Babylonian Exile Ends

Study Scripture: Ezra 1:1-8, 11: 2:64-70

Lesson 1       March 5, 2022.

Key Verse

Ezra 2:68

Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they arrived at the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to erect it on its site.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Our Study Lesson today cannot properly be understood without first looking at what God is like.

We must understand first that God is infinite which means that God is unlike anything in our experience. God is unlimited but He also is not to be limited. God is infinite in terms of times and years and where He is presence and we call this immensity and omnipresence so that there is no place where God cannot be found. Jeremiah 23:21 therefore tells us:

“Am I a God near at hand”, says the Lord, And not a God afar off?

Can anyone hide himself in secret places,

So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;

Do not I fill heaven and earth?”, says the Lord”

We must also now consider that God is infinite in relation to time and time does not apply to Him for He was there before time began. One writer therefore states it clearly:

“The question how old is God is simply inappropriate. He’s no older now than a year ago, for infinity +1 is no more than infinity. He simply is not restricted by the dimensions of time. God is the one who always was. He was, he is, he will be.

Psalm 90:1-2 says

Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting,

You are God”.

We must understand that for God time does not affect or control Him. He does not grow. His nature does not change. He has interests, knowledge, and activities which are always there and there is no change in Him similar to what we experience as we change from childhood to youth, to adulthood, and old age.

But God is conscious that time which He created for human beings brings change for them but because He is transcendent over time He is aware of what is happening at all times, what has happened, and what will happen at every point in time.

Accordingly, there is an order to the acts of God and how they succeed one after the other, and this order to His decisions is very logical for since He has been from all eternity He has determined what  He is now doing. His actions are not made because of Him reacting to developments for He cannot be taken by surprise or need to develop contingency plans.

God is infinite and this also applies to His knowledge and understanding. Psalm 147: 5 tells us that God’s understand cannot be measured.

Proverbs 15:3 tells us that the eyes of God are in every place keeping watch on the evil and on the good so that not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without the Father knowing and willing it according to Jesus in Matthew 10: 29.

We really should remember however that God is always on top of everything and He acts knowing all the facts and based on His perfect and correct values knowing all things that are good will always do right. Romans 11:33.

This is critically important for us and as one writer’s states:

“God, however has access to all information. So his judgments are made wisely. He never has to revise his estimation of something because of additional information. He sees all things in their proper perspective; thus he does not give anything a higher or lower value than what ought to be.

One can therefore pray confidently, knowing that God will not grant something that is not good. Even though we are not wise enough to see all of the facts, or the results to which our ideas or planned actions may lead, we can trust God to know what is best.”.

One who trusts in God therefore can be assured that God is morally pure, which means completely holy, righteous, has complete integrity, is completely and absolutely just, completely truthful, completely faithful, completely loving, completely benevolent, always gracious and merciful, and persisting in His love and justice He is long-suffering when He deals with us.

There is of course much more to the nature and character of God but what we have stated affects how we think about where history is going and why it is going in that direction, in other words, what is causing the patterns of history.

Scripture tells us therefore that God has a plan which includes everything that occurs. We are also told that God the Father is at work carrying out His plan. Read again carefully Psalm 1.

Some will try to correct the plan of God but whatever is said it is clear that God is consistent, logical and coherent in His actions and whatever God does is what God wills rather than what a man may think he can do successfully. Men are simply too finite and limited to understand or challenge the government of God.

There are eternal decisions which make certain all things which shall come to pass for God is like an architect that draws up His plans perfectly. God therefore has made decisions about every matter in cosmic history and God makes choices which are perfect.

These plans have to do ultimately with the Covenant that God has made with His people for He takes personal care of His people.

Because He is supreme and infinitely powerful, our Creator God sustains all that He has made in a loving way. Nothing really therefore can happen independently of the will and the working of God.

We see this clearly in the prophetic word.

Jesus made it quite clear that God has planned these very large and complex events and He made that quite clear to the upright and the blameless Job. (See Job 38-42).

These large and complex events include the fall and destruction of Jerusalem.

The fact however if that some of the people who say they belong to God will engage in apostasy and betray God such as Judas did. The fact however is that some of the people of God will remain faithful because of the power of God. People’s behaviour cannot thwart the Plans of God.

The books of Matthew, Mark, and others make it quite clear that God’s plan will be fulfilled and therefore the prophecies in the Old Testament prominently state this, even though there will be some that will falsely say that people deliberately did certain things to make sure the plan of God went in a certain direction.

But all the Apostles tells us that there is a divine purpose. In Acts 2

; 23 on the day of Pentecost Peter made it quite clear to the listening crowd:

“This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men”.

Our new Study series of Lessons aims at showing how God acted to restore His people from captivity, to bring them again to a true form of worship and sacrifice, and to place them in the proper place where they should be.

We are looking in our Study at the nature of God’s deliverance and the certainty of it for His people. Accordingly, we should bear in mind that there will be an ultimate deliverance at the coming of Messiah and the New Heaven and a New Earth. We wait expectantly for the fulfillment of this hope when the burden of evil and sin will be removed.

We can learn many lessons from this initial and first Lesson and from the series as well as from reading the Book of Ezra.  We will here name a few.

First, we see that it is very interesting to examine the behavior of the people of God.  One would normally expect the people of God to seize every opportunity to move away from living among the idolatrous enemies of God and the environment of iniquity, but this bit of history shows that this was not the case.

We will also see how people of God so easily forget the judgment of God and begin again to misbehave, even when they return to the place of God. Even the horrors of defeat and exile often fail to teach the people of God a lesson.

We will note how God called some people to do extraordinary work for Him, and how with strength and courage they responded to His call, despite the apparently insurmountable obstacles before them.  They believed in living by faith and not by sight.

It is interesting to see that sometimes their actions, which were designed to preserve the purity of the people of God, were so tough that their treatment of people bothers some of us.  We find it difficult to accept that apostasy and continued departure from God creates a drastic situation which often require the most drastic of treatments.

The Lesson reminds us and show us that God will use several different types of people, some pagan and some believers, to bring about His purpose in returning His covenant people to their proper place, and restoring the place of God to the center of their religious life.

It makes clear that God can use the righteous as well as the unrighteous to work His will.

When we speak of the people of God, we, along with the Scriptures are mainly concerned about the remnant of God. Though there are many who claim to be or are called the people of God, we must not expect that they all will go the full way in following the commandments of God or in heeding the call of God.  They will contribute to the work of God, but they themselves will not opt for the full journey.  One writer makes this comment:

“ Many scholars believe the Jewish people in Babylon and Persia must have numbered at least 2 million.  Yet only about 50,000 chose to return to Jerusalem with the first group under Zerubbabel (2:64-65).  This indicates that most of them probably had become comfortable with their lives in these foreign lands.  Or perhaps the certainties of their present existence were more appealing that the uncertainties of life in Jerusalem- a city which most of them had never seen.” 

It is important to realize and always remember that the Book of Ezra describes how the people of Israel came back to the Promised Land after a long exile in Babylon.

Ezra continues where 2 Chronicles 36:22 leaves off, and therefore some believe strongly that Ezra wrote both books.

Chapters 1-6, the first part of the book of Ezra, relates how in about 525 B.C. Zerubbabel led the first group of fifty thousand exiles back to Jerusalem, how they began rebuilding the Temple, how enemies tried to obstruct the work, and how the prophets Haggai and Zechariah worked to motivate the people to continue working and to complete the rebuilding of the Temple, despite the shrewd, political manoeuvrings of their adversaries.  These two prophets worked in Israel during this critical time in the nation’s history.

Chapters 7-10 describes events which took place about sixty years after the completion of the Temple by the first group of exiles.

Ezra was a priest, a man learned in the Law of Moses, and was recognized in the Persian empire as a learned Scribe. He led this second group. Note that he came to Israel many years after the initial group came.

After the period of religious restoration that had been involved in the rebuilding of the Temple, Ezra came to lead his people in rebuilding the Law of God in their hearts, and rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, the project spearheaded and directed by Nehemiah. Ezra aimed to purge paganism from the people and bring the Law to their consciousness.

Ezra worked alongside Nehemiah and they brought about several reforms among the people in Jerusalem.  The prophet Malachi worked with these two men, aiding them in the religious and political restoration.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were one unbroken book in the Hebrew Old Testament, and many scholars believe that Ezra was the writer and editor- compiler of the four books of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.  As Ezra was a highly regarded court official and Scribe in the Persian Kingdom, he would have access to the official court documents to compile 1 & 2 Chronicles, as well as the experiences and reports of the governor Zerubbabel, who had led the first wave of exiles to Jerusalem. Since he worked with Nehemiah, he would have been privy to his experiences.

The books have many phrases and peculiar expressions in them, with some parts written in Hebrew and other parts written in Chaldee, the official language of the Persian empire.  The language division continued as in the book of Ezra, with the royal decrees and letters being in Chaldee.  The extensive use of genealogies shows the emphasis on the national purity of the returning exiles, which was necessary to restore the theocracy, and restore the old system of property and families.

The work of Ezra and Nehemiah is considered to be very important for prophecy, for Nehemiah implies that his commission began the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-25.

The book is very important, because it also shows that God fulfilled His Word that He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet promising that the Jews would return from Babylon at the end of seventy years.  The nation had been unfaithful but God had remained faithful, bringing a remnant back to the land of Israel to rebuild the Temple, re-establish His worship and begin again to build the elect theocratic nation.

Ezra’s determination was to begin a new era, where the Law of God would cover every aspect of life, mould the people of Israel in unswerving faithfulness to the Law of God, and prepare them for the many other crises that would come to destroy them.

These crises would be of satanic design, aiming to destroy Israel, snuff the Messianic line and prevent the coming of Messiah the Saviour.

EZRA THE MAN

Ezra was a direct descendant of Phineas the grandson of Aaron.  He is described as a son of Seraiah, the grandson of Hilkiah, the high priest in the reign of Josiah.

As a priest with this kind of lineage, with tremendous ability, and from a favoured position at the Persian court, Ezra was in an ideal position to vigorously promote religion and learning among the exiles in Jerusalem and Judah.  He set his heart to study the Law of God, to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.  Ezra 7: 10.  He did his work so well in his extensive writing, leading the people, and insisting on personal and national purity of life, that he is often called the second Moses.

Many consider that Zerubbabel was an officially appointed leader of the Jewish community, and that this was the reason that he was entrusted with the role of leading the first set of exiles back to Jerusalem. Ezra was determined that his work be honored and continued, and that the weak colony in Jerusalem be strengthened and rededicated to God.

It is held that Ezra was the man who instituted the great synagogue, established the pattern of synagogue worship with its “ pulpit” and reading and expounding of the Law.

Many writers are firm in their position that a Lesson such as this helps us to deal with the return from the exile of sorts experienced because of the recent pandemic which forced many believers to live in isolation apart from other worshipers.

They therefore are warned that they have to learn that they have to rebuild their faith and their structures of worship.

Since community rebuilding is at the heart of the book of Ezra this is a great teaching book for us for just as the Israelites faced challenges as they returned as a community with the aim of rebuilding we note we too will face continuing challenges. We will be helped by this book, the lessons it teaches, and its instruction on how to face challenges as we come together and rebuild.

THE TEXT

Verse 1. This verse continues from the historical words of 2 Chronicles 36 and continues with the words of 36:22.

The Jews in Babylon were in a deplorable state, for their idol worshiping enemies ruled and ridiculed them. They had no Temple to worship in or to sing their psalms, or an altar on which to offer sacrifices to Jehovah.

Second Chronicles 36 summarizes the tragic events which led to the fall of the people of Israel and Judah.

The Jews had ignored the warning of the prophets and destruction had come to them by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.  The Medes and Persians had eventually overthrown that Kingdom of Babylon, and the government was eventually given to Cyrus the Persian.  This man had been named in the prophecy of Isaiah published over one hundred and fifty years before, as the one who would do great things for God, and be His instrument to deliver the Jews. (Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1-5.)

Note that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, for the heart of kings, even disobedient kings, are in hands of the Lord, and God can turn them wherever He desires. See King Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony in Daniel 4. In this case God knew of Cyrus even if he did not know the true God and how to serve Him.  God puts the thought into the mind of the king, and gives him the understanding so that He does what is right and do things that will please God.

Note that this returning of the exiles and the restoring of Israel is a work of God’s grace.  God takes the initiative, for when someone falls into sin, they will never come back to Christ, unless God brings him or her back to Himself. In the case of Israel, when God called, most did not return to the Land when God opened the way for them, for they had become satisfied with their lot in exile.

In 605 B.C. Jeremiah had prophesied that the people of Judah would be in captivity for seventy years.   Jeremiah 25: 12 and 29: 10.

It was on account of this prophecy that Daniel, as recorded in Daniel 9:2, had prayed for the deliverance of his people in the year that Babylon fell.

Cyrus now acted with urgency for he knew and proved that the word of God given by His servant Jeremiah was absolutely true.  In the first year that he reigned over Babylon, having conquered it, Cyrus seemed to have acted with great urgency, published his freedom proclamation by word as well as by putting it in writing.  His proclamation went all throughout his kingdom.

Verse 2.  Cyrus had been king of Persia and had founded the great Persian empire.  He finally conquered the powerful Babylon into 539 B.C. without a struggle.

Undoubtedly, Jewish advisers were prominent in the Kingdom, and Cyrus, a Zoroastrian, a worshiper of Ormuzd, their supposedly great creator god of heaven, felt some affinity for the monotheistic religion of the Jews, which bore some resemblance to his religion.  It is easy to understand why he would have hated idolatry and the immorality of Babylonian worship and preferred Jews.

His mind was apparently enlightened by his knowledge of Jehovah, for he equated the God of Heaven, with the God of Israel.  It is not necessary for us to believe that he was a true believer in the true God, but he recognized the God of Israel as a most important God, who had been responsible for giving him the Kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar.  It certainly would have impressed him, if Daniel had shown him the prophecies of Isaiah naming him and predicting what he would do, as indicated by the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus recorded in his Antiquities. The prophet Isaiah had even mentioned Cyrus by name and spoken of his exploits and conquests. So he was exposed to the power of prophecy and the ability of Jehovah.

Scholars tell us: “We know that Persian kings paid close heed to prophecies.  Cambyses to Egyptian oracles. Darius and Xerxes to Greek oracles (Herodotus 8.133; 9.42, 151)”. (Yamauchi).

Note therefore that for many people there was very little difference between the “sacred” and the “profane” for they regard history as being under the control of God. Some religions still believe in that for they see no real difference between secular and religious themes, though of course they do not accept the doctrine of the Almighty God Yahweh.

Cyrus declared that the God of Israel had given him great power and many possessions and accordingly had called on him and obliged him to do a great work for God.  He had been charged to build a Temple for God at Jerusalem in the land of Judah.  He would therefore obey the call.

Obviously Cyrus was acquainted with Jehovah, and had wanted to rebuild the Temple that Nebuchadnezzar, the great leader of his vanquished enemies had destroyed.  He must have had a high respect for Jehovah, honouring him as the God of Heaven.

It must have struck the disobedient people of Israel as rather strange that this heathen king was prepared to be obedient to God, when they themselves had been so grossly disobedient.

Verse 3.  Cyrus called on those who were faithful among the people of God to be encouraged, to go up to Jerusalem and to build again the Temple of the Lord God of Israel, which was to be located in Jerusalem.  He gave free leave for them to go.

Note that Daniel 6:28 had stated that Daniel had prospered in the reign of Cyrus the Persian, and thus Cyrus’s pious confession had a firm basis in fact.  God had indeed prospered him because of his reliance on Daniel.

This move by Cyrus was very unusual, for normally kings did not release captured people, but used them in their service.  Some however suggest that this most unusual, first time, magnanimous move was a skilful attempt at diplomacy, for it would be helpful to have a loyal and grateful people in between him and the Kingdom of Egypt which he had not yet conquered.  This view probably overstates the military and support role that a weakened and practically nonexistent nation of Israel could render to him. It is therefore quite easy to accept the statement of the writer Ezra, that God had stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to release the children of Israel to return home to rebuild the Temple and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

It is clear that God had controlled history in such a way that an empire with a very different approach to dealing with subjects people came to power and as such would be the instruments of returning the people of Israel to their homeland in Canaan. Sometimes we tend to overlook the hand of God in history but it is there for us to see.

Cyrus and the Persians had a policy of allowing local religions and encouraging the turn of exiles and that was very strange. Yet one scholar comments on Cyrus’ approach to ruling which was considered strange at that time:

“All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me: This remarkable recognition of God’s hand upon his life may be connected with the remarkable prophecies regarding Cyrus in Isaiah 44: 28-45:4.

Yet it was also according to the general policy of the Persians. “A notable feature of the Persian Empire was its integration of a great diversity of peoples into a single administrative system, while maintaining at the same time a tradition of respect for their local customs and beliefs…. They were encouraged to seek the King’s welfare by observing the proper forms of their own religions”. (Kidner).

Verse 4. As recorded in this so-called Cyrus Cylinder unearthed by archaeology, Cyrus went even further than freeing the people to return to Jerusalem.  2 Chronicles records this remarkable encouragement for the people of Israel to return and rebuild Jerusalem and they would thereby know that this was a recognition of the hand of God in history.

Cyrus ordered the people among whom the Jews lived to give them gifts of silver, gold, goods, animals and free will offerings, so that the Temple could be refurbished.  The ‘men of his place’ among whom the Jews lived, were all pagans, including Persians and Babylonians. They were all required to contribute.

Note that the offerings were directed for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple not just to encourage the people of Israel to reoccupy Jerusalem as a political entity.

The whole project was a religious project and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a pilgrimage to a holy place so that the worship of their God would be furthered.

Some believe that this also meant that Cyrus gave the returning Jews money from the Kingdom’s treasury as well.

Verse 5. The call by Cyrus had an effect on the chief of the leaders of Judah and Benjamin, who could not sit idly by and ignore the call of this king.  It is specifically stated however that God stirred up their spirit, and these that had this stirred up spirit, decided to go up to build the house of the Lord.

Note that all the Jews had been called on and encouraged to return by Cyrus, but only some, those who God had stirred up, were willing to build the Temple at Jerusalem.

Most of the people would not overcome the strong temptation to stay in Babylon.  They could not leave their homes, their business ventures and their newly accustomed way of life, to drag their wives and children back to Jerusalem.

We must surmise that if God had left everything to them, practically all would have stayed in Babylon, and much less than 50,000 would have headed back home.  They would have complained about the conditions in Babylon, but they would not have left it.  They were like Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who preferred to live in the bright lights of Sodom and endure vexation of soul. One writer puts it this way:

“ Whatever good we do, it is owing purely to the grace of God, and he raises up  our spirits to the doing of it, works in us both to will and to do. Our spirits naturally incline to this earth and to the things of it.  If they move upwards, in any good affection or good actions, it is God that raises them.”

At this stage of the Study therefore we hope that it will be recognized that first, God has a plan and that plan must come to pass and God’s intention must be achieved. Second, God’s plan must be fulfilled by people. So one writer reminds us:

“Remember that whatever we are going through, God has a plan for our lives. If we seek him, he will reveal it to us. From the very beginning when He created the world, He had a plan.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God already had a plan of redemption through Jesus Christ; a plan of salvation for those who would believe in Him.

The Lord has a plan for each one of us as well. We are to pray to God for His will to be done; we are to obey Him and you are to follow His plan for our lives”.

Verse 6.  All the people among whom the Jews lived responded generously, both the heathen neighbours and the Jews that remained in Babylon.

The first tabernacle in the wilderness was constructed out of the gifts that the terrified Egyptians gave the departing Jews.  Now God had turned the heart of strangers to help the Jews, without any preceding terror.

This of course has practically implications.  Believers who prefer to sit in comfortable surroundings and not take the risks of going out to build the house of God because they are afraid of the cost of so doing, should support those who are willing to go out and risk their lives.

Verse 7.  Cyrus led by example.  The sacred vessels of the Jerusalem Temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away in the reign of Jehoiakim and put into the house of his God, (2 Chronicles 36:7,  Daniel 1: 2), were taken from the royal treasury.

Verse 8.  Cyrus gave these to the Treasurer to be inspected.  These were counted out to the Prince of Judah, with his Chaldean name used instead of Zerubbabel, the Jewish name.

Verse 9-11. Cyrus’s affection to the house of God was indicated by his restoration of the vessels of the Temple as well as releasing the people of God.  This was a large group of religious vessels.

There are some differences in number between the numbers of vessels in the Septuagint and in verses 9-10 versus verse 11.  But undoubtedly the number 5,400 in verse 11 included the 2, 499 in the previous verses.  Those listed in verses 9 and 10 may have been the largest and most important ones.

The power and grace of God had preserved the material and vessels to be used in God’s worship, and had made them available at the time that He required them.

It is also considered strange that some of the very important articles in the Temple such as the Ark, the Table of Showbread, the Altar of Incense, the Brazen Altar, the Golden Lampstand were not listed among those given to the returning Jews. There is therefore some controversy as to whether these were destroyed or taken away by the Jewish priests to other locations and hidden before the Temple and the city was overrun by the Babylonian army. Some believe that it was necessary not to have these items taken to Babylon and housed in the place of idolatry in Babylon and so contaminated.

CHAPTER 2

Verses 64-67. This returning assembly consisting only of 42,360 persons plus male and female servants amounting to 7,337. There was also 200 men and women singers.

There were probably also several other waves of returnees from the Babylonian captivity and so it is estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 actually returned. This is a small percentage of those in exile for sadly most of the people preferred to remain in Babylon for they felt comfortable there. The scholar and researcher Yamauchi reports:

“As a whole, Israelites had some reason to feel comfortable in Babylon. The Murashu tablets were discovered in 1873 and our records from Murashu and his sons, wealthy bankers and brokers of the late period of exile, who seemed to loan out almost anything for a price. “Among their customers are listed about 60 Jewish names from the time of Artaxexes 1, and 40 from the time of Darius 11. These appear as contracting parties, agents, witnesses, collectors of taxes, and royal officials. There seemed to have been no social or commercial barriers between the Jews and the Babylonians. Their prosperous situation may explain why some choose to remain in Mesopotamia”.

But one writer warns that we need to develop a balanced perspective on the situation. This might be relevant for us in the situation where we are currently apart from each other in worship and we might think that people are not doing anything in worship. He notes:

“One should not think that there was no spiritual life among the Jewish exiles. Ezekiel (who went into exile about 597 or 586 BC) describes what we might call a “home Bible study” at his home with the elders of Judah (Ezekiel 8 :1).

“Deprived of the temple, the exiles laid great stress on the observation of the Sabbath, on the laws of purity, and on prayer and fasting. It has often been suggested that the development of synagogues began in Mesopotamia during the Exile. (Yamauchi). Indeed, “in the Talmud it is said that only the chaff returned, while the wheat remained behind” (Adenay).

Verse 68. It was a very important for the heads of the fathers’ houses lead in the worship of God and so they freely gave offerings for the house of the Lord so that it would be built. The implication is that they give sacrificially for they had brought gifts from the people that remained in Babylon.

Verse 69. They gave as much as they could afford and so it is said that they gave according to their ability for rebuilding the house of the Lord was something that they highly valued. It was therefore important that even the people who remain behind in Babylon make contributions and that is what they did. But clearly, the people who came to Israel and gave up their life of relative luxury bore the brunt of the sacrificial giving and worship.

Verse 70. So here we see again that in the land of the nation of Israel that was established it was led by the priests and Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim who seem to be descendants of the Gibeonites that were made to be special servants of the Levites and priests, during baser jobs at the temple. These Gibeonites should have been killed with the rest of the Canaanites but they saved their lives by telling Joshua and the leaders a big lie by disguising themselves so that they did not appear to be residents of the area in Canaan that was being attacked and so they were made by to be drawers of water to the Temple as a punishment. Their lives were however spared and they remained among the people of Israel.

Also in this group were the children of Solomon’s servants and these are believed to be people that Solomon employed from other pagan people groups and so they stayed with Israel and became foreign proselytes.

Understand therefore that this group came to the land that had been previously made waste and so they had to develop their cities, develop their farms and rebuild. The rebuilding of the capital city of Jerusalem awaited the work of Nehemiah who also was sent by God.

The task ahead of them would be great. There would be many challenges and eventually opposition would develop from the surrounding pagans and mixed multitudes of intermarried Jews and pagans.

CONCLUSION

It is important we consider where the stirring of the Spirit comes from. The Spirit is telling us on our insides that we must follow Jesus and serve Him. We must be wise and listen to the Spirit for that is the only way that we would be able to return and rebuild.

It is important to know that the return was difficult for many people but the small group would survive. The work of God to restoring the nation after the exile was not something that was done overnight. It took time and it took a lot of hard work, patience, and perseverance, and resisting the challenges of the surrounding enemies of the people of God.

So we know that when we have left God behind and we are taken into the world either because of our sins or from some other events and circumstances Yahweh had to take the initiative to return His people back to Him. Yet we are required to trust in Him and wait patiently on His actions and signals to move forward while at the same time doing the work that we have been called on to do where we are placed.

The God of Israel is certainly the great God. In His time the vessels of God, though placed in the pagan storehouse, were eventually removed and restored to their original use. 

In a similar way, the Ark of God had been left in the hands of the Philistines for many years, but when God was ready, He brought it out and returned it to Israel.

Similarly when Augustus Caesar decreed that the whole world should be registered this decree sent the young Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem where she gave birth to a son whose name was Jesus, to the exact place that God had predicted that the Messiah would be born.

When it was time for Jesus to be crucified God fulfilled His word through another pagan ruler Pontius Pilate who delivered up Jesus to be crucified exactly on time.

It is quite apparent that when the Messiah is ready to return to earth, the Second time to institute the Millennial reign God will use pagan rulers according to Psalm 1 who challenge the decree of God to trigger the return of Jesus to earth as predicted in the Book of Revelation.

Clearly therefore God will use pagan rulers to fulfill His word and He does it frequently.

God controls history.  His plan is perfect and will always work as He has decreed.  There is therefore no need for a lacking in faith.  The promises of God are sure.

Though some will stay in Babylon, we can be sure that the remnant will return.

God is so gracious that even some of those who stay behind will eventually come back to God and contribute to the work of God.

We therefore do not utterly condemn those who stayed in Babylon, but we are to encourage them to go back to God and to rebuild the house of God.

God is faithful to His promises.  We might not know exactly when He will call us out and deliver us, but we know He will do that one day.  He is after all a Mighty Deliverer.