Read this book as a continuation of II Chronicles — compare II Chronicles 36:22ff with Ezra 1:1ff. You will remember that Judah was taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and spent seventy years in Babylonian exile. At this point, read through the narrative of Daniel and feel the pressures the godly Jews were subjected to in Babylon.

Babylon was finally overthrown by the Medes and Persians. Daniel 5:31 records that the kingdom passed to Darius the Mede — not Darius I of Persia, who acceded in 522, eight years after Cyrus died. Who exactly Darius the Mede was is still argued over.

A king named three centuries early

That was the fulfilment of a remarkable prophecy given by Isaiah centuries before. God gave the name of the man who would send the Jews back to their land nearly three hundred years before he was born.

He says about Cyrus, “He is my shepherd. He will do everything I want him to do.” He says about Jerusalem, “It will be rebuilt.” He says about the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.”

Isaiah 44:28  ·  God’s Word

And the next chapter goes further, calling this pagan emperor God’s anointed, and adding the line that settles what kind of arrangement this is: “I have given you a title of honor, although you don’t know me” (Isaiah 45:1–4). This is the unwilling servant of Isaiah 40–66 — a man who serves God’s purpose exactly and never knows whose errand he is on.

Daniel, now aged, realises the time has come for this and for the prophecy of Jeremiah to be fulfilled, and gives himself to pray to that end — read Daniel 9 carefully. The result was that Cyrus issued the decree allowing a return and a rebuilding.

The promise the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah was about to come true in Cyrus’ first year as king of Persia. The LORD inspired the king to make this announcement throughout his whole kingdom and then to put it in writing.

Ezra 1:1  ·  God’s Word

The first party to leave for the ruins of Jerusalem was led by Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, in approximately 538 BC.

The place of Ezra

In order to understand the religious mood of the Jews when the New Testament opens, we must have a grasp of what was happening in these days of the return from Babylon.

When Jerusalem fell to Babylon, the covenant nation virtually came to an end. As exiles, the Jews realised that their captivity was because of their idolatry and covenant breaking, and a remnant turned to God with new faith and a determination to keep the Law and everything the covenant demanded. However, after the temple was built, the Jerusalem community lost interest in the Law.

It was Ezra who brought them back to the first five books of the Bible, showing them that these books were the outline for the covenant people to follow in every part of their life. In this sense Ezra was the first teacher-preacher-expositor of God’s Word. It was because he insisted that the Laws of Moses be obeyed that Judah was saved from extinction, and his teaching prepared the Jewish world for the coming Messiah.

Ezra was determined to study the LORD’s Teachings, live by them, and teach their rules and regulations in Israel.

Ezra 7:10  ·  God’s Word

Study, live, teach — in that order, and the middle one is the one that is usually skipped.

It is true to say that the Pharisees came into existence through the intense study and living of the Law. However, we cannot blame Ezra for that in any way.

Movement one  ·  1 – 6  ·  The first return, and the temple — under Zerubbabel

The return from captivity  1:1 – 2:70

A decree, an inventory of the temple vessels Nebuchadnezzar had carried off, and then a list of names — family by family, town by town, about fifty thousand people. The list is the point. These are the ones who actually went.

Restoration  3:1 – 4:5

Note that they begin with the building of the temple. When Israel began in the wilderness of Sinai, the Tabernacle was central; so now they lay the foundations of the return with an altar and with worship.

Then all the people shouted, “Praise the LORD,” because the foundation for the house of the LORD had been laid. But many of the priests, Levites, and the heads of the families who were old enough to have seen the first temple with their own eyes began to sob when they saw the foundation of this temple. Many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the loud sobbing.

Ezra 3:11–13  ·  God’s Word

One sound, made of two things at once. The young see a beginning; the old see how much smaller it is than what they remember. Both are right, and God records both.

The enemies referred to here will be met throughout Ezra and Nehemiah. They are the Samaritans — read II Kings 17:24–41 for the history of their origin. The remnant are establishing that they, and the faith for which they stand, are the true remnant; they do it by rebuilding the temple and refusing to mingle.

Opposition  4:6–23

Although this letter reflects the spirit of their enemies at this time, these verses actually belong later, in the reign of Xerxes — called Ahasuerus in Scripture. Verse 14 has a footnote worth following: “we eat the salt”: it was the custom in those days to make covenants using salt, so they are saying that they are in covenant with Persia.

The temple rebuilt  4:24 – 6:22

The reconstruction was completed on 12 March 515 BC, approximately seventy years after its destruction.

So the Jewish leaders continued to make progress because of the message from the prophet Haggai and Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo. They finished building as the God of Israel had ordered and as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (the kings of Persia) had ordered.

Ezra 6:14  ·  God’s Word

Notice how that verse is constructed: the God of Israel and three Persian kings, in one sentence, giving the same order. This story shows how the remnant came through regardless of the opposition. God’s purposes, promises and prophecies will come to pass no matter who opposes. We take courage from this. Every promise God has made to us, His covenant remnant, will come to pass.

Movement two  ·  7 – 10  ·  Ezra arrives, roughly sixty years later

Ezra comes to Jerusalem  7:1 – 8:36

We are now introduced to Ezra and to the second band of returning exiles. Note that from here on the narrative is in the first person — we are reading Ezra’s personal diary and his own account of what happened.

The word scribe takes on a new meaning with Ezra: it describes an expositor and preserver of the Law of God. Read the king’s letter carefully — he is in effect appointing Ezra as Secretary of State for Jewish affairs.

The journey to Jerusalem was approximately nine hundred miles and full of danger. Ezra knew the dangers and the distance, hence his call to fasting and prayer. Note what he was carrying (8:26):

• 650 talents of silver — roughly $1,300,000
• 100 talents in silver articles — roughly $200,000
• 100 talents in gold — roughly $3,000,000
• 20 gold bowls — roughly $5,000

Several million dollars, no armed escort, nine hundred miles of open road — because he had told the king that God’s hand was on those who sought Him, and was too ashamed to ask for soldiers afterwards.

Preserving the remnant  9:1 – 10:44

The actions taken in these chapters seem harsh and cruel. However, we must understand them in the light of the whole of Scripture. At this time, if the remnant had intermarried with the people of the land they would have been swallowed up by the nations and would have ceased to exist. This drastic action had to be taken to keep the promises made to Abraham and David, that one of their line would reign for ever. In these chapters the family that will eventually bring Jesus into the world is being preserved.

Note Ezra’s prayer in 9:6–15. Although not involved in the people’s sin, he totally involves himself with them:

I am ashamed, my God. I am embarrassed to look at you. Our sins have piled up over our heads… And now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been kind enough to leave us a few survivors from Babylon… We are slaves, but our God hasn’t abandoned us in our slavery.

Ezra 9:6, 8, 9  ·  God’s Word

Compare Daniel 9:4–19 and Nehemiah 9:6–38 — the same move in both. This intercessory love is finally seen when God in Christ actually became our sin on the cross, and so interceded for us.

Before you move on

Let the Holy Spirit quicken this book to you. The Jews were in an impossible position, but they had certain promises from God. Faith reached for those promises and prayed that they would come to pass — and the result was that God worked in the mind of a heathen king to make a decree in their favour.

Then another kind of faith came into play: the faith that makes choices and takes action regardless of the difficulty and the pressure. Both are in this book, and the second is the one that had to walk nine hundred miles.

At this time, in your situation, lay hold of God’s promises and watch as He moves every obstacle and calls you to walk in the faith that acts as if God is the keeper of His Word.