by Rev. D. M. Macleod, Auckland, New Zealand
Text: “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, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1, v. 1-3.)
In 2nd Chronicles, chapter 36, an account is given of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The house of God was burnt with fire, old and young were slain and the land was left desolate. All this had come upon them for their sins. They had departed from the Lord, the fountain of living water, and they had hewn out for themselves broken cisterns which could hold no water. Their wickedness is clearly revealed in the words: “Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place; But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets . . .” Jeremiah was one of the Lord’s messengers, a faithful prophet whom the Lord had sent to them with His own precious Word. It is painfully evident that they hated him and they hated the Word which he declared to them. While God had a controversy with His people, and sin cannot be unpunished, yet the prophets were commissioned to make known that God had a purpose of mercy towards His people. “For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good Word toward you, in causing you to return to this place . . . Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.”
In endeavouring to consider the words before us, we would, as enabled, notice the following:—
- (1) The Word of the Lord.
- (2) The fulfilling of the Word of the Lord.
- (3) The Proclamation made.
(1) The Word of the Lord.
The Psalmist speaks of the great and precious privileges which Israel enjoyed, and which distinguished her from other nations. Among the inestimable blessings which God bestowed upon His people was the giving of His Word. “He showeth His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel.” (Psalm 147, v. 19.) In the verse before us we find that the Lord had given His Word to Jeremiah, and the prophet received that Word to declare it to the people. The Word which he published “by mouth” was the Word of the living God, as the Word which he wrote was the inspired Word of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God . . .” (2 Timothy 3, v. 16.) It is therefore necessary for us to consider that the Word which he declared was the Word of One Who is unchangeable. He is a God of Truth and He cannot deny Himself. His Word cannot fall to the ground. Every jot and tittle must be fulfilled because God is faithful to Himself and to His Covenant. What God has spoken must be fulfilled, for His counsel shall stand and He shall do all His pleasure. God Who cannot lie has given great and precious promises to His people and these are found written in His Word. He has made Himself known as a “just God and Saviour”, and therefore as One Who “will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him.” It is impossible that His Word would fail or that He would alter what proceeds from His mouth. Although the powers of darkness seek the overthrow of the gracious purposes of God, they must utterly fail because the blessed Redeemer, as God’s King “must reign until all His enemies are made His footstool.” The Word of the Lord therefore must stand, and the purposes of His heart must be accomplished. Nothing can frustrate His designs, and how encouraging to the people of God it is, that His sovereign dominion in fulfilling these, is emphasised in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
The Lord reveals in His Word that He exercises Himself towards sinners in a most holy and righteous way. His Word therefore will be fulfilled, either in mercy or in judgment towards all the children of men. None can say unto Him, What doest Thou? How clearly we find in His Word that He exercises His love and mercy towards some, while He visits others with His wrath on account of their sins. As in the case before us, Jeremiah received the Word of the Lord and he made known to his fellow sinners the mind and will of God. He knew the Truth and while he could not see the fulfilment of the Word of the Lord in every detail, yet he believed that the Truth would be fulfilled in God’s time and way. We are to bear in mind that the principles of God’s government are always the same. What is written in the Word is for our learning, and now, as always, “It shall be well with the righteous, and it shall be ill with the wicked”. What we have, then, in the Bible, is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and therefore, infallible and inerrant. If it were the word of a creature however exalted, we might feel that we could afford to ignore it, but when it is the Word of God then it is binding upon all, and if we ignore it we must suffer the consequences. God is not mocked and it is by His Word that we shall be judged at the Last Day. Sinners do ignore the Word of God. They treat it with the utmost contempt and despise the threatenings and the promises contained therein. They trample upon His Law and they despise the Gospel. Their treatment of the Word of God reveals the natural depravity of the human heart, and can in no way affect the reality of the things threatened or of the things promised. We have a clear case of man’s rebellion and sin in Zedekiah’s refusal to obey the Word of God. “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah speaking from the mouth of the Lord.” He hardened his heart and he stiffened his neck and refused to turn to the Lord. “The wicked shall be turned into hell” for “the wages of sin is death.”
How are we affected by the Word of God? Are we too, hardening our hearts? Do we refuse to return unto the Lord? Do we feel that there are occasions when we are free to disobey the Word of God? Do we argue in this way, “Is it not a small matter? Can I not be excused in complying with the world to this extent? Why should I be bound continually by the Word of God, so that my secret faults and my presumptuous sins are brought into judgment? Why should I not be allowed a little licence to indulge in certain sins?” The Word of God does not allow the least departure from the ways of God. “Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come,” because every sin is a violation of God’s Law which is “just and holy and good”. To us the Lord says, “If ye love Me keep My commandments.” His commandments are not grievous. “Great peace have they who love Thy Law.” There is a reward for those who by grace seek to give loving obedience to the Word of God. Such seek to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the Truth and thus to walk according to the principles of the Word of God. The Lord’s people are painfully aware of a warfare in their souls and on that account often have the cry of the Apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death.” How precious in their experience it is to be enabled by grace to say also, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The people of God will be chastised for their sins, but how awful must be the portion of those who go on in sin and are to be punished for their sins in hell for ever.
It was true with regard to the people addressed by Jeremiah that while they rejected the Word of God which he proclaimed, and abused him for his faithfulness, they accepted false teachers. Those who misinterpreted the Word of God and who deceived them were highly esteemed by them. What words can express the solemnity of their position! The false prophets brought forward their own opinions and views and wickedly misrepresented the Truth. Is it not all too plain that in our day also there are those who profess to be the ministers of Christ, who show clearly by their deceitful handling of the Word of God that they are in fact the servants of Satan. We should therefore be on our guard against those who misrepresent the Word of God. We must assuredly err if we misinterpret or misapply the Scriptures. Some of you no doubt meet with those who in their false zeal will endeavour to show that certain mistranslations and archaisms occur in the Bible which you have, and desire you to use a ‘more superior and trustworthy translation’. They are all too ready to introduce you to their “Bible”. We can assure you that, in the estimation of those most competent to judge, the Authorised Version is the most pure rendering of the Word of God in the English Language — “translated out of the original tongues.” Let us seek to be thankful to the Lord for this precious Word of His, and be ready to support those who endeavour to spread the Word of God. That is why we, as a Church, support the Trinitarian Bible Society which publishes the Authorised Version, and only the A.V. of the Scripture in the English language. “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.”
(2) The Fulfilling of the Word of the Lord
We have already referred to the truth that the Word of God cannot fall to the ground — that His Word cannot pass away without being fulfilled. “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever” and “He hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” All that He fulfils in time He purposed to do from eternity. As He rules over all He has the power to accomplish what is according to His mind and will. Nothing can possibly occur to render null and void what He, in His infinite wisdom, has devised. The fulfilling of the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah was of the Lord and for the glory of His great Name. “His Name alone is excellent”. He fulfils His Word according to His sovereign will and pleasure. God is altogether free and therefore the fulfilling of His Word does not depend upon any of His creatures. Men in their folly imagine that they are wiser than God and would dictate to Him. They think that God should act in ways which would be pleasing to them and that would gratify their carnal inclinations, but He is to be glorified in all His works and He acts according to the good pleasure of His will. All the records which we have in the Scriptures, of providence and grace, are the manifestations of God’s fulfilling His eternal purposes. It is He who raised one up and cast another down. He raised the “the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people,” and He it was Who poured contempt upon princes.
In the inscrutable providence of God, Cyrus was chosen to be an instrument in fulfilling the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah. The Lord stirred up the spirit of this king of Persia so that he made a certain proclamation at a definite time when that which the prophet predicted was to be fulfilled. We have the precise time given, “the first year of Cyrus king of Persia.” It could not be otherwise. The hour had struck, the day of deliverance had come, the time which the Lord had set. Have we not this most solemnly revealed by the Son of God that a time had been fixed, an hour appointed in the divine decree, when He should die and when He should be glorified? “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” That Cyrus before he was born was chosen by God to be an instrument in fulfilling His will can be seen in the prophecies of Isaiah. The sovereignty of God is surely evident in the choice which He made, and it is true to say that He is free to use instruments and He is free to dispense with instruments in accomplishing His will. This teaches us that His “judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?” We should also learn to be humble before the Lord and seek grace to be submissive to His sovereign will in all things. How great is our need that Christ as the King of His Church would subdue our wills!
The Word of God shows how the Lord can use the most insignificant instruments to fulfil His pleasure. Locusts were used to plague Egypt! He also uses the elements to fulfil His Word. “The winds and the waves obey Him.” However insignificant or however powerful the instruments may appear, it is for us to consider the hand of the Lord in it all. In order that the Word of the Lord would be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. “This was the doing of the Lord.” It did not happen by chance. It was ordained by God and consequently we find that this heathen monarch submits to God’s authority. He actually performs the duty which was required of him. Again we come to observe in connection with the death of Christ that wicked men were instrumental in fulfilling the purpose of God, as we read, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” While they were fulfilling the Scriptures, yet it is clear that they were guilty before God of killing the Prince of Life. May we be found fleeing to Him for mercy and for forgiveness.
(3) The Proclamation
We would notice in connection with this proclamation that the Lord was graciously pleased to use it in the fulfilment of His Word. Cyrus made the proclamation and also put it in writing. It was to stand. You remember that such documents were usually sealed, and the decrees of the Medes and Persians altered not. The thing was settled as far as they were concerned and no authority could interfere with their decree! The Lord, of course, to show that He ruled in the affairs of men, often overthrew their proud decrees. This, however, is a remarkable proclamation. It is remarkable in many ways. How wonderful that such a proclamation should be made at such a time and by the king of Persia! Are not the words used so altogether suitable for such an occasion? Are they not words which are fitted to convey to those for whom they are intended an impression of their great importance? Was it not a declaration of liberty to the captives? Did it not tell of the goodness of God? Was there not in this a gracious intimation for those who loved God and who thought upon His Name that He was the Covenant keeping God? Could they not discern in this remarkable providence that “faithful is He who has promised Who also will do it?” Again, behind it and through it could they not see the Lord “Who will not chide continually nor keep His anger still”?
Cyrus was bound to obey, and in a wonderful way he acknowledges God in His providence. The Lord had given him the kingdoms over which he ruled, and he was answerable to God for the exercise of that power which God had given him. “The powers that be are ordained of God”. When we think of the state of the world today, it is all too apparent that the authority of God is not acknowledged. The Lordship of Christ over the nations is not recognised. His Name is every day blasphemed.
Cyrus further acknowledges that the Lord, even Jehovah, Israel’s own God, had charged him to build an house for Him at Jerusalem — the place where He had put His Name — and the Lord would choose Jerusalem again. The king of Persia does not quarrel with what the Lord required of him.
We go on to notice that this proclamation was made in such a way that the people of Judah, who were in Babylon, would hear it. It was publicly proclaimed, and the people whom it concerned were identified as, the Lord’s people. They were a people apart — separate from others. This certainly applies to the true Israel of God. They are in the world but not of it. “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord”. To the people of God was this word sent. Wherever their lot was cast, whatever their form of occupation, whatever may have been their attainments or lack of them, this proclamation in a very special way affected them most intimately, most personally. The Lord was fulfilling His Word and they were now being addressed in the holy and wise providence of God, the God of their fathers, about things of the utmost importance and concern. Jeremiah had spoken in the Name of the Lord concerning repentance and concerning restoration. Had not they heard that the Lord would yet cause the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose? Was not this the time which the Lord had set? The words were plain, “Who is there among you of all His people?” Where are the Lord’s people? Who is on the Lord’s side? We can see that while it is addressed to “all His people” that it is also very personal. Some might say that it was not time for the house of the Lord to be built, and others might have other reasons for not answering the call which they heard, but it was not for one to say, “And what shall this man do?” Rather were they called upon to follow the Lord.
With regard to ourselves, where do we stand? Are we on the Lord’s side? Have we been born again? Do we seek the prosperity of Zion? Do we desire that the Cause of the Lord would be built up in this place? That there would be added to the church such as would shine as lights in the world to the praise of Christ.
Cyrus not only mentions this peculiar people whom God chose as His own, and for whom God had done so much in days past and Who was doing wonders for them still, but he desires that the Lord who is their God, would be with them now. That the people of God have been blessed by the Lord and greatly blessed cannot be denied. It is true, however, that the people of God are a poor and needy people and they are conscious of their need of the Lord’s blessing day by day. Not only do they desire the blessing of forgiveness of sins but they desire the blessing of the Lord to enrich them with His gracious presence, His guidance and His keeping. We need to pray that the Lord Himself would go before us and that He would keep us from evil in this dark and cloudy day.
They were to go up to Jerusalem to build the house of God. That was indeed a great and honourable work, but they were to proceed in a spirit of true humility and dependence upon the Lord. They were to engage in the Lord’s service as those who were set free to serve the Lord. They were to honour the Lord by serving Him in sincerity and in truth — as to the Lord and not to man. We do find that they went up according to the Word of the Lord and although they met with great opposition, still the Lord favoured them, and the day came when the temple was built and the Name of the Lord was magnified.
We too are required to serve the Lord and seek His glory. We should seek to maintain the cause of Truth in our midst, and should seek to have this zeal which others had for the glory of God, and prayerfully to do what the Lord requires, not grudgingly, nor of necessity, but cheerfully, as to the Lord and not to men, seeking the glory of His Name and the everlasting good of never-dying souls and the destruction of the powers of darkness. Have we that spirit today, that God’s Name would be glorified, His cause built up and sinners added to the Church, Christ having in all things the pre-eminence, for the government is upon His shoulders and He must reign until all His enemies are made His footstool.