EZRA, primer

EZRA

Going home can be an exciting time. As you read EZRA, look for the different experiences God’s people had when they returned to their homeland after 70 years of exile.


What Makes Ezra Special
Ezra and the next book in the Bible, Nehemiah, were originally one book. Together they make up the most important source for the history of 538 to 430 B.C. This period saw the formation of the Jewish religious community following the Babylonian exile. Ezra the priest, as the main religious leader of this time, and Nehemiah, as appointed governor, were largely responsible for the shape that community was to take. The book contains lists of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem and Judah; highlights the edicts and letters of Persian kings for the return of the Jewish exiles to their homeland and the rebuilding of the temple; and narrates the controversy behind the rebuilding of the Temple; and the the institution of social (prohibition of intermarriage) and religious practices (confession and public reading of the Law).

Why Was Ezra Written?
The Prophet prophet Jeremiah prophesied that God will restore the Jewish people after 70 years of exile. Indeed, after the Babylon Empire was defeated by the Persian Empire, Cyrus, the king of Persian, made a proclamation releasing the Jews from captivity and allowing them to return to their homeland. He even issued an edict to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem as a place to present sacrifices. Ezra accounts the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Ezra was written to help the Jewish community in Jerusalem understand who they were as God’s people. It does this by remembering how the community began and by describing how some of them returned home to Judah and struggled to obey the Law of Moses, rebuild the city and the temple, and keep themselves pure in the midst of foreign peoples.

In reading EZRA, one will encounter a God who motivated touched the heart of three different Persian kings to assist the Jews in returning to their homeland and in rebuilding the temple; and. God also provided godly and capable leaders to leadwho led the returning Jews in a revival of worship, commitment and faithfulness to God’s Word.

Famous Verse: Ezra 7:27
“Praise the LORD God of our ancestors! He made sure that the king honored the LORD's temple in Jerusalem.”