Ezra 1 - 5

The Jews Journey to Jerusalem

Ezra Chapter 1:

The Edict is Issued for the Jews to return to their homeland.

Verse 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 to put it in writing.”

There’s a lot to unpack in this one verse. Let’s begin with what Jeremiah said. Jer. 29:10 says, “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”

This isn’t the first time that God “moved the heart” of a king or a people. 1 Chron. 5:26 says that He “stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria and in 2 Chron. 21:16, “The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs.” And God has been “moving the hearts of people” throughout history. Yours and mine included.

Few in the ancient world could read or write, so what was written had to be proclaimed, verbally, also. I imagine that as couriers went from village to village to proclaim the news, they might have anticipated some questions that the people might have. A “Question and Answer” section to the proclamation might have looked something like this:

Question: When can we leave?

Answer: As soon as arrangements can be made. Bulletins will be issued each Friday to keep everyone posted on the plans.

Question: Will there be a chaplain coming along with us?

Answer: Yes, Joshua, the high priest will accompany you.

Question: Will the government provide transportation and security for the trip?

Answer: Yes, the military, experienced in such movements, will provide you with transportation assets and escort you.

Question: Who will be in charge of the convoy?

Answer: Zerubbabel and a senior military commander

Question: Will the government purchase our homes and business at fair market value?

Answer: To be determined (TBD), we’ll talk about that.

Question: What can we expect to find when we arrive in Jerusalem?

Answer: An awful lot of hard work and conflicts with your neighbors.

Question: Can we leave our dead-beat relatives behind?

Answer: Everyone gets to decide for themselves. The government doesn’t provide family counseling.

Question: Can we purchase travel insurance?

Answer: No: Insurance hasn’t been invented yet.

Question: If someone turns back, like John Mark did on Paul’s first missionary journey, can he get his homes and business back?

Answer: John Mark? What are you talking about? Check with your attorney about a 90-day right-to-cancel clause in your sales contract.

Question: How long should the trip take and how far will we travel?

Answer: The trip will take approximately 3 months and cover 900 miles.

What else do we know about King Cyrus? One hundred fifty years before Cyrus lived, the prophet Isaiah called him by name and gives details of Cyrus’ benevolence to the Jews. Isa. 44:28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please. . .”

Isa. 45:1, “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him . . . ‘I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.’”

In the Old Testament anointing with oil was an outward symbol that God had chosen and set apart the person (or object) for a specific holy purpose. God can choose or anoint anyone, even atheist, to whatever task he desires.

Not only does Cyrus issue a proclamation that invites any of the Jews who wish to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, he provides for the funding of the trip. Cyrus asks those who choose to not go to Jerusalem to “provide him (those who choose to go) with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem” (verse 4).

“And everyone whose heart God had moved/prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem” (verse 5). And “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” (verse 6).

Even the King got involved. Verse 7, as he “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.” Cyrus gave these items to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah” (verse 8). It seems to me that King Cyrus has taken a special interest in this project.

Why did Cyrus do this? He could have simply told those who wanted to go, to go. He didn’t have to assist them, to make it easier for them to go. One motive had to be political. Many kings would adopt the religions of conquered peoples and pretend to act in the name of their local divinities. Cyrus may have thought he was using God, but in reality, God was using him. Even today, politicians will rally religious leaders or give speeches at religious schools and refer to God in their speeches, when they themselves are agnostic or atheists.

Now there were no excuses or roadblocks in their way. Their hearts were prepared, and the resources needed were provided. No one had to worry, “How could we possibly afford such a trip?” Or “How would we ever be able to make such a journey?” Or “Do we have the legal authority to leave Persia?”

King Cyrus gave all of the temple furnishings to Sheshbazzar, the Prince of Judah. Who was this Sheshbazzar? Later, in Ezra 5:14 he is described as the governor of Judah. He is mentioned in the Bible only four times. He would lead the people to Jerusalem and return the gold and silver vessels taken from the temple by the Babylonians and build the foundation for the new Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 5:14-16). Then he sort of disappears from history. Or did he?

An inventory of all the temple items was made (verses 9-10) which included 1,000 silver dishes, 30 gold bowls, etc. There was to be accountability for these valuables. In the military there are period inventories done of all non-expendable items to make sure none of it gets stolen. I imagine an inventory was taken again when they arrived in Jerusalem.

I wonder why the Babylonians didn’t melt all this gold and silver into ingots. Maybe they were planning to have a yard sale someday to pay for another war or something. Perhaps before they could do it, the Persians took over. Or, more likely, like some of the stuff we have in our attics, basements, and garages, they were simply stored away and forgotten.

Ezra Chapter 2

Chapter 2 has the roll call of those who signed up for the journey to Jerusalem. Verse 64 says, “The whole company numbered 42,360.” Then, before you know it, verse 68 speaks of their arrival in Jerusalem. Nothing is said about the trip. Wouldn’t you think someone would have kept a journal of their 3-month, 900-mile journey of a lifetime?

The government of Persia provided for their transportation and security. They had to have a motor pool of supplies and mechanics, veterinarians, and harness makers for the horses, and kitchens and supply wagons to provide for meals. Maybe even an “ambulance” wagon with medical personnel. The logistics of such a trip must have been enormous. I wonder if any of them turned back when the journey got rough, like within half an hour of leaving. Didn’t people die along the way? What did they do with their dead? There must have been conflicts along the way. Maybe someone should write a novel about this adventure. He might call it, “On the Road to Jerusalem. How we Regained our Homeland Without Losing our Minds.”

Once everyone got pretty much settled, about three months after their arrival, the people assembled in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:1). Verse 2 finds Jeshua and Zerubbabel began to build the altar, despite their fear of the people around them (verse 3), and they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles (verse 4). That’s good timing. After a long journey, they needed a time of rest and celebration. Though no titles are given to Jeshua (Joshua) and Zerubbabel, in Haggai 1:1, Jeshua is referred to as the high priest and Zerubbabel as the governor of Judah.

The next task on their “to do” list was to rebuild the temple. They placed an order for cedar logs from the towns of Sidon and Tyre (verse 7). Zerubbabel assigned the Levites the task of supervising the construction of the foundation (verse 8). As soon as they got the foundation laid, they called out the priests and the musicians and they broke out in songs of praise (verse 11). These Israelites don’t seem to need much of an excuse to party. OK, I know it was a worship service, but it seems to me to be somewhat of a celebration, also. But some of the older members of the group, those who remembered the even more impressive temple built by Solomon, were not quite as impressed (verse 12). They were the ones in the back, somberly watching the others celebrate.

Ezra Chapter 4

Verses 1-23 tells us of some of the opposition to the rebuilding of the temple. Verses 1-5 is an early opposition, verses 6-23 was during a later period, in the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes. In verse 24 the narrative returns to the reign of Darius under whose rule the temple was completed. This is why the timeline I gave you earlier isn’t always in synch with the narrative in chapter four. It’s as if all the stories of the opposition were told together for greater impact, and perhaps to confuse us.

Who were these enemies trying to prevent the rebuilding of the temple? And what were their motives? Primarily, they were from Samaria along with those who came from surrounding countries such as Moab and Amon. The Samaritans, originally the northern tribes of Israel, had intermarried with people from Mesopotamia and Syria after the Assyrians invaded them and took some of them into exile in 721 B.C. The others were from areas to the south and southeast of Israel. They were people who have had conflict with Israel years earlier. Why did they oppose the return of the Israelites? They probably felt threatened to see these people returning to their homeland.

The opponents began by offering to help them build the temple. Chapter 4:2, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

“Thanks, but no thanks”, was the reply from Zerubbabel and the other leaders. Verse 3, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

The returnees didn’t need outside help and were rightly suspicious of their motive in offering their assistance. When their offer to help was rejected, their next tactic was to discourage their efforts and try to instill fear in them (verse 4). They hired counselors to work against them (verse 5). Today they would hire lawyers to file lawsuits and hire building inspectors to find violations of the building codes. Protestors would be hired to march against “animal cruelty” associated with the sacrifices. Then they might have environmentalists protesting the impact the sacrifices would have on air pollution and insist that waste disposal systems be built to deal with the animal waste, etc. 

In verse 6 we jump ahead in time. Verse 6, “At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus), King of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes.” In this letter, one of several sent to successive kings to stop this project, they charged that the Israelites were (verse 12) rebuilding that “rebellious and wicked city.” They warned them that if the work continued, “no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid” (verse 13) and this would dishonor the king (verse 14). The Jews used the temple storerooms to collect agricultural tithes. The Persian used temples to collect tribute and taxes. So, a place of worship doubled as a bank, much like a church with an ATM machine in the lobby.

The king sent a “cease and desist” order justifying his decision by reviewing the history of these people and their history of “revolt against kings” and Jerusalem having been a place of “rebellion and sedition” (verse 19).

Verse 24, “Thus The work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius King of Persia.”

So there the temple worksite sat, with weeds growing up through the stones. Imagine a large sign in the front of the construction site saying, “Coming Soon: New Temple of God.” The paint is fading on the sign and birds use it for a perch, so it is all quite messy.

Chapter 5 finds the prophet Haggai appearing to encourage the Jews to resume the reconstruction of the temple. If you turn to the book of Haggai, you will find that the people were able, but not willing to resume construction of the temple. Hag. 1:2, “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built. . . Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin”?

Apparently, the Jews were spending their time and money on their own houses, even paneled houses, which would indicate a certain level of elegance. But they couldn’t find the time or money to rebuild the Temple. This brings to mind what Jesus said in Matt. 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” If you want to know what people really value, look at how they spend their time and money (their treasure). These folks didn’t really value the temple as much as they might have professed. It’s like when church people express their value for ministries in the church, but never seem to be able to find the time and money to support any of them. Yet, they always seem to find the time and money for newer cars, vacations, etc.

Haggai goes on to challenge them to think about what they are doing. Hag. 1: 5-6, “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much but have harvested little.” It all goes back to Deut. 28, the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant, with its blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

His sermon had the impact that many pastors today with they could get from their messages. This led the people to return to work on the reconstruction of the temple. Hag. 1:14, “They came and began to work on the house of the Lord.”

Then another group of people, led by the Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, the area west of the Euphrates River, questioned the Jew’s authority to build the temple. They asked the Jews, Ezra 5:3, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

Another letter was sent to the king, this time it went to Darius. It requested that the King search the archives to see if Cyrus really did issue a decree to rebuild the temple (verse 17).