articlesforchristians

Ezra 1:5
Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

• Author
  • Ezra (the Lord has helped) the priest who led the second of three groups
    returning from Babylon to Jerusalem
  • It is also believed that Ezra wrote 1 & 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, (Psalm 119)
    
• Date
  • 538-457 B.C.
• Theme
  • Exiles returning to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple
    • Jeremiah 29:10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
    • Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
    • Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
• Purpose
  • The book of Ezra describes the efforts of the exiles returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Jeshua is the high priest and Zerubbabel is the governor. Ezra returned to teach the law to the people in Jerusalem.
    • Ezra 7:10(NKJV) For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
  • The book of Ezra shows God’s faithfulness to His word. Ezra like the book of Daniel is partly written in Aramaic
• Content
  • The first exiles return to the land of Judah (Ezra 1:1-2:70)
    • Ezra 1:5(NKJV) Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
    • Ezra 2:1(NKJV) Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city.
    • 3 primary groups of those returning to Jerusalem
      • 1 group around 538 B.C. under the leadership of Zerubbabel
      • 2nd group around 458 B.C. under the leadership of Ezra
      • 3rd group around 445 B.C. under the leadership of Nehemiah
    • The return to Jerusalem was on a volunteer basis. Many Jews chose to remain in Babylon.
  • The rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 3:1-6:22)
    • Ezra 3:1(NKJV) And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
    • Ezra 3:2(NKJV) Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
    • Ezra 3:6(NKJV) From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid.
    • In 539 B.C. the begin rebuilding the temple. They were delayed for eighteen years by opposition from the north. In 521 B.C. after receiving a decree from Darius king of Persia they completed and dedicated the temple in 515 B.C.
      • Ezra 6:14-16(NKJV) So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
  • Ezra’s ministry (Ezra 7:1-10:44)
    • Ezra 7:6-10(NKJV) this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
    • Ezra 9:8 (NKJV) And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.
  • Ezra 9:9(NKJV) For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
• Christ in the Book of Ezra
  • Ezra the scribe as a type of Christ being the Word
  • Ezra the priest as type of Christ the great High Priest
  • Christ being the fulfillment of God’s Promise seed