Ezra 1: 1- 11
You can go home again
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who 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 build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. 5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. 7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.
In her recent hit recording, "The House that Built Me," country-western performer Miranda Lambert has an awesome song called, "I know they say you can't go home again
The song is about a woman visiting a place from childhood, a place she once called home. As the lyrics suggest, returning to see a childhood home is often highly emotional.
Surveys tell me that roughly one third of American adults over the age of 30 have made such a trip. These individuals aren't necessarily interested in seeing the people from their past. Rather, they visit the houses, apartments, playgrounds, schools, neighborhoods, parks and other places that once made up the landscape of their childhood. This is what ‘Going home means to them.’
Among the unexpected findings to emerge was the depth of emotion many people feel for their childhood home.
Although we develop emotional attachments to places throughout our lifetimes, the vast majority of people who make a trip to see a former home select a place they lived in during their elementary school years (around 5 to 12 years old). This choice makes sense if, as I have argued, we recognize that one's home is a part of personal identity for many people; i.e., an extension of their self. And it is during these early years that children develop a sense of self independent of their families. Homes also are almost always the place where children spend the largest part of their time, as well as the location for many of their most emotional experiences.
The clear majority of people were glad they had made the trip, and many planned to visit or had already visited again. They talked about getting back in touch with important parts of their pasts, obtaining insights about how and why their lives unfolded the way they did, and gaining a valuable perspective with which to make important life decisions. If nothing else, the visits helped to fill gaps in their childhood memories, and nearly everyone took delight in finding a favorite tree, fishing hole, hiding place or some other physical feature from their childhood still intact.
Here are the lyrics of Miranda’s song. It is quite touching;
I know they say you can't go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma'am, I know you don't know me from Adam
But these hand prints on the front steps are mine
Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
And I bet you didn't know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it's like I'm someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in, I swear I'll leave
Won't take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me
Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From "Better Homes and Garden" magazine
Plans were drawn, and concrete poured
And nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama's dream
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it's like I'm someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in, I swear I'll leave
Won't take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me
Today we are going to hit on another emotional journey. It involves the Jewish people who were taken away as captives to Babylon. Here are some lyrics from Psalm 137 about wanting to go home again.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth— if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
The Hebrew texts prior to the time of Christ the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were treated as one book, this was probably in order artificially to make the number of the books in the Old Testament come to 22 the same number as the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. But the differences between the two books are quite clear.
After the destruction of the Temple in 587 BC, when the cream of the people who remained from the slaughter had been carried off to Babylon (according to Jeremiah 52.29 this included eight hundred and thirty two men with their families, who were presumably those from Jerusalem at the time of its destruction), many of the people left in Judah fled to Egypt, fearing Nebuchadrezzar’s wrath as a consequence of the assassination of his appointed governor Gedaliah along with those Babylonians who had been left in order to give him support (2 King 25.25-26). They ignored the pleas of Jeremiah for them to remain, and his assurance that if they did so it would go well with them (Jeremiah 42.7).
Judah, however, remained fairly well populated by the common people (‘the poorest of the land’ - 2 Kings 25.12), although lacking in experienced leadership. This was the situation when a further invasion by Nebuchadrezzar occurred in c. 582 BC, in which a further seven hundred and forty-five men with their families were carried away into exile (Jeremiah 52.30). We have no knowledge of the reason for this latest reprisal, although it may partly have been a belated response to the assassination of Gedaliah, and the slaughter of the Babylonian contingent who had been left there to support him and keep an eye on things. It would, however, have resulted in the people being even more bereaved of leadership.
Those who now remained in Judah were left to struggle on, deprived of leadership, enjoying limited cohesion, and with limited religious guidance, still no doubt involved in the worship of gods on every high hill and under every green three. The Temple was in ruins, Jerusalem was devastated, their other main cities had been destroyed, and the land was still recovering from the ravaging that it had experienced. Their situation was dark indeed.
They were no doubt at some stage joined by some who had fled to neighboring countries, who would by then have felt it safe to return, and this would increase their numbers. And judging from what we know of them their religion would be fusion combining of the worship of YHWH with the worship of Baal and Asherah (Jeremiah 19.5; 2 Chronicles 36.14). By this time much of the province of Judah had probably been incorporated into the province of Samaria, whilst Southern Judah was being gradually taken over by the Edomites (who were themselves seeking refuge), and would remain lost to Judah for centuries.
Jerusalem reverence does appear to have remained, with an altar set up amidst the ruins of the Temple (see Jeremiah 41.4). Note in this regard how in Ezekiel (43.18) it was only the altar, not the Temple, which was commanded to be rebuilt. This was in order to service the ‘heavenly Temple’ which he describes, which was invisibly situated on a high mountain away from Jerusalem (where it would be away from the impurity of that city). This indicated that God was still invisibly but remotely dwelling among His people in a splendid, albeit invisible, heavenly Temple (compare the invisible hosts of YHWH which Elisha saw as surrounding His people - 2 Kings 6.17). It was this assurance that Ezekiel wanted to give to Israel.
Suddenly there was a change in the situation that must have appeared miraculous. The defeat of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian, a king who followed enlightened policies, resulted in a limited return of exiles from Babylon under Sheshbazzar in 538 BC, with the Temple vessels being returned to them, and with authority being granted to them to rebuild the Temple with assistance from the Persian treasury (Ezra 5.16). This was in accordance with general Persian policy to encourage local deities, and establish semi-independent communities under their own native rulers, overseen of course by leading Persian officials. Other nations benefited in a similar way, notably Babylon itself. There were influential Jews in high places who would encourage Cyrus in this (consider e.g. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the later status of Nehemiah). How far Sheshbazzar was an independent governor we do not know. He may only have had authority over the new community, he may well have had to answer to the governor of Samaria, and both were seemingly answerable to a leading Persian official in ‘Beyond the River’, a wider province which included Syrian and Palestine.
No doubt the returnees were filled with high hopes of what God was about to do (consider the words of Haggai 2.6-9, 21-22, the latter spoken later to Zerubbabel), and arrived full of vision. But the community that was established was small and spread out around what remained of Judah (‘they returned everyone to his own city’ - Ezra 2.1, 70), while Jerusalem itself was still in ruins and sparsely inhabited. Thus although the foundations of the Temple were laid, fierce local opposition and general apathy (life was tough and demanding), to say nothing of the actual limitations of the returnees, soon brought the work to a halt (Ezra 4.3-5, 24), and it was not until 520 BC, as a result of the urgings of Haggai and Zechariah, that the work was recommenced, and finally carried through to completion in 516 BC, by which time Sheshbazzar was presumably dead and Zerubbabel (of the Davidic house) was prince over a Judah very limited in size, along with Joshua as its High Priest (Ezra 5.1-6.22).
The years that followed these events are lost to sight, but at some stage the Davidic house appears to have lost its position of authority, which must have been a great blow to the hopes of the community that the Davidic house would be restored, hopes no doubt fostered, not only by the appointment of Zerubbabel as their prince, but by the kindly treatment which had previously been shown to their King Jehoiachin in Babylon (2 Kings 25.27-30). Meanwhile Judah was being overseen by a governor of ‘Beyond The River’ (looking at it from Persia’s point of view and therefore a governor south of the Euphrates), while the local leadership of the returned community, who would have joined up with those in Judah who had remained faithful to YHWH, had now seemingly been transferred into the hands of the High Priest, again under the backing of Samaria. They had little protection from the ruse of their enemies, both official and unofficial, and no doubt suffered continual harassment, to say nothing of experiencing local famines (Haggai 1.6). Ezra gives us hints of such official opposition (4.6-23).
The religious situation was equally parlous:
• 1). There were the orthodox returnees who strove to maintain the purity of Yahwism, and whose hopes had been raised by the building of the Temple and the establishment of a Davidic ruler. But it was only to see these hopes all dissipating in front of their eyes. They faced a situation in which they found that, instead of God acting in some wonderful way, they were experiencing continual animosity from those among whom they had taken up residence (apart from those who had remained faithful to YHWH who would not be a large number), and from those who lived in the surrounding area. They also found themselves suffering from famine and hardship, to say nothing of their having lost their Davidic hope. Their confidence must thus have been at a low ebb.
• 2). There were also the previous dwellers in the land, among whom they lived, the remnants of Judah, whose religion as far as the majority were concerned would, to put it mildly, have been mainly somewhat blend of many religions. Without any guidance from the Temple they would no doubt have continued in the ways of their fathers, offering incense and sacrifices to false gods. They would also no doubt have resented the arrival of the returning exiles who would have laid claim to ancestral land, land which up to this time they had seen as theirs by right of possession.
• 3). There were the people who had been established by the Assyrians in the old kingdom of Israel, who had been converted to a worship of Yahweh of a kind, but a worship of the only Living God which was totally debased (2 Kings 17.24-34). They initially sought to participate in the building of the Temple, only to find themselves rebuffed (Ezra 4.2-3), no doubt because of their idolatrous connections, and because of the influence they could then have claimed over Temple worship.
• 4). On top of this there was the animosity of those who were in positions of authority around them, some of whom would be syncretistic Yahwists, while others would be worshippers of false gods. They would not be happy to see a separatist, exclusive community being established among them.
Thus the hopes that had been raised that God was about to act in some miraculous way had been largely dashed, and although two generations had passed all that they had to show for it was the restoration of Temple worship, and a patched up, sparsely populated, Jerusalem, the latter mainly arising from the need to service the Temple. No Davidic kingdom was in sight. Things had failed to come up to their expectations. It may well have been this sense of religious failure, and their recognition of their own inadequacy in the face of it, that caused the leaders of the people to make known to the prominent Jews in Persia their need for some authoritative figure to be sent to them who could help to establish their understanding of the covenant in a way that was applicable to their situation. Or it may be that their letters to their brethren in Babylon and Persia had made such inadequacy clear. It is quite likely that it was some such situation which resulted in an approach being made to Artaxerxes, an approach which resulted in Ezra the Scribe being sent to them for this purpose, arriving along with another large group of returning exiles (in the same way as the Assyrians had earlier sent a priest to those whom they had settled in and around Samaria, in order to teach them the ways of YHWH -2 Kings 17.24-28)). It is possibly to be seen as significant that hope was no longer being placed in God raising up a prophet among them. Rather the emphasis was on someone who could teach them the Law. Their faith had become more humdrum.
It was thus in 458 BC (in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I - Ezra 7.7) that Ezra, ‘the scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven’ was sent to the people of Judah with the responsibility of teaching them the Law.
This was later followed in 445 BC by the arrival in Jerusalem of Nehemiah, a Jew and a trusted high official of the Great King, the king of Persia, who as a consequence of his own intercession, had been dispatched to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding its walls, and establishing Judah as a semi-independent state, a state over which for a period he would act as governor. Judah was on the way up.
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
The first year of Cyrus II referred to was 538 BC, the dating being from his capture of Babylon, this being the date when control of Palestine passed into his hands.
What follows results from ‘the word of YHWH’. His word is going forth and accomplishing His purpose (compare Isaiah 55.11). The word of YHWH is described as that spoken by Jeremiah the prophet. This is probably a reference to Jeremiah 51.1 where we read, ‘Behold I will stir up against Babylon -- the spirit of a destroyer.’
The God of Israel YHWH stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. Whatever Cyrus might say, and whatever other people might believe, it was because YHWH had brought about what would now happen. It was He Who had ‘stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia’, with the result that Cyrus had issued an edict and made a public proclamation to the effect that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and there build a Temple to YHWH in accordance with the king’s command.
2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
Similar wording to this, in the form of a proclamation and altered to suit the situation, was probably used by Cyrus in many parts of his kingdom as he caused permanent sanctuaries to be rebuilt in many major religious centers and restored to people their gods which had been plundered by Babylon. He wanted full credit for what was happening to gain the support of the people, and what was equally important in his eyes, the support of their gods. Here the wording of his decree is particularized, presumably by Jewish advisers, in order to apply to the situation of the Jews, possibly as influenced by Isaiah 44.28-45.1. Cyrus was unconsciously fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, something which the Jews may well have brought to his attention.
The words ‘All the kingdoms of the earth’ is a slight exaggeration. But the idea was of those kingdoms within his purview. He did not in fact conquer Egypt, that would be left to his son Cambyses after his death.
‘Has YHWH the God of heaven given me.’ Cyrus saw all the gods as on his side. After all, had they not given him control over his world? And thus, he did genuinely believe that ‘YHWH, the God of Heaven’ had given to him all the kingdoms of the world (as had Marduk also, see citation above) and that YHWH had charged him to build him a house in Jerusalem (just as other gods had charged him to rebuild their sanctuaries). That the edict was not too personal to him comes out in that he made no effort to ensure that the building of the Jerusalem Temple actually took place. For whilst an initial foundation was laid early on, it would not be until after his death that the Temple was built. Thus, he left the actual fulfilment of the charge to the initiative of the local communities. We must not, however, underestimate the value of the decree. It gave official permission, from the highest possible earthly source, to erect the Temple.
3 Who 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 build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.
Permission was also given for all exiles who wished to do so to return to their native land. This was important. Prior to this they had had a certain level of freedom, but they did not have permission to leave the place where they were. Had they attempted to leave the Babylonians would immediately have stepped in to prevent it. Now, however, Cyrus was giving official permission for them to return home. The permission was voluntary. There was no compulsion. But it was valid for all who wanted to return.
Please notice Cyrus’ plea that in the case of each who wanted to return his God would be with him, and it was with a view to YHWH’s house being rebuilt in Jerusalem. Cyrus was concerned to keep YHWH on his side.
4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
Those Jews who did not want to return were nevertheless called on to give material assistance towards the project. They were to provide silver, gold, materials and provisions, and domestic animals. This would include horses, camels and asses for travelling, and cattle, sheep and goats which would supply provisions. The reference to the freewill offering for the house of God may have in mind that it was a freely given contribution towards the building fund, or it may have been a regular amount given freely by many Jews towards the upkeep of worship in Jerusalem.
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
Once again, as with Cyrus in verse 2, God ‘stirs up the spirit’ of men in the carrying forward of His purposes, in this case the building of the house of YHWH in Jerusalem. This need not mean that all who were stirred went at one time. In view of the widespread nature of the proclamation (see verses 1-3) we can be sure that there were a series of groups which made their way to Jerusalem over a period from different parts. But the concentration here is on those who were entrusted with the Temple vessels. They consisted of priests, Levites, and members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, whose leaders were stirred in their spirits to respond to the call of God, presumably from among the exiles settled in Babylonia, some of whom had been ministered to by Ezekiel.
6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
‘All those round about’ probably signifies Jews who were remaining, those whose spirits had not been stirred up. Many would have settled and become prosperous and would have no desire to return. Compare in this respect verse 4 where, among other gifts, the freewill offering to the Temple is mentioned, something which would be given by Jews.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
In the case of the Jews Cyrus was unable to return their gods to them, for they had no images of gods. He therefore rather bestowed on them the vessels of the house of YHWH that Nebuchadnezzar had appropriated from Jerusalem in order to place them in the house of his gods. He would have seen them as evidence that his gods had triumphed. These were produced ‘by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer’, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the ‘prince’ (recognized tribal head) of Judah.
9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles.
The details of the Temple vessels are now given. The terms used would appear to be technical ones, with some unknown to us, but there is no good reason for doubting that these details were taken from an official inventory.
11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The chapter ends triumphantly. All these vessels were brought up to Jerusalem by Sheshbazzar at the same time as the exiles returning from Babylon were brought up. ‘From Babylon to Jerusalem.’ It was the reversal of the exile. It may be that it was because Sheshbazzar was the one who ‘brought up’ the exiles to Jerusalem that he is not mentioned in the list of those who were so brought up in chapter 2.
