Let us turn in our Bibles this
evening to the book of Ezra. I want to read the first three
verses of this first chapter tonight, Ezra chapter one. Now 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, that he made a proclamation throughout all
his kingdom and put it also in writing saying, thus saith Cyrus,
king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth and he hath charged me to build him
a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among
you of all his people? His God be with him, and let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Titled my message this evening,
Cyrus, God's Servant. And I want this message tonight
to be the first one of several messages from this book. I see that there are many helpful
lessons that we may take from not only this book, but from
this time period in which Ezra lived and prophesied. The name Ezra means help, help. And as I looked at that and thought
about that, I thought, that's a wonderful word, isn't it? Help.
Help, Lord. Wonderful prayer. And God the
Holy Spirit is given unto his children as our helper. Ezra means help. The commentators say that this
book covers about 70 years. We find in it that Ezra was a
priest. He was a priest in the lineage
of Phinehas. Phinehas was the grandson of
Aaron, the first high priest. So he was in the lineage of the
high priest family. And he also is called a ready
scribe in the law of Moses. Look over in chapter five. We'll
see these two things. chapter 7, verse 5 and verse
6. Chapter 7, verse 5, the son of
Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of
Aaron, the chief priest. And that is the lineage, the
genealogy that begins in verse 1 of Ezra. And then in verse
6, This Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a ready scribe in
the law of Moses. So that tells us something about
the man himself. His name means help. He was both
a priest and a ready scribe in the law of Moses. And the time
period for his ministry was about 450 BC. More than that, of course, 70
years, but that's just kind of a ballpark figure that I came
up with. But about 450 years before the
Lord Jesus Christ was born in this world. Tonight, I just want
to point out three things to us, three truths. First of all,
fulfilled prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy. You notice
in verse 1 here in our text, Ezra 1 verse 1, Now in the first
year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by
the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. He makes this proclamation,
Cyrus does. But his proclamation was part
of God fulfilling his prophecy. Now, we only read here of God's
prophecy by the mouth of Jeremiah, but we will see, the Lord willing,
that this also fulfilled the prophecy by the mouth of Isaiah. And we'll look at both of these
places. First, let's look at God's fulfilled
prophecy in this text that was given by Jeremiah. If you turn
with me over to Jeremiah chapter 25. I want to read 12 verses here,
but the prophecy itself is in verse 11. But let's begin in
verse 1, Jeremiah chapter 25. The word that came to Jeremiah
concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim,
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar,
king of Babylon, to which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the
people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the
thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah,
even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the
word of the Lord hath come unto me. And I have spoken unto you,
rising early and speaking, but you have not hearkened. And the
Lord has sent unto you all his servants, the prophets, rising
early and sending them, but you have not hearkened nor inclined
your ear to hear. They said, turn you again now
everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings,
and dwell in the land that the Lord has given unto you and to
your fathers forever and ever. And go not after other gods to
serve them and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with
the works of your hands, and I will do you no hurt, yet you
have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord. that you might provoke
me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
of hosts, because you have not heard my words, behold, I will
send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord,
and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will
bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof
and against all these nations round about and will utterly
destroy them and make them an astonishment and hissing and
perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them
the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones
and the light of the candle. And this whole land, here it
is, this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment
And these nations shall serve the King of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass when
70 years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon
and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity in the land
of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolation. So we're thinking about fulfilled
prophecy, first of all. The prophecy was that the nation
of Judah would be carried by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon and
would remain there for 70 years. Now in these verses that I've
just read, and you followed with me in chapter 25 of Jeremiah,
we see that of the many sins, of the many sins that the nation
was guilty of, The sin which is especially mentioned is the
sin of idolatry. Notice that again in verse five.
They said, turn you again now everyone from his evil way and
from the evil of your doings and dwell in the land that the
Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers forever and ever
and go not after other gods to serve them. In the second chapter
of Jeremiah, this prophecy, Jeremiah, God through Jeremiah, preached
to the nation and told them they were guilty of two evils. Now
there were many more evils, but these two evils especially. First
of all, they had forsaken the fountain of living waters. They
had forsaken the true God, the only living God, Jehovah. and that hewn out many broken
cisterns which can hold no water." They had turned from the true
God to these idols, these false gods that the other nations around
them worshipped and served. Israel was the one nation, God's
special nation, that had the knowledge given unto them of
the only true and living God. And in that second chapter of
Jeremiah where they are charged with those two evils, they are
encouraged to go to other nations, go to other countries, and see
if this has ever been done before, if there has ever been any nation
that has forsaken their God and gone after another God. Now,
other nations take on other gods, but they don't forsake their
God. They keep worshiping him. They just add two. No one, no
nation, God said, had ever done what the nation of Israel had
done. It's called now Judah, the nation
of Judah, because after Solomon's reign, remember his son became
king and Ten of the tribes separated, and that became the northern
kingdom called Israel. The two tribes of Benjamin and
Judah became the southern kingdom, Judah. But the first king of
that northern kingdom, Jeroboam, remember, he set up those two
golden calves. And from him, from Jeroboam,
to the end of that nation, those ten tribes, until they were carried
into captivity, Every king, every king that God allowed them to
have, committed the same sin of that first king. They never
could free themselves from the sin of Jeroboam. But Judah, of
course, had remained the kingdom that David's sons had reigned
over. But as we look at this this passage
here in Jeremiah, you cannot help but see God's patience and
God's long-suffering, sending prophet after prophet after prophet,
and yet they would not listen, they would not turn. Now, the
other prophecy, fulfilled prophecy, is in Isaiah, if you look with
me in Isaiah. So, Ezra 1 tells us Let me read
that again. Now, 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, that he made a proclamation through all the
kingdom. And what was that proclamation?
That the Israelites, that the tribe of Judah, that they could
return and rebuild Jerusalem, that was his proclamation. And
it fulfilled the prophecy, 70 years had taken place. And the
part, and the most important lesson for all of us here tonight,
just to be reminded that God's word is going to stand. That God is going to fulfill
his promises, his prophecies, his word is not going to fall
to the ground. all of his word. But I want you
to look over here in Isaiah also, Isaiah chapter 44, beginning with verse 28, and
we will read into chapter 45. Isaiah chapter 44, verse 28. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and shall perform
all my pleasure. This proclamation that he made
that we read about there in Ezra chapter one, what was he doing? He was fulfilling God's pleasure. He was fulfilling God's word. He shall perform all my pleasure,
even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built and to the temple,
thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings. You remember Belteshazzar,
how he saw that handwriting on the wall and his loins began
to smite one against the other. God had told how the king, Darius,
And Cyrus would capture the city of Babylon, how it would be taken,
a city that they thought no one could conquer. It was impregnable. And yet they
changed the course of the river and came in through the river
channel that night that Belteshazzar was having that feast or that
party. I will leave gates, the gates
shall not be shut. I will go before thee and make
the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates
of brass and cut and sundered the bars of iron. And I will
give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places
that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by
thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake,
and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name,
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am
the Lord, and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Drop down, you heavens, from
above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth
open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness
spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. We see that Cyrus, in our text,
is fulfilling the prophecy by the mouth, the word of the Lord,
by the mouth of Jeremiah, and also by the mouth of Isaiah,
the prophet. What are some of the lessons
for us to take away from these verses tonight that we've read?
Well, first of all, I have two things, but first of all, consider
these several attributes of God. His omniscience, that is God
knows all things. He knew Cyrus, called him by
name, 200 years, when Isaiah made his prophecy, about 200
years before his birth. God's knowledge is past finding
out. He knew your name. He knew my
name. He knew our name before our parents
ever gave us our names. He knows our down-sitting, as
the psalmist says. He knows our down-sitting and
our uprising and understands our thought afar off. Our thoughts
may be hidden and are hidden to everyone but ourself, but
they're not hidden to God. His omniscience, His all-knowledge,
all-knowing, You know, Peter, when he confessed to the risen
Lord Jesus, he said, Lord, thou knowest all things. He confessed
to our Lord's deity, didn't he? Only God knows all things. Lord,
thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Another one of his attributes
that I see is his long suffering. He suffered long. with this nation
of Judah, sending prophet after prophet after prophet, but they
would not listen. They would not hearken. They
would not turn. They just continued to go farther
and farther away from God to multiply the number of gods,
the idols, which they worship. Turn you again, now everyone,
from his evil way. That was the message that God
sent. But they would not turn. They would not hearken. And I
see his faithfulness also, not only his omniscience, his long
suffering, but his faithfulness. He was faithful in sending this
nation into captivity because this was the work of a father
chastening his son. It wasn't the work of a judge
punishing his son, but the work of a father chastening his sons. You know, when God chastens us,
we're so thankful, right? That he's not dealing with us
as a judge deals with a criminal to punish that person. But he
deals with us as children. And if we be without chastisement,
the apostle tells us then we're not children. Because every parent
chastises his children. If he loves his child, and we
know that Chastisement is a means of discipline. And we thank the
Lord that he cares enough for us to discipline us, to chasten
us. When we see his faithfulness,
his faithfulness, when he sent this nation into 70 years of
captivity, what was it for? It was for their good, for their
instruction. And one thing I've read over
the years, and I know it's so, When this nation came back out
of captivity in Babylon, the Jews have never been guilty of
idolatry since then, even until today. They do not worship idols. The Jews don't. They learned
their lesson. He is faithful. He's faithful
to fulfill his promises, his word. He said 70 years, 70 years,
and now 70 years is up. And so Cyrus, king of Persia,
issues this proclamation allowing them to return and to rebuild
Jerusalem. What a blessing are these attributes
of God to every child of God. His knowledge. We think about
the knowledge of God. What a blessing that is to us
as his children. The very hairs of your head are
all numbered. What kind of knowledge is that?
That the hairs of our head are all numbered. And think about
it. I've lost most of my hair. I never felt it never hurt me
at all. When a hair fell off or washed
off in the shower, I didn't feel it. I didn't feel any pain. And
yet, God, even the smallest and minutest thing about us, He's
concerned. And as far as other parts of
our body, we know His knowledge. The scripture refers to His people
as the apple of His eye. or some object comes towards
your eye, your hand is just automatically, doesn't it, just goes up to protect
your eye. Of course, God's children, His
knowledge, He calls us the apple of His eye. No one, Satan, cannot
touch one of God's children without God's permission. The book of
Job shows us this very clearly, the knowledge of God. His long
suffering, He suffered long with us. Some of us here tonight,
He suffered long with us before our conversion. We call that
prevenient grace. He suffered long and since our
conversion until tonight, He suffers long with us, our many
failures, His faithfulness. Faithful is
he that calleth you who will also do it. You know, I looked
at this promise, this new covenant promise today, Jeremiah 32 in
verse 40. I will make an everlasting covenant
with them. Now listen, that I will not turn
away from them to do them good. Huh? He will not turn away from you. If you are one of his children
tonight, I will not turn away from them to do them good. But,
this is what I will do, but I will put my fear in their hearts. And they shall not turn away
from me. Why is it? Because you haven't
given up. Why is it? Because you haven't
turned back. Why is it? Because you haven't
thrown in the towel. Surely you've gone through some
experiences and other people maybe have went out from us as
the scripture says. Why is it? Because the Lord has
put his fear in your heart and you fear him, you reverence him,
you love him. What a tremendous, his faithfulness. Faithful is he that calleth you
who will also do it. But I said a second thing I want
us to consider, how Cyrus. Now, in the prophecy there by
the mouth of Isaiah, God named this king, King of Persia, Cyrus. But I want you to turn back there
to Isaiah 44, if you will, and let's see how many ways that
he may picture to us the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he may be a type, serve as
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 28 of chapter 44, it
says, that saith Osiris, he is my shepherd and shall perform. The first thing we see is that
before his birth, God called him by name. God called him by
name before he was born. the Lord Jesus Christ. God called
him by name before he was born, didn't he? And all of these things
we find here in this prophecy of Isaiah. God called the Lord
Jesus Christ by name in Isaiah chapter 9 in verse 6. For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. Now listen, and his name This
is 600 years before the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. God, through
Isaiah, called Cyrus his anointed. Notice that in verse one of chapter
45. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, So even so the Lord Jesus Christ is called God's
anointed in Isaiah chapter 61. And you're familiar with this
verse because our Lord read this passage at the beginning of his
public ministry. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord hath anointed me. God anointed Cyrus,
God anointed the Lord Jesus Christ. God called Cyrus, It gave him
his name, rather revealed his name before his birth, even so
Christ. God through Isaiah called Cyrus
a shepherd. You see that in verse 28 of chapter
44. That saith of Cyrus, he is my
shepherd. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is
God's shepherd. And he tells us that here in
Isaiah chapter 40. Verses 10 and 11. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand. His arm shall rule for him. Behold,
his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed
his flock like a shepherd. Just as God called Cyrus his
shepherd, so the Lord Jesus Christ is God's shepherd. And God, through
Isaiah, foretold that Cyrus would do all his pleasure, all his
pleasure. He shall perform all my pleasure. Remember that passage in Isaiah
chapter 53, which speaks of him doing the pleasure, the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. And God through Isaiah
foretold that Cyrus would lay the foundation for God's temple
in Jerusalem. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ,
here in Isaiah chapter 28, he is the foundation stone of God's,
not a temple made with hands, but his church, his spiritual
temple. Isaiah 28 and verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tribe
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. The Lord Jesus
Christ. said, upon this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And he is the cornerstone of his church, his spiritual church. So that's the first thing I just
wanted to mention to us tonight from our text, Ezra chapter one,
is fulfilled prophecy. And I do have two other things,
and I'm gonna be very brief. The second thing I wanted to
mention is absolute sovereignty. Look back here in Ezra chapter
1. Absolute sovereignty. Thus saith Cyrus, verse 2, Thus
saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, hath
given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He was given all the
kingdoms of the earth. And if you read in the book of
Esther, the descendant of this king, how many kingdoms he reigned
over. I mean, this kingdom, this Cyrus,
this kingdom was great. He reigned over many people,
but God is absolutely sovereign over not many people, but all
people. The absolute sovereignty of God. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it, whithersoever
he will. There be many devices in a man's
heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand.
The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his
heart to all generations. Promotion cometh neither from
the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the
judge. He putteth down one and setteth
up another. Absolute sovereignty. This man
was a great king, ruled over many nations, over many peoples,
but there's a greater king, the Lord our God, who is absolutely
sovereign. One other thing I wanted to mention
to us tonight is contemporary workers. That is, Ezra, his contemporary
workers. Look with me in chapter five
of Ezra, verses one and two. And we're going to, if the Lord
will help us, we're going to see some of these contemporary
workers who are named here and their prophecies. Notice in chapter
five, then the prophets Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the
son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and
Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. It was during this time of Ezra
and Nehemiah that these two, we call them minor prophets,
Haggai and Zechariah, that they prophesied. And as we look in
this book of Ezra, there will be times when we will go to those
prophecies and look at them and what a wealth of blessing is
found in those prophecies especially of Zachariah. Well, I pray the
Lord will bless this message to us here tonight. We sang that
hymn, What a Wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. Amen. What a wonderful God is our God,
our Father. And to think that he has concern
about you and I. May the Lord bless this word
this evening. Let's sing another hymn and we'll
go home.