Introduction to Ezra
and Study of Ezra 1-4
May 15th
Produced by The Listening for God Ministry
Copyright 2016
Click here for a print- friendly version
The book of Ezra is the first of three post-exilic books of history. The other two are Nehemiah and Esther. In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah are combined into one book. The content of this book corresponds with two of the books of prophesy that we will read later this year: Haggai and Zechariah.
The primary purpose of the book of Ezra is to show God’s faithfulness to his people (1). The events in the book also demonstrate the sovereign power that God holds over the world, as he is able to orchestrate believers and non-believers to fulfill his will. The believers respond with a variety of forms of prayer, including examples of brief "breath prayers" during long journeys and also long eloquent speeches for special occasions. We will also read about physical manifestation of prayer such as fasting, shouting, singing, and tearing of clothes.
The book of Ezra is relatively short compared to the last two books. Its ten chapters can be divided into two parts:
Return led by Zerubabel (circa 538 BC) Chapters 1-6
Ezra 1-4 (Return from Exile) - May 15th
Ezra 5-6 (Temple Built) - May 16th
Return led by Ezra (circa 458 BC) Chapters 7-10
Ezra 7-10 (Second Group of Returnees) - May 17th
References used for the analysis of this book include the following:
Please refer to one or more Bible versions of your choice to read this section. We recommend that you read at least two versions for added understanding. For your convenience, we have provided six links below, each of which takes you directly to today's chapters in a specific version:
Bible Gateway
Key Verse
“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven,* has given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Summary of Chapters
At one point in their history the Israelites had been enslaved by the Pharaoh in Egypt. God used Moses to lead the people out following a series of dramatic miracles. The people then wandered in the desert for forty years before arriving in the Promised Land. They conquered the land and built a great empire, but forgot about the divine being who had led them to their success. The empire split into two and begin a long trajectory away from God. After about 800 years most of the survivors had been taken to Babylon, from where they longed to go home.
When the workers laid the foundation of The Temple of God, the priests in their robes stood up with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise God in the tradition of David king of Israel. They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to God:
Chapter 4 provides an account of Rehum and other enemies of Judah and Benjamin who wrote a letter to King Xerxes, successor to Cyrus, opposing the building of the temple. Xerxes agreed and instructed Rehum to tell them to stop. Reflection and Application
Persia had overtaken Babylon in 539 B.C., enabling the Persians to control a wide area of land that included most of modern day Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. Unlike the Babylonians, Cyrus was compassionate to the people in the lands he had conquered and therefore was willing to let the Israelites return. Unlike the Pharaoh of Egypt, he listened when God told him to let his people go, and allowed himself to be used as an instrument of God. These chapters reinforce the principle that God can use believers or non-believers to achieve his purposes.
@KingArty Those peeps u let come bck r rebldng their temple & r going to stiff u on taxes! Just saying. #stopTempleRebuild
God would have responded to these messages with a popular three-letter text messaging expression: LOL (Laughing Out Loud). Nothing was going to stop God’s plans to rebuild the temple. It would be completed 70 years after the exile from Judah regardless of the plans of little men writing fancy letters.
Footnote
(1) Life Application Study Bible, New International Version, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, M; 1991, p.770
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow's reading: 5-6 (Temple Rebuilt)
Comments and Questions
Ezra 1-4(King James Version - KJV)
Ezra 1-4(New Revised Standard Version - NRSV)
Ezra 1-4(New International Version - NIV)
Ezra 1-4 (The Message - MSG)
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Introduction to Ezra (New American Bible - NAB) (click next chapter for chapters 2-4)
British Bible Society
Introduction to Ezra (Good News Bible - GNB) (click next for chapters 1-4)
- Ezra 1:2
The first group of exiles returned to Jerusalem and Israel after nearly 70 years of exile in Babylon. The first return took place in the year 538 BC because the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus sent them back with money and treasures from the old temple that had been taken by Nebuchanezzar and preserved, as noted in chapter 1.
Chapter 2 notes that all Israelites were given permission to return but only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the Levites returned, a small fraction of the people who had once populated a united kingdom of Israel. Chapter 3 reports that the people began re-building the temple and then celebrated with great emotion when the foundation was relaid:
Yes! God is good! Oh yes—he'll never quit loving Israel!
All the people boomed out hurrahs, praising God as the foundation of The Temple of God was laid. As many were noisily shouting with joy, many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first Temple, when they saw the foundations of this Temple laid, wept loudly for joy. People couldn't distinguish the shouting from the weeping. The sound of their voices reverberated for miles around.
- Ezra 3:10-13 (MSG)
It would be more appropriate to state that the decision to release the remnant of the Israelites was in God’s hands rather than in Cyrus’s hands. When the people’s hearts changed, God allowed them to return home. We should never give up hope that God will restore us. Perhaps God allowed Persia to overtake Babylon so that he could work through Cyrus and perhaps he will move other people to help in our restoration.
Note that the people made the rebuilding of the temple a priority, even more important than the rebuilding of the wall for protection from invaders. God should be remembered as the first source of protection. Unbelievers will try to talk us out of things and oppose us – as Rehum did. We should not be discouraged.
It was fascinating to see the contents of the letters between Rehum and King Artaxerxes. This type of formal letter writing persisted for many generations, but is being replaced by the short-hand texting style of our era. If these two parties had used Twitter, their letters might have gone something like this:
@Rahum666 OMG! My people say u r right :0 They r hooligans. Put a stop to it!
Questions and Prayers for Further Reflection
Related Questions
Father in heaven, we acknowledge that you are in control. Please help us to know what it is that you want us to restore today.
Suggested Prayer Concerns
People moving to new homes this month
If you have comments or questions, please add them to our Comments page, email to the author at
ted@listeningforGod.org,
or share your comments or questions via the Listening for God Twitter account