you want to make money, where's the Lord?
This is what we see here. He must be first.
And we see here that there are at least two ways we can know
that we prioritize His will. With the two categories of
people that Cyrus addresses, You and I can prioritize God's will
in going or in giving, go or give.
Look again at verse three, who he addresses, whoever is among
you of all his people, may his God be with him and let him go
up to Jerusalem. That's the first invitation, but
notice the 2nd and verse 4 and let each survivor, in whatever
place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with
silver and gold. Cyrus understood that not every
single Jew would want to go back to the land, and we'll talk
about that in a moment. For whatever reason may be
difficulty may be unable to. And so he addresses that crowd.
But notice what he does. He does not excuse them from
participating in this exciting work, even though part of this
demographic would choose to say there was no excuse for
inactivity. And in the same way, if we as
God's people cannot help in His work directly, we must be
prepared to do so from a distance.
And that includes giving of our silver and gold.
That includes interceding, though we may not be on the
grounds that includes encouragement for those who are
risking their time, their lives, their safety.
There's a way of serving God directly and at a distance, and
we see that exemplified here. And so those who are serving
God, which should be all of us, have to be able to say with
confidence that I am either directly involved or I am doing
so at a distance or mingling of both, a mixture of the two.
But what is certain is that there is nothing in any part of
Scripture that gives us permission to sit on our own
hands. Cyrus, this man, what an
incredible leader. He's so obviously led by the
Spirit of God. And ultimately, each of us
should be able to say that I play a part or I play many
parts. And this decree is a reminder
for that. So what part do you play?
Do you pray? I, I genuinely pray like, and I
just pray I, I go to war like I have a list of names of people I
know in my church and I pray, OK, you're serving at a
distance. That's awesome.
What do you do? What, what, what, what do you do
in your hands to actually contribute to God's Kingdom?
Expanding and growing and strengthening?
Though the limitations here are clear, though the statuses of
different Jews is obvious, though the decisions on a
practical level may differ, one thing all these Jews share in
common, according to Cyrus, is that they have to sign up for
something, for something. And not everybody can go and not
everybody can give at the same capacity as others, but
everybody's got to do something. That's the spirit speaking here
through Cyrus. And amazingly, Cyrus leads by
example. Do you know how I know that?
Peak a little bit at verse 7. Notice what Cyrus does.
Ezra 17. Cyrus the king also 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.
So more than Cyrus just making a proclamation, giving permission
for the Jews to return, he reaches into his own treasury,
he unlocks the door and he gives of the treasures that Babylon
took from Jerusalem. He didn't have to do that, but
he understood that he could do more than just give this edict
that he can equip and that he can return and he can give back
what really wasn't his to begin with.
And I, I'm even more blessed by this man, Cyrus.
You know why? Because it's one thing to
applaud a man who speaks the truth and aligns himself to
God's word. It's more powerful when that
person actually lives it and leads by example.
Cyrus is a, a model for leaders. It's one thing to stand up and
say, all right, go back and do something for God's house and
give. It's another thing to say it and
then to say, here's how I'm doing it.
And if there's any aspiring leaders here, look at Cyrus.
Shockingly, A Gentile, yes, but still an example.
Preach the truth, speak the truth, but live it.
Back it up. You're going to get more
authority that way. You're going to inspire more
people that way. That's what I find in this man.
We're going to come to these verses in a moment.
These groups are going to respond positively to Cyrus's
message, and there's a comment in the following verses that
demands our meditation. Look, let's look at verse 5.
Now then rose up the heads of the Father's houses of Judah,
and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose
spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the House of the Lord
that is in Jerusalem. And all who are about them aid
them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with
beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely
offered. That seems pretty direct, but I
have to admit that there is something in these verses that
caused me to muse over it over and over again.
Here it is. Why do I need to know that the
Spirit of God stirred the spirit of some of these Jews in order
for them to return home? You would think that every Jew
would jump on the opportunity the moment they received this
letter in the mail. You would think that there
wouldn't be a single exile who wouldn't eagerly want to uproot
themselves and make their way back to what God had originally
promised them. Why is it then we see here that
the Spirit of God enabled a group of them to go back?
And then it hit me. The experience of these exiles
in Babylon does not compare with the experience of their
ancestors when they were in Egypt.
Let me remind you of that truth. Jeremiah gave instructions to
these exiles as they would be here for 70 years.
Look at his book again here in chapter 29 verse four.
Look what Jeremiah said directly to these exiles.
He didn't just preach to the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah.
He actually sent forth this following message and it sheds
light into why this is happening here in Ezra 1.
Jeremiah 29 verse 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel, to all the Exiles whom I sent, who I'm I've sent into
exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live in them,
Plant gardens and eat their produce.
Take wives and have sons and daughters.
Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters and marriage
that they may bear. Sons and daughters multiply
there and do not decrease. Interestingly, this is found in
the same chapter that says that they would be in exile for 70
years. So the Lord didn't want these
exiles to just remain with their luggage is still intact and
their bags still packed. He wanted them to settle.
You're going to be there for a while.
So build homes, have families, start businesses, cultivate
land. So you have to understand that
at this point in Ezra, many of these Jews are well established.
Many of them have built relationship with their
neighbors. Many of them had children.
Some of these Jews were born in Babylon.
That's all they'd ever known. Anything about Jerusalem or
Judah or the history of the people of Israel was just told
to them. And now all of a sudden you have
these Jews who are being told, yeah, you have your homes, you
have your your businesses, you have your education, you have
your relationships there in Babylon.
But it's time to go home to your real home.
Imagine how challenging that would be.
And think further. What's really waiting for them
in Judah? Their old homes, their old
temple. Everything is in ruins.
Everything is destroyed, everything is in rubble.
It's it's almost like a war-torn place.
It is a war-torn place. And beyond that you have lurking
enemies surrounding the region. We're going to find that out in
the coming chapters of Ezra. This is threatening.
This is dangerous. Take it a step further.
What about the journey back months to return by foot?
How taxing would that be for the families, namely the wives and
the children, the elderly, and then you have wild animals and
robbers to be fearful of. So humanly speaking, there is
nothing appealing about this invitation.
This was something very demanding.
This is something that demanded discussion and planning.
This isn't just something that, oh, we get to go back.
No, no, no. And so you can just imagine
these Jews discussing among themselves.
Is it really worth it? Is it worth just abandoning
everything that we've built over these years, these decades, the
comfort that we have here? We're not slaves necessarily,
and we have Cyrus now. He seems very favorable towards
us. Is it worth it for something so
dangerous, something so difficult?
There's so many thoughts that we can uncover from this one
thought, but I want to leave you with this main point.
This shows us that only through the help of the Spirit of God
can any of us really detach from the affairs of this world.
You and I can't do it in our own strength to be willing to walk
away from possessions, prosperity, people that we work
so hard for, that we deeply enjoy.
For what to to build the Kingdom of God with so many risks
involved even today? Surely such a transformative
thing in our desires and our ambitions requires the help of
the Holy Spirit. And that is why you and I
continually have to rely on Him and seek Him to be able to do
that. With everyday new temptations,
things pulling at us with every season of life, every chapter in
life that would try to keep you earthbound, you and I can't do
it without God's help. He must stir us.
He must fortify us. He must energize us.
He must blind us to the things that try to take our gaze away
from what truly matters. Now, it would be a mistake to
look at a verse like this and place all that responsibility on
God. Like, OK, I'm just going to be
the way I am unless God moves me.
It doesn't work that way. In fact, the Scripture presents
a paradox, and you find it throughout Paul's writing.
By the way, Paul's epistles show us this, this strange tension
between it's me, but it's also God.
I'm doing it, but it's really God doing it.
I'm conscience of it, but God gets all the glory.
So one verse that comes to mind is what I quoted during the
announcements last Sunday in Colossians 129.
For this, I, I, I, I, Paul, I toil, struggling with all his
energy that he powerfully works within me.
I'm toiling, but it's with his energy I'm serving to the bone.
I'm serving but with his power. And you find that over and over
again. Let me give you another one, but
I'm going to ask you to turn there.
It's in First Corinthians 15. Look at verse 10, First
Corinthians 15, verse 10. Paul in giving his testimony of
his apostleship. He does it in other places, but
this one helps us understand this wonderful truth.
First Corinthians 15, verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. Don't you love that?
And his grace toward me was not in vain.
I love that too. What God had deposited in my
life, I didn't waste it. His grace towards me was not in
vain. I responded to that grace.
I walked in that grace. I owned that grace.
It was not in vain. Then He goes on.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them.
Who's he speaking about? The other apostles.
I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but
the grace of God that is with me.
See how He goes back and forth? It's me, but it's God.
It's God, but it's also me. And what Paul's not doing here
is putting himself on the same level as God.
He's just trying his best to explain how this whole thing
works, that God's work in our lives participates with our
surrender. It's a response to our
willingness. So if you were to approach Paul
and say Paul, do do you really serve the Lord with all your
heart? Yes, and he he even goes beyond
that and says I actually work harder than the other ones.
Say hey, Paul, that's a little bit presumptuous of you.
No, he's not. He's being factual.
Yeah, if you look at my resume, if you look at my scheduling, if
you look at my travel log, if you look at what I actually do
comparatively, I work harder than the other ones.
Not being arrogant here, but at the same time, in the same
breath, he can say, and that's all God's grace.
That's all the grace of God. So there isn't like, there isn't
like a fake piety or false humility here with Paul.
But beneath all that he did do, he understood that there was
this current at work. It was God who woke him up.
It was God who strengthened him. It was God who gave him the rest
he needed. It was God to open the doors and
made him useful with those opportunities.
It was God all the way through. But Paul had to make a choice
every day. And it's no different for you
and I. You're not a puppet in God's
hand. You're not just strings that He
pulls on without your involvement.
You're a lifeless glove that has a choice to be worn by the hand
of God, and he's the one who animates you.
That's what we find here, even with these Jews.
God's Spirit, yes, did stir them, but they responded to
that, surely. And here's what we find in the
remaining verses of our chapter. Let's come back to Ezra 1 in
verse 7. Cyrus the king also 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.
Cyrus, king of Persia, brought these out in the charge of
Mithra Death, the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh
Bazaar, the Prince of Judah. And this was the number of them,
30 basins of gold, 1000 basins of silver, 29 sensors, 30 bowls
of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1000 other vessels.
All the vessels of gold and of silver were 5400.
All these Did Shesh Bazaar bring up when the Exiles were brought
out or brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem?
I'm not sure if you picked up on it, but there is a very strong
motif of the Exodus reflected in the closing of this chapter.
There are a lot of differences between the Egyptian Exodus and
the return of the Jews from Babylon to the homeland, but
there is a very strong similarity here, and it is this.
In both cases, the people of God went to the promised land with
something in their hands. They did not go empty handed.
And so we know back in Exodus that God had given the people
this instruction. Go and demand the silver and
gold from your Egyptian neighbors.
And in Exodus it also tells us that He gave favor to the Jews
by moving the Egyptians to respond positively to that.
Yes, here you go. Here's all our jewelry.
In fact, it says that the Jews plundered the Egyptians.
And what we find here, look back at verse 11, the mention of
silver and gold yet again, and the purpose is no different.
Why did God want the Egyptians to give up their silver and
their gold? I can tell you this for certain.
It wasn't so that the Jews can look nice in the wilderness.
It was to build the temple. It was to construct the
Tabernacle. Where else did they get the
materials for the articles? Where else would they be able to
actually produce what was demanded of them in the
construction of that House of worship?
So what God had in mind all along was, yes, you're going to
get that from the Egyptians for the goal of building me a house.
And here you find what silver and gold brought up again.
Is the purpose any different? No, for the priority of
rebuilding my dwelling place. And you even find this in
Nehemiah. We're going to come to that for
a few months from now. We're Nehemiah.
In the opening of his book, he seeks favour from the king
Artaxerxes, and he asks him for a letter to go to the manager of
the King's forest. For what?
Give me permission to to require and to acquire timber so I can
build these walls and these gates.
I want to contribute to the things of God as well.
And he, he, he's granted it. So what do we make of all of
this? Well, many things.
And here's one thing that will encourage us.
Whatever God sets before us is a task.
Any ministry, any opportunity. He always provide the means to
accomplish it. Always.
He doesn't just determine the end of a matter.
He also is in charge of the means.
And so every time in redemptive history we see God calling the
people to do something grand, seemingly impossible, like
building him a house, coming out of exile, coming out of slavery,
he always makes a way. And that rule, that promise is
no different for us as the Church of Jesus Christ who are
called to build his house, his spiritual house.
We have nothing to fear. He owns the cattle on 1000 Hill.
If God is actually calling you to a specific ministry, and I've
met many people, I've sat across many tables, I've had many cups
of tea and coffee with people who are wondering, is God really
calling me to this? Is God called me to leave my
education, my job, my city to go and serve him in this capacity?
Well, here's one way you'll know he is, he's going to provide for
you. He will.
It may not be immediately, but he's going to make a way.
He won't hang you dry. And if God is not making a way
for you, if he's not providing means for for your own
well-being or for this work to be done, that's an indication
perhaps that you're not called to it.
And maybe for the moment, it could be for a later time or not
at all. That's what I find here.
I'm sending you somewhere, I'm calling you to do something.
And here are the resources. Here's here's the partnership.
Here are the doors that are going to be opened.
So be comforted by that truth. Or if you're going to really
make this happen for me, if you want me to, for example, leave
my job and become a full time minister, I'll leave the
workplace and do that. But I also have a wife, I have
kids. Are you going to provide for me?
And He will, if you're called to it, He will.
I don't want to limit God's ways to that, but that is a major
principle. We find it here throughout the
Scriptures. But there's even more to learn
about these articles mentioned at the end of this chapter.
It's also found in Jeremiah's writing.
This is where we're going to end.
Go to Jeremiah 27. This is another prophecy that
Jeremiah made, and it goes to show again just how surgically
precise God's prophetic word is. Jeremiah 27.
Look at verse 21. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the
House of the Lord, in the House of the king of Judah, and in
Jerusalem, they shall be carried to Babylon and remain there
until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord.
Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
So God did not just prophecy the return of His people, He
prophesied the return of pots and vessels and seemingly
insignificant items. But they're not insignificant to
Him. They're actually numbered, as
you saw in Ezra one. Why?
Because they all are associated with His House of worship.
They all contribute to His glory.
And I want to tell you something, believer, and
hopefully this helps you read your Bible in a more meaningful
and practical way. We have the lens of the new
covenant. So when I read something like
this, I, yes, praise God for the historically accurate elements
of His Word, but I also see something else in terms of
principle. I am the temple of God.
You are the temple of God. That's true for us corporately
and individually. And God back in Jeremiah's word
says not only am I going to bring back my people, but I'm
going to bring back the very items that constitute my
dwelling place. I'm not going to leave one thing
behind. Do you understand how miraculous
this is? You understand that back in
Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar's descendants, the one who
succeeded him, took these very vessels and blasphemy God
through it by partying with these cups and these plates.
They could have easily been destroyed.
They could have easily been lost, but God sovereignly
preserved them throughout these years.
He cares for every detail of his house.
You're his house. I'm his dwelling place.
There's not one part of my life that He is not mindful of.
There's not one part of my life internally, externally, that He
does not want to preserve for His glory, that he does not want
to restore, that He does not want to redeem.
It may be insignificant to your neighbor, to your spouse, even
to your children, to other believers, but to God it
matters. Imagine that he he actually
numbered the bowls and the basins.
Every hair on your head is cherished by God, and every part
of your sanctification is something that God deeply cares
about. Believe that.
Believe that every thought, everywhere your eyes are
planted, every word you speak, every action you take, God wants
it, He demands it, He deserves it.
Let's pray, Father, you never cease to amaze
us how every piece of your word can speak to us.
You never cease to blow us away with how the oracles of God
throughout history. Every part of this library
speaks so loud and clear and we asked Lord, with the many truths
that were discovered together tonight, we would not be
forgetful of them. We would be like Cyrus even and
believe that they personally apply to each of us.
We would not be worried about the person to our left or to our
right if they heard this or we think that they needed to hear
it. We think about ourselves and we
ask God that you would make us like this man that we don't know
his complete relationship with you.
We know that in this moment he exemplifies what obedience looks
like. And we think even if Timothy,
who had every part of him, every interest consecrated to the will
of Christ, a wash over us again tonight, to that same end, take
every article, every part of who we are like these things in the
temple that you rescued. Rescue it from us, save us.
Leave not one thing behind. Bring it all to you.
Lord. Highlight the things that we are
keeping back. Highlight the things that are
still in Babylon. Highlight the things that we're
trying to hide. Highlight the things that are
still in the world. Lord, you're calling it all to
yourself and we've come here to give it to you.
So Lord, receive this act of worship this evening.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. If you want to remain seated,
you're free to do that as long as you're prayerful.
I think one of the ways that we can make these studies more
impactful is if we respond to what we hear.
So you can stay seated if you want to pray and spend a few
minutes with the Lord. If you want to stand and sing,
you can do that praise to him. You're welcome to come even as
I'm speaking. But let's really respond to
these truths because they're they're meant to, to transform
us and really bleed into our lives.
Can we do that? Thank you.