23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia , 'The Lord , the God of heaven , has given me all the kingdoms of the earth , and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem , which is in Judah . Whoever there is among you of all His people , may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!' "
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36:23
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36:22-23
(Read 2 Chronicles 36:22-23)
God had promised the restoring of the captives, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, at the end of seventy years; and that time to favour Zion, that set time, came at last. Though God's church be cast down, it is not cast off; though his people be corrected, they are not abandoned; though thrown into the furnace, they are not lost there, nor left there any longer than till the dross be separated. Though God contend long, he will not contend always. Before we close the books of the Chronicles, which contain a faithful register of events, think what desolation sin introduced into the world, nay, even into the church of God. Let us tremble at what is here recorded, while in the character of some few gracious souls, we discover that the Lord left not himself without witness. And when we have looked at this faithful portrait of man by nature, let us contrast with it that same nature, when recovered by Almighty grace, through the justifying and soul-adorning righteousness of Christ our Saviour.