Chapter 49—In the Days of Queen Esther
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Under the favor shown them by Cyrus, nearly fifty thousand of the
children of the captivity had taken advantage of the decree permitting
their return. These, however, in comparison with the hundreds of
thousands scattered throughout the provinces of Medo-Persia, were
but a mere remnant. The great majority of the Israelites had chosen
to remain in the land of their exile rather than undergo the hardships
of the return journey and the re-establishment of their desolated cities
and homes.
A score or more of years passed by, when a second decree, quite
as favorable as the first, was issued by Darius Hystaspes, the monarch
then ruling. Thus did God in mercy provide another opportunity for the
Jews in the Medo-Persian realm to return to the land of their fathers.
The Lord foresaw the troublous times that were to follow during the
reign of Xerxes,—the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther,—and He not
only wrought a change of feeling in the hearts of men in authority, but
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also inspired Zechariah to plead with the exiles to return.
“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north,” was the
message given the scattered tribes of Israel who had become settled
in many lands far from their former home. “I have spread you abroad
as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O
Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the
Lord of hosts; After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which
spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.
For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a
spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath
sent me.”
Zechariah 2:6-9
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It was still the Lord’s purpose, as it had been from the beginning,
that His people should be a praise in the earth, to the glory of His
name. During the long years of their exile He had given them many
opportunities to return to their allegiance to Him. Some had chosen to
listen and to learn; some had found salvation in the midst of affliction.
Many of these were to be numbered among the remnant that should
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