Ezra 1:1-2:70

MAP

Mr X: Why should I take risks to arise and build when the task seems too big?

Jesus:

1. God can stir the heart of an unlikely king (1:1-4)

2. God can stir the hearts of ordinary people (1:5-2:70)

Joel: So take bold steps and… arise and build!

PREAMBLE

We’ll come to our second reading later

New series

Beginning a new series in Ezra-Nehemiah over ten weeks.

Why both? Actually one scroll in Hebrew bible. Structural features -> clearly one book.

Big message of E-N: Arise & build!

Ezra 1:5 “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.”

Nehemiah 2:18 “And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.”

Nehemiah 2:20 “Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”

(A) imagery:

Sitting. Chilling.…

“Arise & Build!”

(Jump up. Take up tools. Get stuck in.)

Dream big! Take bold steps! Go Big. Do Big.. with fire in your belly... for the LORD!

Expanding our horizons of what we can do for the LORD

Church: move from me —> others

Home: move from our homes —> salvation of others in neighbourhood

Workplace: move from my career —> salvation of others in the office

London —> salvations of the nations

^wonder we are in an opportune time and place..

Online sphere. Recent polls. Growing interest in Christianity. More and more openness. Temperature is rising.

“Quiet revival” true or not.. seems that there is growing interest in society.

But also consider where we are as a church.

Canada Water site. three years since we launched. Wonderful time. More established.

Ben said; so much opportunity in this area.

Locality: Central yet local.

CW hub, where easily to travel in. Tube. Bus. Drive.

People: unique blend of old and new.

Old. Long termers. Know the area. Established. Stable.

New. huge amounts of redevelopment. 18,000 new people arriving.

Special opportunity for people to come in, and us to reach out.

Call for us to: Arise and build...

(Pause)

(L) but of course… it’s not that straight forward. Get up and go… there are risks.

What if I try to do something.… and get rejected.

(A) Maybe there’s a parent at the school gate. Known them but never taken the risk to share the gospel with them

Pluck up the courage. Take bold step: Share your faith.

Response?

“i’m pleased for you.. but next time please keep our opinions to yourself.”

(Pause)

Or you try to start something in the office..

Put on an evangelistic event.

Then you get an email in your inbox from HR. Subject: Unauthorised Christian event.

Or you decide to respond to Ben’s call for giving...

then the very next day, your boss calls and says.. “sorry I have bad news for you.”

When we do big things for the Lord, there are always risks and opposition...

What if my efforts come to nothing?

What if it costs me time, and money, energy… but there is no fruit.

What if..

(L) What will motivate us?

That’s what Ezra-Nehemiah is aiming to do.

To motivate.

To strengthen.

To give us encouragement, to arise and build.

(pause to pray)

Ezra-Nehemiah timeline

Aware, not all of us are familiar of where in the bible timeline Ezra-Nehemiah is.

Timeline. Up there and handout.

Genesis-Deut

Promise to Abraham and family. End up in Egypt.

Exodus - God raises up moses to save his people who are slaves in Egypt.

Yet Israel’s origin story: rebellion. Golden calf.

Eventually, make it to promise land

Joshua - Kings

Establishing the monarchy. David. Solomon. Kingdom splits into two.

Israel’s story: rebellion

Eventually, end up in exile.

Exile

huge significance. End of the covenant. Broken covenant.

Yet.. God is gracious and promises through the prophets..

to bring his people back. they will return.

Ezra-Nehemiah - is all about the return. Red circle

The Return: is inspiring

opportunities. Rebuild. Restore.

Yet fraught with obstacles.

needed courage.

E-N all about return.

one more thing to note: Readers of Ezra-Nehemiah are people after the time of Ezra-Nehemiah

notice the red arrow

Temple built. Walls built.

But then life.... got just… hum drum

But then it was just day to day.. 9-5.

Planning for the next family holiday, planning for retirement...

Started coasting… sitting and chilling.

lost zeal. lost fire in their bellies.

And the thought of taking risk, doing some thing big… Why??

INTRODUCTION (Relevance Persuasion | Resonate)

Why should we take risks, to arise and build when the task seems to big?

Why should we take risk?

Increase financial insecurity of my family

Heighten the risk of ruining my reputation

Create upheaval in life

Why should I aim big… if I don’t know how things will turn out?

Well the word that God wants to say to us today is this:

WE CAN TAKE RISKS, RISE AND BUILD...

BECAUSE GOD CAN STIR THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE

ARGUMENT (Texture | Unity | Coherence | Development)

GOD CAN STIR THE HEART OF AN UNLIKELY KING

Ezra 1:1 “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:”

Notice: the character that God stirred up - unlikely king. So unlikely.

King Cyrus!

King of Persia. Greatest and most Powerful ruler in the ancient world. Largest empire of the ancient world.

559-530BC. 30 year reign.

These Kings - notorious for accumulating. Shoring up power for themselves.

(L) Not only powerful king.

Pagan King - Worshipper of Marduk.

(A) Room 52 British Muesum. Anyone know?

Cyrus cylinder. Edict. Royal declaration after his conquest of Babylon.

Ezra & Nehemiah Commentary

I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king … progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts’ pleasures.

When I, well-disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk, the great god, caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to [illegible] me. I sought daily to worship him.…

Yet it was this powerful, and pagan king the Lord stirred up...

Ezra 1:1 “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:”

(A) Imagine, Israelite in exile. on tfP chariot service. On your way to the office. Head into lobby. See one of the King’s Herald.

Trumpet. Unravel scroll. “Hear ye! x2”

“What is he going to say now...”

Ezra 1:2–4 ““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.

“WHAT?”

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.

“REALLY?”

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.””

“NO WAY!?”

(A) Scroll rolled up. Trumpet sound. “Bupoo!”

Your Jaw.. dropped to the ground. can’t believe.

(L) of course can’t. Unlikely King. unlikely proclamation.

Three parts. Notice first part

Ezra 1:2 ““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.”

The God of Israel has tasked a Pagan king to build God’s house. In Jerusalem!

Surprise factor! (A) Putin -> Zelensky : restore ukranian buildings. Trump -> iranian govenrment: restore iranian homes.

“WHAT?!”

next notice what else he says.

Ezra 1:3 “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.”

Whoever is among you. Any Israelites. Go home. Go and rebuilt your God’s house.

Every Ancient King -> enslave.

Cyrus -> release..

“REALLY?”

Finally, clincher

Ezra 1:4 “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.””

As you are going back, the Persians will give you silver and gold and stuff and animals,

“NO WAY!?”

What has just happened… is unimaginable. is unbelievable. is impossible?

Why?

Ezra 1:1 “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia

Summarise: The LORD can stir up the heart of an unlikely king.

^Just to be clear. The way God acts here is

NOT like a master chess player.

Manoeuvring his pieces to outwit his opponent.

He is only in control of his side of the board

Far more God-like.

He moves in people. The spirit of man. the heart of man. the insides. to move them to do his will.

(pause)

^of course, this is all part of his sovereign plan that he made know through his prophets.

Word of the Lord by Jeremiah might be fulfilled

Jeremiah 29:10 ““For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”

70 years of exile is up.

It’s time to come home.

And i’ll do so by stirring up the heart of an unlikely king.

it’s not recorded here but it also fulfils the prophecy by Isaiah

Isaiah 44:28 “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ””

Isaiah 45:4–5 “For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,”

How? by stirring up the heart of an unlikely king.

(Pause)

^-worth pausing. Emphasising - real history

We can read bible stories -> just stories.

no! Actual history.

Cyrus was the King of Ancient Persia. He did let the Jews return to their home land to rebuild the temple. This is actual history! in 538BC

Rest of the book of Ezra/Neh traces this return. The return happen over 90 years and the restoration of jerusalem. One way to understand E-N: fulfilling Cyrus’ proclamation

Ez 3-6:       1stReturn – building the temple

Ez 7-10:     2ndReturn – building the people

Nh 1-6:      3rdReturn – building the walls

V - Begin to see why we can arise and build...

God can stir the hearts of man.

Even the hearts of an unlikely king.

(L) but it’s not only kings that he can stir..

2. GOD CAN STIR THE HEARTS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

Ezra 1:5–7 “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. 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.”

(A) we’ve read a couple of verses but pause consider the risks involved

70 years exile. Grew up in exile. Mid 40s… took serious Jeremiah 29:7 “ seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Senior manager in TFP. But apart from dealing with the chariot strikes last week. Life is… quite good.

Own property. just finished Kitchen extension.

three kids. oldest in her sixth form year.

persia national health services.. pretty good. Elderly dad. Just got a hip replacement. In rehab.

And you clearly remember the moment when it happened.

When the herald, trumpet sounded “Bupoo!” Herald unravelled the scroll.

“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

Heart thump

“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.”

Heart thump even harder..

do the only thing you can think of..

(Take phone, speed dial - “wife”)

“Darling… I’ve got news. We’re selling the house. We’re going home!”

Ezra 1:5 “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.”

one verse. But imagine the logistical, financial, physical risks involved..

Uprooting family. Children’s education. moving elderly parents.

with no job security

with no certainty of the future.

But God can stir the hearts of people..

(L) not just any people.. ordinary people

Second reading.. Ezra 2:1-35, Responsively. Read names. and you read the numbers.

Try out. v2

Ezra 2:1–35 (ESV)

1 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

3 the sons of Parosh, 2,172.

4 The sons of Shephatiah, 372.

5 The sons of Arah, 775.

6 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812.

7 The sons of Elam, 1,254.

8 The sons of Zattu, 945.

9 The sons of Zaccai, 760.

10 The sons of Bani, 642.

11 The sons of Bebai, 623.

12 The sons of Azgad, 1,222.

13 The sons of Adonikam, 666.

14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056.

15 The sons of Adin, 454.

16 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98.

17 The sons of Bezai, 323.

18 The sons of Jorah, 112.

19 The sons of Hashum, 223.

20 The sons of Gibbar, 95.

21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123.

22 The men of Netophah, 56.

23 The men of Anathoth, 128.

24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42.

25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.

26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621.

27 The men of Michmas, 122.

28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223.

29 The sons of Nebo, 52.

30 The sons of Magbish, 156.

31 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.

32 The sons of Harim, 320.

33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725.

34 The sons of Jericho, 345.

35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

Well done.

The Sons of Sena-ah. just ordinary blokes.

Obviously there are women as well, just that men are representing the households.

and donkeys!

Ezra 2:64–67 (ESV)

64 The whole assembly together was 42,360,

65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.

66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245,

67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

point? God can stir the hearts of ordinary people. men and women. take huge risks. even the donkeys.

(pause)

(L) but to build the house of the Lord… you don’t only need people. You need the financial backing. you need resources

Ezra 2:68–69 “Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.”

Richer families contributed more. free will offerings.

CHATGPT today’ equivalent of 61,000 darics. Daric 8.4g of gold. 512kg.

today’s value with the silver - £30mill of offerings.

100 heads of the house.

Each person - £300,000. significant amount.

God stirs the hearts of ordinary people.

(L) funny thing. not just Israelites. But also the persians,

Ezra 1:6 “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.”

(A) Here is our Israelite. Tendered his resignation to TfP. Large sign “SOLD” on his house.

neighbour comes knocking..

“heard you’ve sold the house. Travelling back to your home land.”

“Here are a couple of gold bars. I think you need it more than me..

Keys to my chariot. title deeds to my Endowment fund, I’ll transfer to you.

Hopefully it helps.”

When the God stirs the hearts of people… Amazing things happen.

^-scene here. reminiscent of the exodus

When the Israelites left Egypt for the Promise land.

Egyptians gave them resources, gold and silver.

Here, it’s like NEW exodus.

As they leave Persia for their home land

Persians gave them resources of gold and silver.

(L) not only resources for the journey. but also resources specifically for rebuilding God’s house

Ezra 1:7–10 “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;”

The very things that were taken out of the temple.

That Nebuchadnezzar carried away.

Cyrus returns them back to the Israelites.

Here you go!

What? really? Amazing.

Amazing things happen when God stirs the hearts of people.

MAIN POINT (Summarise | Wordsmith | 5 Syllable | Alliterate)

Why should we take risks to arise and build when the task seems too big?

GOD CAN STIR THE HEART OF AN UNLIKELY KING

GOD CAN STIR THE HEARTS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

REINFORCEMENT (Amp | Hearts Burning | STAR)

^pause. These verses we just considered is such a significant moment of Israels history.

The exile of Israel.

end of the covenant

death of the nation.

Nail in the coffin

So this return

A picture of restoration

A picture of resurrection

A picture of a new exodus

But this exodus is not one of great displays of power, hail, river into blood, darkness over the land.

But this is more!

he does so by working in the insides of people

Jeremiah 17:9–10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

The human heart, the human spirit, the inner self, inner person.

That no law, no legal code, no legislation can change

The very thing that is twisted, bent against God

God takes and untangles it. and aligns it for his purposes.

God can stir the spirit, the hearts of people

And yes, it’s true that the reason why God acts in Ezra 1. is because he is fulfilling what he had promised by the prophet Jeremiah.

Yes, you might say that this was specific to back then

But we are past that day of fulfilment.

more than that, we are in a greater day of fulfilment

We stand on this side of the cross..

We now know that in Jesus.. ALL God’s promises find their yes and amen in him.

And this time

It is NOT an unlikely pagan King who says: “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth"

It IS the KING of the Heaven and Earth himself who says; Matthew 28:18–19 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”

So as they arose and build, we have MORE reason to arise and build

They were call to build God’s house in Jerusalem..

For them - it was the actual building in Jerusalem

But what about for us?

Not to go to the middle east to build a physical building.

But the house of God is the church.

We build not a temple, but God’s church

So that it grows, in CW, but beyond CW, to South East London, and to the ends of the earth.

“Arise, GO, Take bold steps and BUILD!”

arise… and… build.

(pause)

LAND (Worldview | Us)

I know even as I urge each one of to consider.. there are questions

What if I face resistance?

What if others let me down?

I don't have what it takes.

I've got too much baggage.

I'm barely holding myself together.

I get that.. sometimes I have those questions too.

Ezra-Nehemiah will reflect on the opposition that people experience as they rose to build.

So come back for the rest of our series to process some of those questions.

But the big encouragement and prayer that I have for you this morning

is despite those question.. to think big for the LORD, dream big, aim big, as ask the Lord to use you.

we didn’t particularly plan for the giving slot to be today when I initially decided to preach on Ezra-Nehemiah,

But just as well..

Because how we use our resources is certainly one way.

Can we aim big for CW?

Can we aim big for SE LONDON?

And those whom the Lord stirred, made freewill offerings to the LORD

would you consider what Ben said?

But more than that, I want to encourage us to adopt a posture of take bold steps to do big things in all areas.

Not just money, but also

skills, abilities, time, aspirations… shaped and moulded by the goal of building God’s church.

Is there something in the way the LORD has made you, you… that you can do for him?

And even we start to think big, lets start to do small..

Let’s start with us here in CW. the person next to do.

What does it look like to build that individual up?

(pause)

Ezra 1:5 “Then rose up, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.”