In Ezra, chapter one, verse five, through the Holy Spirit, God stirred the hearts of some of His faithful people to return to their homeland. About fifty thousand responded to the Lord’s call to participate in this first pilgrimage to the Holy Land. However, others remained behind in exile, as in verses four and six; their purpose was to encourage and support those returning to the Land of Judah.
The same God that raised the Spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty to the Jews raised their spirits to take the benefit. The temptation was for some to stay in Babylon, but some feared not to return, and there were those whose spirits God raised by his Spirit and grace. Whatever good we do is owing to the grace of God. Our spirits naturally bow down to this earth and the things of it if they move upward in any good affections or good actions. However, it is God who raises them. The calls and offers of the gospel are like the proclamation of Cyrus.
Those bound under the power of sin may be made whole by Jesus Christ. Through repentance and faith, the people who return to God, Jesus Christ, have opened the way for all and raised them out of the slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Many who hear this joyful sound choose to sit still in Babylon. They are in love with their sins and will not venture on a holy life. Despite these circumstances, some break through all discouragements, whatever it costs them.
There are those whose Spirit God has raised above the world and the flesh, whom He has made willing. The bringing back of the people of God from captivity represents the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ.