Question 1

What is happening in this passage about Cyrus and the return to Jerusalem?

Accepted Answer

This passage describes the start of God bringing His people home from exile. After many years in a foreign land, God moves the heart of Cyrus, the Persian king, to issue a public order. He says that the God of heaven has given him his kingdoms and has charged him to build a house for God in Jerusalem. So he invites any of God’s people who are willing to go back and rebuild the temple. Those who stay are told to support them with silver, gold, goods, animals, and freewill offerings.

Question 2

Who is Cyrus in this passage, and why is he important?

Accepted Answer

Cyrus is the king of Persia who now rules over Babylon and many other lands. He is not from Israel, yet God uses him in a key way. God stirs his spirit so that he recognizes the God of heaven and acts on God’s purpose. Cyrus announces that God has given him his kingdoms and has charged him to build a house in Jerusalem. By giving this command and allowing the Jews to go home and rebuild the temple, Cyrus becomes the ruler God uses to end the exile and begin the restoration.

Question 3

What does it mean that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus?

Accepted Answer

When the passage says the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, it means God worked inside the king’s heart and mind so that he wanted to do what God planned. Cyrus did not come up with this idea on his own or from political plans alone. God turned his thoughts toward Jerusalem and the temple and made him eager to act. This shows that God rules even over powerful rulers and can bend their choices toward His promises, like bringing His people back after seventy years of captivity.

Question 4

How did this fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah?

Accepted Answer

God had said beforehand that His people would serve a foreign king for seventy years and then He would bring them back to their land. When Cyrus became ruler over Babylon and made this decree, those promised years were coming to an end. By moving Cyrus to send the Jews home and to support rebuilding the temple, God was keeping the promise He had spoken long before. The return was not an accident of history. It was God acting at the right time so that His word about exile and return would come true just as He had said.

Question 5

Why were people who stayed behind told to give silver, gold, and goods?

Accepted Answer

The command about giving silver, gold, goods, and animals was God’s way, through Cyrus, of making sure the returning people had what they needed. Many who wanted to go back likely lacked the means for a long journey and for starting life again in a ruined city. So those who stayed, whether neighbors from other nations or wealthier Jews who did not yet go, were told to strengthen the hands of the travelers. Their gifts covered travel, basic needs, and offerings for God’s house in Jerusalem.

Question 6

Who went up to rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem?

Accepted Answer

The passage says that the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites, rose up to go. It also adds that everyone whose spirit God had raised joined in. So it was not just leaders, but many families whose hearts God stirred with desire and courage to leave settled lives in Babylon. They chose a hard and uncertain road back to a ruined land because God had put it in them to rebuild His house in Jerusalem and restart worship there.

Question 7

What does this teach about God’s control over kings and nations?

Accepted Answer

This story shows that God is not limited by borders or by powerful rulers. He moves the spirit of Cyrus, the strongest king of that time, to serve His purpose for Israel. Cyrus even says that the God of heaven has given him his kingdoms. The passage shows that God can guide the decisions of rulers, open doors that seemed shut, and line up events so that His promises happen right on time. Even when God’s people are under foreign rule, He remains in charge of history and can use any person He chooses.

Question 8

How did the neighbors strengthen the hands of those returning to Jerusalem?

Accepted Answer

The neighbors, described as all who were around the returning Jews, helped in very practical ways. They gave vessels of silver, gold, goods, animals, and other precious things. These gifts would help with travel costs, setting up homes, and serving God in the rebuilt temple. Some likely gave willingly out of respect or fear, others perhaps to please the new king, but behind it all God was at work. Their generosity meant the returning people were not empty-handed but were supplied for the work ahead.

Question 9

How can this passage encourage someone today who feels far from God?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows that God does not forget His people, even when they have been far from home for a long time. The exiles had spent decades in a foreign land, yet God remembered His promise and acted at the right time. He stirred a king’s heart and the hearts of ordinary people to begin again. For someone who feels far from God, this can be a quiet reminder that God still sees, still keeps His word, and can open new paths back to Him and to a renewed life of worship.

Ezra 1:1

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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

The Proclamation of Cyrus

Cyrus’s Proclamation

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Ezra 1:1

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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

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The Proclamation of Cyrus

Cyrus’s Proclamation

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