From Babylon To Jerusalem

by Lindsay Prasher, Portslade, England | Category: Leadership In Remnant Times | Mar 1993

The return to Jerusalem of those of the captivity of Judah who were in Babylon occurred in stages:

1. Zerubbabel to Jerusalem in

BC537 resulting in the laying of

the Temple foundation in BC536,

2. Completion of the Temple build

mg in BC515, after the stirring

ministry of Haggai and Zechariah,

3. Ezra to Jerusalem for the beautifi

cation of the Temple in BC457,

and

4. Nehemiah to Jerusalem in BC444

for the construction of the city

walls.

Each has important lessons in leadership, but this article relates only to the first stage under the direction of Zerubbabel.

It is interesting to note in the first chapter 9f Ezra that the prime mover in this initial stage of the return was not a Jewish leader at all, but a Gentile monarch in the person of Cyrus, a Persian king who had taken over the rule of Babylon from Nabonidus. With the new regime came a change in policy: no longer was it considered advantageous to detain the Jews in Babylon, but it suited the interests of Cyrus to strengthen the Jewish presence in Jerusalem, and hence incentives were provided for a return to that city by restoration of the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had removed at the commencement of

the captivity, and by other gifts in abundance. This was by no means the first time that God had used an unbelieving national leader to fulfil His purpose: He had devastatingly used Nebuchadnezzar II in the captivity of Judah as He had sirrilarly used Shalmaneser V in the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel those many years earher. This time the Gentile leadership was, by contrast, seen in benign restoration of that which had been formerly torn away in war. Today Gentile powers are still being directed by God in relation to Israel, which nation is again in the centre of a controversy: the West Bank problem. It is easy to see how all nations could be gathered in anger against Jerusalem, as will be the case in the end time, when Christ will return in glory and might as their Saviour.

The clarion call for service in the house of God is still being heard today; may all of us, not only the leaders, do our utmost to attract as many believers as possible into that spiritual service.

Back to BC 537, the Gentile power having given the directive, the Jews under the leadership of Zerubabbel

took over the organization of the operation of the return to Jerusalem. Several aspects of the organization proved that this man was both capable and wise. In the first place, he knew the "heads of the father's houses" (Ezra 1:5), for even in captivity, the Jews retained their distinctive identity and their lineage, and prominent men were recognized. Not only did Zerubbabel know these men, but he was able to delegate authority to them according to their ability. This is illustrated in Sheshbazzar, who is described as "the prince of Judah" (Ezra 1:8), and who was given charge of the very valuable vessels of the house of the Lord, numbering 5400 in total, which he received from Mithredath, acting for Cyrus. Sheshbazzar was thus responsible for this treasure over the perilous journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, which was likely to have taken about four months. Such was the task which he undertook and saw through to a successful conclusion. No less today, the churches of God need good leaders who are willmg to delegate authority to capable men under them, men who will efficiently see tasks through to completion.

Zerubbabel and his associated under-leaders also had a good knowledge of the people in their care, for throughout the captivity, as had been their former practice, they meticulously kept records of genealogies and therefore of numbers of families and of individual persons, separately for the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Hence it was relatively easy for a list, such as is recorded in Ezra chapter 2, to be drawn up of those who decided to return to Jerusalem. It is clear that it was not only the leaders who had access to this informafion, but each family enjoyed the same, and was able to demonstrate kinship with Israel, in contrast to others who could not (Ezra

2:59).

A similar truth is illustrated in the account of the children of the priests:

only those who could prove Levitical kinship were allowed to "eat of the most holy things", as recorded in Ezra 2:63. This principle would seem to have its counterpart in New Testament teaching, that the holy priesthood, in the divine reckoning, is associated with the house of God, as given in 1 Peter 2:5.

If any failure can be attributed to the leadership under Zerubbabel, it would appear to be in the degree of stirring engendered in the people, as judged by the relatively small proportion of those who responded to the call to return to Jerusalem. Jeremiah 52:30 informs that a total of 4600 prisoners had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar in three stages of captivity. Conservatively, this number might be thought of as representing 1000 families who would bear children. Seventy years of captivity would cover about three generations. Assuming six children on average per family, three boys and three girls, the population of the 1000 families would have risen to 80,000 in that time. Of these, only 42,360 responded (Ezra 2:64): the rest were

content to stay in Babylon; for these the call to the service of the house of God presumably meant very little. The clarion call to service in the house of God is still being heard today; may all of us, not only the leaders, do our utmost to attract as many believers as possible into that spiritual service for which there exists validation according to the New Testament pattern.

The greatest leader of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, set this pattern before His apostles during the forty days He was with them after His resurrection. After Pentecost they put it into practice, as outlined in the Acts and the Epistles. Paul was not present during those forty days, but he spent three years in Arabia (Gal. 1:11-18) where he learned directly by "revelation of Jesus Christ". What Paul received dove-

tailed exactly with what the other apostles received, each having the same source in the divine Teacher. The "holy temple", recorded by Paul in Ephesians 2:21-22, corresponds to the "spiritual house" of 1 Peter 2:5. All Christians should be exercised to respond to our great Leader's call into the Fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9), which Fellowship is composed of all those in the churches of God seen as a whole. Though, in His mercy, God does not withold His blessing from companies not so gathered, yet it is clear from Scripture that He has outlined only one pattern. Hence the least we can do is to~.pray'erfully examine that pattem as revealed in the New Testament, and to follow it faithfully. May God give grace to this end.

Lindsay Prasher, Portslade, England | Mar 1993
Leadership In Remnant Times