What is Ezra all about?

-

Ezra: Israel returns to her foundations

overview of Ezra free bible iconAfter 70 years in exile, the people of Israel were coming back home. The new Persian emperor Cyrus had decreed that they return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of their God—which had lain in ruins the whole time (Ezr 1:1–4).
Zerubbabel and Jeshua, descendants of King David and Aaron the priest, answer the call to rebuild the house of God.
But the temple wasn’t the only thing that needed attention. Many of the returning Hebrews had forgotten God’s laws—and were disregarding them in front of the people. They needed to remember the covenant they’d made with God. They needed to remember why they were in their situation: why they had to go to Babylon (which you can read about in Kings and Chronicles), and why they’d been allowed to come back. The temple needed a new foundation, but the people needed to return to the foundations of their faith, too.
Ezra, the scribe, answers the call to teach Israel the ways of God again (Ezr 7:10).
The book of Ezra chronicles both stories: rebuilding the temple and remembering the law. This account weaves together several categories of written works.
  • Historical narrative—events surrounding Israel’s return, temple reconstruction, and revival
  • Official documents—letters and decrees sent to and from the Persian emperors during this time period
  • Jewish records—names of individuals and families who returned to Israel
  • Ezra’s autobiographical texts—prayers, reflections, and actions from Ezra’s point of view
These pieces come together to tell us how God began restoring Israel.

Theme verse of Ezra

“For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezr 9:9)
Theme verse art ezra 9:9 Laura Kranz Bible verse art
More Bible verse art by Laura Kranz.

Ezra’s role in the Bible

Ezra begins a new story arc in Israel’s history:
  • From Genesis to Deuteronomy, God calls out Israel as a special nation and teaches them His laws.
  • From Joshua to 2 Chronicles, God gives Israel a land and a king, but Israel loses both when they consistently disobey God.
  • From Ezra to Esther, God restores Israel from exile in their own land again.
Ezra and Nehemiah (the next book of the Bible) were originally considered two parts of one book. Ezra focuses on rebuilding the temple; Nehemiah focuses on rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Both form the story of how God reestablishes Israel in the land He promised to her. The book of Ezra also references other biblical prophets, namely Haggai and Zechariah, whose messages stirred up the people to finish building the temple (Ezr 5:1).
Ezra calls attention to Israel’s covenant history with the Lord. God had made promises to Israel through Moses:
  • If the people obeyed Him, they would enjoy a good land and prosperity.
  • If the people disobeyed Him, they would face punishment and exile.
The people disobeyed, and God kept His promise (Ezr 9:7). However, God had made another promise: He would gather Israel back to her land after He had punished her (Dt 30:3). The book of Ezra shows us how God kept that promise.
Ezra is also traditionally credited with writing the books of First and Second Chronicles. If this is true, then Ezra is the second most prolific author of the Bible (after Moses).
ezra-bible-author-wrote-most

Like this chart? Check out more like it in this infographic.

Quick outline of Ezra

  1. Rebuilding the temple (Ezr 1–6)
    • The remnant returns to Judah (Ezra 1–2)
    • Judah lays the new temple foundations (Ezra 3)
    • Judah’s adversaries stop temple work (Ezra 4)
    • Judah resumes temple work (Ezra 5)
    • The temple is completed (Ezra 6)
  2. Remembering the law (Ezr 7–10)
    • Artaxerxes sends Ezra to teach the law in Jerusalem (Ezra 7–8)
    • Ezra has the people put away their foreign wives (Ezra 9–10)

Pages related to Ezra

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more