Shabbat Shalom. Today we are going to start a new book and I would like you to please turn with me to the book of Ezra today in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament. The priest, the scribe, the Levites, or Levi, a man by the name of Ezra, is the name of the book. And Ezra is a very interesting, very important book because it was written when our people of Israel have began their restoration to the promised land, the land of Israel, and to the city of Jerusalem. and you can just imagine beloved brothers and sisters for 70 years these Jewish people have been in captivity in the diaspora in the dispersion galut we say in Hebrew and now God is going to begin to restore the Jewish people back to the promised land and to the city of Jerusalem and I want just by way of introduction in this ministry meeting today just to give you an introduction so that it will help us understand where these Jewish people have been at that time and how does that apply to you and I believers in the present day dispensation of the church age of the ecclesia age.

I want to begin by reading just the first verse in Ezra chapter one and we read now in the first year of Cyrus in Hebrew Koresh 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 and I'm going to stop here beloved brothers and sisters now when I was planning and praying and asking the Lord to help me in communicating this book of Ezra it was important for me just for my own sake first of all and of course for you all who listen to this to understand the background upon which the book of Ezra was written let me just remind you for a few moments just to give some highlights here to get some introduction that will help us to understand it and to appreciate the book of Ezra, later on Nehemiah, and later on Esther.

Now there are three books called post-captivity books that we have in the writings, in the Ketuvim, in the Hebrew scripture. The first one, of course, is Ezra here. The second one is Nehemiah. And the third one is Esther, the book of Esther. Ezra and Nehemiah were two godly Hebrew Jewish men whom God used them to bring the restored remnant of Israel back to the city of Jerusalem. And Esther, as we know, we just celebrated recently the Chag Purim, the Feast of Esther, was written while our Jewish people were remaining in Babylon, in Babel, after the process of Ezra had begun. But also, in those days, there were three Hebrew prophets that preached to the return remnant from Babel, from Babylon.

And those three are the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Those are the prophets who preached to the Jewish remnant who were back in the land in Jerusalem, built the temple in Jerusalem, built the wall around the city of Jerusalem. And then there is a seventh book that is very important. This is the book of Daniel. Daniel was also a prophet. He wrote his book while he was still in the land of Babel in anticipation of the restoration of our Jewish people back to the promised land. Now those seven books are linked with each other. Those are scriptural books that are important for us to understand and to read them together.

But of course, here we have before us in our ministry meeting today, this man by the name of Ezra and the book that we have here to study first. But now let's look at the background. Just to mention, there are a few things that I want, please, as we study these. First of all, I want you to go to Exodus chapter 25 and verse 8. The first point I want to mention today is Israel is exhorted by the God of Israel. He says to them in verse 8, Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. You see, when God took the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt, of Mitzrayim, He wanted to be the center of the nation of Israel.

He wanted to be the focus. And that's why He said to our forefathers, Make a sanctuary, Beit Mikdash, the tabernacle. I want to dwell in the midst of the nation. Now, if you and I would have been 3,500 years ago in the wilderness in Sinai, we would see the beautiful structure of the tabernacle. And surrounding the tabernacle, there were 12 tribes of our nation Israel surrounding the tabernacle, and God was in the midst. Just the same, beloved brothers and sisters, how our Lord Yeshua the Messiah want to be in the midst of the assembly. You remember what we read in Matthew 18 and verse 20, For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Just the same like God wanted to be in the center of the people of Israel, historically, our Lord Jesus the Messiah want to be in the center of the gathered saints. The people of God surround Him. He is the center. He is the focus. He is the one who gives joy to the heart of His people. But we know very well what happened to our people Israel. Israel, our nation, was warned by God. And I want you now to turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 4, please, in the Scripture. In this chapter 4, verse 23. And Deuteronomy chapter 4 was written, you might say, when the people of Israel were ready to enter into the land, they haven't begun yet, just as they were anticipating to enter into the land, God said to Israel, Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord, verse 23.

The Lord your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God has forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God. When you shall beget children and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves and make graven image or the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God to provoke him to anger. Listen what God warned Israel, and he said in verse 26, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that ye shall soon utterly perish from of the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess.

Ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And it says in verse 27, And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in numbers among the heathen, whither the Lord thy God shall lead you. You see, God warned our people Israel, and he said to our forefathers, listen, you are going to enter now into the promised land, but I'm telling you, Israel, I love you. I want to be in the center of you, nation of Israel, my nation, but if you will not submit to my word, and you will start to adapt yourself into the nations of the world, and become idol worshiper, I am telling you, Israel, I am going to scatter you among the nations.

And beloved brothers and sisters, God gave Israel a warning, and I would like to say this, that in the same warning He had given to the body of Messiah, the ecclesia, the church, warning that if you are not going to enjoy my presence in the midst of you, I will also deal with you. We can read that specifically in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, specifically in connection with the church of Laodicea. He says, you are lifting yourself up. You don't realize that you are poor and wretched and miserable. And I spew you out of my mouth, Yeshua the Messiah said there when he gave Yohanan the book of Revelation.

And he said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. Even the individual opened the door. I will come in and I will sup with him and he with me.

yeshua was outside while the professors were claiming to have him in the midst and he says i promise you i will spew you out of my mouth and hear what god is saying to the people our own nation israel i'm going to scatter you among the nations of the world and notice it says in verse 27 at the end a few numbers among the heathen wither the lord shall lead you it is the lord's doing in discipline upon his own people he scattered the hebrews outside of the land here he is only giving them the warning later on we're going to find out that he actually did so and you and i don't have to

go too far look at our own nation of israel every one of us who is jewish with a hebrew is an israel even here today really we are in the dispersion in the galut in the diaspora the nation of Israel is called to be in the promised land the Jewish people the land that God had given our forefathers but the vast majority of our Jewish people are outside the land even today I just want you to notice also in the same chapter 4 of the book of Deuteronomy look what he says there later on in verse 39 know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart that the Lord, he is God of heaven

above and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.

Thou shalt keep, therefore, his status and his commandment, which I commended you this day. He commended the people of Israel that Israel will be faithful to his word. But unfortunately, we find out what's happened a little bit later on in the Jewish history of our own people. So now we move along until we're going to get to the importance of the book of Ezra. israel have entered into the land and you remember there was an establishment of the nation of israel first of all yoshua joshua led our people israel to possess the land then later on we find out that israel was not so faithful in possessing the land then the judges shoftim came the judges of our people of israel because israel constantly violated the word of god god led them to one of their enemies they cry for mercy and help he released them from their enemy brought them back to himself and then there was a cycle in the whole book of judges which repeated itself again and again well finally beloved brothers and sisters israel said we want to be like the nations give us a king you remember first samuel chapter 8 and god gave israel a king and the king that they have chosen was a man by the name of Shaul.

He was a tall, he was head and shoulder above everyone else. He was man's choice and not God's choice. And Shaul, Saul, led our people astray until God raised a man by the name of David. A man after his own heart. A type of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, Yeshua the Messiah. Well, David was the beloved king of israel but david failed also we know very well david had a son his name was shlomo solomon solomon was a king that had such privileges he reigned for such a long time there was a lot of peace in the present time when solomon reigned over the nation of israel but there was a failure in the life of solomon that he was not like the way his father david had been and Solomon have sinned against the Lord.

And I want you now to turn with me to 1 Kings 11, verse 1. But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabite, the Ammonite, the Edomite, the Tzidonite, and the Chittites. Now can you imagine what happened in the time of King Solomon? He had 700 wives, 300 concubines. been influenced so much by the idolatry of the nations around him that because of this sin God says I'm going to take away the kingdom from Judah from the tribe of Judah because of what Solomon have done and so we read these chapter 11 and chapter 12 how God promised to take the kingdom away from Solomon was actually happened in the life of his son.

He was a man by the name of Rechovam. He was the king of Israel at that time. He ruled over the 12 tribes of Israel, but Rechovam, instead of listening to the Lord and to the counsel of the wise men of Israel, he was listening to the young men who were not telling him the word of the Lord. And instead of submitting to the elders of Israel he end up violating the word of the Lord and the kingdom was taken away from Rehovam. Listen to these verses 1st Kings chapter 11 verse 30 that Achiyah caught the new garment that was on him and he rent it into 12 pieces and he said unto Jeroboam take thee 10 pieces for thus says the lord the god of israel behold i will rend the kingdom out of the hand of solomon and i will give 10 tribe to thee this is verse 31 so brothers and sisters now what happened listen to this because of the rechovam in israel's sin solomon rechovam his son God took away the kingdom from Solomon and he gave it to another man.

By the time we arrive here to 1st King chapter 12, Israel is divided. Ten tribes on the north called Israel. Two tribes in Jerusalem in the south called Yehudah. The nation is divided. Israel in disobedience had been divided. They were warned by God not to follow after idolatry. They end up not submitting to the word of the Lord. The kingdom of Israel had been divided. And now God began to promise the captivity that he will scatter Israel to the nations of the world. Well, Israel were taken captive. 721 BC, the northern kingdom had been taken captive by the Assyrians. And why they were taken captive? Because every king of the northern tribes of Israel violated the word of God.

Every king was an ungodly king. He did not submit himself to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So in the book of 2 Kings, in chapter 18, it says in verse 11 and 12 as well, And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria. And he put them in Chala and in Chavor, by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. Why? Look at verse 12. Because they obey not the voice of the Lord their God, but they transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commended, and would not hear them nor do them. Here's the reason why God took the northern kingdom and he scattered them by the rivers of Gozan among the Gentile nations of the world.

Can you imagine? They were no longer able to be now in their own land. They were scattered abroad. These are the northern kingdom because of their ungodliness and because of their lack of faithfulness to the God of Israel. They did not obey the voice of the Lord. They have transgressed his covenant, and they didn't listen to his servant Moses and the word of Moses in the Torah, in the word of God. So the northern kingdom had been taken away. So now we have only the southern tribes, which is Judah and Benjamin, and some of the Levim remained in the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.

Now what happened to these individuals, these Jewish people of the time of those days, in the time of the kings? Well, they also didn't obey the word of God. In fact, there were only a few kings who were faithful to the God of Israel. The vast majority of them did not obey the word of the Lord, and they led the Jewish, the southern tribes astray. And so here we find out that now God is ready to send the southern kingdom to captivity. And this time, he was going to send them to the land of Babylon. And like you with me, if you don't mind, to turn to 2 Chronicles right now.

And listen to 2 Chronicles, chapter 36. In Hebrew, the word Chronicles is divrei hayamim. The verses that I'm reading is verse 15 to verse 18. And the Lord God of their fathers sent unto them his messengers, rising up bedtimes and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. This is the temple in Yerushalayim. But they mocked the messengers of God and they despised his words and they misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy. The northern kingdom was already taken by the Assyrians. But now we have the southern kingdom. These are Judah and Benjamin and some of the Leviim.

They remain in the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding area in the southern kingdom. And apparently he sent his messengers and they mocked them. They despised the messengers. And they despise his words. They misuse the prophets. And the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no remedy. The only solution is to discipline his people. And I want you to notice it says that the Lord rose against his people. They were still and are still his people. But he arose against his people.

you know sometime god in love for his own people he must discipline his people he must discipline the people that he loves so much you and i were part of the ecclesia of the assembly of the church of the called out one we are also responsible because god loves us but he always seeks to restore us to have fellowship with us and sometime it is necessary for him to discipline his own children whom the lord loves the book of hebrews tells us he chastened and he scourges every son whom he received so what's he going to do well you see what he did now beloved brothers and sisters because of this look what it says

here in the next verses here in the scattering of the people of israel the people of judah the captivity now notice what we read here in these verses that it says in verse 17 therefore he brought upon them the king of the caladees who slew their young men with a sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion upon the young men and a maiden old man or him that stooped for age he gave them all unto his hand now god have allowed this king of the caladees this is the king of babel melech babel the king of Babylon, he allowed him now to come and to deal, to discipline his own people,

the people of Israel.

Imagine how much it hurt the heart of God to do that.

The people that he loved so much that he wanted them so much to be near him, he placed them in the city of Yerushalayim, he gave them the temple and the services and all the privileges that they have had, and now there was no remedy because of the disobedience he had to send them away and i can assure you beloved brothers and sisters it hurt the god of israel in his own heart because he loved his people the people of israel and notice what also he allowed it says in verse 18 all the vessels of the house of god great and small and all the treasures of the house of the lord and the treasures

of the king and all of his princes all these he brought to Babylon to Babel can you imagine how the king Nebuchadnezzar and his armies who came to the city of Jerusalem and took from the house of God from the temple in the city of Jerusalem all the vessels and now you find out the vessels that were used for the worship of the true and living God now they are being left there in the house of his God in the land of Babel and so God says that's it he says there is no remedy and he sent the people of Judah now into the land of Babel and so we read in scripture according to

history beloved brothers and sisters three times came Nebuchadnezzar and took from the southern kingdom from the Jewish people captives to the land of Babel in the year 605 he took first of all Daniel and his three friends you remember Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael he took those down to Babel and many others with them and then in 597 He took additional individuals and some parts of the vessels from the temple.

He took it to Babel as well. And in 586 BC, he destroyed the city of Jerusalem. He burned the temple and the remaining he took away with him into Babel. And Jerusalem was destroyed. It was really a rubble. The city of God, the place where God placed His name there. This great nation that called Yisrael is now not there. And we just talked about it recently. The ninth of Av, Tisha'a Be'av, is a time in which God judged His very own nation whom He loved so dearly. And He destroyed the temple. Later on, by the way, in 70 A.D., on the 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, again, he destroyed the temple.

He allowed Titus to destroy the temple in 70 A.D. by the Romans in the city of Jerusalem. But it is amazing to think about it. What a history. Coming out of slavery, promised to come into the promised land, have every provision for the nation of Israel to just come and enjoy the things of God. And instead of enjoying God, they wanted to be like the nations of the world. Make us a king that we will be like the nations of the world. Instead of worshipping the true and living God, they adopted to themselves the idols of the Gentiles. And we read all these verses in the previous passages that we have read.

And it is fascinating to think of the history, The nation that is called out of the nations of the world to be a unique nation is now finding themselves in a time that we read Ezra. The vast majority of them are in the land that is called Babel, Babylon. Now turn with me to Psalm 137 for a moment. As we are introducing the book of Ezra, a very important book for us to study, Look what we read in Psalm 137. It is a psalm that must have been written by one of those who were in Babylon. And we read in Psalm 137, it is a very famous psalm by the rivers of Babylon.

See, now, they are no longer in Yerushalayim, in Jerusalem. They are no longer on Mount Moriah or Mount Sion. But they are by the rivers of Babylon. It says here, there we sat down. Yea, we wept when we remember Zion. Those Jewish people sensed the loss now. They sensed something is missing. You see, I'm Jewish. They would say, we are Israelis, we are Hebrews. We belong to the promised land. What are we doing here? By the rivers of Babylon. What in the world are we doing here? And then we find out in verse 2 that there we hung our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

And then why did they hang their harps there on the willows? Because there it says in verse 3, those that carried us away captive, they required of us a song. And they that wasted us, required of us mirth. And they said to us, sing unto us one of the songs of Zion. You see, the people in Babel did not really care for those Jewish people who were there. They didn't want to hear necessarily the songs of Zion because they did not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But you know, they were asking them in mockery. They were saying to them, you are those Jewish people that we carried from Babel.

Let's see you now singing. Sing us one of Zion's songs, they were saying to them. And you know, when a believer is away from the Lord, how can you sing a song that belonged to Yeshua the Messiah? Or how can you sing the song of Zion when you are in a state of rebellion and disobedience and you are there in Babel? They knew very well why they were in Babel. Because they disobey the Lord. And they find the loving discipline of God telling them, I'm going to take you out. As I warn you already, even before you enter into the land in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4, I told you, Israel, if you will disobey me, I will discipline you, not because I hate you, because I love you, and I cannot let you do what you want.

You must submit to me, Israel. I'm your God. I'm the one who delivered you out of the land of Egypt. But now they are in Baville. And the nation is around mocking them. They say, you Jewish people sing unto us one of Zion's songs. And you know, they made a decision. This is some of the remnant to realize, wow, we have failed our God. And then we find out, they said in verse 4, How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? I don't know about you, when we are away from the Lord, when we don't enjoy the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, we have no desire to sing about Him.

It doesn't matter what routine we're going to go through. That's why it is so important that our hearts will be pricked, that our conscience will be spoken by the Spirit of God so we will know how to relate to the Lord because God does not want to force on us religion. God does not want to force Himself upon us.

he want us to love him because he first love us as first john 4 says this so he never does it by forth he want to woo us he want to draw us to himself and that's why you can see that these people saying how can we sing the lord's song in a strange land and then they make a decision and we read here it's so beautiful and they said if i forget thee oh jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning and then they continue and he said if I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave unto the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy you see

they have made a decision here and they said no we are not going to sing the Lord's song there in a strange land to these people who do not care about the God of our fathers we're going to hang on the willow the harps and we are determining not to be mocked but we also determined not to forget the city of Yerushalayim where the temple have been where our forefathers have been there where God blessed our nation and set himself in the center of the people of Israel and that's why they said If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

You know, the right hand is what they use to play the music. If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its ability to play the music in the harps. And that's why they hung the harp there upon the willows. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, you can see now, it's an introduction to the book of Ezra, how the book of Ezra is so beautiful. It's a remnant of the Jewish people who made a decision. If I'll forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. I want to be restored to the city of Jerusalem. And you can see now how God is orchestrating everything.

He works in their hearts and the plan that God has, he's surely going to bring this to pass. And so while they were now in Babel, we find out that God's plan of restoration is beginning. And I want you to turn with me for a moment to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah in chapter 25 and chapter 29 predicted the length of time in which the Jewish people will be in captivity by the Babylonian. And so we read in Jeremiah chapter 25, first of all, in verse 11 and 12. Jeremiah was warning the Jewish remnant, the Jewish people who were still in Judea before they were taken away he said to them and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for 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 and the land of the Kaladins and will make it perpetual desolation.

Look at chapter 29 of Jeremiah, verse 10. Here's the promise of God. It's so wonderful. It says, for thus saith the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place. This is Yerushalayim, Jerusalem. Verse 11, For I know the thought that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, shalom, and not evil, to give you an expected end. See, brothers and sisters, See, when Yirmiyahu, Jeremiah the prophet, was warning our Jewish people who was then, before they went to Babel, he warned them, he said, listen to the word of the Lord, but if you will not listen to the word of the Lord, I'm going to send you to Babel for 70 years.

But I'm making promise to you that when the 70 years are over, this is chapter 29 and verse 10, When they be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you. And I will perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place. You know, this is tremendous to know how God is working in the hearts of his own people. He punish when it's need to be, but he's wooing and drawing them when the time is over. His promises are so real and so accurate. God is so faithful. Because notice what he says. I know the thoughts that I think toward you. Sayeth the Lord, I have thoughts of peace, not evil.

I want to give you an expected end. I want to give you an hope, tikva in Hebrew. A harit tikva, a hope that is in the future. I have a purpose for you. Again, I want to make here an application. we're going to see that the book of Ezra is really a teaching book for you and I today who are part of the church age see God love his people and he has a plan for them he wants them now to be restored back he says I know my thoughts I think toward you peace I have love for you I don't have an evil thought against you in fact the opposite I want to give you a hope I want to give you a blessing so when the 70 years will end i am going to accomplish the promises that i had for you i will visit you i'm going to perform my word that i said to you and i will cause you judah to return to this place i promise you this now 70 years he sent our forefathers to the land of babel there we just read psalm 137 we wept when we remember tzion and there they suffered the hebrews at least at the beginning as time passed by there was a large jewish community that remained in in fact if you remember when peter shimon petros wrote his letter he wrote it from babel because he himself later on moved to the Jewish community who lived in Babel, in Babylon.

And so now, there are two more things that I want to highlight that are very important. God knows everything about everyone and his plan is surely initiated by him. It was not a human decision. It was he initiated it. And so look what we find out in Isaiah chapter 43, verse 21 and 22. First of all, he speaks about Jacob and he's saying to them, These people have I formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob. But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. He's saying to his own people, he says, Israel, I've chosen you for myself.

I've elected you to be a testimony, a praise here for me to show my praise. but you did not obey, and that's why you're going to be captive. You're going to be taken to captivity. But interesting that he's mentioned at the end here in chapter 44 and verse 21. Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee. Thou art my servant, O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. And now notice he's saying in verse 28. Thus saith, this is the Lord saying of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid.

Now why is so important this verse about Cyrus? Because when Isaiah wrote his prophecy in about 700-750 BC, Cyrus was not born as yet. It's about 100-150 years before Cyrus, that is Koresh, was even born in place as a king of Persia. Now here, those who don't believe the Bible come to Bible believers and say, You see why Isaiah is really, as far as I'm concerned, not the word of God? Well, look, Isaiah mentioning Cyrus, but when Isaiah wrote his prophecy to his own people, Israel, Cyrus, Koresh, was not even alive. How did he know, Isaiah? That's what they say. But what we learn here is that those who believe that the word of God, the Tanakh and the Brit HaChadasha, the Old Testament, the New Testament, is indeed the word of God.

We believe that what God said about Cyrus, about Koresh, knowing everything from the beginning to the end, it is a prophecy of the Lord. He knows the man is going to use to allow the Jewish people to go back to the promised land, to the land of Israel. God knows everything, and he knows them by name. He called him Koresh. Cyrus, he was a pagan man, by the way. He was the king of Persia. But yet he called him, he is my shepherd. And he shall perform my pleasure. You know it's so beautiful because God is a controller of all the kings of the universe.

He is in charge. The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord. He can move about. He knows everyone by name before they were born. Long before he knows everyone even by his name. You remember what Yeshua said in John 10? My sheep hear my voice and I know them. He knows every one of us by name. He knows your problems. He knows your issues. He knows your needs. He knows every challenge that you're facing today. And He loves us. He loves you. He loves me. He knows everything. He knows us by name. He says, I know them. God knows everything. He is the creator of the universe.

the upholder of all things. And 150 years before Koresh was born and placed in such a place of kingship on the throne of the kingdom of Persia, God mentioned his name by name. He's saying, Koresh will be my shepherd. He will perform all my pleasure. And he says, even saying to Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, you shall be built. And to the temple thy foundation shall be laid. God made a promise. Even though he knows the destruction of Jerusalem is coming. He says, I'm going to tell you, Jerusalem, you are going to be restored. The temple is going to be rebuilt. That's the beautiful thing about the fact that God made that promise.

So, he promised this Kosh will be the one who will be raised by him to give instruction for the Jewish people to be restored, to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. He also had prophesied that the length of time by Jeremiah chapter 25 and 29, the length would be 70 years that our forefathers, the Jewish people, will be in Babel. But now listen to this one more passage, brothers and sisters. Go to Daniel chapter 9, please. And listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters, in chapter 9. Here is now Daniel, as I mentioned, he is in Babel. He's one of those Jewish boys with Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael who were taken captive to Babel, and now they are in Babel nearly 70 years.

He was one of these godly Hebrew boys who sensed the need of returning to Israel, to Jerusalem, even though he himself had never gone there. So in Daniel chapter 9, we find out that we don't only have the prophetic word of God, But we have the response from the heart of a man such as Daniel. In chapter 9 we read, listen to this. In the first year of the riots, the son of Achashverosh, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Caledines. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books, The number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem.

See, Daniel now is in Babel with the rest of the nation, the rest of the Jewish people. And he's reading the books. You see, the beautiful thing about Daniel, he read his Bible. You might say the Hebrew scripture. He did not have it like you and I have it on an internet. You can buy any bookstore. You can go anywhere and you have the Bible everywhere. You probably have one on the shelf, one in this room and one in that room. The scrolls that our Jewish people had long ago were really limited. They didn't have many. But apparently he was reading the prophet Yirmiyahu. And what does he find out?

Wait a minute. Time is passing by. We are nearly 70 years already in captivity in Babel. The time is running. And God had promised us that at the end of the 70 years, I'm going to bring you back to the land. So what do you think Daniel is doing? He began to pray. I hope you believe in prayer. I hope you understand the importance of prayer. I hope we all believe in prayer. Prayer is the delight of God for his people, where his people can share with him the burdens of their hearts. Prayer is the cry of the heart of a person to the Lord and telling him, Lord, what he or she have a desire, their problems, their issues, their needs.

We don't read prayer, but we pray. And Daniel prayed. And he went on his knees. And here you see a beautiful Jewish man praying. It says in verse 3, I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes and I prayed unto the Lord my God and I made my confession and I said oh Lord the great and dreadful God keeping the covenants and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments and listen what he says in verse 5 we have sinned and we have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and rebel even by departing from the precepts and from thy judgment.

Daniel began to confess and to repent before the Lord. Now I want you to notice that he was a man of God. You and I might say, what does he do in Babylon? He was a godly boy who loved the God of Israel. He did not do anything wrong. What does he do in Babel? You know, there is a principle that we learn in the Bible. The godly oftentimes suffer from the discipline that God gives upon his unsubmissive people. So Daniel went to Babel. So Moshe remained for 40 years in the wilderness because of the rest of the nation. The godly men and women suffer alongside the rebellious nation.

It's the same thing in the church age. The godly men and women in the ecclesia in this present time will suffer along with the remaining of the people of God, not because God hates them, but that's the way it is. They are suffering the consequence of those who disobey the Lord. And we find out now, Daniel, instead of saying, they have sinned, you notice that if I would have been praying there, I might have said, you know, they have sinned.

they have done wrong they did not obey a word but Daniel does not say they in verse 5 he says we have sinned and rebelled and have committed iniquity and we have done wickedly and so on notice verse 6 neither have we hearken unto thy servants the prophet which spake in thy name to our kings and our princes and our fathers and to all the people of the land he identifies with the rest of the nation and he says we are guilty we have disobeyed and so what we learn beloved brothers and sisters that here we have the whole process whereby we find the Jewish people our own people in the land of Babel we

find them there because of violation of the word of God and God disciplined his own people and sent them into Babel and now back to Ezra and that's where we are here in Ezra chapter 1 and verse 1 notice that exactly in accordance with the word of the Lord Ezra chapter 1 and verse 1 now in the first year of Cyrus Koresh the king of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stir up the spirit of Koresh Cyrus the king of Persia that he made a proclamation throughout all the kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying.

See, the book of Ezra began with exactly what God predicted about 150 years before by Isaiah, that Koresh will be his vessel to introduce the Jewish people to return back into the promised land and to restore the temple in Jerusalem. God's word is so precious that his truth remains. He is faithful to what he said and he is surely going to accomplish this. Now, what is the lesson that we're going to learn as we study the book of Ezra in relationship to us as believers in Yeshua the Messiah today?

You see, brothers and sisters, when the church began some 2,000 years ago, this is the called out one in the book of Acts in chapter 2, all were in one place, in one accord, gathering together there in one place, in one accord, one mind they had focused on the person of Yeshua the Messiah but as time passed by, in the 2,000 years of church history, things have change in fact the ecclesia the church the body of messiah became less and less occupied with the person of yeshua the messiah and all sort of things have crept in in the history of the church of the assembly and we find i don't have to tell you even

look today where we are today you find on every corner a building and everybody says that they worshipping Jesus the Messiah different names different groups different theologies some believe in the deity of the Messiah some don't some believe in the triunity of the Messiah some don't some take the whole Bible and acknowledge it some don't all sort of views in the professing church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in a sense what we learn that just like the history of Israel our own people who fail under the law the church fail under grace and far deeper because Israel did not have a complete Bible we have a complete word of God Israel did not have

the Holy Spirit in dwelling each believer we have the Holy Spirit dwelling every believer Israel did not have the Messiah yet we have the Messiah already finished the work israel did not have yet what they were anticipating and we have so much more than israel israel were under the law and i'm using this very carefully not to say that the law is not true but the church in the church age we are by grace are you saved through faith jew and gentile are united together in a messiah in the body of messiah we are so privileged today but we have failed so much deeper than ever Israel as a nation had failed.

And so what do we do?

The lesson that we're going to learn from the book of Ezra is that God wants hearts of individuals to be captured and to be brought back to where the foundation were, the city of Jerusalem for our nation, for us it is the complete word of God and to learn what the word of God has for you and I today and God would speak to us just the same like he's spoken to the nation of Israel and you will see how the remnant left Babel left the wrong place where they should have not been there and brought back to Jerusalem and they began to build the house of the Lord you and i as believers in

yeshua the messiah also exhorted to leave things that are not right with the lord and to come into the gathering center namely our lord yeshua the messiah on a basis of his word we are called to gather unto him to be occupied with him with the person of yeshua the Messiah and so here we learn in this book as we're going to study the importance of the lessons that we learn from Ezra who have been him and others have been used to restore the remnant of Israel back to the land of Judah and to the city of Jerusalem now who was Ezra you know we don't read about Ezra in the book of Ezra until

we get to chapter 7 in fact turn with me to chapter 7 who was this man by the name of Ezra and what is the meaning of his name the word Ezra in Hebrew simply means help La'azor means to help Ezra means help you remember when God gave Eve to Adam he said I will make for him a help mit Ezra can ignore the same name of Ezra but who was this man look at this what it says in chapter 7 of Ezra in verse 1 it says now after these things in the reign of Artaxixis the king of Persia Ezra the son of Seraia the son of Azariah the son of Chilkiah the son

of Shalom the son of Tzedog the son of Achitub the son of Amariah the son of Azariah the son of Marayot the son of Zerahiah the son of Uzi, and the son of Buki, the son of Abishua, the son of Pinchas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Arnon, the chief priest, Ezra, this Ezra, went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe In the law of Moses.

He was a scribe in the law of Moses. A ready scribe. He was actually from the tribe of Levi. According to here, he's called a scribe. Later on, he's actually called in the book of Nehemiah, a Kohen, a priest. He was a godly man. We're going to talk about him later on. who wanted so much to help our people Israel, and his name depict actually who he was. He was a helper. Ezra, Ozer. He was helping the nation, helping the Jewish remnant to be brought back into the place where the gathering center is Yerushalayim, and the Lord in the present in the temple in the city of Jerusalem.

And the purpose that the book of Ezra was given unto us It was given unto us an order that we will be restored into fellowship with the Lord. Israel will be restored into fellowship with God and not remain there in Babel and be restored and return to the place of gathering, to the truth that they have learned already earlier in the Word of God. I believe it is very, very important for us to introduce this book if we are going to learn from that and to grow in that Cyrus was chosen by God to be a vessel to lead the people of Israel to allow them to go back into the land and the book of Ezra is a book that show us how the Jewish remnant came back to the land and to the word of God now I'm going to challenge you and I'm going to close what about you and I are we different than the Israel of all no.

Israel had failed, you and I have failed. Israel have sinned, we have sinned. And we have to be very careful not to look at anyone else but search our very own hearts. And ask ourselves with the help of the Lord, of course, Lord, where am I? How is my spiritual life? am i enjoying the things of god have i returned back to the foundation that god had given me in his written word in the bible not what somebody else said not some teacher or some theologian but what does the bible the word of god says i'm not knocking down teachers and theologians but really there are so many teachers and prophets and on and on that is going on today in the church age that we need to go back to the ABC, to the Aleph Bet of the Word of God, and simply ask ourselves, where do we fit into all this?

In this vast views and opinions that exist in the world, in a professing church today, where do I fit in? And if you and I are going to return somewhat to the place, to the way in which the Bible teaches us about what kind of an attitude do we have are we humble before the lord or we have this pride and arrogance in us are we realizing that god wants our affection he doesn't want us to have an opinion about everything but he wants our affection and our love for the person of yeshua the messiah like daniel of old who wept before the lord and said lord we have wronged you we have sinned Lord, and now you have promised to restore us.

Lord, restore us to a place where we need to be. And just like Yeshua said in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man open the door, the door of his heart or her heart, I will come in and I will sup with him or sup with her. And we'll have fellowship together just the same as he wanted a restoration for the people of Israel some years ago when Israel needed to be restored. And so may the Lord help us and encourage us in the study of the Word of God.