The book of Ezra. Ezra was a Levyi, he was a scribe among our people Israel, and he wrote this book telling us the way in which God led our forefathers back to the land after the 70 years of captivity in Babel. And so I'm reading Ezra chapter 1. I'll read from verse 1, even though we have read it in our previous meeting together. Ezra chapter 1. And so we read, "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 stir 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, has given me all the kingdom of the earth.

He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who is there among you? Of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem, and whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the man of his place help him with it." Let the man of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judea, and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things beside all that was willingly offered. "Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his God." "Even those did Cyrus, king of Persia, bring forth by the hand of Mithridat, the treasurer, and numbered them unto Shesh Bazar, the prince of Judah." "And this is the number of them, thirty charges of gold, a thousand charges of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort, four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand." "All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred." "All these did Shesh Bazar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem." And I'll stop here with this verse 11 of the first chapter.

Last week we have given an introduction to this book of Ezra. And I pointed out, beloved brothers and sisters, the reason that the Lord have given to us this book of Ezra is to show us the way that he dealt with our own nation, the nation of Israel. God is faithful to his own people. He promised that he will bring them to Babylon because of their unbelief and unfaithfulness to him. But he also promised that he will return them and bring them back to that promised land seventy years later on. Well, sure enough, nearly seventy years passed by and now God is beginning to restore his people Israel back to the land.

Now, remember that in 605 BC, God had taken already many of the Jewish people and brought them to Babel by Nebuchadnezzar. Now, about seventy years later, you can see how he began to restore the people of Israel back to the promised land. Now, we will notice as we study that book that there were issues and problems, even though they have already returned to the promised land. Now, what is a lesson that we are going to learn from this as we study the book of Ezra? The lesson is for us who are part of the body of Messiah, the Guf HaMashiach, as we say in Hebrew, the body of Christ.

We also are to learn from these lessons to see that all what happened in the past to the people of Israel served to be a lesson for us in the present day dispensation in which we live in today. The Apostle Paul wrote many years ago to the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and he says in verse 11, Now all these things happen unto them, namely our forefathers, the people of Israel, for an example. And they are written for our admonition upon whom the end of the age are come. Whatever has been written about our forefathers, the people of Israel, served to be a lesson for us who are believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah in this present day dispensation.

And we are to learn from this because there are great lessons that we can learn and grow in appreciation of the person of Yeshua the Messiah. So, now when we have arrived to Ezra, we are at about 536 B.C. And I want you to see how the word of God is now spoken through even a pagan man. Maybe this man later on became a believer, I do not know, by the name of Cyrus, Koresh. He was a king of Persia, the king of Melech Paras, we say in Hebrew. He became this monarch who ruled over many, many nations in this world. He was a king that had power and authority over the nations of this world.

But even the kings of the universe, they are under the control of the living God. I want to read just a verse that is found in the book of Proverbs chapter 21. The first verse, the one who wrote the book of Proverbs says, The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he wills. God is in control and he is able to control anyone, including the king of Persia. So, in the first two verses, we see first of all, God's word being fulfilled. It says here in verse 1, Now in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, the word of the Lord came by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

The Lord stir up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying, You see, the time has come for Israel to be restored. So, according to the word of the Lord, notice that expression here, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. God have already promised through Yirmiyahu Hanavi, the prophet Jeremiah, One day after the 70 years will pass by, I promise you that I'm going to bring you back to the promised land. Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah 29. You read this chapter, you can see how God have already promised this.

But what he does, brothers and sisters, notice verse 1b, The Lord stir up the spirit of Cyrus. How does he do it? You see, he's in control over everything that is going on in this world. He's waking up a king, a monarch. The king of Persia, by the way, Persia in the olden time is Iran of this present day. Who want to destroy our people of Israel today. Announcing that Israel need to be destroyed the very same monarch years ago. Proclaiming something that you don't hear today by the leader of Iran at all. In fact, the monarch, you might say, of Iran today want to destroy the nation of Israel.

But the monarch of those days in about 536 BC was stirred by the Lord himself and the Lord touched his heart. Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. And now the king there, instead of saying, I'm going to destroy Israel, He's now being stirred up. And what does he say, beloved brothers and sisters? Notice in verse 2, Cyrus speaks the word of God. It says in verse 2, "Thus says Cyrus, the king of Persia, the Lord 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 Judea." It is so beautiful to see that.

Now he was a pagan monarch. And yet, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has stirred him up. According to Isaiah 44 and 45, he knew him by name. Long before, as we have mentioned it, before even Cyrus was born, 150 years before he was born. He already knew him by name. This is our Lord. This is our God, who knows everything from the beginning to the end, from the end to the beginning, from eternity to eternity. "Thou art God," the psalmist of Israel has said. And here we see him really charging Cyrus with a mission. "Koresh, I want to tell you, I want to use you to build for me a house in the city of Yerushalayim." This expression, the Lord God of heaven, is mentioned specifically in the book of Ezra, in the book of Nehemiah, and in the book of Daniel.

Why? Because when our forefathers departed from the will of the Lord. You remember in the book of Ezekiel, God left the city of Yerushalayim. The Shekinah glory, the Shekinah, left Jerusalem's temple. And he went from inside. You might say that Shekinah was right in the Holy of Holies, went slowly but surely, he left the city of Jerusalem. And if you will, he had taken himself back to heaven. And now instead of being there in the city of Jerusalem, in the center of our nation, Israel, he departed and removed himself and went back to heaven. Why? Because our nation, Israel, was not in the right condition.

They, instead of following God, they followed idols. Instead of following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were adopting the gods of the nations. And they ended up to live the kind of a life that was not pleasing to the Lord. So God left the place where he said his name there and returned to heaven. And you'll find often time in Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, the expression, the God of heavens. Oh yes, he was the God of Israel. But now he took this position because his very own people had to be taken captive. And the time of the Gentiles had began. You remember what we read in the Gospels and also in the book of Romans.

We read about the times of the Gentiles that the Lord Yeshua spoke about. The time of the Gentiles began from about 6 or 5 BC. And it will only end at the end of the tribulation when the kingdom going to be restored to the nation of Israel. And with the Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords from the city of Jerusalem. And then the times of the Gentiles will end. And then the restoration of the kingdom will be to our forefathers, to the nation of Israel, to the people of Israel in the Messianic age later on. And so now we can see that Koresh is saying the God of heaven.

The God of heaven had given me all the kingdoms of the earth. You notice there was not king in Jerusalem anymore because God took the king of Judah down to Babel. Now the king who are ruling over the affairs of this world was first of all Nebuchadnezzar as the head of Babylon. Later on the middle Persian. And here we see Cyrus as the king of all the earth. And he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. In other words, now he is giving me a call, giving me a purpose, giving me something to do to build him a house at the city of Jerusalem.

But that house was existing 70 years earlier. This house, the temple, Beit HaMikdash, was already built years prior already by Shlomo HaMelech. But it was destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. Now, those of you that have your Bibles where Ezra, the book began here, you notice that on the page before, you have the book of 2 Chronicles. And the last two verses of 2 Chronicles are actually repeated in the first two and a half verses of Ezra chapter 1. You notice what it says in verse 22 and 23 of 2 Chronicles chapter 36. Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord that was spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished.

The Lord stir up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom. And he put it also in writing saying, and he's quoting for us now, exactly what is mentioned in verse 2 and a part of verse 3 that is already mentioned in the book of 2 Chronicles. That's why many Bible teachers believe that it was Ezra who actually wrote the book of 1 and 2 Chronicles. But you notice, if you go just a little bit back in 2 Chronicles chapter 36 to the previous verses before verse 22 and 23. Look what it says there, beloved brothers and sisters, especially from verse 17. Because of what Judah had done, therefore he brought upon them the king of the Calades, who slew their young men with a sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon the young men and maiden, old men, or him that is stooped for age.

He gave them all into his hand. God gave Israel, the Jewish people, the temple, to the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Calades. Verse 18, not only the nation, the people, but look at verse 18, and all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasure of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes. Jesus, all these, he brought to Babylon, to Babel. And then verse 19, beloved brothers and sisters, he burned the house of God. He break down the walls of Jerusalem. He burned all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

Can you imagine what happened there? Here we see the destruction that happened in Jerusalem. He burned the temple. He broke down the walls. He burned all the palaces. He destroyed all the goodly vessels. And whatever is left, he took with him to the land of Babel. And Cyrus, reversing the whole thing now, he's saying to the people of Israel, Thus saith Cyrus, the Lord God of heaven had given me everything, and I am telling you, he wants me to build the house for him in the city of Jerusalem. Now the house is destroyed. The walls are broken down. The people of Israel are scattered. The northern kingdom in Assyria.

The southern kingdom in Babel. And now go start everything afresh. I want to say this, the same thing today, applied to the church age in which you and I live in today. Things are broken to pieces. The church age that began in the city of Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago, when Yeshua said, I will build my church and the gates of Hedid would not prevail against it. He said it in Matthew chapter 16. The church age began very, very well. But it didn't take too long. That it became really broken. By the end of the book of Acts, you find Apostle Paul arriving to Rome on the board from a ship that was broken.

Everybody came on top of those boards, left over from the ship, and they all arrived there onto shore from the broken ship that was broken to pieces. And really, beloved brothers and sisters, you can see at the end of the area in which you live in today, you see how broken the assembly, the church, the ecclesia into various fractures. And so God wants to stir up an individual. And he says, listen, I want individual to come back into the presence of the Lord and to enjoy the ABC of the Word of God. And that's what Cyrus was called to do here. And so, while in verse 1 and verse 2, God's word is being fulfilled in the call of Koresh, Cyrus, the king of Persia, notice in verses 3 to 6, God's appeal, and he proclaimed through Cyrus to his very own people to return to the place in which he set his name from the beginning.

I want you to notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that he doesn't force. He doesn't even commend, but he appeals to the heart. And this is so precious, because God is never going to force us, but he's going to woo his own people back to himself. And look what he does here. Cyrus, in verses 3 and 4, he is now proclaiming, he is appealing to God's people, to the Jewish people, to the people of Israel to return back to the place where God wanted them to be at. And so, he says in verse 3, Who is there among you? Of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Yerushalayim, which is in Judah, or in Judea, Yehudah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel.

He is the God, which is in Jerusalem. I love this appeal. He doesn't force them. He doesn't commend them. He doesn't tell them, Well, you better come. Now, I want you to see that they were his people, even though they were in Babel. It says here twice, Who is there among you of all his people? His God will be with him. You see, they were in Babel under discipline. But God did not want them in Babel. He wanted them in Yerushalayim. And so, he's appealing to the heart, to the conscience, using King Koresh to speak to our own nation. Some years ago, after they had been in Babel for 70 years, and he's saying to them, Who is among you?

Of all his people. You see, there were probably a few millions of Jewish people scattered in Babel. Some of the northern tribes that migrated and mingled with the rest of the nation. And so, they were away from the Lord. They were not in Jerusalem. It was a sad condition. Really sad. Like today, the vast majority of our Jewish people are not in the land. Not in Israel. In Israel, we have about, what, seven and a half million Jewish people that belong to the nation of Israel in the land. The vast majority, more than other, 50, 60, 70% are scattered throughout the world today. But we are going back now to the year at about 536 B.C.

And he's telling them, Who is among you? The people of God. That his God will be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and start to build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. He is challenging them. He is appealing to them. In a New Testament language, for us who are part of the Ecclesia, the called out one, the Lord is appealing to us. He is speaking to our hearts. And he says, Look at the condition that's existing in the present day church. Look at what's going on. Are you satisfied to stay far away from that gathering center, from the person of the Lord?

Are you satisfied to stay there in Babylon? Or are you going to come and build the house of the Lord? Now remember, the house of the Lord in the present day dispensation, it's not a building. This is not the house of the Lord. This is merely a building that was made out of bricks, cement, and wood. The house of the Lord is the family, the people of God. Every believer is part of the house of God, the house of the Lord. Every true child of God who is born again, born from above, accepted Yeshua, the Messiah, he or she, are part of the house of the Lord.

We need to understand that. Let me just take you for a second to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, please. It will help you to understand what the scripture is saying and don't take it from me, read it for yourself in the Word. Notice in Ephesians, chapter 2, I want us to read just a verse there in connection with the house of the Lord. Ephesians, chapter 2, and verse 18. The Apostle Paul is writing and he says, For through him, namely through Yeshua, we both, Jew and Gentile, have been accessed by one spirit unto the Father. Then he says in verse 19, Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and listen, and of the household of God.

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Yeshua the Messiah himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the buildings fitly frame together, growing up to a holy temple in the Lord. Verse 22. In whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. You see, the Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians, reminding the Ephesians that though there were Gentiles by natural birth, when they have accepted the Lord Jesus the Messiah, now they are part of the household of God. Believers, Jew and Gentile, are built together upon the foundation which is the person of the Lord Jesus. He is the cornerstone, Yeshua the Messiah, the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, teaching, and they are now part of this household of God.

Let me read you here another verse. Listen to this, brothers and sisters. 1 Timothy chapter 3. And the verses that I'm reading is verse 15. Paul is writing to younger Timothy, a believer. He was a Jewish believer, of course, in Yeshua the Messiah. He was of the early saints of God who were ministering the word of God and he said to him, Timothy, if I tarry long that you may know how thou art to behave thyself in the house of God. And then he says, what is the house of God? He's explaining, which is the church, the ecclesia of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth.

He didn't talk about a building. He didn't talk about the temple either because later on in 70 AD the temple was going to be destroyed. Paul wrote about 65 AD. Five years later on the temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed. The Jewish people were scattered. Over 1,100,000 Jewish people had been killed, dispersed everywhere. He's speaking about the house of God which is the ecclesia, the church, the assembly of the living God. And we are to learn how to live in the house of God. In other words, how to build it and how to grow it, to mature it, to be an asset among the people of God. Brothers and sisters, to build the house of the Lord takes a lot of self-judgment.

It takes a lot of humility. Pride has no room in building the house of God. These individuals, these Jewish individuals, can you imagine just the thought of traveling to Jerusalem and to come to a place where everything is fallen into pieces? Everything is broken down and burnt. Can you imagine what it meant for them to make a decision to go now to Jerusalem to begin the building of the temple? It took a lot of self-judgment and saying no to self and yes to God. They could stay in Babel. The Jewish community in Babel have been successful. They have grown. Perhaps things have been very easy and they could have stayed right in Babel.

Why would they want to go to the city of Jerusalem altogether? They had a better, they probably have good businesses, things have been prospering, things have been very good. to leave this and to go to the place of Jerusalem where the temple used to be standing and to build it, it took an effort, it took a commitment. Let me apply this to us. If we are going to be building among the people of God today, obviously we can't build in Jerusalem today, but we can build in the spiritual house of God today. How do we do so? How do we exercise in our own hearts to really be a vessel used by the Lord to build the spiritual house of God, to edify believers, to go under them you might say and to lift them up.

There are so many discouragement, so many people are scattered, there are believers who are living in the world, they are children of God but they are so discouraged because of the condition of the church today. And God is really appealing to us, to believers today, and saying, will you be that vessel that will go back to the principle taught in the word of God and begin to share this and be a help to the people of God? It takes an effort, it takes a commitment, it takes a call of God and I want you to know this that it says to let him go up in Hebrew la'alot, na'alez.

You know, every Jewish person who immigrates back to the land of Israel, he is making aliyah, he is going up. Whenever you go to Yerushalayim, you always go up. In other words, in a spiritual sense today, if we are going to be restored back to the Lord and going back to the place of his gathering and meet around him and give Yeshua his rightful place in our midst, we are always going to go up spiritually, back to the word of God, back to the principles that God has given us in his word. It's not easy to do so when there are so many views today.

Everybody has his opinion. Everybody has his knowledge of the Bible and one needs to really discern what says the scripture, what the Lord is saying to us today. And so he's saying who is among you? I'm not going to force you. God is never going to force us but he wants us to be drawn to him. It's a matter of the affection. It's a matter of the love for the word and for the Lord. But then not only that he's speaking to those that are going to go up, look what he says in verse 4, he's appealing to those who will not go up and will remain in Bavail.

In verse 4, again he used the word whoso. Whosoever remaineth in any place where he surgeneth, let the man of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. See, those that will not go and they will remain there, they are called to support, to encourage those that have gone forward to build the house of the Lord in the city of Jerusalem. From them, it requested to be a blessing to those others who are going to go to the city of Jerusalem to build. They remain there. Now, by the way, those that remain in Bavail are those that we read about in the book of Esther.

It is interesting that the book of Esther, you don't find one time the name Jehovah mentioned. You don't even find one time the word prayer mentioned. You don't find one time the word God mentioned. In the book of Esther, we find out how God, in spite of the fact that the Jewish people did not go out to Jerusalem, how he protected them from this evil man that is called Haman. Haman Harasha, Haman the Agagite, who was an Amalekite, who hated the Jewish people and wanted to destroy the Jewish people. And God preserved the nation, the Jewish people in Babel, using Esther, the queen, using Mordecai, the Jew, in order to preserve his people who remain in Babel.

So both of them were the people of God, the Jewish people, the people of Israel, and yet some had to make a decision to go forward to the city of Jerusalem, and the rest remain in the land of Babylon. So we have God's appeal appeal to both. Those who will be stirred up to come, just go, and I will lead you. Those who remain behind, support them, give them some, as it says here in verse 4, silver, gold, goods, even beasts, animals, beside a free will offering. It's nice to hear that expression, the free will offering. The Hebrew word is nedavah, nedavot. That means to give to the Lord's things, not out of force, but out of the abundance of the heart to support those that have gone to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem.

That for us is a great lesson, beloved brothers and sisters, to be exercised out of love for the Lord and love for His word, to seek to build the spiritual house in which you and I are part of in this day today. So, we continue on in verses 5 and 6. You can see now in those verses the response of these Jewish people. Not all of them. Obviously, you will see a very small minority went back to Judea, not all the Jewish people of Babylon, but there was a response. Who responded? Notice it says in verse 5, Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites with all them, listen to this, whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.

So, God had to stir them up. It's not the work of the flesh. You know, sometimes it's so sad when we are trying to build for the Lord with the flesh. It's no power. It's very shallow. It has no weight behind it. It has to be done as the Spirit of God stirs up. The Lord often time in the New Testament uses many times to apply to us the importance of being guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Not by the human energy merely. not by the flesh. You know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, it is so unfortunate when we are trying to do something for God, but it's not in dependence upon Him, but it is with the human energy that is the flesh, and it's not done in submissiveness to the Lord.

And there's no power there. There is no future in this because the flesh brings only another flesh. But here we see, notice that, whose Spirit God has raised, in other words, God has raised these individuals and caused their hearts to be pricked to say, no, I'm not going to stay here in Bavell, I'm going to go back to Jerusalem, I'm going to build the temple in that city of Jerusalem. And notice it was the chief fathers of Yehudah, the chief fathers of Binyamin, there were some priests which really came from the tribe of Levi. Actually, what we really see here, three of the twelve tribes of Israel, and yet they are called Israel.

You know, sometimes people teach us about those ten lost tribes, and some take these ten lost tribes, they say that these are becoming this nation or that nation, they sometimes claim that they are the British people, and others say that they are the people from Australia, and other people of the world, but they don't realize that as far as God's concerned, we might not know which tribe we belong to, but God knows his own people which tribe they belong to, and he will mention even his tribes here, Judah, Binyamin, and Levi, he is mentioning those three tribes. When we come to the Gospel of Luke, we find a woman by the name of Hannah in Luke chapter 2, and it does very clearly say that Hannah, though she was part of the Jewish nation, she was from the tribe of Asher.

God knows who belonged to which tribe even though we ourselves are not aware of it ourselves, they at least knew in some way, and they really rose up because they were stirred up by the Lord to go to build. How wonderful when the Lord does his work. It is so wonderful when he stirs up their spirit to get up and go and serve. You know, when we are away from the Lord, and when we sense it, we need awakening, we need to be stirred up. We cannot do it on ourselves. You know, religion is trying to do it on our own. But relationship with the Lord is different.

It's not man-made religion, it is an awakening of God to the conscience of a child of God, of a believer, and he or she now is awakened. Listen, I want to serve the Lord, I want to live for the Lord, I want to serve the people of God, I want to build the house of God, I want to participate. You see, unfortunately, today, we become spectators, and the vast majority are sitting in a bench, while a few are standing in the front. But the body of Messiah, the composition of all believers, and every believer, have a gift that God had given to his own people, and we need to use our gifts among the people of God.

We are not to depend upon the so-called pastor. We are to serve as part of the family of God, to minister to the people of God. This is the way that God has instituted this in the body of Messiah today. He has given gifts to men. He has given to you a gift, brother, to you a gift, sister, and you are responsible to use your gift for the benefit of the building of the spiritual house of the Lord today. And so he stirred them up. And notice it was the chief fathers. It's so beautiful to see that the men take the leadership and the responsibility here.

The chief fathers of the nation of Israel. We're going to be rising up and we're going to take leadership. We're going to take responsibility. And so they, from Judah, from Binyamin, from the priests, from the tribe of Levi, with all them, to build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. Now, you notice he said the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, but the house was burnt. But as far as they were concerned, it is still there, even though the house was totally burnt. because as far as God's concerned, he is intending to establish his house among his own people, the people of Israel.

But not only they, you notice that, because there are some that have been stirred, but we read again in verse 6 this time, that there were those who remain were strengthening those that are going to go to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Because it says in verse 6, all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with vessels of gold, and with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things beside all that was willingly offered. They may not have been exercised to go to Jerusalem to build, but they strengthened the hands of their brethren. they helped them, they assisted them, they said, we're going to give you, you need certain things, obviously, to build the house of the Lord, you need silver, you need gold, you need animals, the beasts to carry on all the goods that he's taking to the city of Jerusalem.

There was a long journey to go now, and they needed assistance of their brethren. If we will apply this today again in the work of the Lord, maybe not everyone is able to be a missionary somewhere, in some place, but the people of God can support in prayer, and in giving the servants of the Lord who have gone so far in one way or another to support them and encourage them who have gone to minister the word of God so they can do the work of God easier, rather than to have this hardship that is coming along with the work of the Lord. So in the first six verses, beloved brothers and sisters, we see first of all, verses one and two, we see the word of God fulfilled.

Secondly, in verses three to six, we have the appealing of Cyrus to the nation of Israel to return to the place where God had set his name there, namely the city of Jerusalem. Well, they were ready to go. Others that remained there have helped them and supported them and strengthened their hands so they can go and do that service that they are going to do. Now here in the next verses, we have the returning of the vessels which were taken from the house of the Lord. Now what Cyrus does, he does something that is very interesting. He is now not only sending them to Jerusalem, he is not only asking for the remaining Jewish people who were in Bavell to support them, but Cyrus himself, imagine, he is again, I want to say, he was the king of Persia, he was a pagan man, again, I do not know, even though Isaiah 44 and 45 call him a shepherd, an anointed one, he may have come to trust in the God of Israel, but he was used by him to stir up the Jewish people to return.

Now notice what he does himself, very interesting because he himself now was going to return the very same vessels that were taken down from Jerusalem to Bavell, he was going to send those vessels back to Jerusalem. And so we read in verse 7, what was the source of these vessels? Where did they come from? It says in verse 7, and also Cyrus the king he brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem and had put them in the house of his gods. I imagine. These are vessels that have been used in the temple. These are vessels that have been used to the glory of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Jerusalem.

Now those vessels have been taken from the temple and instead of being sanctified vessels set apart for God they now became vessels that were used and abused in, as it says here in verse 7, in the house of his gods. This is the gods of Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, the same vessels that were once used for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were now placed in idolatry place in the temple full of idols and who knows what they have done with those vessels at that place. But the source of these vessels were from Jerusalem. These are the vessels that were made by Shlomo, who built the temple and prepared vessels.

Vessels to perhaps the laver and to wash the hands for the priests to serve. Vessels that were used for the altar, for the brazen altar, where it was used for the service. Vessels that were used in a holy place, in the Kodeshim, in the Kodesh place in Jerusalem, or even in the holy of holies. He took all these vessels, and now he placed them in a place of idolatry, as it's called here, in the house of his gods. Now turn with me for a second to Daniel chapter 1. The beginning of it starts right there in Daniel chapter 1, because Daniel is writing about the events that occurred when Nebuchadnezzar took the Jewish people to Babel.

In Daniel chapter 1 and verse 1 it says, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. Verse 2, And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into his hands, with parts of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. You see, what Nebuchadnezzar did, he took those vessels, he placed them in his own idol house, and there they were remaining instead of being used by the people of God in Jerusalem, they were used at this place in Babylon.

What a condition the vessels that belonged to the Lord's house now were placed in that place in the city in Babel, in Babylon. That was the source. They were the vessels that belonged to the house of God in the city of Jerusalem. But now notice that the vessels, according to the very same verse 7, they were finding themselves in the place that is called Babel. For about 70 years they remained there in verse 7, in the house of his God. In verse 8, now we find what Cyrus have done. Cyrus now, the king of Persia, he brought forth all those vessels, and he handed them to a man to a man that is called Mitredat.

He was the one that was the treasurer in Persia, and in turn, this treasurer of Persia gave it to Shesh Batsar, the prince of Judah. This is the first time that we find this man by the name of Shesh Batsar. Shesh Batsar, of verse 8, is Zerub Avel of chapter 2 and verse 2. Every Jewish boy, Jewish man, in the land of Bavail received a name that was not Hebrew. You remember Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, you remember the story of Hananiah, Azariah, Shadrach, Mishach, and Eved Nebo? Those were pagan names. But the Hebrew names that they have had was Hananiah. Jehovah had mercy. Azariah, Jehovah had help. Mishael, who is like unto God?

But you see, in order to influence these Jewish people of old and to make them influenced by paganism, they have given them those paganistic names. Shadrach, Mishach, Eved Nebo, Eved Nebo. Here in the case of Zerubavail, they gave him the name Shesh Batzar, which means worshiper of fire. Interesting. Instead of allowing them, the Hebrews, to have that name that speaks of something that God has done for them, they speak about the God of Israel, they have sought to influence them. In other words, they will keep them away from the true and living God. In fact, this is exactly what Satan does today to the people of God.

He is keeping us in a dark, you might say. Instead of we growing spiritually with being affiliated with the Word of God, he has influenced us. Yesterday in our Bible class, we talked about the world and its system. Many years ago already, John said in 1 John 2, love not the world. He said it to believers. 2,000 years ago, love not the world, not the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world is the last of the flesh, the last of the eyes, and the pride of life. He's not of the Father. He gave them a warning to believers 2,000 years ago in the foundation of the church, and now today He's speaking to us as well, just the same like God has spoken to the people of Israel, and He said to them, listen, you are to love the true and living God, and don't adapt yourself to the nations of the world and their influence and their gods and idols, but Israel did not listen.

Like we oftentimes don't listen today to what God had said to us in His word, and that's why we find ourselves today in such a condition. So look what happened beloved brothers and sisters as we draw towards the end of this first chapter. Now Koresh returning the vessels back to the place from which they came out, from the city of Jerusalem. He gave it to his treasurer in verse 8, Mitherdat, and Mitherdat in turn giving it to the prince of Judah, a man by the name of Shesh Batsar, whose actual Hebrew name is Zerub Avel. Now notice it says in verse 8 that he was a prince of Judah, of Yehudah.

Actually, beloved brothers and sisters, this man by the name of Zerub Avel was in the messianic line to become a king of the people of Israel. I want you to turn with me to Matthew for a moment, chapter 1, to the Brit HaChadasha. In Matthew chapter 1 we have the genealogy of Yeshua from Natseret. You remember how the whole gospel of Matai, Matityahu, Matthew, began in verse 1, the book of the generation of Yeshua, Hamashiach, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Verse 2, Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judah. And it continued all the way down. Verse 3, Peres, verse 3b, Esrom, and then Aram, and then verse 4, Aminadab, and so on.

And look, when it gets to verse 11 of this first chapter, in the line for the kingly line, the messianic line, it says, And Josiah begat Yeukaniah, and his brethren, about the time that they were carried away to Babylon, to Babel. And after they were brought to Babylon, to Babel, Yonaias begat Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begat Zerub Babel. Here's the name of Zerub Babel, he's mentioning here, he's in a messianic line. He's a man that you might say was going to become a king among the people of Israel. He was not boasting himself, but he humbled himself and became one of the returning remnant of Israel. You see, if there will be a restoration to the principles that are found in the word of God, the greatest men need to take a place among the returning remnant, as part of them, as one whose heart is being stirred by the spirit of God and he or she would walk with them and go back to the promised land.

It's a beautiful lesson to learn from this man by the name of Zerub Babel. He was a prince of Judah. And yet you will see as we are studying that he was a very godly man, a humble man that was serving the people of God. Go back to Ezra. In the last verses now from verse 9, 10, and 11, we find out that we have the list of the numbers of the vessels that were returned now to the city of Jerusalem. You and I might say, well, who needs those names and those numbers? Who cares? But apparently God cares. The Holy Spirit of God brought this to us and he gives us some numbers.

It says in verse 9, we have here, and this is the number of them, 30 charges of gold, a thousand charges of silver, nine and 20 knives, 30 basins of gold, silver basins, of second sort, and then 410, and other vessels, a thousand. He gave us the numbers of knives, and the numbers of all sort of basins, and you might say, who cares? One might say the numbers of them, one might say it's not important, why does God place it for us in his scripture, in his word? Well, it might not be important for you and I, but the Lord knows those vessels that once was used in the city of Jerusalem to serve him, and now they find those vessels in Babel, and God made a note in the word that those vessels were important for him, and he gives us even the whole number, notice in verse 11, in the last verse of this chapter, it says, all the vessels of gold and silver were 5,400, all these Shesh Batsar, which is of course we know that it is the man that is called Zerubabel, he brought them up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem, unto Jerusalem.

Now I want for a moment, just in a closing, to make some remarks about those vessels. The Hebrew word for vessels is the word Kli. Kli is singular, Kelim is plural. Oftentimes, the Bible or the Word of God is using this expression to apply it to God's people. In fact, you and I are in Scripture called vessels, that God would use us in the building of the house of God. We are either going to be vessel of honor, or we are going to be vessel of dishonor. We are vessels. Yes, we are part of the family of God, we are members of the body of the Messiah, we are sons and daughters of the Father in the assembly, in the church, in the ecclesia, but we are also called to be vessels that will be used by the Lord.

Just in conclusion, turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 19 to 21. those two letters to Timothy are very important letters to study because 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy was written in the time of decline, when there was a departure from the way of the Lord, from the ABC of what God had taught us already through his word. By the time that we arrived to 2 Timothy, the church, the ecclesia, is called now a great house. What does that mean, a great house? A house where there are all sort of things that are going on. And so we read in 2 Timothy chapter 2, the apostle is writing to Timothy and he says in verse 19, and I'm reading, Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure.

Having this seal, this assurance, the Lord knows them that are his. And let everyone that name the name of the Lord or the name of the Messiah depart from iniquity. And then he says in verse 20, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth. Some are to honor and some are to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. Paul is writing, anticipating now the times of decline in the body of Messiah. And he's writing to this younger brother by the name of Timothy.

He says, Timothy, listen, I know what's going to happen. after my departures, many in the assembly, in the church, will become like a great house with all sort of views and opinion of men. And he says, Timothy, I'm going to tell you, I want to charge you, I want to encourage you, that the foundation of God remain true, it will never change. But then he's saying, the Lord knows those that belong to him. He knows, you see, no one is going to fool the Lord, he knows those that belong to him in the great house, the professing church, Christendom, we call it today. And then he says, let every man that name the name of Christ, the name of the Mashiach, the name of the Lord, depart from iniquity, to depart from it and turn closer to the Lord.

And then he says, in the great house, there are all sort of vessels. This great house is the professing church today. So in this great house, there's all sort of vessels. Some of them are gold and silver. These are the precious ones, the valuable ones. But others are wood and earth. In other words, there are vessels that are really not real. You put a match underneath and it burns. And then he asked a question. And he says, if any man want to be a vessel of honor, he is to draw closer to the Lord, to separate from that which is evil, and a vessel that belonged to Jerusalem.

And Koresh had to take them out of there and to bring them, to send them by the hand of Jerusalem to take them to the city of Jerusalem so those vessels are going to be used for the glory of the Lord. And this is really appealing to all of us because sometimes we are not always vessels of honor. Things creep into our lives influenced by things in this world and we are all susceptible to it. None of us is superior than the others. We all have this old nature and we are inclined to be influenced by things that draw us away from Yeshua the Messiah.

But the question is the question for all of us are we want to be a vessel of honor? If we want to be a vessel of honor we need to draw back to the principle that are taught in the word of God. These men and women of all that have gone back to the city of Jerusalem did not go to a great big massive temple. They have gone to a place where there was nothing rubble but they went back to where God wants them to be. You see we live in the days of small things. We live in a time God is not going to all of a sudden get us some kind of supernatural and everything going to be so great.

We are living in the days of Laodicean church age. The last days of the church. Soon Yeshua is going to come to take his heavenly company with him and he is going to come to restore the nation of Israel at the end of the tribulation.

What the desire of the Lord is we will come back to the principles that are taught in the word of God Aleph Bet ABC of the word of God and we all need this encouragement because unless the Lord encourages us we so quickly can go astray we are no match for Satan we are no match for the old nature we are no match for the world because we are always going to fall unless the Lord help us we need to be stirred up as the Lord had stirred up here those Hebrews those Jewish people in the time of Ezra and he stirred them up as we find it in this verse so precious to see

that he stirred them up and he brought them the desire to come back to Jerusalem to build the house of the Lord and as we are going to continue in our studies in chapter 2 and 3 all the way to chapter 10 you will see that even when they came back they had all sort of challenges and friction and opposition they constantly had it just like you and I will have if we are going to be willing to come back to the principles that are taught in the word of God and we cannot do it beloved brothers and sisters without the Lord's help and without being used to encourage each other and to build up

each other so we can be building the assembly the body of Messiah to be a help to the people of God may the Lord