Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words silver and gold.
Reading
Ezra 1:5–11—Onward to Jerusalem
Keys for kids
- Not all the Jews returned to Jerusalem.
- The ones who did had their spirits stirred up by God.
- They went back to rebuild God’s house.
Questions
- Who prepared to go back to Jerusalem?
- Why did they go back?
- What did they take with them?
Notes
The story of Ezra, according to Benn, is the story of a second exodus as God’s people return from seventy years of captivity in Persia, and after this period of judgment it is a story of grace, forgiveness, and restoration. It is a story of new beginnings and a period of church reviving.
Having been released, by King Cyrus, to go to Jerusalem, the Jewish people prepare to go. Not all of them, but all those whose spirit God had roused. God is sending them back to rebuild his house that had been destroyed by Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:19) as they took Judah into captivity. So these prepare—taking with them gifts given by their neighbors and articles of gold and silver that King Cyrus returned to them from what Nebuchadnezzar had taken when overthrowing Jerusalem.
We might wonder why more people didn’t go. Ezra 2 tells us the count of those who returned in this first return was 42,360. Some, it seems, had become so settled in Babylon (and God had called them to settle in and seek the good of the city where they were taken—see Jeremiah 29:4–7) that to go back to a land of their fathers and mothers wasn’t attractive to them. Thankfully God moved these many people to go, so they got ready and they went. Onward, to Jerusalem!
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 126b, 84a
Prayer
- Ask God to rouse your spirit to seek the good of his house.
- Pray for the hearing of God’s word preached this Sunday.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.