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| An ancient copy of the Cyrus decree |
Now in the
first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the
LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and
also put it in writing, saying:
"Thus says Cyrus king of
Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the
earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in
Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him!
Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD,
the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. Every survivor, at
whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver
and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the
house of God which is in Jerusalem.'" Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and
the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred
to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem
A passage from an Ancient Hebrew History, otherwise known
as Ezra 1:1-5
Dear Yakov:
Thank
you for your kind response. But most of
all, thank you for speaking to that monster, the terror of the poor, Shad. I now know of my terrible mistake. I did not know that he was not to be
trusted. As you have seen yourself, your
offer of good will and partial payment of my debt has been coldly refused.
But being the instrument of my
horror is not sufficient for Shad. Two
more sorry souls have been thrown into our small box—Yudah and Yohann—and their
tales are much like mine. Yudah was
involved in some poor business decisions, for his partner stole all of his
goods, leaving him impoverished. Shad
had fronted him finances for the business, and when Yudah was unable to repay,
then he became my companion. Yohann,
like me, had a couple of poor years in his field, had even sold his children to
slavery to that evil creature, Shad, only to be captured himself when his
children were said not to be “worth” what Shad had paid for them! The three of us are closest companions, as
you might imagine. Sharing the same
bucket, exposing our shame before each other draws us closer than brothers.
Have
you heard of the psalm that is circulating?
Of how the humble before Yahweh will be exalted before the wicked who
cast them down? Yudah told me of it, and
it is exhilarating! In it, I can see
Yahweh looking down on my imprisonment and having a heart of compassion. He looks at me, at my suffering wife, at the
disaster that is my life and has tears in his eyes. Then he glances over at oppressor, at his
arrogance before the Creator of All, thinking that he can crush the poor under
his thumb. The Mighty One laughs at him
in derision, mocking his supposed strength.
Then the Lord of all nations comes down and crushes the oppressor,
granting to Yohann, Yudah and myself all the land that once belonged to
him. How I long for that day. I seek our God daily for the redemption from
slavery and a restoration of His mercy.
Adonai, hear our prayers of deliverance!
As
to the other matter you mentioned, Yakov, yes I have heard some of King Cyrus’
great mercy. His greatness on the earth
cannot be excelled, except by the mercy of our One in Heaven!17 To allow our sorrowing people a release back
to the land of our fathers is a gift unsurpassed by any other emperor. I can feel the excitement of your letter to
me of your preparations of return, of the gathering of your wealth to prepare
for the journey to come. It must be a
hardship, indeed, to attempt to travel such a great distance with so many flocks
and stored crops! It will almost be like
you at the head of a small army, only less manageable! I rejoice with you in your fortune from the
Most High!
I
can’t help but think of Cyrus’ true plan.
When he received the empire from the hands of Nebuchadnezzar’s
descendents, he took on the problems that the Great Emperor left. A huge land, peppered with expensive refugee
camps all over the world. The Assyrians
scattered among the speakers of Ugarit , the
Sidonians at the Sea of Reeds and the Hebrews in Babylonia
itself. The whole world was as a cloth
cut up and then reassembled. Cyrus,
however, is a man of order, as appointed to him by the Most High. So he sends back all the refugees, and
suddenly he is Savior of the world, the Anointed One of all the lowly
peoples. Then, instead of having to
constantly put down rebellions throughout the world, half the world is indebted
to him, ready to defend his name before all.
Ah,
Yakov! This discussion of world politics
reminds me of sitting at my grandfather’s knee, as he discussed with my father
the machinations of Nebuchadnezzar, tearing apart the necessity of the Old
Emperor to crush nations in order to be great!
I am so happy that you and yours are allowed to return to the old land
and will be apportioned some of the land.
Glad that for you the psalm is being fulfilled in your own lifetime!
But
as for me, the salvation of Cyrus is still distant from me. For as you are released from the refugee
camps, I still sit in this cell. Even as
Yahweh has blessed you fully in your years of exile, so I have been
forsaken. I am without son, without
land, without crops, without flocks. All
has been stolen from me. And as you
establish your houses and make ready to rebuild the temple with Zerubbabel and
Yeshua where the prayers of our people can finally reach our God, praising
Cyrus for his glory, I shall still be here in the dark, still smelling like
shit, still sweating in the day and freezing in the night, still slowly
starving, my only companions the forsaken and rejected.
Please
do not think I remain in bitterness. I
truly rejoice at God’s blessing for you.
I speak so dramatically so that when the temple is rebuilt you will not
forget your friend’s son, still remaining far distant in Babylon
Your dear friend,
Adoniyah
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