Ezra 1

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who 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 the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.

(Ezr 1:2-6)

We pick up right where we left off yesterday. Here we see in the beginning of Ezra, that people are beginning to respond to Cyrus and return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. The difference here is that Cyrus’ decree contains some detail here in Ezra that we weren’t given in 2^nd Chronicles. Cyrus tells us as is recorded here, that those of the Jews who couldn’t go down to Jerusalem should still involve themselves in the work by giving of their resources.

So here we see a two-fold response; the heads of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, all of the priests and Levites, and those who had their SPIRIT MOVED BY GOD head for Jerusalem; those who stayed behind gave willingly of what they had. So, why were some moved by God and others not?

I think the answer is simple; God didn’t want everyone to go back. We need to remember that. It doesn’t mean that those who stayed behind were less godly, gifted, or spiritual; it just means that God had other plans for them. There will be times in your life when you feel a strong move of God’s Spirit upon you to do, say, or be something. Maybe it will be a type of ministry you are called to, and maybe it will involve leaving. What you don’t want to do is get upset when some of the people around you fail to share your enthusiasm for what you are doing. Don’t go thinking you are better than them; instead just realize that God has different plans for everyone. The key is not “why aren’t they being moved?!?!” it is “God what are You moving ME to do?”