Ezra 1 mentions the word temple
five times and the word Jerusalem
seven times. This shows us that Israel’s return from exile was so that they could rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. The fact that the temple vessels were also taken back to Jerusalem shows that worship at the temple is going to be important.
Ezra 1 also contains allusions to the exodus from Egypt. The people of Israel were brought up from Babylon (Ezra 1:11) just like they were brought up from Egypt in the past. The people of Israel also received things from their Gentile neighbours (Ezra 1:6) just like they received things from the Egyptians in the past.
When God rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, he did it so that they could worship him (Exodus 3:12). When God brought his people up from Babylon, he also did it so that they could worship him. The Lord works in history to rescue his people so that they will worship him.
As Christians, we have been rescued from death so that we can worship God (Romans 12:1–2). God worked in our lives to rescue us from the penalty we deserve for our sins (death) so that we can now worship him. He made sure we heard the gospel message and he worked faith into our hearts so that we could believe in Jesus Christ. He did this so that we can worship him now and in eternity to come. We worship God today not only when we come together to sing God’s praises, but also when we live in obedience to his commands.
The work of the Spirit in the lives of believers through the proclaimed word of Christ is the means by which God seeks to make for himself a people who will worship and honour him.
The continuity between the people of Israel and the church is to be found in the God who has acted consistently in deliverance for both.1
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: