2 Chronicles 36:22, commentary and pictures

In his first year of sole rule over the whole Medo-Persian empire after Babylon fell, dated to 536 B.C., Cyrus was moved by the Lord upon his spirit and heart to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and put it in writing permitting the Jewish captives to return to Jerusalem and rebuild God's house. Its stated purpose was that the word of the Lord by Jeremiah concerning the return might be accomplished, bringing the seventy years of captivity, desolation, and service to Babylon to their appointed end, reckoned from the first taking of Jerusalem in 606 B.C. to 536 B.C. The release also fulfilled Isaiah's prediction made nearly two hundred years before, naming Cyrus by name before Persia existed and foretelling that he would free the captives without price and build the house in Jerusalem. Cyrus stands as God's chosen instrument for deliverance, an idolatrous ruler who yielded to God's purpose and liberally provided for the return, in contrast to Pharaoh who resisted, with Persia receiving as the second universal monarchy its dominion directly from God in the succession foretold in prophecy. His edict was directed to the house of God and did not authorize the restoration of Jerusalem itself, so it did not begin the seventy weeks but was the first installment of the larger decree completed in the seventh year of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C., which marked the beginning of the 2,300-day period of Daniel 8.

Words and Historical Setting

The action belongs to the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, his first year of sole government after the death of Darius, dated to 536 B.C. It was his first year of rule over the whole Medo-Persian empire including Babylon, after the Medes and Persians took Babylon. The Lord stirred up the spirit and heart of Cyrus to accomplish His purpose. So moved, Cyrus made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing.

That written proclamation permitted and provided for the release of the Jewish captives. It granted them liberty and means to return to their own land and to Jerusalem. Its object was the rebuilding of God's house and temple at Jerusalem, an act having divine approval.

The background is Judah's swift decline under its final kings, ending with Jerusalem laid waste and the temple burned. There were successive rebellions against Babylon, repeated captures of Jerusalem, and Nebuchadnezzar's campaign, siege, destruction of city and temple, and deportation of the people to Babylon. This came in three captivities by Nebuchadnezzar: in 606 B.C. when Daniel and his companions were taken, in 598 B.C. when Ezekiel and many others were taken, and in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and many were taken. After the Jews had remained in Babylon for seventy years, God brought about their return to their own land through the Persian king who then ruled Babylon.

Daniel was then a leading official who showed Cyrus Isaiah's prophecy naming him and told him about the true God. Daniel himself did not return with the captives to Judea, probably because of his advanced age.

Seventy Years Accomplished

The verse states its purpose plainly, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah about the return might be accomplished. God watched over His announcement made through Jeremiah and brought it to fulfillment at the right time and appointed period in the first year of Cyrus. In that year He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and to put it also in writing, permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild God's house and temple. This was the promise Zerubbabel trusted as he faced the work of rebuilding Jerusalem. The decree marks the end of the seventy years of captivity and desolation and service to Babylon.

Those seventy years are counted from the first captivity and taking of Jerusalem in 606 B.C. to 536 B.C., so that since the decree was issued in 536 the period's beginning is dated to 606. Cyrus issued it in his first year of sole government after the death of Darius, when he ruled the whole Medo-Persian empire including Babylon. It stands against the background of three captivities by Nebuchadnezzar, in 606 B.C. when Daniel and his companions were taken, in 598 B.C. when Ezekiel and many others were taken, and in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was completely destroyed. When the seventy years ended, judgment ended and God remembered mercy in judgment and ended the bondage by moving the king's heart to grant restoration and return to their land. The event demonstrates that a stated prophetic time can be fulfilled definitely at the end of its appointed period according to ordinary human reckoning.

Israel's overthrow and captivity were the consequence of Sabbath transgression and wickedness under its kings, and the return therefore follows that judgment. Judea then lay desolate for fifty-two years, during which the land enjoyed the sabbaths denied it, fulfilling the Lord's warning about the consequences of transgression. The restored people gave renewed attention to the Sabbath law. The verse belongs also to the chronology in which Jewish jubilees and release years ceased after Josiah's reign, with the end of that reign in 607 B.C. marking the start of the period when the land lay desolate and the people lived in enemy lands unable to observe them.

Cyrus God's Chosen Instrument

Cyrus is God's chosen instrument to deliver Israel from captivity and restore the people to their land, yielding himself to God's purpose at the close of the seventy years foretold by Jeremiah. The Lord stirred his heart in the first year of his reign to issue a written proclamation throughout his kingdom, granting the exiles both liberty and means to return to their land, rebuild Jerusalem and restore the temple. God brought about that restoration and rebuilding after the Babylonian captivity by awakening His people to the need and by moving the Persian kings, especially Cyrus, to carry out His will at the appointed time.

God used rulers who were idolaters as instruments in punishing and restoring His people, and Cyrus supplies the example whose heart God stirred to issue the proclamation that fulfilled Jeremiah's word. In contrast to Pharaoh who resisted God's command to release Israel, Cyrus yielded and made liberal provision for the exiles' return. The two kings show that God's power can be displayed through human rulers either in willing service or in rebellion, and that people may choose whether to be vessels of mercy or vessels of wrath.

Persia under Cyrus as the second universal monarchy received its power and dominion over the earth immediately from God. This marks the first overturning of the dominion that had passed to Babylon, beginning the succession of kingdoms foretold in prophecy. Cyrus acknowledged that the Lord God of heaven gave him the kingdoms of the earth, evidencing that God ordained civil rule generally and not only rule over Israel.

God revealed Himself to Cyrus so that Cyrus accepted Him as God and proclaimed Him to all nations by proclamation throughout all his kingdom and in writing. In this Cyrus stands alongside Nebuchadnezzar, who had accepted Him as the one true God and everlasting King and proclaimed Him to all peoples, nations and languages, and Darius the Mede, who had accepted Him and proclaimed Him to all peoples, nations and languages. The influence of Cyrus for God and His worship continued to shape his successors Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, and his royal action concerning the rebuilding of the temple had divine approval.

God watched over His announcement made through Jeremiah and brought it to fulfillment at the right time in the first year of Cyrus. He not only stirred up the spirit of Cyrus so His word was accomplished but held the right hand of Cyrus to subdue nations before him.

Return and Restoration

The decree was God's gracious offer opening the way for all Israel to go up to the land where abundant blessing was promised. After the conquest of Babylon it applied to Israelites throughout his vast empire, including remnants of all the tribes.

The ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and the promised blessings of God, and the house of Israel rejected the offer. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others went up. Those who returned formed one nation and kingdom, later known as Judea. Because of that rejection the sanctuary shown to Ezekiel was never erected.

The sanctuary destroyed by Babylon lay desolate until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. Judea had lain desolate for fifty-two years, during which the land had enjoyed the sabbaths denied it under its wicked kings, fulfilling the Lord's warning about the consequences of Israel's transgression. The sanctuary was still to be rebuilt, its earthly ministry had not ended, and the heavenly ministry to which it pointed had not yet begun. At the close of the seventy-year captivity the exiles were permitted to return to Jerusalem in fulfillment of the word spoken through Jeremiah, but the Jews never again became an independent nation.

The verse brings the history begun with Adam down to the restoration of Judah from captivity, briefly rewriting all that went before in what was originally one book of Chronicles. It closes that narrative and begins an ecclesiastical history extending through Ezra and Nehemiah, centered on the line of Judah through David and the line of the Messiah. It is part of the promise Zerubbabel trusted as he faced the work of rebuilding Jerusalem, when God stirred Cyrus in his first year to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and put it in writing. It sets the returning remnant and returning captives in an attitude of faith and hope as heirs of such a history and promises, enthusiastic in devotion to the law, with the divine seed showing signs of new and vigorous life in the Land of Promise. Strict legal proof of hereditary descent was needed to allot the land, maintain the temple services, place officials, and pay tithes rightly.

Prophecy Scripture and Assurance

The release accomplished Isaiah's prediction made nearly two hundred years before, which called Cyrus by name. That naming came 176 years before it happened and 113 years before Cyrus was born, when Persia did not yet exist as a country. It foretold that he would release the captives without price or reward and build God's house in Jerusalem. After the Medes and Persians took Babylon, God moved Cyrus in his first year of rule over the whole Medo-Persian empire including Babylon to issue and record a proclamation releasing the Jews from captivity. Daniel, then a leading official, showed Cyrus Isaiah's prophecy naming him and told him about the true God. That first year is dated to 536 B.C., seventy years after the first captivity in 606 B.C. when Daniel and his companions were taken by Nebuchadnezzar, against the background of three captivities in 606 B.C., in 598 B.C. when Ezekiel and many others were taken, and in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was completely destroyed.

Cyrus issued a decree for the Jews to return from captivity and rebuild their temple, fulfilling the word spoken through Jeremiah, as the seventy years of captivity ended in 536 B.C. His edict was directed to the house of God in Jerusalem. It did not authorize the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem itself, so it did not meet the conditions of the commandment that starts the seventy weeks. It was the first installment of the larger decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, completed in the seventh year of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. That later decree marked the beginning of the 2,300-day prophetic period in Daniel 8.

The verse begins the closing passage of Second Chronicles that is identical with the opening passage of Ezra. It thereby joins the two books. It points to Ezra as the one who wrote Chronicles.

It brings the history begun with Adam down to the restoration from captivity, briefly rewriting all that went before in what was originally one book of Chronicles. It closes that narrative and begins an ecclesiastical history extending through Ezra and Nehemiah. That history is centered on the line of Judah through David and the line of the Messiah.

The verse shows God's care for His people and His purpose to save them, revealing that God had for this people a particular purpose and mission which must be accomplished. Divine favor depended on faithfulness of rulers and people to the covenant, and divine punishment was the natural result of unfaithfulness. God watched over His announcement made through Jeremiah and brought it to fulfillment at the right time in the first year of Cyrus, not only holding the right hand of Cyrus to subdue nations before him but stirring up the spirit of Cyrus so His word was accomplished. It means that when God takes a man or a movement in hand to accomplish a work in the earth, declares its mission, and outlines its results, no perplexity baffles His plans and there is no failure with Him, but the work goes triumphantly forward to success though evil men and devils combine to defeat it.