The Call Of God (Ezra 1. 1-3, 7)

by G.S. WEBSTER | Category: The Return From Babylon | Feb 1956

The captivity in Babylon, which lasted roughly for seventy years, as Jeremiah had foretold, is a decisive event in Old Testament history. In Jeremiah 29.10, 11, we read, "For thus saith the LORD, After seventy years be accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end."

These words gave hope to the godly, who were in captivity in Babylon, that the LORD would open up the way for the return of His people to Jerusalem, to rebuild the house of God. They lived with this desire burning in their bosoms, as Psalm 137.5, 6, 50 clearly shows.

"if I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget her cunning.

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not;

if Iprefer not Jerusalem

Above my chief joy."

The joyful day came, when the proclamation of Cyrus, the Persian king, was heard by those whose spirits God had stirred (Ezra 1). Like Abraham of old, they went out in faith, but unlike Abraham they knew where they were going, and, moreover, what they intended doing. The call of God to His children will always, if obeyed, bring them out to where the Lord would have them be, according to His Word.

The call of God is bound up with the place of divine choice. They could only build for God in the place that He had chosen: as it is written, "Unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His Name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come" (Deuteronomy 12.5). How fittingly do the words of Solomon, in 1 Kings 8.46-53, suit this people in their present straits I

A most important matter in any divine movement is the need for leadership. So when the LORD stirred up the spirits of these willing hearted men, He had men prepared to take the lead, men of the calibre of Sheshbazzar (or Zerubbabel) and Jeshua and others.

"For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,

For that the people offered themselves willingly,

Bless ye the LORD" (Judges 5.2).

A comparatively small number volunteered to make the toilsome and dangerous journey. For it is well to remember that these people were but a remnant of a remnant. Many years before this captivity, the ten tribes were carried away into Assyria. Nevertheless in this small remnant the LORD found pleasure. Many preferred to stay in Babylon rather than face the hazards that lay before this people. After all, in Babylon they had comfortable homes, they had a good measure of security. Jerusalem was a long way off, and moreover it was laid waste and its gates were burned with fire, and the house of God was in ruins.

Only divinely created zeal, coupled with the knowledge of the will of God, and faith, would cause men to return to live and work under such conditions, even though they were handicapped in Babylon. When asked to sing the songs of Zion, they said, "How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?"

"By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion" (Psalm 137. 1, 6).

It was better for them to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. How dreadful it would be for them, if when the LORD stirred their spirits they did not respond.

Another important point to remember was the need of gifts from a willing-hearted people if God's house was to be rebuilt. They were strengthened by gifts of vessels of gold and silver and other precious things. Also Cyrus gave into their hands the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem (Ezra 1.6-11).

Although only a remnant, they sought out the old pattern:

"Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God " (Ezra 3.2).

No new revelation was given to them. It was a return to the law of Moses. Similarly today, there must be a return to "the Faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 8).

Another important point to remember is the unity of the remnant expressed in their joint responsibility. We have the list of names given in chapter 2, comprising priests and Levites, singers and porters, etc. This list would remind us of the names in Acts 1.12-15. Peter and John and James and the others with the women-a multitude of names of those who were together. Then in Ezra 3.1 we find the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem to hear the words of the Lord and to put into practice what was written.

It is said that history repeats itself; if so, then we have a counterpart to this movement, in the movement of over sixty years ago, when the Lord in mercy stirred up the spirits of men who had the knowledge of His will regarding His house and kindred truths, and came forth at the call of God, to rebuild for God. Again it was a corning-out in faith, leaving good friends, and in some cases, good prospects. Could godly men and women listen to the word of the Lord saying: "Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you," treat such a word lightly?

The Churches of God which together once formed the house of God had long ceased to exist. The apostle Paul's warning had come to pass: "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20.29, 30). Later he wrote of Hymenaeus and Philetus as being "Men who concerning the truth have erred," and added, "Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His: and, Let every one that nameth the Name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness" (2 Timothy 2.18, 19).

It is on record concerning some who separated at the inception of the present fellowship (see "The Search for the Truth of God", page 52). that they wrote "We have not taken this step without much prayer and waiting upon the Lord for guidance, at the same time seeking to discharge our responsibility to each saint, so that they may with us intelligently act before the Lord. It is a matter of great sorrow to us to have to separate from many children of God who are in this position, but refuse to leave it. At the same time we pray that the Lord will deliver all godly ones from the snare into which, perhaps unknown to themselves, they have been led captive."

Those that love the Lord will hate Babylon, for God hates her. His word in a coming day to His own is: "Come forth, My people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18.4).

"Light and repentance give

Those who are unaware,

Dark error binds their feet

In Satan's subtle snare;

Unfold Thy way of Unity,

Show them the one Community."

G.S. WEBSTER | Feb 1956
The Return From Babylon