Ezra 1-2 - Return

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Good morning church. Really good to see you all here this morning. How good is it to celebrate the things that we've celebrated this morning? I'm always encouraged to hear of the way in which God is at work in people's lives. And this morning, as has been mentioned, we're beginning our integrated study. If you've joined us here at Kabuchah Baptist in the last 12 months, maybe you hear this and you're a bit unsure as to what that means. The integrated study has been a part of our church calendar here at Kabuchah Baptist for a lot of years now. And all it is, is it's a time in term three where, as a church, we collectively focus on a particular book of Scripture, a particular theme, and we unpack it together. So it means that our integrated study gives us the focus not only for Sundays sermons, but for youth group and kids club and kids church and seniors and young adults and men's ministry and women's ministry and every aspect of the church, regardless of their focus, looks to the integrated study, focuses in on each study together. Our discipleship groups, our midweek Bible studies, all focus in on this same thing, and it creates a real sense of unity within the church as we focus in together on what it is that God has led us to look at. But these studies don't just come out of thin air. So before we actually dive in anyway, I just want to thank, personally, each and every one of the study writers who put time into prayerfully preparing each of the nine studies that we will be journeying through over the next nine weeks. A special thank you to Collette as well. She had a tough job this year. There were technical difficulties. If you haven't already received your booklet, there'll be some in the foyer after the service for you. But Collette did an amazing job collating all the studies, putting it in one format for us to read. I also want to thank in advance each of our discipleship group leaders. Thank you for your hospitality, inviting those into your home to study, to lead through each of these studies, to keep one another accountable and to encourage each other in faith. And for all of us who will go through it, thank you for studying the book of Ezra with us. This year, our theme is Ezra, and we're looking at it through the lens of needing new hearts. It's titled Ezra, New Hearts Needed. And it's helpful that we're coming into this, having just spent the last term in the book of Daniel. Before we look or even open the book of Ezra, it's helpful for us to place it in some context. And so we're just going to do some very broad brush strokes this morning. Israel was God's chosen people, a covenant people from Abraham. And through the leading of Moses and Joshua, they entered into the promised land that God had provided for them. And yet, as time went on as they lived in this promised land, rather than being obedient and responsive to what God was calling them to do, slowly but surely, their hearts hardened. We read through one and two kings. This gradual marching, this gradual decline away from God and towards their own sinful desires. Over the course of time, the Israelites hardened their hearts. They stopped listening to God so that they could chase their own sinful desires. And despite warning after warning after warning, they continued in this waste to the point that then God gave them over to destruction. He disciplined his people. He allowed the Babylonian kingdom to come in and overtake the promised land. To take Israel, God's chosen people into captivity in Babylonia. And it's there under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, who's taken these people captive that we launched last term with the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar highlighted some young men of potential, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego amongst others. And we've seen how that played out. If you have missed it, all of our sermons are online. Go through the book of Daniel with us. And we saw that even in exile, whilst there was suffering and discipline and a loss of hope, there were still a faithful few who maintained a resolved faith. And it's near the end of Daniel, as Daniel's in his later years of life. That just as God had told him through the prophecy, different kings started to overtake Babylon. There was starts of changes in how this would happen. And King Cyrus comes to the throne. Daniel's still in the courts. And it's here under King Cyrus's reign that we open the book of Ezra. And we just need to highlight that God has been at work all the way through this process. Before we dive into the book of Ezra this morning. As we journey over the next nine weeks, we will follow the Israelite exiles as they return to the promised land, as they rebuild the temple of the Lord. And very truly, we'll discover that hardened hearts are a natural, albeit unfortunate consequence of our sin. Thankfully, we'll also see God's divine provision for his people and observe his ongoing mission to soften the hearts of humanity. And as we do all this over the next nine weeks, I'm certain, I'm prayerful, that each of us will have to consider for ourselves the condition of our own hearts and unpack the need for new, softened and responsive hearts that are obedient to God. Would you pray with me? Lord God, we thank you that we can gather together this morning. Lord, we thank you for each and every study writer who has prayerfully prepared our upcoming integrated study. Lord, thank you for the way that you've been at work in them and through them. And Lord, we pray that as a church, as we journey through the book of Ezra, Lord, would you deepen our faith? Lord, would you grow us in relationship with you? Lord, we pray for hearts that will be renewed and responsive to the work that you, our God, are doing. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. If you've got your Bibles there this morning, we're looking at Ezra 1 and 2, although we're mainly looking at Ezra 1 in the first part of chapter 2. It reads like this, 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. 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 his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, he, the God of Israel, he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor in whatever place he seduces, be assisted by the men of his place, with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides free will offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the heads of the father's 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. 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. 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 the charge of Mithredeath, the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh Bazaar, the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them, 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censors, 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 Shesh Bazaar bring up when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. Now these were the people of the providence who came up out of captivity to those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came up with the Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Zariah, Rheoliah, Mordecai, Bilshen, Mispah, Bigvai, Riham and Banna. The number of the men of the people of Israel. And then we continue on with a detailed account of each family representative, the number of exiles that returned to Jerusalem. And some of their initial motions. Church, as you sit here this morning, what is the condition of your heart? Now I need to clarify, don't respond with what your head thinks your heart is at. OK, what is the condition of your heart this morning? How do you feel your relationship with God is as you sit here this morning? See, the reality is, as we've highlighted, the Israelites were in exile because of their hardened hearts. And yet, if you had asked them how to walk close with God, they knew the law. They knew the right answer, they knew how God had called them to live. They knew how to ensure that their heart was right with God. And yet their hearts were hardened against God. And so to this morning, when I asked, what's the condition of your heart? Don't think to yourself, well, if I read my Bible more or I prayed more or I just did that thing that God's been prompting me to do, then I'm sweet. There's only this one thing holding me back. No, no, no. The Israelites knew how their hearts could be right with God, but their hearts were hardened against God. So not with your head, but with your heart. What is the condition of your heart this morning? I find it so encouraging that the first verses of Ezra, as we open this book, were met with a miraculous work of God. Not only a miraculous work of God, a long awaited miraculous work of God. Ezra 1.1 says, 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. In the NIV, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. God moved the heart of Cyrus, the King of Persia. Why? Because he had said that this would happen through his prophet Jeremiah. In fact, let's recap a couple of weeks ago as we looked in the book of Daniel. We saw this prophecy where Daniel was being told that the temple would be desecrated by this up-and-coming king, this little horn. And yet, as Daniel's receiving this vision, the temple still lay in ruins. God knew that it would be rebuilt. God spoke through Jeremiah, ensuring that this would happen, ensuring that Cyrus would be the one to make it happen. The Lord stirred the spirit, moved the heart of Cyrus, the King of Persia. If it's not impressive enough that God said that he would do this and then he did it, what's even more impressive is that he moved the heart of a pagan king. This wasn't a king who grew up in Jerusalem. This wasn't a king who knew Yahweh from a young age who had studied the law of Israel. This was a pagan king with his own gods. And yet, in his declaration, God moved the heart of this pagan king so much, an unexpected vessel of God's mercy that he declares, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all kingdoms of the earth and has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Church, from an earthly point of view, this doesn't make sense. King Cyrus, in the issue of the decree, invites all the Israelites, everyone who believes in God, he says, you are free to return to your promised land if you desire. Not only that, I'm going to return the wealth that we took when we took you captive. And not only that, I'm going to command in the decree that those around you will aid your efforts. Back in the time when this was all occurring, the prosperity of a king was determined by two major things. Number one, what wealth did you have? Did you overcome other kingdoms in battle? Did you take their wealth? Did you plunder their wealth? And number two, how many people did you rule over? What authority did you have over humanity? And here, because God moved in his heart, Cyrus does the biggest no-no of ancient kingship. He releases a captive people. Open invitation. If this is your God, if you're a part of this people, you are free to leave. Go back to your promised land. And I'm going to give you substantial wealth and resources to build the kingdom, to build the temple of your God in your promised land. It doesn't make sense from an earthly perspective, except for the fact that God moved the heart of Cyrus, the king of Persia. God stirred his spirit. See, very truly, it's even in the opening verses of Ezra. God was at work and is at work softening the hardened hearts of humanity to ensure that his will is completed. Softening the hardened hearts of humanity to ensure that just like he said would happen, the Israelites would return and rebuild the temple of the Lord. I wonder today, is God calling you to return to him? Like the Israelites over the last however many years you've been alive, have you slowly but surely turned your back on God, hardened your heart against God so that you don't even really recognize his voice? Has your heart been hardened? Maybe today, God's calling you to return to him. See, so evidently in this opening chapter of Ezra, we see a characteristic of God. God is at work, always has been, currently still is, at work to soften the hardened hearts of humanity. In this time and space, we see it fulfilled in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, that very truly, God was at work to soften the hearts of humanity. That even while we rebelled against him, even though our hearts were hardened against him, he loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die in your place and to die in my place. That if we respond to his call to return to him, that if we realize the error of our way, the forgiveness of our hearts, if we confess that Jesus is Lord and ask for forgiveness, that he gives it freely, that we are no longer slaves to sin, but very truly when we accept Jesus, we receive eternal life that none shall perish. All who believe in him will not perish, but have eternal life. I wonder church, is God calling you to return to him this morning? See, just like Cyrus, this is decree, was open-ended. He didn't say, actually, I'll only let this many of you go. He said, all who believe in God, all of you who are in exile, who are God's people, all of you are free to return. So too, the Gospel doesn't have limits. It doesn't say, well, actually, you have to do this much good work before you can be considered. You have to try out God's grace in the Gospel. Jesus' gift of salvation is for all sinners, just like Cyrus' decree was for all Israelites. Sadly, as we continue through, as we do a thorough look at chapter 2 of Ezra, it becomes evident that this miraculous work of God is met with a rather underwhelming response by his people. We read through the heads of the houses of the number of Israelites who returned, who responded to this call that God had made possible through Cyrus. This counter-cultural doesn't make sense decree. God has moved mightily. And yet, as we read through, maybe in naivety, we look and we go, OK, if we add all those up, roughly 50,000 exiles returned in this first wave. 50,000 exiles responded, how good until we realize that 50,000 exiles is a very small minority. Of all the exiles that were currently in captivity in Babylon. It was just a drop in a bucket that could have been overflowing. God's miraculous work was met with an underwhelming response. And sadly, it's the case today as well. There are many in this world that like the idea of following Jesus. They like the idea of being forgiven without giving up the sin. They like the idea of being a son and a daughter of God, but don't really want to follow Jesus when it's hard. There are so many today who will pay lip service to Jesus, but their hearts are hardened. Their lives don't match the things that they say they believe. Church being a disciple is a daily decision to follow Jesus. It's an active choice that requires continual and intentional effort. That each day I will follow Jesus. Each day I will respond to the work that God is doing in my heart. Each day I will guard to ensure that my heart is not hardened. And with the help of the Holy Spirit each day, I will grow deeper in relationship with Jesus. It's not just a case of, OK, Jesus, I'm following you now, but I'm still going to do things my way. So how does all this actually happen? As you're 1 verse 5. In response to this miraculous work, even though the masses were unresponsive, then rose up the heads of the Father's houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred, in the NIV, everyone whose heart God had moved, to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. Not only was God at work in King Cyrus the Pagan, he was at work in the lives of his people as well. His call was simple, respond to me, come back to write relationship with me. God moved in the hearts of his people, and yet only a small minority responded faithfully. And so church, it begs the question for us this morning, what is the condition of your heart? Not where you wish it was, not how it could get better. As you sit here this morning, what is the condition of your heart? The reality of our sinful nature, the natural or be it unfortunate consequence, is in our sinfulness we have hardened hearts against God that need to be softened. We have hardened hearts that rebel against God, that become so hard that we don't even want to hear what he's saying. Hearts that need to be softened. But here's the good news of these first two chapters. God is at work softening the hearts of humanity. God is at work calling his people to return to him once more, no matter how far they've gone astray to return to him. God initiates the call. Jesus has paid for your sin and for my sin. So my question this morning is, is God calling you to return to him? Maybe there's some sitting here, maybe hearing this for the first time, that there's a God out there who loves you, who paid for the fullness of your sin, who's inviting you to return to him, the creator and sustainer of all things. Maybe you're sitting here and as you can see the condition of your heart, God's calling you to return maybe for the millionth time. We don't read of any judgment. God's call, God's work to soften hearts is there. He's got calling you to return to him this morning. See what is so evident in Ezra chapter one, is it doesn't start with an Ezra showed up and fixed everything. It doesn't begin with, and Daniel passed the lantern onto Ezra because only the faithful few knew what was going to happen. It doesn't start with any work of any human. It starts with God initiating it. It starts with the faithful work of God that he had foretold and had continued to be involved in. The Lord stirred up the spirit that the Lord softened the heart, moved the heart of Cyrus, the king of Persia. But here's the thing. God initiates this call. God invites us all to return to him, to walk with him daily. But we must respond. We have to decide what we will do with that invitation. We have to decide whether we will turn and follow God, or whether we will continue to turn our back, continue to harden our heart against him. And so I wonder, as you sit here this morning, before you leave, before you go to morning tea, how will you respond to the work that God is doing in your heart? Maybe for the very first time, it's praying God, I don't even know what you're saying. We haven't spoken for far too long. Maybe we've never spoken with God. I need you to say something to me. I need you to lead me. I need you to soften my heart that I might be responsive to you. Maybe for the first time or the millionth time this morning, God's laying on your heart that you need to recommit, or commit for the first time your life to Jesus, to accept the grace, the free gift of forgiveness that Jesus offers. If you don't know how to do that, please come see me, one of the pastors, a trusted friend that you came with this morning before you leave. Maybe like a dog returns to its vomit, as you look back on your life, you go, I keep going back to these sinful ways. I keep returning to these things that I know God hasn't called me to do. The gospel's clear. Confess your sin. Ask and receive the forgiveness of Jesus. And pray that the Holy Spirit would help you to walk in repentance against your old sinful self that is being put to death on the cross. Maybe as you sit here today, God's touching your heart, prompting you, forgive that person that you're harboring bitterness against. Forgive that person that hurt you, just as Christ has forgiven you. Maybe there's a prompting from God this morning to renew your commitment to actually walk each day with Him, to actually make hearing from Him through Scripture each day a priority, to actually spend time conversing with God in prayer. Maybe there's a desire to walk each day with God, but really there's been no effort to hear or to speak to God. Maybe this morning's a time to renew that commitment. Maybe as we launch all of this, God's prompting you to join a discipleship group, especially for term three as we unpack the book of Ezra, to find a close group of fellow Christians who can keep you accountable as you walk with Jesus, who can encourage you in faith. Maybe it's more specific than those things. Maybe God's been prompting you to do something, and you know exactly what it is, but you keep pushing it down, you keep going, no God, not yet. I'm going to pretend that I can't hear you. I'm going to harden my heart, because that takes me outside of my comfort zone. I don't want to be responsive in that way. Maybe this morning it's being obedient to that thing that you know God has laid on your heart. Whatever it is, can I encourage you? Can I encourage you? Can I urge you? Do not leave your seat until you've responded to God appropriately. Because the thing about a response is by not giving one we give on. If we don't respond obediently to the thing that God lays on our heart, if we don't respond in obedience to God's work in our lives, we turn our backs and harden our hearts against Him. And so, Church, what is the condition of your heart this morning? How is God at work prompting your heart? And how are you going to respond to the work that God is doing in you? Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for the book of Ezra. Lord, we thank you that you, our God, are at work, that you don't sit passively, far off, and isolated. But Lord, from the very beginning, you have been at work to soften the hearts of humanity, to draw us into right relationship with you. Lord, thank you that through Jesus you have made it possible for us to become the disciples, to walk each and every day with you. Lord, I pray for each and every one in this room, each and every one watching online. Lord, I pray that you would give us a clear understanding of what it is that you, our God, are doing in our heart. Lord, we pray for softened hearts that we would not only hear your workings, but that we would be able to respond obediently in faith. Father God, we pray for the integrated study as we continue through the book of Ezra. Lord, would you continue to soften our hearts that we would be responsive and obedient to you, our God, that we would grow deep in our relationship with you day by day, that we would be disciples that bear much fruit for your glory alone. That he sings in the name of Jesus Christ.