1. Ezra 1:1-11 - Vision Sundays 2025
Notes
Transcript
SLIDE - TITLE
One evening this week I re-watched that classic film SLIDE Saving Private Ryan. If you’ve not seen it, I do recommend it, although it’s depictions of World War II battlefields are not for the faint hearted.
The film opens with the brutal battle on D-Day for the Normandy beaches. Once the beaches are secured, a small band of men are given a new mission. They must press on inland to locate, rescue, and bring home a certain soldier - Private James Francis Ryan. Private Ryan’s three brothers have all been killed in action and so people in high command are determined to save his family further grief. Private Ryan must be saved.
And since the film title bears his name - ‘saving Private Ryan’.
You could be forgiven for thinking that Private Ryan is main man - the main character in the story. But if you assume that, you’d be wrong.
The main character is actually Captain John Miller - the man charged with the unenviable task of saving Private Ryan. The story REALLY follows him and his men on their epic journey… through many trials and tribulations. And ultimately Captain Miller gives his own life to save Private Ryan.
I tell you that to make sure we don’t make the same mistake with this book of Ezra….
SLIDE - BACK TO TITLE
After all this book is named after Ezra… although he doesn’t actually appear until the second half… you might think he’s the main character. But you’d be wrong.
Likewise, In a moment today (in today’s passage) we’re going to meet the most powerful human King in world (at this point in histroy) - Cyrus King of Persia. It would be easy to see him as the centre of the story. But again, if you did that, you’d be wrong.
Again - in just a moment we’ll meet the people - over 40,000 people to be precise - who travel back from exile to the promised land to be involved in the rebuilding of the temple… well surely then THEY are the heart of the story, ? Again… NO.
PAUSE BREAL OFF
And we might make a similar mistake today SLIDE (BLANK) - in fact I often hear people making this very mistake in our own day and age.
Today is the first of our three SLIDE VISION SUNDAYS. When we think about how WE TODAY must be involved in building for the Lord (not building his temple but growing his Kingdom here in Moray). But here’s the question - who is the main character in THAT story?
Let me give you a clue… it’s NOT ME… it’s NOT our elders… and it’s NOT YOU.
If we are - as our Vision says - to SLIDE GROW TO BECOME THREE VIBRANT ALL-AGE CHURCHES EACH OF 100 DISCIPLES… that will be a work of GOD. He will be the central character (if I can put it that way). It’s like Psalm 127 famously says….
SLIDE
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
The same is true in the book of Ezra - extraordinary things happen in this book, for the Lord and for his Kingdom… but it is the LORD himself who is the driving force, the heart of these true events, the centre of the story.
PAUSE - BREAK OFF
So much by way of introduction, let’s get into it - into this book of Ezra.
Read with me again chapter 1 verse 1…
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1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
Having dived straight in…. we need to get our bearings… otherwise we’ll sink. Where are we? What’s going on the big story of the Bible?
That brings us to our first heading - you’ll see that, as usual, there are headings on your service sheet and space to take notes if you want it. Firstly then…
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1. An Appearance of Ruin
1. An Appearance of Ruin
That verse again - v1…
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DON’T READ (SCREEN ONLY)
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
Why does our story begin in Persia, with this Persian King Cyrus?
Why not with the Lord’s people and the Lord’s King in Israel or Judah? The answer is that God’s people are not in Israel or Judah (most of them aren’t, at least). They are away from home…. under the judgement of God… in exile.
Here’s the backstory - although God had been so gracious to them… and chosen them to be his people… and rescued them out of Egypt (at the Exodus)… and given them a promised land in which to live… and made a Covenant with them - that he would be their God and they should be his obedient people…well, they hadn’t been obedient at all.
And after many generations of the Lord’s patience, he brings his justice. And the Lord allows the Babylonian empire (the regional superpower of the day) to sweep in, sack Jerusalem, and carry his people off into exile.
And at this stage things look bleak.
God has made precious promises to the people…But now it all looked as if that was over. They were away from the land… apart from God’s blessing… distanced from the TEMPLE - which is hugely significant because the temple was (symbolically at least) the place of God’s presence among his people… it was the place of sacrifice - the way sin was (again, synbolically at least) atoned for.
Now all looked lost. And you can imagine as the decades passed by in exile the people thinking - is that it? Has God abandoned us?
PAUSE - BREAK OFF
We need to be a little careful here - we do not live 2500 years ago in Ezra’s day - we’re at a different point in the unfolding plans of God. However, doesn’t that same spirit of uncertainty and despondency linger in the church in Scotland today?
We look around us at some churches in free-falling decline… Perhaps we wonder…
has God abandoned his church in this land?
Is there any hope for growing vibrant churches - church which don’t just age away into grey-hair, decline and death - but where new people, of all ages are converted to Christ? (by the way, no offence to grey hair - I have an increasing amount of it myself).
Is there any hope - can we have a vision for growth and new life in the church in our day and place (let alone a hope to grow to become three vibrant, all-age churches of 100s of disciples?)
PAUSE - LET HANG
In this book of Ezra we’re going see cause for GREAT HOPE. In an astonishing and powerful way we’ll see God demonstrates that he IS faithful to his covenant promises… and he can and will work in remarkable power. That brings us then into today’s passage proper and to our second heading…
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2. A King who Reigns
2. A King who Reigns
One more time - v1
SLIDE
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
The Persian empire is the new kid on the block. In the years since the beginning of the exile they have risen to power, knocked the Babylonians off their perch and conquered their lands.
Cyrus of Persia is therefore a king of who reigns over a vast empire, one of the most powerful men in the world.
But remember, he’s not the centre of this story and he’s NOT the King who reigns.
What’s remarkable here is that Cyrus - who must seem like the king of the world - turns out to be servant of God - the true King of all.
So why did Cyrus write his decree - to fulfill some plan he had made? NO - (v1) to fulfill the word of the LORD GOD, spoken through Jeremiah.
And how exactly did this happen - how was Cyrus’s heart moved to do this - well, the Lord moved his heart.
And then see what he writes… (v2)
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2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“ ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.
This is a remarkable change of direction. Under the Babylonians the political policy was exactly the opposite - to take people captive away from their homelands and centralise Babylonian power. Cyrus reverses all of this… perhaps he is politically astute enough to know that happy people tend to rebel less… but whatever his precise motives his policy is to let people return to their lands, and rebuild their temples and worship their Gods.
We know from historical sources that he didn’t ONLY do this for the Jewish people but for others as well… perhaps that makes Cyrus a kind of religious pluralist - maybe he figures that if everyone prays to their own God’s that will do him some good.
By the way it’s not exactly clear what we should make of Cyrus’s (quote unquote) “faith”. He calls the Lord ‘the God of heaven’. Does he really believe that… it’s hard to know.
He’s not WRONG of course when he says that the Lord has appointed HIM to see that the temple gets rebuilt - God, as we’re seeing, is the ruler of all - he can raise up anyone. even pagan kings to do his bidding.
It gets even more surprising next though… read on…
SLIDE
4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’ ”
So… you can go back to the Land (says the King)…. Oh and you can rebuild the temple (says the King)… oh and buy the way, I’m even going to get other people to pay for it! (says King Cyrus). And these people in any locality who are going to cough up the cash… that MAY include some Jewish people but it almost certainly means others from other nations who are in vacinity - the King requires THEM to foot the bill - astonishing!
PAUSE - BREAK OFF
We mentioned the big story of the BIble earlier on… and in particualr the Exodus…. there is more than a HINT of the Exodus here - in fact some people call this passage a SECOND EXODUS.
Remember what happened when God rescued his people from Egypt…? he turned the heart of the Pharoah (the most powerful King around) to eventually let them go… so that they might worship God… and we even read - remember this? Exodus 12.36
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36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
They left Egypt with silver and gold.
Well here now do you see the same pattern? The Lord moves the heart of the King (this time without any plagues!)… they are let go to rebuild the temple and worship their God… and others are even going to fund them on the way.
God can work in unexpected and dramatic ways… to fulfil his purpose and further his Kingdom - we must not forget that! The same thing is true about that same God today!
When we dream of many turning to Christ… of vibrant churches which multiply - not just in three places but all over Moray - this is not pie in the sky stuff… it’s not merely wishful thinking - the Lord can do it, if it is his will.
Ultimately the Lord is the ONLY one who can do it. Which ought to keep us humble… and HAS to make us prayerful.
And next Sunday prayer will be our focus - we’ll take a look at some of the prayers in this book of Ezra, and (as you’ll see from your sheet) we’re going to devote a whole week to prayer in response to next Sunday’s Vision service.
BREAK OFF
One last thing to spot here… just cast your eye down to the curious list we get - read from v7
SLIDE
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.
And then you get this list of the gold dishes and all the rest…
Knowing the history helps here. These things were taken from the temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians… and place (instead) in Babylonian temples to Babylonian God to show that the God’s of Nebuchadnezzar had defeated the Lord - and ruled over him.
BUt of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The Lord allowed the Babylonian invasion as an act of his judgement… and the list of the bowels here (which might seem a little off at first) is actually a compelling picture of the Lord’s RULE… the point fo the list is that NOTHING is missing - it all gets returned… which only serves to show (again) the complete power and rule of God.
So as we consider our vision… to play our part (not in the rebuilding of the temple) but in the spreading of the Gospel and the building of the church TODAY. Know this - we work, and pray, we “GO FOR GOD” with great faith, hope and expectation - our God is the Lord of all power and might… the will of King’s melts like wax in his hand… and he is COMPLETELY committed to his plans for resuce.
So we see a King who reigns…. but thirdly..
SLIDE
3. A People who Go
3. A People who Go
So the offer has been made - anyone who wants to return to Jerusalem to worship God and rebuild his temple may do so.
But the question remains…. will anyone want to go?
You might think the answer is obvious - of course they’ll want to go - but not so quick, think about it. They’ve been in exile for decades, a whole generation or more - some of them were born in exile and have never been to their homeland. They have new homes and lives and everything else…
Likewise today we ask the question… will anyone GO? Will anyone GO OUT and serve the cuase of Jesus? Going doesn’t necessarily mean physically going to a new place of course, there is plenty of rebuilding work for the Lord’s Kingdom right here on our doorstep.
Will any one really GO for Christ? Really share the Gospel… really serve with all their might for Jesus? You might think the answer is obvious - of course they will. We too have our homes and lives and hobbies and interests…. I’m not knocking any of that by the way. But we can be so plugged into the things of this world… so caught up in worldly thinking and priorities… that (even if we pay lip service to GOING for God and serving the Lord)… really it’s just lip service.
BREAK OFF - MOVE ON
But again… the Lord is in control - will anyone GO? you bet they will… and not because of them but because the Lord MOVES THEM (just as he moved Cyrus) - see that phrase again? - look at v5 now
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5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
And judging by the list of people we get in Chapter 2 - over 40,000 people say yes and GO for the Lord.
Now - we can learn from the example of these returnees… but don’t forget it’s the LORD and not them who is the centre of the story - he’s in control.
SLIDE - BLANK
I heard a lovely story to make this very point just last week. I saw an elderly man interviewed at the Keswick convention. It was a promo piece for Keswick - and he and his wife were saying how much they’d enjoyed the convention over the years. But in the course of doing this the man recounted a story… many years ago at Keswick the speaker (whoever it was) had put out an appeal… anyone who really wants to commit themselves to growing and going deeper in discipleship - stand up and come to the front. And this Gentleman, moved by the appeal stood to his feet “YES” he thought “I do wnat to get more serious about discipleship”. When he got to the front however, it tured out he had just totally misheard what the speaker said - it turned out the appeal was for people who were wanting to devote their lives to full time ministry. The man quickly realised his mistake but he was there now. He figured it didn’t matter becuase the Lord knew what was in his heart. And yet, a short time later, through various providential happenings… do you know what occurred? Of course you do - you know where this storty is heading - the man and his wife ended up serving as Missionaries in Kenya, and then in ordained ministry back in the UK. In ways he didn’t even quite realise at the time the Lord moved this man’s heart.
Now look, don’t get the wrong end of the stick - you DO NOT (and I say it again) DO NOT have to be in full time ordained ministry to be in ministry for the LORD - actually we are ALL sent out to GO for Jesus. To serve his church…. to share his gospel.
God moves our hearts.
I wonder - is God moving your heart today?!
As you see the need all around us - 1000s of people here in Moray who know nothing of Jesus… who are without hope and without God in the world… who are heading to an eternity of hell and judgement and who need to hear of Christ. And sadly… increasingly, these days as more and more churches close fewer and fewer people live within striking distance of a vibrant gospel preaching church.
And so how we NEED to GO for God in an environment like that. How we NEED churches like this one to be revitalised and renewed… so we might have a future here and be a vibrant witness here and play our part (even) in the establishing of new congregations.
We have this vision for these three congregations. but honestly even that in the context of our region is a drop in the ocean. Our Presbytery have recently identified 10 places across Invernes, Lochaber and Ross where we reckon new churches are needed. One of them is in our neck of the woods - down in the Spey Valley.
I wonder if God moving your heart today?! - to pray for our vision… and to GO to work, to give, to stuck in and involved - just like these 40,000 did in Ezra’s day - leaving their new homes…. leaving exile to return and to work for the Lord and his cause. You’ll see from your Vision booklet we’re going to cover what that might involve - in serving, in praying, in giving over the next three weeks. For now we just need to have a vision, a sense, of the power of God and the need to GO for him - for the Lord and for his cause.
PAUSE - BREAK OFF
All of which brings us to our final point today…
SLIDE
4. A Picture of Christ
4. A Picture of Christ
God does extraordinary things so save his people - great generosity, total control, great power.
But the story of Ezra isn’t the ultimate display of God’s generosity and power… in truth it’s just a staging post on the way in the unfolding plans of God.
In fact… one of the things which really sticks out in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah…
By the way - do you know that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which have long since been seperated in our Bibles - were actually, originally ONE?
Anyway, one of the things which really sticks out in Ezra and Nehemiah…. despite the power of God… and despite the response of the people is a sense of DISAPPOINTMENT. A sense of ‘is this really it?’ A sense that there must be more to come in God’s plans.
SLIDE - BLANK
Just to give you a flavour of that, since we’re not covering the book chapter by chapter as we might normally do.
RIFF
Temple Zerubabell - disunity
Law Ezra - divorce
Walls Nehemiah - disobedience
It turns out something much greater is needed. That New hearts needed…
RIFF - CLEAR GOSPEL
Christ came to do that - what we see here in Ezra is a picture of that…. God’s unstoppable plans, abundant generosity - moving heaven and earth to save and restore his people.
And so here’s what our vision sundays…. and our vision itself are all about - We have a vision (a longing, a desire) to take THAT message out…
We have a vision to grow to become three vibrant all-age churches… in Burghead, in Elgin. in Forres - and (who knows) perhaps beyond as well. We want to see this awful trend REVERSED - where so many peopel don’t know Christ and then… because churches are declining and closing they have fewer opportunities to hear about Christ at all. NO! If God wills it we MUST see this reversed.
it will take a work of God (he’s the main character)…. but it will involve us - just as it involved Cyrus, and Ezra, and those 40,000 people who got up, left their comfort and WENT to rebuild for the Lord. it will involve prayer, and giving, and serving and GOING…. but what a vision and what a gospel.
Come back and join us tonight as we unpack that all further - this time from Luke’s gospel. But for now…
Let’s Pray
