Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Post-exilic Prophets (1)
Pray Psalm 71.14-16.
But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
Sing Psalm 71.14-16.
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
But as for me my voice I raise to sing in hope and constant praise!
With saving grace my voice will swell Your never-ending grace to tell.
Refrain
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be!
Read and meditate on Ezra 1.1-11.
Preparation
1. What did God lead Cyrus to do?
2. What did He lead His people to do?
Meditation
The post-exilic period is the final section of our study of Jesus throughout the Old Testament. We would expect the prophets from this period to be looking back at Israel’s history—to learn from mistakes and recover the Law and promises—and looking ahead to what was yet to come. These prophets can summarize the primary ways that we see Jesus in the Old Testament—that is, as He will come and as the people of His day should expect to know Him.
Immediately the theme of Servant comes up. The people of Israel (Judah), captive in Babylon, needed one to deliver them and establish them back into the covenant of God. Cyrus, whom God identified in Isaiah 45 as His servant—His “shepherd” and “anointed” (Is. 44.28; 45.1)—was the man for the job.
I can’t help but wonder if some elder in captivity might have shared these verses with Cyrus and thus provoked him to put himself forward as the anointed servant of the Lord. But, as Isaiah explained, Cyrus pointed to the greater Messiah and Servant of God yet to come, the Anointed Servant of God Who would lead His people out of captivity to sin and the devil, into a new Kingdom and the glory of God.
Cyrus, the servant of the Lord, would bring the people of God into a new kingdom, to build for God a new dwelling place, and to proclaim to the nations that “the LORD God of Israel (He is God)”. As Joseph served Pharaoh, the good kings of Judah served God and His people, and the suffering Servant to come would redeem God’s people, so Cyrus, the anointed servant of the Lord, brought God’s blessings to His people as His chosen servant.
Precisely as Jesus, God’s Messiah and Servant, would do for us and all who believe (Phil. 2.5-11).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Cyrus, the servant of the LORD, wanted all to understand that God’s restoration of His people would take place in Judah. Within his proclamation (Ezra 1.2-4) and the remaining verses, (vv. 5-11) we read the following: at Jerusalem in Judah, to Jerusalem in Judah, in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem, from Jerusalem, and to Jerusalem. He made sure we did not mistake it for Toledo, Ohio.
Although the Servant of the LORD, Jesus Christ, roamed throughout all the land of the twelve tribes, ministering and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (Mk. 1.14, 15), His birth and death took place in Judah—Bethlehem and Jerusalem. He was, indeed, The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David Who prevailed over death to win life for Himself and for His people (Rev. 5.5).
Biblical Jerusalem was the focus of much of God’s earthly activity. And for which Jesus’ heart ached: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23.37)
God’s promise to the Babylonian captives—pertaining to their imminent return to Jerusalem—was this:
“‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you’, says the LORD, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope…I will be found by you…and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you…and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive’” (Jer. 29.11, 14).
And He holds out that same promise from the past, to those present, and future who call upon Him.
“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29.12, 13).
“Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me” (Is. 45.21).
“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!
That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath” (Is. 45.22, 23).
And indeed, yes. There He is! This One’s Name is Jesus:
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the Name which is above every name,
that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2.9-11).
JESUS of Bethlehem and Jerusalem—The Servant of the LORD.
Reflection
1. Jesus’ disciples follow His example. What does that mean for you as a servant to the people in your Personal Mission Field?
2. Jesus said that He came not to be served but to serve. How did He do that?
3. Whom will you serve today with the love of Jesus? How?
Whatever good we do, is owing to the grace of God. Our spirits naturally bow down to this earth and the things of it; if they move upward in any good affection or good actions, it is God who raises them. The calls and offers of the gospel are like the proclamation of Cyrus. Those bound under the power of sin, may be made free by Jesus Christ. Whosoever will, by repentance and faith, return to God, Jesus Christ has opened the way for him, and raises him out of the slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ezra 1.8-11
Pray Psalm 71.17-22.
Thank God for all His faithful servants and prophets, who have helped us see Jesus as Servant of the LORD. Pray that, like Jesus, you may have the mind and heart of a servant, to spread His grace to the people you will encounter today.
Sing Psalm 17.17-22.
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
O LORD, I praise Your righteousness Who me from youth have taught and blessed.
Forsake me not when I am old, ’til I Your mercies all have told!
Refrain
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be!
Your righteous deeds are great and true. O God, there is no one like You!
Though many troubles I have seen, You will revive my soul again!
Refrain
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Last week’s Crosfigell letter called us to make sure we have the right priorities. And in our ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, we pray for the work of one-anothering And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
