Ezra— Return from Captivity
05.25.22
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. (Ezra 7:10)
Ezra is the main character of the book and its likely author. In the Hebrew canon Ezra and Nehemiah are one book. Modern Hebrew Bibles as well as our English versions treat them as separate books.
When Ezra writes, particularly in chapters 1-10, he writes in the first person. He is reputed to have written several psalms, among them 119. He may also have had a part in writing the books of Kings and Chronicles. He is also the man who developed the idea of the synagogue for the Jewish people in their dispersion. A synagogue is a ‘gathering place.’
In addition to all of these accomplishments, it is also thought that Ezra was chief among those who settled the Hebrew canon and its divisions into Law, Prophets and Writings. This would have been done sometime after the Jewish remnant had returned to Jerusalem after their seventy-year sojourn in Babylon.
We have specific dates for this book, 536-457 BC. Ezra continued the narrative where 2 Chronicles ended. It traces the history of the Jews in Judah from the return of the Babylonian captivity to the rebuilding of the Temple. We learn how God fulfilled His promise to return His people to the land of Promise after their exile in Babylon.
The book begins as Chronicles ended with the decree of Cyrus, the Emperor of Persia, for a remnant to return to Israel and rebuild the temple. Fifty years prior, Judah had been taken into captivity in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had sacked the city of Jerusalem and burned the temple. Israel would pay a price of many years of exile to make up for its neglect of the observance of its Sabbaths.
The remnant returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, by means of the protection and provision of Cyrus. This was a 700-mile journey, taking about five months to travel.
They first laid the foundation of the temple before they began to build their own homes. However, they were delayed for eighteen years by their enemies. A decree from Darius the Mede, the ruler over Israel under Cyrus, allowed them to finish.
Twenty years after this first group came to the Land, Ezra the priest came to help teach the people the Law and reform the spiritual life of the nation. Later, Nehemiah came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
The book is thus the spiritual, moral and social pattern for the restoration of the remnant who returned to rebuild Jerusalem. The key verse centers on the importance of the Word of God. It must be learned, lived and then loaned or shared with others.
How did Cyrus, the leader of Persia, know so much about Jehovah, the true God? Josephus tells us that he read the prophecies of Isaiah, written 200 years before his time, that told that he, Cyrus, was going to make this decree. He was interested in what God said and sought to fulfill the decree.
How is Christ seen in this book? In keeping with the Davidic covenant and God’s promises to keep the line of descendants alive for the Messiah, the Son of David, Ezra shows how God continued to keep His promises by restoring His people to their land. We can trust the Bible, the Word of the Living God!