Ezra 9:8    He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

     

When Israel were carried off into exile and Jerusalem was burnt to the ground – including the Temple – they thought it was the end of Israel. To all intents and purposes it looked like God had wound up the nation and brought it to an end. They were carried off into exile and their capital city and the place of encounter with God removed. It looked like there was no future for Israel. However God had a purpose and it did not include the end of Israel. Through Jeremiah He promised restoration within seventy years. Exactly seventy years after the Temple was destroyed, the new one was completed.

 

What many had not realised is that again and again, through the prophecies of the Old Testament, there is the promise of God that a remnant will be saved. Decades passed for Israel, and the Jews living in exile started dying off. Fifty years passed and then king Cyrus felt moved to allow the remnant to go back to Jerusalem to start rebuilding the Temple. Where did that suddenly come from? It came when he read the prophecies of Isaiah and saw his name and the Spirit of God moved him to grant new life to Israel. One moment it was just ongoing death of a nation, the next there was suddenly hope of a resurrection of the nation. New life had been granted. The remnant in captivity left Babylon with the blessing of the king and returned to the Promised Land. Who could believe it! New life was being granted!