Written by :   Zac Poonen
WFTW Body: 

We read in Ezra 1:2, that God moved King Cyrus to order the building of the temple.Cyrus said, "The Lord God has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build the house for Him in Jerusalem"(Ezra 1:2). See the sovereignty of God that moved a heathen king to order the building of God's temple in Jerusalem!

Cyrus went on to say, "Whoever is among you let him go up to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of God."(Ezra 1:3). He did not compel any Israelite to go. They were free to choose. Even so today - we are free to stay in dead religious systems or to move away from them to Jerusalem.

And then Cyrus said, "Let the men support him with a freewill offering for the house of God" (1:4).

To build Jerusalem, the Body of Christ, the first thing we need to recognize is that God is sovereign over all people. He could move ungodly rulers in that day, and He can move anyone even today to fulfil His purposes. If we do not believe that, we cannot build Jerusalem.

The second thing we need to recognize is that God never compels anyone to leave Babylon. All are invited to leave. But no-one is forced to do so. We must give people freedom to choose, for God loves only cheerful givers.

The third thing we see is that those who don't go personally can still support God's work with "a freewill offering" (1:4). If we can't build Jerusalem personally, we can still support its building with freewill offerings.

Why did that Persian king Cyrus support God's people so much?

The answer perhaps lies here: Nearly 200 years before Cyrus was born, the prophet Isaiah prophesied about him by name: "Thus says the Lord, 'When I say of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd," he will certainly do as I say.' He will command that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the Temple be restored. This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, His anointed one, whose right hand He will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. The Lord says: 'I will go before you, Cyrus; I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord God of Israel. And why have I called you for this work? It is for the sake of Israel my chosen one. I called you by name when you did not know me. I have prepared you so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God'" (Isa.44:28-45:6).

Daniel who was still alive at that time, must have shown this Scripture to Cyrus - and Cyrus must have been overwhelmed to know that Almighty God had prophesied about him by name, two centuries earlier. This would have humbled him and he did what that Isaiah prophesied that he would do - command the Jewish people to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple!!

God's ways are truly amazing.