Day 260 (Ezra 1-3) - Year 4
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Even though this book is named after Ezra, we don't meet him until later in the book. This short book covers almost a century, and it's a historical narrative, not a prophetic book.

We start out with King Cyrus of Persia. We've read about him before. If you recall, God has prophesied through both Isaiah and Daniel that Cyrus would play a key role in rebuilding Jerusalem after the 70 years of the Babylonian exile are complete. And now that Persia has defeated Babylon, where all the exiles live, King Cyrus is on the scene and God is setting the wheels in motion. The Lord stirred up his spirit, the spirit of a pagan, to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem for the exiles who live in his land.

This sounds great, but if he's a pagan and God is stirring up his spirit, doesn't that violate his free will? Put a pin in that. We'll cover that term a bit more later in today's podcast.

Cyrus tells all the exiles from Judah that they can return to Jerusalem and that he'll send provisions with them so they can rebuild God's house. Verse 5 tells us that God stirred up the spirits of lots of the exiles to return. They bring all the best things back to Jerusalem. Not only that, but Cyrus also goes into the china cabinet and pulls out the temple vessels, you know, the ones King Nebi stole and the same ones King B was partying out of right before God struck him dead.

and he packs those up to ship back to Jerusalem too. They even had to rent the extra-large U-Haul because there were 5,400 of those vessels. In chapter 2, we get a list of all the families that returned, and we know this is important because it's giving us a historical record that not only places those people in Jerusalem at present, but also tracks them back to the families that left Jerusalem in the exile.

In verse 59, the author gives us a separate list of people and basically says, these people are going to Jerusalem from Babylon, but we're not entirely sure they came from Israel originally because they couldn't find their IDs. So just to be on the safe side, they aren't allowed to be priests.

About 50,000 people in total went back to Jerusalem during this first wave of returns. In chapter 3, after they've been back in Israel for seven months and have all settled into their towns and homes, they all gather back in Jerusalem. They had started to grow fearful because they were encountering the people who had moved into their land while they were gone into exile. So they came back to Jerusalem where there hadn't been a temple for 70 years, and they rebuild the altar. They make burnt offerings on it and bring freewill offerings as well.

We see the phrase free will offering three times in today's reading, once in each chapter. And we've seen it a few times before as well, like back in Exodus 35. So in case you're wondering what that means or how it varies from other types of offerings, here are a few bits of information that might be helpful. The word free will appears 26 times in scripture. It's one word in Hebrew and it basically translates as voluntary.

Each time we see it in Scripture, it's followed by the word offering. So the phrase free will offering pertains to a voluntary offering, something extra that the people are giving God above and beyond the baseline of what he has required of them.

In modern times, we've mostly ditched the word free will or voluntary and just call it an offering. Although, to be fair, church language varies in each denomination and culture. All that to say, if you hear people use the phrase tithes and offerings, just know that for the most part, both words are money-related, but they usually pertain to two different aspects of giving. Tithing, which literally means 10%, is often considered the baseline, and offerings are often considered the above-and-beyond portion.

This can be a controversial topic depending on who you ask. Some say we aren't required to tithe anymore, so everything we give God would fall into the offering category.

And others say tithing is still something God asks of his people as a demonstration of their faith in his provision and as a means of sustaining the people who serve his kingdom and his church with their lives. If you want to read more, check out the two articles we've linked to in the show notes. There's one from each vantage point. Regardless of which article you find more compelling, both authors agree that the more our hearts are open to God and his kingdom, the more our hands are open to God and his kingdom.

But while we're introducing some questions to ponder, here's something else to consider about this text. When we use the term free will today, we aren't usually referring to an offering. We're usually referring to it as my right to choose what I want. So this passage about Cyrus confronts us with the question, how much of what we call free will is really free will? Does God really leave us to our own devices? And would we actually want him to?

And if he doesn't, what does that reveal about him or about us? We read today that he stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. Then when we first read about the freewill offerings back in Exodus 35, 29, it said things like, all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the Lord. So if God is the one who stirs up hearts, and those whose hearts were stirred up brought the freewill offering, isn't he crossing the line of their freewill?

And this doesn't just apply to God, it applies to me too. Like, am I violating someone's free will if I pray and ask God to move in their heart or grant them repentance or save them? It's good to start asking ourselves questions like this as we read through scripture, to see what God says about these things, instead of just forming our own opinions based on our own logic or what we've heard or thought.

If this is a new question to you, it might feel heavy. And if this is your first time digging into these ideas, don't expect to get any real answers today. Just keep looking for what God says about himself as we read through his word. And most of all, don't let a question keep you from God. There's nothing the enemy of your soul wants more.

This was one of the hardest questions I encountered on my first trip through Scripture, and I almost gave up. But thank God, God can be trusted with our questions and uncertainties. Keep looking for Him in the pages of Scripture as we read through it. Bring your questions to the pages of His Word where He tells us who He is. He wants to be known. Okay, back to the altar we go. The people are giving to God generously, and they're also using some of the grant money Cyrus gave them to buy supplies in preparation for building the temple.

After about two years, under the leadership of two guys named Zerubbabel and Jeshua, they start appointing priests. They also start laying the foundation, according to the directions David had laid out for Solomon when he built the first temple. Lots of people are very excited about this, and they have a worship service. But in the midst of all the guitars and drums and fog machines, some of the older people, who've been around long enough to remember the first temple, are sitting in the back row wailing.

Some commentators say they're mourning over the fact that this temple falls short of the first temple. But that seems to contradict what 310 says about it being built according to David's blueprint. Others say they're just remembering all they've been through, but that their eyes are so fixed on the past that they can't actively celebrate what God is doing in the present.

My God shot was in the worship service in 311, where they sang, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. You guys, we're standing in the middle of a promise fulfilled today. The Israelites are back in the land after being driven into exile. Finally, offerings are being made on the altar, the priests are being reestablished, the foundation is being built up.

And regardless of what this temple was or will be, we are seeing the fulfillment of God's promises to his people. He's been working even in the hearts of his enemies to bless his people. His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel. He's bringing them back to the land. He's restoring, he's remaking, and he's where the joy is.

Amen.

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