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Ezra
• The title in the English text comes from the
main character in the second part of the book
(chapters 7—10).
• In the ancient Hebrew Bible, Ezra and
Nehemiah were treated as one book and
called “The Book of Ezra.”
• Modern Hebrew Bibles designate the two-fold
arrangement of Ezra and Nehemiah as in our
English versions.
Christ as Seen in Ezra:
• In keeping with the Davidic covenant and
God’s promises to keep the line of
descendants alive for Messiah, Ezra shows
how God continued to keep His promises by
restoring His people to their land.
Historical context
• Ezra continues the narrative where 2 Chronicles ends
by recording the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore
his people to their land after seventy years of
Babylonian captivity and traces the history of the
return of the Jews from exile in Babylon and the
rebuilding of the temple.
• God had warned his people Israel that disobedience to
the Mosaic Covenant might result in exile from the
Promised Land if that disobedience was wide-spread
and prolonged (cf.Lev. 26:14, 33; Deut. 28:36, 48, 63).
• However, God had also promised that if His people in
exile repented and returned to Him He would restore
them to the Promised Land (Lev. 26:40-45; Deut. 30:15).
• This is exactly what happened:
• The Assyrians under Shalmaneser V took over the Northern
Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-6; cf. 15:29) and deported
the people to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6) in 722 B.C.
• Next, the Babylonian Empire replaced Assyria as the major
political force in the ancient Near East in 605 B.C.
• Later that same year the Babylonian army under
Nebuchadnezzar invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah
and took some of the Jews captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14).
• Two more invasions and deportations by Nebuchadnezzar
followed in 597 and 586 B.C. (2 Kings 24:10-17; 25:1-7).
• The prophet Jeremiah foretold the captivity of Judah and its
release, specifying the number of years the Jews would be
subject to Babylon:
• “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be
accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my
good word toward you, in causing you to return to this
place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith
the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an
expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go
and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall
seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all
your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I
will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all
the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven
you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the
place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”
(Jeremiah 29:10-14)
• Over a hundred years before Jeremiah, the prophet Isaiah
spoke of Judah’s return from Babylon to the land of
Canaan.
• The amazing thing about Isaiah’s prophecy is that he even
names “Cyrus” as the “shepherd/servant” God would
employ to bring about the return of His people to the land
of Canaan:
• “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform
all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be
built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus
saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose
the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates;
and the gates shall not be shut;” (Isa 44:28-45:1)
• Cyrus inherited the throne of Anshan, a small state near the
Persian Gulf, in 559 B.C. Due to his great leadership ability
he was able to unite the Persian people.
• He then attacked the neighboring Medes and took their
capital city, Ecbatana, without a battle. The Median soldiers
abandoned their king to side with Cyrus, creating the
Medo-Persian Empire.
• Cyrus, then, conquered Lydia and Anatolia (the western
part of modern Turkey) in 547-546 B.C.
• The Babylonian Empire was then in a weakened condition.
Cyrus invaded its capital, Babylon, in 539 B.C by diverting
the waters of the Euphrates River that ran through the city
and marching under the city wall on the dry riverbed.
• One of Cyrus' first official acts after capturing
Babylon was to allow the Jews to return to
their homeland.
• Unfortunately only about 50,000 people chose
to return to Canaan. (Ezra 2:64-65)
• Furthermore, due to numerous hardships and
hostile neighbors, the restoration was far from
being the glorious “second exodus” envisioned
by Isaiah (ref. Isa 35:1-10; 40:1-11; 44:1-5)
Purpose and theme
• One of the key themes in Ezra is the
sovereignty of God. Ezra emphasizes the
sovereign hand of God behind the events in
the history of post-exilic Israel including
“stirring up the spirit” of Cyrus, the king of
Medo-Persia. (Ezra 1:1).
• Ezra used "The God of heaven" as a title of
God 9 times to highlight His sovereignty as
One who reigns from His throne in heaven
(1:2; 5:11-12; 6:9-10; 7:12, 21. 23. also ref. Isa
66:1)
• Another major theme is the importance of
worship. As in Chronicles, Ezra shows the
centrality and necessity of the temple and its
worship to the life of the nation as God’s people.
• Thus, only as the remnant people became a
theocratic nation, founded on and faithful to the
covenant Yahweh made with their fathers, could
they revive the Davidic house and anticipate the
resumption of their divine blessings and earthly
glory.
• In essence, Ezra served as a historical commentary on
Jer 29:10-11 “For thus saith the LORD, That after
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit
you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing
you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
• Thus, Ezra (and Nehemiah) will reveal how the exiles
fared upon their return, privileged with a new
opportunity to be God's people in their own land
Outline
• Ezra divides into two major divisions:
I. The first return of the exiles under
Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel ch 1-6
A. The return from Babylon chs. 1—2
B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3—6
II. The second return of the exiles under Ezra
chs. 7—10
A. The return to Jerusalem ch. 7—8
B. The restoration of the people chs. 9—10
• “Now 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, that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus
saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me
all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him
an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ezra 1:1-2)
• The opening words in Ezra are identical to the closing words of
Chronicles
• The first century Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Cyrus was
shown the prophecy in Isaiah 44:28 and wanted to fulfill it (The
Antiquities of the Jews 11.1.1).
• Cyrus not only gave permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem,
but he encouraged them to rebuild the temple (1:3). He also urged
their neighbors to support this project financially (1:4).
• “Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the
house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought
forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house
of his gods” (Ezra 1:7)
• This fulfilled another of Jeremiah’s prophecies: “Yea,
thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the
LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of
Jerusalem; They shall be carried to Babylon, and there
shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the
LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to
this place.” (Jeremiah 27:21-22).
• “Now these are the children of the province that went up
out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away,
whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried
away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and
Judah, every one unto his city;” (Ezra 2:1)
• The record of those who returned that God preserved in
this chapter shows His faithfulness in bringing a remnant of
His people back to Palestine as He had promised.
• “One of the chief objectives of Ezra-Nehemiah was to show
the Jews that they constituted the continuation of the
preexilic Jewish community, the Israelite community that
God had chosen.” Breneman in Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, (pg
50)
• “And when the seventh month was come, and the children
of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves
together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua
the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and
builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt
offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the
man of God.” (Ezra 3:1-2)
• The seventh month was especially important on the Jewish
sacred calendar because in it the Jews celebrated three of
their annual festivals.
• These were the Feast of Trumpets on Tishri 1, the Day of
Atonement on Tishri 10, and the Feast of Booths
(Tabernacles) on Tishri 15-22 (Lev. 23:24-25; 27:32; 34-44).
• “And when the builders laid the foundation of the
temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel
with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with
cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of
David king of Israel. And they sang together by course
in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because
he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward
Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout,
when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of
the house of the LORD was laid.” (Ezra 3:10-11)
• The people needed several months of preparations
before actual construction of the Temple could began.
• Extensive foundation repair work was necessary
because the temple had been so devastated by the
Babylonians.
• The people celebrated God's faithfulness when they
had completed phase one of the temple
reconstruction.
• “Then the people of the land weakened the hands
of the people of Judah, and troubled them in
building, And hired counselors against them, to
frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king
of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of
Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5)
• Some of the geographical neighbors came to
Jerusalem to offer their assistance to Zerubbabel
and company in the temple rebuilding project
(Ezra 4:2), claiming that they also worshipped
Yahweh.
• But, according to verse 1, the writer clearly labels
them “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin,” and
Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the leaders of Israel have
the discernment (Ezra 4:3) to see them for what
they really are.
• Thus, the rest of the chapter chronicles a continual
pattern of ongoing conflict, intimidation, and enmity
from the exiles’ neighbors.
• However, their enemies were successful at various
times in petitioning the successive kings of Persia to
stop the work on the temple and walls of Jerusalem.
The opposition caused the work on the Temple to be
suspended from about 535 B.C. - 520 B.C.
• The neighbors of the returned exiles continued to
oppose them long after they had finished rebuilding
the temple in 515 B.C..
• Interpretive Note: Ezra 5 is in non-sequential order. Ezra
4:6-23 constitutes a parenthetical inclusion , breaking up
the chronology of chapter 4.
• Verses 1-5 report opposition in the time of Cyrus and into
the beginning of the reign of Darius (522 B.C.).
• Then in verses 6-23 we read an ongoing description of
opposition to Judah down through the years. But in verse
24 we are brought back to the early reign of Darius.
• If we read in chronological order, we would read verses 1-5,
then verse 24, then verses 6-23.
• Ezra’s main point was to convey the reality that the
opposition was relentless throughout the exiles’ restoration
attempts while highlighting the faithfulness of God in
giving the Jews victory over them.
• “Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the
son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah
and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto
them.” (Ezra 5:1)
• The Book of Haggai contains four messages that Haggai
delivered to the returned exiles in 520 B.C. The people had
turned from their commitment to rebuild the temple to
constructing comfortable houses for themselves (Hag. 1:211).
• The prophet Zechariah joined Haggai in encouraging the
people to give God's interests priority over their own.
• In response to their ministries the people began to rebuild
the temple again (Ezra 5:2; Hag 1:12-14)
• “At the same time came to them Tattenai, governor on this
side the river, and Shetharboznai and their companions,
and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to
build this house, and to make up this wall? But the eye of
their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could
not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and
then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.”
(Ezra 5:3,5)
• Major political unrest was rampant at the beginning of
Darius' reign, so Tattenai was probaby wary of any signs of
rebellion.
• Ezra recorded the letter Tattenai sent to King Darius about
the building activity going on in Jerusalem (5:7-16).
• Tattenai's letter to Darius seems fair and objective. He
apparently only wanted to know if Cyrus had really given
permission for the Jews to rebuild the temple and if Darius
wanted that edict to stand. Meanwhile, he allowed the
exiles to continue their restoration of the Temple.
• “And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in
the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record
thus written:” (Ezra 6:2)
• A record of Cyrus’ edit is found that verifies the exiles’
building permit.
• Darius not only approved his predecessor Cyrus' decree, he
issued one himself that gave even greater support to the
Jews in their building project:
• “Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor
of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of
God in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do
to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of
God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond
the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that
they be not hindered.” (Ezra 6:7-8)
• “And this house was finished on the third day of the
month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of
Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests,
and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the
captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with
joy.” (Ezra 6:15-16)
• The builders finished the temple on the 3rd of Adar (in
late February or early March), 515 B.C. This was about
four and one-half years after Haggai and Zechariah had
gotten the builders moving again (in 520 B.C.).
• Also, it was about 20 years after the Jews had laid the
foundation (in 536/535 B.C.)
• “Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of
Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son
of Hilkiah,…went up from Babylon; and he was a ready
scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel
had given: and the king granted him all his request,
according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.” (Ezra
7:1,6)
• A period of about 57 years separates Ezra 6 from Ezra 7
(515-458 B.C.).
• In 458 B.C. God moved Ezra, a scribe and Jewish priest
whose lineage traced back to Aaron, who was living in
Babylon, to lead another group of exiles back to Judah. In
Jerusalem Ezra's ministry consisted primarily of leading the
people to return to observance of their law.
• “These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the
genealogy of them that went up with me from
Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.” (Ezra 8:1)
• The exiles under Ezra had begun their journey on the
first day of the first month (7:9), but they had camped
by the Ahava waterway for 12 days (8:31).
• They arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth
month (7:9), completing an approx 900-mile trip in four
months.
• Special emphasis is given to the fact that God kept
them safe on their dangerous trip, and all their
valuable cargo arrived safely.
• “Now when these things were done, the princes came to
me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the
Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of
the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites,
the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the
Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for
themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have
mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the
hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this
trespass.” (Ezra 9:1-2)
• Ezra soon discovered that some of the Jews who had been
living in Judah for some time had begun to intermarry with
Gentiles.
• The Mosaic Law strictly forbade intermarriage with the
native Canaanites (Exod. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1-5).
Furthermore intermarriage with other non-Israelites had
resulted in tragic consequences in Israel's earlier history (cf.
1 Kings 11:1-8).
• Ezra was so distraught about the sin of the
intermarriages, he said, “I rent my garment and my
mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my
beard, and sat down astonied.” (Ezra 9:3)
• Ezra’s attitude toward the Word of God was a key
indicator of the intimacy of his relationship with the
Lord
• Israel had departed from God's revealed will. Ezra
humbled himself and fell prostrate on his knees before
God and confessed the intermarriages as sin (9:6-7,
10). He reacted to the sin with embarrassment, saying
he was “ashamed”(9:6); acknowledging the nation had
no excuse before God and that God had punished them
less than they deserved (9:13).
• “Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed,
weeping and casting himself down before the house of God,
there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great
congregation of men and women and children: for the
people wept very sore.” (Ezra 10:1)
• Many people acknowledged that something had to be done
about the situation. Apparently this sin had gone on and
had been tolerated for some time because children were
born to some of those who had intermarried (vv. 3, 44).
• Thus, a large crowd of Israelites gathered with Ezra and
joined him in acknowledging the awfulness of their sin
either in practice or in the toleration of it in the community.
• “And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam,
answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against
our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the
land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put
away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according
to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the
commandment of our God; and let it be done according to
the law.” (Ezra 10:2-3)
• The writer did not list Shecaniah among those who had
married foreign wives (cf. 10:18-44).
• The present situation distressed Shecaniah too and he
proposed divorce, not just separation.
• He encouraged Ezra to use his authority to take immediate
action: “Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also
will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.” (Ezra 10:4)
• “Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the
Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do
according to this word. And they sware.” (Ezra 10:5)
• Ezra, through the priests, sent word throughout Judah,
summoning all the exiles to appear in Jerusalem within
three days. Those who failed to do so would forfeit
their property and their place among the people of
God
• When they arrived, Ezra rebuked the people for their
sins and demanded that they separate themselves
from the people of the land by putting away their
foreign wives.
• The people acknowledged that Ezra was right, but they
appealed to him to modify the process by which this
sin was to be corrected.
• “And they made an end with all the men that
had taken strange wives by the first day of the
first month.” (Ezra 10:17)
• The people were able to complete the divorce
proceedings in three months.
• However, Nehemiah faced the problem of
mixed marriages again only a few years later
(Neh. 10:30; 13:23).
Just so we don’t miss the main point…
• Ezra primarily related the restoration of the Temple,
which symbolized the intimate presence of God. In
order to complete it properly, the people were
obedient to listen and do the commands from God.
• Likewise, restoration in the individual life involves
rebuilding the control of the Spirit of God through
obedience to the kingship and lordship of Jesus Christ.
• Thus, it involves his ministry as king in our lives. It
means the recognition, again, of God’s right to own us,
to direct us, to replace our plans with his, to change us,
and to make both the major and minor decisions of our
life.