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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.