Ezra 1:1-11

After seventy years of exile and divine judgment, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great issued a decree that the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem was to be rebuilt. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that THE WORD OF THE LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, THE LORD STIRRED UP THE SPIRIT OF CYRUS KING OF PERSIA, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom …. Cyrus himself acknowledged the source of his action this, stating, All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah (Ezra 1:2).

Historically, this is the catalyst for the physical return of a remnant of Judah and the reconstruction of a physical temple. A Christological reading shows that the decree of Cyrus finds its true and final meaning not in a Persian king, but in the King of Kings, who issues the ultimate decree of liberation and inaugurates the building of the true and eternal temple of God.

Cyrus, a pagan ruler who did not know the God of Israel (Isaiah 45:4-5), is called God’s SHEPHERD and His ANOINTED (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1). He was an instrument of God’s salvation. This speaks to the universal scope of the salvation that would come through Jesus. While Cyrus facilitated the return of one ethnic group to one geographical location, Jesus Christ, the true and ultimate ANOINTED ONE, declares a decree of liberation for all humanity from the exile of sin and death, transcending all national and ethnic boundaries.

The entire narrative of Ezra-Nehemiah revolves around this contested, often hindered, but ultimately successful building of the temple. This physical temple was temporary. The Gospels reveal that Jesus Himself is the true and greater Temple. John’s Gospel explicitly identifies Jesus’s body as the temple (John 2:19-21). He is the ultimate dwelling place of God among humanity (John 1:14). For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). The physical temple was where God’s presence was localized; in Christ, God’s presence is personified. Jesus, through His death and resurrection, became the cornerstone of a new, living temple not made with hands. This is the temple that Cyrus’s decree ultimately pointed toward: the Church, the body of Christ, built with living stones upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.

The decree of Cyrus was one of liberation and return from exile. It ended the Babylonian captivity and allowed God’s people to return to their Promised Land and their holy city. Jesus Christ issues the ultimate decree of liberation. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18).

The return to Jerusalem under Cyrus was a partial and temporary restoration. Jesus proclaims and enacts the restoration of all things, offering not a return to a geographical land, but citizenship in a heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20) and the promise of a new creation (Revelation 21:1). He is the one who leads the true exodus, not from Babylon, but from the kingdom of darkness into His glorious light.

Cyrus possessed a derived, temporary, and limited authority over a segment of the earth’s kingdoms. After His resurrection, Jesus Christ declared, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). The decree of the Persian king, which seemed so absolute in its day, is revealed to be a mere echo of the eternal decree of the King of Kings. It is from this position of all authority that Jesus issues His own great decree, the Great Commission, commanding us to go and make disciples of all nations, building His eternal, global temple.

Cyrus was a pagan king stirred by God; Jesus is the divine King who stirs our hearts. Cyrus decreed the building of a stone temple in Jerusalem; Jesus is the true Temple and the builder of the living temple of God. Cyrus liberated a remnant from political exile; Jesus liberates a multitude from spiritual exile for all eternity. Cyrus ruled with authority given by God over earthly kingdoms; Jesus reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth.

Pray that we may:

• live under Jesus Christ’s liberating decree and not be intimidated by the temporary powers of this world.
• be unified as the Church of Jesus Christ, fit together as living stones, and established on Him, our chief cornerstone.
• be empowered to go and make disciples of all nations, participating in the building of His eternal, global temple.

Soli Deo Gloria – to God alone be the glory! Rev. Luke Haisa