Historical
Background & Purpose of Prophet:
The Jews
were living as exiled foreigners in Babylon under Babylonian rule. The King of Persia, Cyrus, conquered Babylon
and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Many Jews
became comfortable with the lifestyle in Babylon and adopted the ways of life
and religion while living in Babylon. Ezra is spurring the people to return to
Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of God. Chapter 1-7 covers 22 years (538-516
B.C.) and 49,897 Jews returning to Jerusalem under the leadership of
Zerubbabel. This group of Jews also rebuilt the temple. The latter end of the
book, Chapters 7-10, covers the second return to Jerusalem, spanning one year
(458-457) and the return of 1,754 Jews under the leadership of Ezra (Nelson’s
Chart Pg. 153). God uses Ezra to call out the sin and unfaithfulness of the
first group of returned exiles who were taking foreign wives and adopting
detestable pagan practices. Ezra’s response is prayer upon hearing about the
sin of his people. “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the
Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us
security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us
some relief from our slavery. For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our
God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia
to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God
and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have
abandoned your commands!” (Ezra 9:6-10) By popular opinion Ezra authored the
book. There is a portion of first person narrative (Ezra 7:28-9:15) and “…there
is a strong priestly emphasis, and Ezra was a direct priestly descendant of
Aaron through Eleazar, Phinehas, and Zadok (7:1-5).”(Nelson’s Pg. 151)
Nature & Character of God:
The book of
Ezra testifies to the incredible restoration of God. We see the fulfillment of
God’s promise to bring the people back to Jerusalem. We see that God is all
powerful; even over the fiercest and most powerful rulers of our day. It says
that God “…stirred the heart of Cyrus…” to write a proclamation declaring that
all Jews can return to Jerusalem and build God a temple there! (Ezra 1:1-4) God
gave the Jews the same favor and support from King Darius of Persia (6:6-12)
and King Artaxerxes of Persia (7:12-26). All of these attributes point to God being
a gracious God. (Ezra 7:28;9:8) “For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love
our God did not abandon us in our slavery.” (Ezra 9:9) Again, the book says God
has unfailing love (7:28), and reveals He is a God of grace (9:8), he is a God
of security (9:8),God is the restorer of our freedom (9:8) and in all His ways
God is just (9:15).
The first
step of God’s redemptive plan to restore broken, enslaved Israel to Jerusalem
was the victory of Cyrus King of Persia over the Babylonian empire; fulfilling
Isaiah’s prophesy in 44:28-45:4 (Nelson’s Pg. 154).Ezra ushers in Spiritual
revival, holy living and the rebuilding of the temple; fulfilling God desire to
restore his people to their promised land. The re-building of the temple (Ezra
3-7:1) is incredible redemption because it represents a heart posture of the
Jews desiring to worship God again and live holy lives. This all points to
God’s plan to send Jesus as the ultimate redemption. But God must first gather
is people together in Jerusalem, cleanse them of their sin and unholy living,
and the temple being rebuilt to turn their focus back on God in hopes that they
will recognize the Messiah to come.
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