Ezra

Ezra 1: God keeps His word

Begin in prayer

Before we hear how God kept His word and stirred people to rebuild His house, please gather for prayer. Ask Him to help our family listen, and to show us Christ as we read about the return to Jerusalem.

Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

Isaiah 44:28

Father in heaven, please open our eyes and teach us from Your Word. Show us Your faithfulness as You stir people to rebuild Your house. Help us see Jesus and become more like Him. Please bless our family while we hear Your Word together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD stirs the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that His word by Jeremiah might be accomplished. Cyrus proclaims that God has commanded him to build a house in Jerusalem. Those whose spirits God has stirred rise to build, and those around them help with silver, gold, goods, animals and precious things. Cyrus brings out the vessels of the LORD's house, and Sheshbazzar brings them up with the captives from Babylon to Jerusalem.

As you read Ezra 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God keeps His word and stirs people to rebuild His house.

The return to Jerusalem begins with God's promise, before anyone lays a stone. Jeremiah had foretold that God would bring the captives home after seventy years (Jeremiah 29 verse 10). Persia now rules where Babylon once held them, yet God's word still stands. God stirs both the king who permits the return and the people who undertake it. In verse 5 He stirs the heads of families, the priests and the Levites. The temple vessels once carried into a pagan shrine are going home for worship. Their return shows that Babylon's victory never cancelled God's purpose for His people.

How does Ezra 1 show us that God keeps His word and stirs people to rebuild His house?

God stirred Cyrus to proclaim that His house should be built.

God's promise through Jeremiah stands behind the king's proclamation. The return begins with the Lord stirring Cyrus, so the king's power serves a purpose greater than his own. The God who kept His word through Jeremiah kept His greatest promise when He sent Jesus, the Savior He promised.

God stirred people to go up and build His house.

The same God who moves a ruler also moves the returning households. Going home to rebuild requires people as well as permission. Their neighbors supply the goods the journey and the work will need.

The vessels of God's house went back to Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar had placed these vessels in the house of his gods after taking them from Jerusalem. Their return reverses that loss and restores them to the service for which they were made. God preserves what the conqueror had carried away.

Memorise

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia

Ezra 1:1

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, why do I need Jesus to bring me near to God?

God “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia.” His promise reached a king's throne and brought captives home. The return began with His word, and the house was to rise because He had spoken.

Every promise God made finds its yes in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1 verse 20). Sinners draw near to God through Jesus, who made the way. At the cross Christ carried His people's guilt and suffered judgment for them. His completed sacrifice is enough to reconcile them to God. He rose bodily, and lives today.

Come to this living Savior. Turn from your sin and place your confidence in the Lord Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him receives forgiveness and is brought home to God. The God who keeps His word has given a Savior who brings His people near.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God kept His word and that Jesus is the only Savior. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for keeping His word, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so give each one time to speak if they want to.

Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,

Romans 15:8

Lord God, thank You for carrying out Your word and stirring people to rebuild Your house. Please lead each of us to repent and believe in Jesus. Give us hearts that listen to You, and help us trust Your faithful word in the days ahead. Amen.