We shall begin the study of the book of Ezra of the Old
Testament this week.
Preface to the Book of Ezra
Ezra and Nehemiah originally existed as one book with Ezra considered as the author of both books plus 1 & 2 Chronicles. In fact, the last two verses of the last chapter of 2 Chronicles are identical to the opening verses of the book of Ezra. Origen (3rd century A.D.) was the first to divide Ezra-Nehemiah into two books. Like the book of Daniel, part of Ezra was written in Aramaic: 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26. It is worth noting that the (Hebrew) Masoretic notes of Ezra-Nehemiah were placed only at the end of the Nehemiah section, proving that the Masoretes regarded Ezra-Nehemiah as one book.
The
Scriptures record three groups of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem. They came at various times:
(1) Around 538 B.C. under the leadership of Jeshua, the high priest and Zerubbabel, the governor over the region (the Babylonian empire fell into the hands of Cyrus, the Persian, in 539 B.C.);
(2) Around 458 B.C. with Ezra
a. Cyrus died in 529 B.C. and was succeeded by
b. Cambyses who died in 522 B.C. and was succeeded by
c. Darius in 519 B.C. during whose reign the edict of Cyrus for the rebuilding of Jerusalem temple was rediscovered and honored. He was succeeded by
d. Xerxes who reigned from 486-465 B.C.—the long reign and which served as the background to the story of Esther; and he was followed by
e. Artaxerxes who reigned from 465-424 B.C.
(3) Around 445 B.C. accompanying Nehemiah (still under the reign of Artaxerxes).
When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., he carried many Jews into exile to Babylon, leaving behind only the poorest of the poor. Archeological findings have confirmed the utter destruction in the land of Judah. Many of the remaining Jews later fled to Egypt.
The book of Ezra begins with the miraculous call by Cyrus to the Jews in Babylon to return to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. A great number of Jews chose to remain in Babylon, presumably because they had become prosperous and were satisfied with their alien status as they enjoyed freedom and success in business. Archaeology tells us that more than a century later, the Murashu family among these exiles started the first banking-house in human history.
(1) As we read the miraculous order of a foreign king to accomplish the will of God for His people, let’s take a look at the precise prophecies of Isaiah who prophesied well before the fall of Jerusalem and the rise of Cyrus. See Isaiah 44:28–45:13.
(2) Suppose that you were Cyrus, upon your conquering of Babylon and coming into contact with the Jews in exile, especially with Daniel who would still be alive at Cyrus’ conquest (See Dan. 6:1).
a. What chance would there be that Daniel and others would read to you the prophetic words of Isaiah?
b. How would you have reacted to the reading of your name prophesied at least 150 years before your birth?
(3) Besides the prophecies of Isaiah, there is the prophecy of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:10:
a. How did Daniel take the prophecy of Jeremiah? (See Dan. 9:1-3)
b. What did he do about it?
c. According to Ezra 1:1, how did God cause His prophetic promise to come to pass?
(4) What is the most spectacular part of this event to you?
(5) How then should you look at the current history of the world? (Read Prov. 21:1 as well.)
(6) Read this royal decree in detail and consider the following:
a. What did Cyrus call the LORD (i.e. Yahweh), the God of Israel?
b. How did he see his role (and mission) as in the hand of the LORD ?
c. What would be the specific mission of these Jews who would return to Jerusalem?
d. How would this project be funded?
(7) The Persians, no doubt, had their own gods:
a. Why then would Cyrus give credit to the LORD (i.e. Yahweh) for his success?
b. What might be the political impact on his own people, especially the priests who served at the temples of their gods in Persia?
(8) Suppose that you were one of the Jews in exile in Babylon:
a. What would be your reaction to the hearing of this decree?
b. Would you, therefore, jump at the first opportunity to return to Jerusalem?
- What would be the reasons for you to return?
- What might be the reason that you would hesitate to return? (Remember that it has been 70 years since your exile and that you have listened to the exhortation of Jeremiah in Jer. 29:4-7.)
(9) Pause and reflect on the main message to you today. How may you apply it to your life?
(1) Can you recap how incredible and significant was the moving of the heart of a foreign king to fulfill the promise of God to His people?
(2) From the list of returnees in chapter two, we understand that not too many of the exiles had chosen to respond to the call of the king to return to Jerusalem. Accordingly to v. 5, who were the ones who were prepared to go up and build the temple of the Lord?
(3) What lesson can we learn in trying to have people participate in the work of the Lord?
(4) “All their neighbors” presumably refer to those Israelites who have decided not to return to Jerusalem:
a. What did they do in lieu of going back themselves?
b. Do you think they were doing the “next best” thing under the circumstances?
c. Did they get the “best” of blessings as a result? What would they have missed?
(5) What is the significance of having the articles of the temple returned to the house of God?
(6) The list of people who returned to Jerusalem might be a bit boring to read, but do try to read it slowly:
a. How many priests went back to Jerusalem?
b. How many Levites (i.e. assistants to the priests), including singers, gate keepers and temple servants went back to Jerusalem?
c. There were those who could not prove their Jewish genealogy (including some priests) in vv. 59-62. How would they feel and why would they return, given the possibility of not being allotted any land back in Jerusalem, and in the case of priests, not being allowed to share in the sacrifices (v. 63)?
d. What is the total number of the “whole company” who returned to Jerusalem?
(7) Although
v. 68 said they arrived at “the house of the Lord”, it really meant the ruin of
the original site of the temple. Try to imagine the feelings of the following people:
a. The returnees upon seeing the poverty and ruins of their former homeland. (What might have the freewill offerings of the family heads of about 1,100 lbs. of gold and literally tons of silver meant to the morale of the people?)
b. The poorest of the poor among the Jews who had stayed behind.
c. The neighboring Gentiles upon seeing the return of some 40,000 Jews.
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) The returnees spent the first six months of their return in settling in their towns. What might they be doing to “settle in”? Did you have a similar experience in your life?
(2) But once settled, what did they come together to do?
(3) How important was the building of an altar to God? What did this altar enable them to do according to vv. 2-6?
(4) As we understand from the rest of the book of Ezra, the fear of their neighbors was real. How did the offering of morning and evening sacrifices help them in the midst of their fear?
(5) What might be more important: The laying of the foundation of the temple or the building of an altar? Why?
(6) What can we learn from these returnees in this respect?
(7) Perhaps the first six months of settling in was also important for the re-establishment of a local (provincial) government and for its smooth operation too. Once that was achieved, the people now turned their full attention to the rebuilding of the temple—the original intent of the decree by king Cyrus: Do you think without the king’s decree, the people of Sidon and Tyre would send them cedar for the building of the temple? Why or why not?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Why did they only assign Levites to the supervision of the building of the temple while the masons and carpenters might not even be Israelites (See Ezr. 3:7 and 1 Chr. 22:2; 2 Chr. 2:7)? What might be the principle behind it?
(2) We all understand how important the laying of the foundation to a building is:
a. In this case, what do you think is the real foundation to the laying of this temple?
b. The temple of God in the New Testament is the body of Christ: What is its foundation according to Ephesians 2:20?
c. What insight does Ephesians 2:20 shed on your answer to a. above?
(3) Ezra spells out the exact words from the Psalms that they sang in this foundation-laying ceremony:
a. What are the words being sung?
b. How meaningful are they to this particular occasion?
(4) Why did some of the older priests and Levites weep? Would you do the same, under the circumstances?
(5) It must have been quite an emotional scene, with shouts of joy mixed with the sound of weeping:
a. Have you ever had a similar experience before?
b. Upon the return of the Lord, do you think that apart from shouts of praise and joy, there would be weeping as well? Why or why not?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Do you think the enemies of Judah and Benjamin were sincere in their offer to help rebuild the temple of the Lord? Why or why not?
(2) What was the basis of their offer? (see 2 Ki. 17:24-29)
(3) What was the reply of the leaders of the Jews and what reason did they give? Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
(4) These enemies set out to discourage the Jews:
a. What tactic did they use?
b. What might they have done to the point that the people were “afraid to go on building” the temple?
(5) The words “to discourage” literally mean “weakening the hands” of the people of Judah (Fensham):
a. In your experience in serving or following the Lord, what might be the reasons that could weaken your hands or discourage your heart?
b. What might be the most destructive?
c. How can we best counteract such a weakening of hands or discouragement of hearts?
(6) The opposition began presumably from shortly after the laying of the foundation all the way to the reign of Darius. Look up the years mentioned in the “preface” of this week’s devotional guide, and see how long a period it was.
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
It is important to distinguish the two events—the building of the temple of Jerusalem and the building of the city of Jerusalem. Ezra somehow inserted the event of 4:6-23 parenthetically regarding the stalling of the building of the city in the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (486 B.C.) perhaps to give just an example of the kind of political maneuver used by the enemies of God’s people, and in this case, the beginning of their maneuver in 486 B.C. which eventually consummated into a formal complaint after 465 B.C. That’s how persistent the opposition was. (Note also that 4:8–6:18 is all written in Aramaic, not Hebrew):
(1) The chief writer of the complaint was Rehum, the commanding officer of the Trans-Euphrates which means the region west of the Euphrates including Palestine:
a. Who were the people he included as co-writers of the letter?
b. What do you think happened that the enemies of the Jews could, after some 15 years, come up with such powerful allies to go against the people of God?
c. Can you think of some parallels today of political maneuvers that target the church of the Lord?
(2) The letter described the people of God as rebellious and wicked:
a. Was there any truth to this accusation?
b. What do the opponents of Christians accuse us of these days?
(3) What kinds of potential threat or harm would the restoration of the walls of the city pose to the Persian Empire?
(4) What kinds of threat or harm against the society do the opponents of Christian allege against us today?
(5) In the king’s reply, what did the historical record prove? In what aspects was it correct? In what aspects was it incorrect?
(6) Ultimately, what might be the real reason of the king’s edict?
(7) In the attacks against Christians these days, we are often painted as bigots and are accused of being intolerant, taking away people’s right to choose, and imposing our moral values on the society. How should we answer to these accusations?
(8) What did the enemies do immediately based on the king’s edict?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Take a look at Haggai 1:1-6.
a. What kind of a spiritual condition was being painted by Haggai?
b. Can you blame the Israelites? Why or why not?
c. Is there a parallel to Christians, including yourself, today?
(2) What impact did the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah have on the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem according to Ezra 5:2?
(3) What kind of risk were they taking in obeying the words of the Lord?
(4) Was the opposition by the governor and the rulers of their region unexpected? How did they deal with it?
(5) Read the contents of the letter sent by the governor and his associates to Darius:
a. Was the letter about the rebuilding of the city or the temple?
b. What did the reply of the Jews, given in vv. 11-12, show?
c. How different was this letter from the one we read in chapter 4?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?