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1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2“Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4Whoever is left, in any place where he lives, let the men of his place help him with silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, in addition to the free will offering for God’s house which is in Jerusalem.’”

5Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, all whose spirit God had stirred to go up, rose up to build Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem. 6All those who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with precious things, in addition to all that was willingly offered. 7Also Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of Yahweh’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods; 8even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9This is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, one thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives, 10thirty bowls of gold, four hundred ten silver bowls of a second kind, and one thousand other vessels. 11All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all these up when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The Spirit of God in the Old Testament

The Spirit of God in the Old Testament

Biography | Ezra 1:5 | Adam L. Myers

The Holy Spirit is eternally God and the third person of the Trinity. As such, He is fully divine with all of the nature, attributes and perfections of God. The Spirit of God is the one through whom God empowers His people, reveals His will, has revealed His Word, and imparts His personal presence among His people. He regenerates believers and works to glorify Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word רוּחַ ruach (wind, breath, spirit) is used to refer to the Spirit of God, as well as to the spirit of a person, the wind, or the breath of people or animals. The Holy Spirit often appears as a wind, such as in the division of the Red Sea for the Israelite people to pass through (Exod. 14:21; see also Gen. 1:2, 8:1; Ps. 104:3). Also in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God empowers or gifts individuals temporarily for specific roles or ministries, including Bezalel and Oholiab for the construction of the Tabernacle (Exod. 31:3), the strengthening of Israel’s heroes (Judges 14:6), and the inspiration of the prophetic words (Zech. 4:6). His continued indwelling and empowering of people was contingent upon their faithfulness to walk with Him (1 Sam. 16:14, Ps. 51:11).