01/11/2023 – Day 318 – Ezra 1 – 5 // Amazing fulfilled prophecy from roughly 150 years earlier: The Decree of Cyrus and the Return of the Exiles to Jerusalem.
I encourage y’all to take a look at last cycle’s post of Day 318 dated 03/31/21, using your search “Day 318” tool, titled “God’s Divine Providence.” I am covering different turf with this post.
I want so share some edifying footnotes from my Apologetics Study Bible, in each case, I list the verse up that it applies to up front:
“1:1: Shortly after Cyrus the Great assumed rule over the former Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C., Cyrus gave an account of his conquest of Babylon in a clay cylinder. The Cyrus Cylinder, inscribed in 538 B.C. in Babylonian cuneiform, claims that he began a campaign of restoration. This includes allowing displace peoples to return to their homelands and returning statues of deities taken from their homelands in Babylonian victories. Skeptics note that the magnanimity shown by Cyrus toward the Jewish exiles was not due to divine intervention. It was a typical policy toward displaced people under his rule. This is undeniable, but this fact of history does not diminish the significance of the return of the Jews from exile. After all, the return was a fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah prophesied the rise of Cyrus and his benevolence toward Israel 150 years earlier (see Isaiah 44:28 – 45:7). Furthermore, the timing was impeccable. Cyrus’ decree coincided with Jeremiah’s prophecy that the captivity in Babylon would last 70 years (see Jeremiah 25:11).”
“1: 2-4. Some scholars claim that Cyrus’s edict is not genuine. They believe that Cyrus would never have spoken in these terms. However the Cyrus Cylinder, as well as inscriptions from the cities of Uruk and Ur contain language by Cyrus that reads very much like parts of this edict. Furthermore, the biblical character of the language is very likely the result of Cyrus’s interaction with Jews with whom he conversed as he prepared to authorize the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the temple….”
“2:3: This group is not to be confused with the community of faith. While it is likely that many of those listed had a strong faith in God, faith was not the principal criteria for this list. Ancestry was the determining factor. In all times, saving faith is the sole determining factor for salvation (Romans 2: 28 – 29).”
“2:63: God had specified the use of Urim and Thummin for discerning His will (see Exodus 28:30). This practice does not persist in the church since all believers now have the Holy Spirit indwelling them and also have the complete written revelation of God’s will in the Bible to help them discern God’s will.”
“3:4. The returnees knew that there was a proper way to worship God and that any form of religious expression was not necessarily pleasing to God. This is an important principle for today when so many people advocate that there is more than one way to God. Jesus said that He is the only way to God (John 14:6).”
“4:20. Some scholars doubt the Bible’s depiction of a once-powerful kingdom of Israel. However, the enemies used Israel’s glorious past as a principal argument to convince Antaxerxes to stop the rebuilding project. Antaxerxes’s principal motivation for complying with their request was his discovery in Persia’s historical archives that this was indeed part of Israel’s past.”
“5:12. People cannot live any way they choose without consequences. The judgment of God is a reality. His judgment may come immediately, or He may choose to delay His judgment, but no one should think that God is indifferent to sin. God’s people are held to this standard as well. In fact, it is likely that God expects more from His people who have been given the truth of His will (see Hebrews 6: 4-8; 10:31; 1 Peter 4: 17-18).”
Soli Deo Gloria!
Let’s finish strong in these last 46 days of our year long study in this 2nd cycle within this blog. And in any cycle or any read through the Bible in a year program, you can start in a group at any time. The blog can have many simultaneous group studies going on at one time, so that each group does not have to go through the set up costs, both in time and money.