Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezra 1-2.

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This is another challenging read.  There are archeological discoveries which suggest that Cyrus sought to ingratiate himself with any god which might exist by supporting the restoration of religious practices which had been suppressed by the Babylonians.  This lends support to the idea that Cyrus issued the proclamation listed here (or, one which could be legitimately paraphrased in this way).  Those archeological finds, along with other finds regarding the way in which the Persian Empire looked upon religious practices within the empire, also support the idea that Cyrus may have donated to the re-establishment of the temple in Jerusalem.  All of that shows that God intervened to bring His people back to the land which He had promised them.

The account of those who returned gives us an idea about how carefully they kept their genealogical records.  However, I want to focus on the ones who are listed in verses 59-63 of chapter 2.  The passage tells us that they had oral histories of being descended from priests, but were not in any of the written records which were available at the time.  As a result of that, they were ruled to not be eligible to partake of the priestly portion of the sacrifices until their priestly decent could be verified.  However, the ruling was not that some written record needed to be found.  Rather, they were ineligible until the opportunity arose that a priest could consult God in the matter.  It reminds me of how God confirmed in Acts 10 that Cornelius’ household should be baptized and welcomed into the Body of Christ.  We should always be open to God revealing that people should be welcomed among us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.