Ezra 1: Accept the Challenge to Leave Babylon

Introduction

Angelo Gargano continues a series of meditations in the book of Ezra at the Assemblies of God evangelical church of Turin (Chiesa ADI Torino Via Spalato). Having spoken about the possibility for God's people to begin again, he turns to a new theme: the challenge. “When you start again, there are always challenges to face,” and so it was for Israel.

The text is Ezra 1. Cyrus, king of Persia, allows the exiles to go up to Jerusalem to rebuild the house of Yahweh. For the preacher, this challenge is not only that of the people of Israel at that time: “it is a challenge for the people of God of every age.”

He observes that many people today live “a diluted, anemic, superficial Christianity,” in a time of showy religiosity, of evangelism that is often theatrical, “of a Christianity of applause.” He calls us back to the source, because only biblical worship honors God and restores the heart.

Message outline

1. The context: seventy years of exile

The chapter begins with Israel in captivity in Babylon. Six books of the Bible deal with this period: three historical books, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, and three prophetic books, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
These books cover a period of seventy years, that of the captivity and of the Jews' return to the promised land. Ezra highlights God's continuous work to preserve, protect, and advance the work of redemption.
One might think these events do not concern us, a modern people. The preacher believes on the contrary that we need this inspired book more than ever, so that our spirit and our heart may be led toward the holy God, who asks for worship that is true, respectful, loyal, and without compromise, with total obedience.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to God for the sacred and the profane to be confused.”

2. The challenge issued by Cyrus

“Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel!” (Ezra 1:3). It is a pagan king who issues this challenge, a king to whom God had spoken and whose heart he had softened.
Those who accepted were to expect sacrifices and hardships. The work of God often demands great commitment, and sometimes renunciations that many Christians are no longer willing to make.
It was not a vacation trip or “a biblical tour of the Holy Land,” but a dangerous journey of about 1,500 km (roughly 930 miles) to a devastated land and a razed temple.
The challenge is addressed to us as well: to return to Jerusalem, that is, to return to the real presence of God, to the fulfillment of his perfect will, and to do what God expects of a people who bear his name.
“Accepting the challenge, even with sacrifices and difficulties, is truly worth it.” The challenge has been issued, and it is up to us to accept it or reject it.

3. The glory of God had withdrawn

Cyrus opens his edict with these words: “Yahweh, the God of heaven” (Ezra 1:2). During the captivity, God was known this way. Judah had turned away from the Lord, Jerusalem had been burned, and the temple destroyed.
The prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of God leave the earth: “Yahweh's glory went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud” (Ezekiel 10:4), then it “stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23).
The most holy place of the temple was regarded as the place that held the presence of God on earth. The cloud moved to the threshold, then toward the Mount of Olives, and finally rose to heaven. According to the preacher, until the coming of Christ, God was known as the God of heaven.
Israel's first challenge was therefore to recover the blessed presence of the glory of the Lord. “It is terrible not to be enveloped by the glory of the Lord.”
The believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So we must examine our lives and check that the glory of God has not withdrawn. If it has gone, we must do everything in our power for it to return.

4. The passion for God had gone out

Passion, ardor, and zeal for God had almost disappeared. A few still burned for the Lord, but the great majority had gone out and lived a façade of religion, made up of a few duties performed with difficulty.
“A terrible thing for the people of God is mediocrity,” whereas the Lord calls us to a true and committed fervor.
The worst was not the distance between Babylon and Jerusalem, but the one that had opened up between the people and their God: “an enormous distance, far more than 1,500 km.” To move away from the Lord is to move away from his blessing and his protection, and the first victim is the family. Without the walls of God's protection, the enemy can do whatever he wants in the house.
Jerusalem and Babylon represent two levels of spiritual life. Jerusalem speaks of maturity, consecration, worship, and submission to God. Babylon speaks of sin, slavery, a fleshly life, idolatry, and straying.
Paul alludes to this when writing to the Corinthians: “I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly” (1 Corinthians 3:1). The church in Corinth was marked by conflicts, divisions, and immaturity.
“Are you living at a Jerusalem level or a Babylon level spiritually?” The preacher invites us to let the Holy Spirit make “this assessment” of our spiritual life.
The symptoms of a fading passion: we drift away from worship and praise; our love for God and for serving him weakens; we drift away from the Word, no longer reading it, no longer wanting to hear it, or keeping only what pleases us while rejecting what requires effort.
“It is easy to be drawn into Babylon,” toward a superficial religiosity, without motivation, without worship, without decision, without sacrifice, and without commitment.

5. God's hour has come

The glory had disappeared, the passion had faded, “but God had never changed.” His love had never weakened, and his concern for his people remained real and concrete.
Slavery in Babylon was part of God's discipline, but the Lord never turns his gaze away from his people. “God did not save you to destroy you, God saved you to take care of you.”
In hard times, rather than asking “why, Lord?”, the preacher invites us to examine our lives. It is not always the case, but it can happen that we have moved away from the presence of God and have become easy prey for the enemy.
“His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor for a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). When the Lord allows trials, he always sets their limits.
God first stirred up the spirit of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1), who had authority over the captive people. “God sometimes uses unbelievers to do good to his children.”
Then “Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel,” the governor, that of Joshua, the high priest, “and the spirit of all the remnant of the people” (Haggai 1:14). “When God's hour comes, he knows how to speak to the heart.”
All this so that God's plans might be fulfilled: the people had to return to the promised land in order to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, promised since Genesis, who would bring salvation to the whole world.

6. Revival: God sends the wind, you set the sail

When God sends a revival, hearts are shaken, the spirit awakens, and people gain a fresh awareness of the presence and will of God.
Revival does not come from outside; it comes from God, who works within his children: “Revival is a matter of the heart,” something that begins within us.
Revival involves the sovereignty of God, who shakes and stirs hearts, but also a human part: an act of your will to accept the challenge. It means leaving Babylon, an anemic and mediocre Christianity, to go up to Jerusalem, the place of worship, praise, the presence of God, his Word, and obedience.
“We cannot create the wind. The wind comes from God. But we can set our sails,” so that this wind may blow and carry us in the direction the Lord intends.

7. Accept God's challenge

The conclusion is a call: accept God's challenge, decide to leave a fleshly and superficial Christianity for an enthusiastic Christian life of worship, submission to the Word, and service.
The preacher imagines in heaven a “hall of the heroes of faith,” like the list in chapter 11 of the letter to the Hebrews. He believes that the names of nearly 50,000 Jews who, on that day, accepted the challenge and left Babylon are found there too.
The journey lasted four months, over nearly 1,500 km that today can be covered in two and a half hours by plane. It required faith, courage, and sacrifices.
Who would provide for their needs, the materials, the labor? “If you decide to do the will of God, your needs will be met by God.” “He does not only tell us what to do, he gives us the means to do it.” The work of God done according to his will will never lack what is necessary.
Today, the temple to build is your life of faith. If you find yourself in Babylon, in a fleshly and superficial state, the Lord calls you to come out and go up to Jerusalem. Whoever makes this decision can count on his help and his blessing.

Key takeaways

The challenge of Ezra 1 is ours as well: to return to the presence of God and carry out his will, even at the cost of sacrifices.
The worst distance is not geographical: it is the one that separates the people from their God, and it affects the family first.
A fading passion can be recognized: less worship, less love for service, less room for the Word.
God does not change. When his hour comes, he awakens hearts, but he expects an act of will from you.
God sends the wind, it is up to you to set the sail. Whoever obeys can count on his provision.

Personal application

If you are honest, are you living at a Jerusalem level or a Babylon level spiritually today?
Which symptom do you recognize in your life: less praise, less love for service, a selective reading of the Word?
In a difficult moment, did you take time to examine your life before God rather than only asking “why”?
What sacrifice or renunciation is the Lord asking of you in order to accept his challenge?
Concretely, how can you “set your sail” this week so as to be carried by the breath of God?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What is the challenge in Ezra 1?

Cyrus, king of Persia, proclaims: “Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel” (Ezra 1:3). For Angelo Gargano, this challenge is addressed to us too: to return to the presence of God, to carry out his will, and to do what he expects of a people who bear his name, even at the cost of sacrifices.

What do Babylon and Jerusalem represent in this message?

They are two levels of spiritual life. Jerusalem, the city of God, speaks of maturity, consecration, worship, and submission to God. Babylon speaks of sin, slavery, a fleshly life, idolatry, and straying. The preacher asks each person: are you living at a Jerusalem level or a Babylon level spiritually?

How can I tell if my passion for God has faded?

Angelo Gargano points to several symptoms: we drift away from worship and praise, our love for God and for serving him weakens, and we drift away from the Word to the point of no longer reading it, no longer wanting to hear it, or obeying only what suits us. He invites us to let the Holy Spirit take stock of our spiritual life.