Sermon Cloud

INTRO: Political talk about our current president being a “Messiah.”  I’ve heard people complain that he has a “Messiah Complex.” 

But none of this is new.  In fact this is old, old language.  Like 700 BC old, when Isaiah said of another world ruler

Isaiah 45:1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

Here in the Bible, God himself, through Isaiah, calls a pagan world ruler his “Messiah” (sound familiar?) –Cyrus is God’s “anointed” to accomplish something incredibly important in the plan of redemption – even though Cyrus wouldn’t even be aware of it.

I wanted to spend some time discussing with you the impressive figure of Cyrus and his power and influence.  But these details are more appropriate for a future Sunday School time because its a little too much “History Channel.”

But what I will tell you briefly here is that Cyrus is prominent in Biblical history.  He is mentioned by name in 4 OT books.  In fact, the last verses of the Hebrew TaNakh, -- (FP) – comparison chart on how our scriptures are arranged; BUT …

how does the final 2 verses of the Hebrew bible end?

2 Chronicles 36:22 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: 23 "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 him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

THE END.  Actually, the decree of Cyrus begins the end of the Babylonian exile which is followed by waves of Jews returning to their homeland. This is what we call the “Post-exilic” period of Israel’s ancient history.

It is during this time that the books of Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Malachi, Nehemiah, and some of the Psalms are written.  And as we continue to cover the topic of the Eternal Remnant, we will cover these books and learn how God preserves His people even through times of trouble, and will learn how God’s people must live in anticipation of their true Messiah.

So with that convoluted introduction, let’s turn to Ezra, Chapter 1.

Ezra 1:1 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…  à HEY!  This is an exact repeat for how 2 Chronicles ends, mentioned AGAIN in Ezra 1.  Go ahead and flip back and forth and compare, these books are right next to each other in our Bible!

à Again, Ezra is emphasizing the prophetic words of Jeremiah that Cyrus would fulfill.  What were those prophetic words?

à Jeremiah, predicted the fall of Jerusalem by the hand of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, he predicted further that Judah would be judged for a period of 70 years.  This is mentioned in Jeremiah 25 & 29.  His negative predictions land him in jail – Jeremiah is regarded as a traitor (sounds like he’s rooting for the bad guys!)

While in jail, he purchases land in Judah from his cousin to demonstrate the conviction that the Babylonian oppression would only be temporary, that the Jews would take possession of their land again.  Jeremiah also encourages the people to escape to Egypt, but that only gets him in more trouble.

à Nebuchadnezzar did in fact dominate Judah, and installs his puppet kings in the vassal state of Judah; But these puppet kings constantly thought they could refuse to pay tribute and rebel against his rule.  This was never a good decision

ON August 16, 586 BC, after an 18 month siege, Nebuchadnezzar finally destroys the walls of Jerusalem, burns all the great residences of the city, plunders the treasures of the temple, and then reduces the temple to rubble.

This actually ends his 16 years of trying to work with Judah on his own terms.  During this time, there are 4 separate deportations to Babylon of some 14,000 people, the earliest of which included people like Daniel.  Several thousand also escaped to Egypt, among them was Jeremiah.  The same Jeremiah who predicted 70 years of judgment against Judah, and so here in the beginning of Ezra, he references God’s sovereign control in fulfilling this prophecy.

à So Nebuchadnezzar, by God’s plan, was raised up to judge and pillage Jerusalem.  And nearly 70 years later, God’s plan was for Cyrus to restore and rebuild Jerusalem – according to the prophetic words of both Jeremiah and Isaiah…

Cyrus overthrows the Babylonian Empire with the Persian empire (he was also half Mede – but he learned to deal with that) But Cyrus’ temperament and personality is far different from Nebuchadnezzar is an egomaniac and controlling // Cyrus acknowledges divine intervention and permits all his conquered people to worship their own Gods AS LONG AS when they said their prayers, they were to always include prayers for Cyrus! A perfect blending of religion and politics!

This guy was smarter than Eisenhower, he says, “I don’t care who you pray to, as long as when you DO pray, you pray for your God to make me successful!”

One of the greatest archaeological finds that mentions Cyrus is what has been called the ‘Cyrus Cylinder’ -- (FP) -- which documents the permission that Cyrus grants to all kinds of people under his dominion, giving them the right to observe their religious convictions in their own way:

I (Cyrus) caused them to dwell in peace in their sanctuaries, (in) pleasing dwellings. May all the gods I brought (back) to their sanctuaries plead daily before Bel and Nabu for the lengthening of my days, may they intercede favorably on my behalf." —Cyrus Cylinder, 30-34

Again, from Ezra 1:3 = 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. 4 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 freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." 5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers' 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.

à 2 things.  One is verse 5:  We have mention of the only surviving remnants of the Children of Israel listed here – The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and a portion of the tribe of Levi that ministered in the temple.  All the other Sons of Jacob were previously conquered and spread to the winds by the Assyrians some 170 years earlier.

à SECONDLY:  We have just read twice what I believe is the key component in this chapter.  In verse 1, we read:

the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia

and in verse 5, we just read:

everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up

Think about that!  Look how the Bible locates personal motivation in the spirit of a person, and how God is able to move that spirit. (repeat)

What would happen to us if we truly believed that God was really the one who moves people to accomplish things for His good purposes?  Wouldn’t that mean that we would be more insistent AND SPECIFIC in our prayers for others?  Wouldn’t that mean that we would plead with God to move the spirits of unbelievers, toward accomplishing the greater purposes of God?! 

I think we would be in prayer more for everyone in authority, for our own president and for world leaders, and even for the leaders of our churches to be moved by God’s stirring to accomplish that which is

HISTORY CHANGING for His people and His kingdom?

We Presbyterians know more than anyone else that God moves people toward reformation and revival, it’s just a shame that this same conviction does not lead us to more prayer and more places to see God stir spirits!

We’ve read it TWICE here (and we’ll read it again in Chapter 7).  God moves people to accomplish HIS purposes!  Now how does God do this?  It seems that Cyrus just wanted to live long and prosper, so he was happy to have religious people be religious if it would help him personally.

For others, sometimes it is a simple conversation or act of kindness that leads to “stirring.”

I just read this week a story of a former president who, when visiting communist China in the 70’s, shared with the Party Chairman how his childhood Sunday school class had always prayed for and contributed to relief work in China.  Upon hearing this, the communist leader immediately rescinded the prohibition against publishing Bibles in China.  That simple conversation somehow led a brainwashed communist to conclude that Christianity was actually helping his country. It’s been noted by social observers that this one gracious conversation and the decision that followed prompted the explosion of the underground church in China – There are more Christians in China than in the US today!

-SO Jeremiah spoke prophetically regarding 70 years, it was time for fulfillment, so God stirred some spirits…

-MAYBE Nebuchadnezzar exiled people like Daniel to Babylon just so people like Daniel could serve under a King like Cyrus so that God could stir his spirit…

-MAYBE Cyrus preserved all the treasures of the temple just so he could fulfill another prophecy of Jeremiah and so stir the people’s excitement about God’s power and promises…

-And what is our conviction about being prophetic in our day?  Knowing FULL WELL, that speaking God’s words can raise dead bones to life?

-It means that You and I are in particular places, called to live out our particular callings, called to live out what God has declared to be true about HIS children, just SO…. God can stir some spirits but what we say and do…

Lord in heaven, in our day, even though we encounter trials and set-backs, even though we are in days of confusion and loss, in this day of financial and spiritual depression, will You please stir the spirits of THE people who will be KEY in accomplishing Your purposes for Your Kingdom!  And may Your Holy Spirit minister to me and through me for the same reasons – for the sake of my family, and my church, and my neighbors, and for all the nations…

What is also interesting to me, is this desire to build a temple for the Lord.

It appears that those who are moved in their spirits are also moved to have a tangible expression of that spiritual reality. 

I would love to build a temple, or a grand cathedral, something beautiful and dignified that represents the greatness of God – but I know that a building does not contain the glory of God, nor His presence, nor his blessings.  But I do know that God happens to be gloriously displayed in the lives of people moved by His spirit!  When people are moved by God to accomplish something that is bigger than they, THAT is when both the Church and outsiders become impressed by the communion of the saints. 

^NIV 1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit… (If people are ever going to see the Lord, they must see it in what and how we love, and by his spirit, we will love as Christ did!  Notice how the outsiders helped the Jews in Ezra 6…)

6 And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 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 charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

-This section concludes with a hint of the Exodus from Egypt, again the Jewish sojourners will be accompanied with the wealth of the nation they are leaving. 

-Cyrus is lauded as a king of restoration, and literally fulfills Israel’s mission ==  the nations of the world will be blessed as a result of blessing Israel.

-Who is Sheshbazzar?

I want to conclude by affirming a few points of application related to our sovereign God.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2

Secondly, the rulers of our world may think they are doing that which is politically expedient or designed to secure personal power; but all of these rulers would be better served to confess that their power and position is a matter of God’s decree, and that they are charged by the King of the Universe to serve the public based upon the principles of Scripture rather than ego.

Thirdly, as the Church, knowing that only God alone is Sovereign, we must not be easily unsettled by the passing politics of our day.  Yes, we must be educated and we must voice our vote; but what we must be most aware of is how God uses the decisions of political rulers to prepare his people for the building and arrival of His Kingdom!!!    WE MUST NEVER TAKE OUR EYES OFF OF BUILDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD – and we will prove we realize it when we stop putting our faith in politicians and put our faith in the God who stirs hearts and minds! It is very tempting to think that every political defeat is another stripe of persecution on the backs of the Church (It most likely is!)  Life in California, life in America, to those of us who have a Biblical worldview, seems to be flying off the rails of sanity and decency.  (I can only imagine how the Amish are taking it right now!  You know what, they probably aren’t that phased!  Well, I don’t want to be reclusive as they are; but I do want some stability and trust in God.)

I’m not advocating the abandonment of engaging our society, we must confront the abuse of power and speak against evil; but I am prioritizing what this passage says about how God builds his kingdom, Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord!

SO TO CONCLUDE: What about our Messiah?  Who has stated that he would meet Mahmood Achmedinajad without pre-existing conditions.  Well, if that’s going to happen, we’d better be praying for the Lord to do some stirring!  Let’s pray that our president can say something like this:

“Mahmood, Isn’t it fascinating that King Cyrus ruled all of Persia from your country, Iran!  Isn’t it fascinating that he had the greatest empire that had yet been established upon the earth.  And isn’t also interesting that although the Jews were living under his domain, He gave them the freedom to return to THEIR LAND in Judah with the objects of their worship and he decreed their right to rebuild their temple and to pray to their God!  Wouldn’t it be revolutionary to have another ruler in Iran do the same thing today?”

And BTW, you holocaust denier, free that American you just threw in jail after a sham trial!  OK, I’m too political…

Wouldn’t it also be fascinating if the church today, (including myself) could place their confidence in their true savior / King, who rules over every political decision, and boldly speak the truths of the Gospel of the TRUE MESSIAH, and so witness the impact of our God who stirs hearts in order to build an eternal kingdom!

Prayer:  Here we affirm the words of Jesus:  I will build my church, and the gates of Hell, the politics of man, the lethargy of the church, shall not prevail against it!