The Book of Ezra
Historical Context: The Book of Ezra takes place before the Book of Nehemiah and before, during and after the Book of Esther. At the start, the Jews are in exile in Babylon.
Both Jeremiah and Isaiah prophesied the exile and the return of the Jews, which means the Jewish people had to believe both would happen, right?
Wrong.
If you know anything about Babylon, you know it was one of the hardest eras in Jewish history. The temple was destroyed, Jerusalem burned and the Jews were displaced — just like the prophets said. Isn’t funny how the first part of the prophecies came true, but because the second part took a little longer to appear, the Jewish people began to lose hope; to lose faith? Nonetheless, in this Book we see that Yahweh is sovereign and faithful to His covenant — He keeps His promises, always.
Ezra 1
God used the pagan king Cyrus to accomplish His task and fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy. He will use any and everything to accomplish what He wants. He moved Cyrus’ heart. Cyrus’ intentions were self-serving, but they still served God’s purpose.
Cyrus returned what Nebuchadnezzar took. What your enemies have taken from you will be restored to you, with interest.
Ezra 2
We see the first of 3 expeditions of Jews from Babylon back to Jerusalem. The number 3 often symbolizes divine completeness or perfection, and we see it often in the Bible: the Holy Trinity, the 3 days before the Resurrection, Jonah’s 3 days in the belly of the whale, and more.
Those who went back this first round were known as the “true Israel” - likely descendants of Jacob, who received this stamp of authenticity.
Every role was accounted for and intentionally selected. Priests were descendants of Aaron (brother of Moses, first High Priest). Musicians and gatekeepers were chosen from the Levite families chosen by David.
The Urim and Thummim were tools used for receiving decisions from God, or determine God’s will. They aren’t exactly described in the Bible, but they were small enough to fit inside of Aaron’s breastplate so he always had the means — God — to make decisions for the Israelites close to his heart. (Exodus 28:30)
Ezra 3
The people of Israel became complete in community, when they “assembled together as one.” The returned to accomplish a specific task: to rebuild God’s temple. These days we overlook the importance of a church, of our physical attendance, but this was the temple and worship was their focus.
When the foundation was laid, there was both shouting and weeping mingles as one loud noise to those far away. They were surrounded by their enemies and they were afraid of them, but they couldn’t contain their celebrating and mourning. There were those remembering the old and those preparing for the new. Part of restoration is acknowledging what once was, in addition to moving forward and adding to.
In exile, the Jewish people didn’t get to worship or sacrifice. Now, the praised before the foundation was even laid. (Ezra 3:6)
They celebrated with music and singing, with praise and thanksgiving. Oh, the Privilege of Praise. How many times have we learned of a group of people persecuted for their faith? We live in a time and place where we experience the privilege of praise, of worshipping freely without fear of persecution, imprisonment or worse. The Israelites praised even in their fear, and here we are, taking it for granted.
“He is good, His mercy toward Israel endures forever.” (Ezra 3:11) In some translations, this reads “His love toward Israel endures forever.” See, the love of God and His mercy are synonymous. He loves us and therefore, He is merciful toward us. Look at all they had been through — deportation, loss of hope and the long-awaited return to their land. And they praised at the foundation being laid. The temple wasn’t even built yet.
Ezra 4: The Enemies of Progress
When the enemies of the Israelites heard their praise, they started plotting. Did they think it was over? That it would be easy and there would no barriers to the will of God coming to fruition? Do you?
Their enemies deceitfully offered to help, but the people of God refused them, because they were pagans, or “unbelievers.” They were the enemies of progress. There will come a time where you will encounter people who will offer to help you. To invest in you, to pray for you. You will have to use discernment to identify unbelievers and to separate yourself. Know the importance of true faith & watch who you worship with.
The building of the temple was made more difficult by the people around them. They harassed and bribed the weakest links, to “frustrate their plans.”
The Book of Ezra skips to later times, breaking its chronological order. Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes, their enemies tried them, accused them. They were right to fear the people around them.
Xerxes was the husband of Esther. Artaxerxes was his son.
The Samaritan aristocracy believed Judah belonged to them, so they resented the the faithful Jews and their separatism from the pagans.
The pagans were actually successful in interrupting the Israelites’ work. Their harassment led to them ceasing work on the temple. People will see your worship and try to latch on to stop your progress. They’ll see you trying to return to God and want to derail you. When you don’t let them, they will seek their authorities to stop you, because they covet what is yours. They see you wanting to restore what was yours, but they want it for themselves.
Ezra 5
God sent Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the Jews to start rebuilding again, to restore the project. They got sidetracked and were no longer interested, which didn’t please God.
What have you been getting sidetracked by? What, in your life, isn’t God pleased by?
This is the second time someone from the enemy camp is trying to stop the rebuilding, but because the eye of God was upon them, their enemies were unsuccessful. “They were not stopped.”
Tattenai HAD to acknowledge the greatness of God and the diligence of the Jews and their rapid progress. The Jews knew God authorized them to rebuild. They acknowledged why God allowed much to happen because of their disobedience, and how He was restoring it all.
Ezra 6
The enemies of the Israelites searched for ammo, but instead they found proof. In their search for arguments against you, your enemies will find arguments in favor of you. You ever saw a player score for the opposing team?
Cyrus already decreed that the foundation be laid and all be restored. Darius reinforced this decree, telling the enemies not to interfere and to stay away from the construction site. Your enemies will be forced to stay away from your rebuilding, your transformation period. They will not be able to interfere with your restoration.
In addition to not interfering with their work, Tattenai and the enemies of the Israelites had to do for them. When God restores, your enemies will be forced to help directly. They didn’t just have to do it, they had to do it with diligence.
The Israelites expenses were fully paid. We serve a zero-balance God. There will never be a balance with God. He does exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask, think or imagine. If there is any leftover, it will returned back to you!
The temple was finished. Despite all the odds, under Haggai and Zechariah whom He called, God’s plan came to fruition.
During the celebration of Passover, the Israelites separated themselves from the pagans and their “unclean” practices, in order to seek God. Elevation requires separation. They were cutthroat about their cleanliness, there was no space for those that were still participating in those practices. These practices included witchcraft, divination, mediums, etc. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)
God made it happen, He once again used a pagan king, changing his attitude in such away that assisted the Israelites.
Ezra 7
This is the first actual mention of Ezra. This part of the book actually takes place after the events in the Book of Esther. Artaxerxes is the son of Xerxes, Esther’s husband.
Ezra was the son of one of the men called to return to Jerusalem after exile, a priest from the line of Aaron. He was a priest and a scribe, which was common for the roles to be combined during the Babylonian exile. In the New Testament, Ezra’s role as copyist, persevere & interpreter of law would be the role of the Pharisees. His position allowed him proximity to the king, who made sure all of his requests were granted.
After the temple was completed, the morale of the Israelites was low and they were disinterested. They weren’t keeping the Sabbath or paying tithes, and there was much divorce and intermarriage with Pagans. The Israelites were searching for identity and heavily influenced by the world. In the age of the influencer, it is so much easier than we know for us to be influenced by the world and forget that our identity is in Christ.
Ezra was sent to Jerusalem for reform by Artaxerxes. Once again, God was using a Pagan king to do His work. This would be the second expedition of Jews out of Babylon to Jerusalem.
The hand of God was on Ezra, and he devoted himself to study. He wanted to unite the Jews as one nation and he had the support of the king. Artaxerxes decreed it, making everything that Ezra needed to do official. Again, the Trans-Euphrates treasurers had to do everything God prescribed with diligence. Ezra was confident that God’s hand was upon him. He also decreed it that Ezra teach those who did not know God’s laws.
Ezra 8
This chapter is written in first-person, as if Ezra is telling us the story himself.
About 5000 men, women and children were part of the second expedition from Babylon. It was a dangerous trip, as the roads were filled with bandits.
“Because the hand of God was upon us.” (8:18) Ezra credited God for providing temple attendants. He proclaimed a fast to humble the people and ask God for protection. He didn’t ask the king because he had already told the king that he trusted God. Ezra was exercising Godly leadership. He declared a time of prayer before the journey even began. Because God is faithful, He answered their prayer.
The exiles returned from captivity, and the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah were fulfilled. (8:35)
Ezra 9
The separation of the Israelites didn’t last long. Their unfaithfulness was led by the leaders and the officials, even though their unfaithfulness was why they were held captive in Babylon in the first place. They made a covenant with God to not intermarry, but we see that the Pagans were a constant threat to their faithfulness.
Ezra was appalled and in mourning — that’s how serious it was. He tore his tunics, which means these were offenses worthy of death. God allowing some of the Israelites to survive and the remnant to return was a sign of his grace and mercy, even though the Israelites repeatedly broke their covenant. “Though we are still slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage.” (9:9) Even in the midst of their self-inflicted bondage, God still showed mercy. He punished them less than they deserved and gave them the remnant for restoration.
God granted Israel a new life, through the remnant, for the purpose of rebuilding and repairing. That’s what your forgiveness, grace and mercy are for. For you to rebuild His temple in you and repair your covenant with Him. He may strip you down and bring in trial by fire, but He will leave a part of you, the best of you, for this purpose.
Israel stood before a righteous God, in their guilt, even though they were unworthy because of it.
Ezra 10
Ezra’s mourning inspired others. He was vocal about the wrongs that were occurring and because of this, his God-given mission of reform was accomplished.
The Davidic kingly era of Israel was over until the coming of Jesus, the King of Kings. There would be kings, but there would be no more “heroes,” just God’s people and their hope in Him.
The Jews divorced their Pagan wives, a radical action that was necessary for restoration. Sometimes there has to be a radical fix to repair the damage done. Sometimes God has to take away what you took without His permission, and sometimes you have to put down what you picked up in order to get back to Him. As Christians, we know that God hates divorce. Married Christians do not need to divorce their unbelieving spouses, but unmarried Christians shouldn’t enter marriage with unbelievers. As a believer, you should be dating for marriage, and making belief in God and the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ a non-negotiable. Having different priorities in close proximity can weaken your faith.
You know the saying “birds of a feather flock together”? That goes for your faith, too. Having different priorities can weaken your faith.
Ezra mourned the unfaithfulness of the Jewish people, and ordered them to separate from “the peoples around you,” to separate themselves from the world, and they did.
Self-Reflection
We have all experienced our own form of captivity, in our own version of Babylon. Like the Jews, we often cause it ourselves, and it can take multiple expeditions to exile from this captivity. God’s continued faithfulness gives us grace during captivity, makes a way to bring us out, is merciful when we falter to old habits and renews our hope of restoration. He keeps His promises, even when we don’t. Our willingness to keep participating in things we shouldn’t is a threat to our faithfulness. We remain in bondage with things we really don’t have to be chained to. Thankfully, just like God granted Israel a new life for the purpose of rebuilding, He does the same for us.
Because of His faithfulness, we can stand before him despite our guilt, although we are unworthy because of it. When we allow Him to, He will move mountains to rebuild, renew and restore us to Him.
Is there anything separating you from God now? How can you rebuild your faith and connection to Him? What can you let go of to allow Him to renew and restore you?
