Perspective for Survivors - Ezra 1

Introduction

I’ve learned that there are two different perspectives of God found among the survivors. Two of my favorite authors from the Holocaust can help us see the difference. The first is written by Elie Wiesel in his sobering book Night.

"NEVER SHALL I FORGET that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.             Never shall I forget that smoke.             Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.             Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.             Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.             Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.             Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.             Never."

For Wiesel, his experience of the very worst of life and mankind hung his God from the gallows. But, another Holocaust survivor, Corrie ten Boom, has a different perspective. She reflects on something her sister taught her just before she died:

“We must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” And, Corrie summarized it by saying: “Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see.”

So, what is the difference between the survivor who hates God for what he’s experienced and the survivor that trusts God even more? It’s the difference in perspective over his sovereignty.

God’s Word

In verse 4 of Ezra 1, King Cyrus of Persia calls the people of Judah “survivors.” That is, he recognizes that they’ve lost near everything since they were carried into exile almost 70 years ago. They had suffered and grieved and worried. And now, with the opportunity to return home to the ruins, they had to decide what they would do with that suffering and how they would respond it. And, they help us gain perspective on how we will view God in light of our own surviving. I want to look at Three Questions for Survivors: (Headline)

What will you “see?”

Ezra 1:1–4 “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, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 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.””

Viewing from the “ground.”

There are two distinct vantage points of history, and both of them are in view in Ezra 1. The first vantage point is from the ground. It’s what you see as you’re living, and it’s how decisions are being made in real time. We’re reading here of the decree of King Cyrus of Persia who is reversing the policies of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar liked to export the young elites of the nations he conquered to limit rebellion, but Cyrus took a more diplomatic approach. He preferred to flatter and allow them to worship freely at home in hopes of gaining the loyalty and admiration of his conquered subjects. And, you can actually go to the National Museum in London and see the Cyrus Cylinder, and you can read this decree written in Babylonian, if you could interpret it.

Now, you might read this, and come to the conclusion that Cyrus may even be converted since he speaks so highly of Israel’s God. But, the truth is that he’s just being a politician. He’s not trying to help the Jews. He’s trying to help himself. The Cyrus Cylinder verifies for us that he did this with a number of his people.

So, when you view this from the ground, what do you see? It’s just another politician politicking. It’s another king making decisions that determine the fate Israel. It’s just another regime to survive. That’s how life looks from the ground.

That’s why we have to recognize the other perspective being shown.

Viewing from the “air.”

To view from the air is to view things from God’s perspective. It’s to see the big picture, and not just all the little pieces. And, the author works hard to give us that perspective, doesn’t he? First of all, he points us to a prophecy given by Jeremiah almost 70 years ago in Jeremiah 25. Jeremiah had said that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Judah and that they would live in exile 70 years before the Lord would bring them home. It’s a promise that appears in peril as Judah is no closer to a military than they were before. But, they weren’t going to self-rescue. “The Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus” so that he would send him home. Oh, from the ground, Cyrus did as he pleased, but from the air, it was God at work the whole time.

The Lord would not let his word fail, which meant He would not let his covenant fail. He would keep the special relationship He had with his people.

Now, the thing about viewing life from the air versus from the ground is that you can only see the big picture looking back. The author of Ezra wouldn’t have known what was happening in the moment. He couldn’t see the Lord “stirring Cyrus” in the moment, but he could well realize it looking back.

And, the difference between the survivors who grow bitter and the survivors who grow passionate is their ability to live by faith in the now that they will live by sight looking back. They trust who they know more than what they see. They’ll trust that God’s word will never fail, even if it looks certain from the ground.

It brings to my mind a sweet refrain that I’ve heard throughout my ministry and that I’ve found to be true. “I don’t know how, I don’t know why, and I don’t want it right now, but I know God is going to use this one day.” I’ve heard it from young wives preparing for their husband’s funeral. I’ve heard it from grieving parents after a miscarriage. I’ve heard it from young men when they’ve lost their jobs, and I’ve heard from young women battling depression. You can trust that as hard as life looks from the ground, that one day when you see it from the air, you’ll be blindsided by grace, just as Judah was here. What will you see today? Will you see how bad it is, or will you see how trustworthy God is?

What will you “do?”

Ezra 1:4–5 “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.” 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.”

Ezra 1:11 “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.”

“Who” are “you?”

Judah is called a lot of things in chapter one. They’re called “survivors.” They’re called “sojourners.” They’re called “exiles.” And, all of these titles have the same implication: they’ve been through it. These are titles that no person wants to have. No person wants to have to “survive” their life. And, it isn’t God’s design for his people to merely survive. Jesus came that you might have an “abundant life.”

But, life in the midst of a groaning, broken world means that some days and some seasons are about surviving. They’re about making it. But, it’s not surviving apart from faith; it’s surviving through faith. But, they’re about grieving what we’re facing, but as people of hope. When we have the perspective of trusting what God must see from the air, and when we have the knowledge that God has made us his children with all of the promises therein, then we can survive today in order that we might thrive tomorrow.

The key, though, is for you to really know who you are. You see, you are not preeminently what has happened to you. You are not preeminently a “survivor” or an “exile.” You are not an abuse survivor or a divorcée or disabled. You are not preeminently what has happened to you, but what God has said about you. You are his chosen people. You are his son or daughter. You are prized possession.

So, let me ask: who are you? How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself primarily through the abuse that you’ve suffered and the sadness you’ve known and the disappointments you’ve incurred, or do you see yourself through the lens of a Savior that was raised to life so that you might thrive?

Because once you realize who you are, it will determine what you will do.

“How” will you “respond?”

That’s the question facing the exiles. They have the opportunity to go home, but do they want to? Perhaps, it’s seems unthinkable when you read it, but they don’t all go home. Only “everyone whose spirit God had stirred.” Jerusalem was in ruins. Their homes were rubble. Their families were dead. Their economy was collapsed. There was no temple at which to worship and no walls to keep them safe. Life in Babylon was much safer and more comfortable. Many of them had likely carved out nice lives for themselves.

But, if the goal is not just surviving but thriving, and if you see yourself as God’s people and not just as survivors, then you recognize that there’s only one real path forward: Go where God has sent you and do what God has given you. That was the significance of going home and rebuilding the Temple. God’s presence dwelled in the Temple, and God’s presence enabled them to flourish like no other nation on earth could flourish. There were a thousand reasons to stay in Babylon and only reason to go to Jerusalem: They wanted to be with God. And for those who loved him and wanted him, that was enough. The days would be long. They work would be hard. The opposition would be fierce. But, God was sending them, and they wanted to go with him.

You see, there’s a question that was facing Judah that is facing us today: How badly do you want to be with God? How badly do you want to experience God? How badly do you want to enjoy God? This is the evidence of a person who knows the Lord. This is the evidence of a person who has been “stirred by God.” You refuse to survive in Babylon when you could thrive in Jerusalem, even if the work is hard and dangerous.

I met with a young man recently who felt as though God was calling him into the ministry. He said that he was ready to take a pay cut. He didn’t know how his family’s budget would balance. He didn’t know how to make any of it make sense. He only knew that he wanted to serve God. That’s the kind of reckless abandon for Christ that shakes the nations. That’s the kind of person that thrives in a world of survivors. How will you respond? What will you do?

What will you “believe?”

Ezra 1:6–11 “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 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.”

Exodus 3:22 “but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.””

Typically, supply lists aren’t the most inspiring words of scripture to read, and that’s what we have at the end of chapter 1. But, there’s something fascinating about this list. Where do the supplies come from to rebuild the Temple? They come from Babylon. This should bring into our mind a pattern that we’ve seen before. When God delivered his people from Egypt, do you remember what they were told? “You shall plunder Egyptians.” That is, you will one day enjoy the spoils of the very people who oppress you, and we see that pattern popping up again here in Babylon. There’s a New Exodus to the Promised Land where God’s people will plunder Babylon for the return to the Promised Land.

From “Babylon” to “Jerusalem”

It’s refrain throughout scripture that helps us to understand where we are today. The Big Story starts in paradise, but the sin of the man and the woman sends them into exile outside the Garden. The Lord delivers them through the Exodus back into paradise, a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. But, sin leaves the exiled once again in Babylon. And once more, the Lord takes them on an exodus marching them “from Babylon to Jerusalem.” You see, the Exodus forms a major theme of the gospels because this is a pattern we’re condemned to repeat. But, Jesus came to lead a greater Exodus so that we might escape exile and enjoy paradise forever. And, that’s why the Bible closes with these words..

Revelation 18:2 “And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.”

Revelation 18:10 “They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.””

Revelation 18:21 “Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;”

And, do you know what comes next? The Wedding Supper of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. You see, Babylon comes to represent this age of self-built glory apart from God and our sojourn through it as exiles and survivors. But, from “Babylon to Jerusalem” is coming, and this time there will never again be the threat of exile.

From “if” to “when.”

Ezra one closes by saying “when the exiles were brought up.” But, how many times did that “when” feel like an “if” for Judah. Week after week, you come here, and I tell you about “when” your tears and suffering and separation will come to a close. But, our impatience and unbelief are always tempted to see an “if” even though God has said “when.” But, just like God fulfilled those words of Jeremiah, and He’ll fulfill this word too.

Corrie ten Boom helps us again by quoting her sister who died in that concentration camp: “There are no ‘ifs’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety—Oh Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!”

What will you believe? Will you always know it? Will you believe that your exodus is coming? Will you believe that exile is coming to a close and paradise is around the corner? Will you live today with the “when” in mind? Because if you do, no matter what you have to survive, you’ll still have what you need to thrive.