Get Ready
The book of Ezra begins at the end of the Israelites’ captivity in Babylon and tells the story of the exiles’ return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the city and the temple. It is a story of some urgency because the leaders have finally figured out why they had been captives for so long.
Author
Unlike Kings and Chronicles, the book of Ezra has an author, according to most Biblical scholars: Ezra. He was a priest and one of the leaders of the returning Jewish exiles. He is also considered to be the author of Nehemiah, the book which follows Ezra. And, as we noted earlier, some authorities also believe he is the compiler of the book of Chronicles.
Context
Fifty years after the Babylonians defeated Judah and forced the Jewish leaders into captivity, Persia defeated the Babylonian army and moved into Babylon. Persia’s approach to its subject peoples differed from the Babylonians in two significant aspects: first they allowed subjects to live in their own region; second, they allowed people to worship their own god (a practice later adopted by the Roman Empire).
Cyrus, the Persian ruler, issued a proclamation allowing the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild the temple so they could re-establish their worship and sacrifices [1:2-4]. Cyrus even gave the people the “vessels of the house of the Lord” that the Babylonians had seized [the inventory is at 1:9-11]. Zerubbabel, the governor, and Jeshua, the high priest, led this first return in 525 BCE. They rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls and the temple over the next ten years.
Ezra and Nehemiah, the governor, led a second return in 458-457 BCE. They strengthened the group of exiles (roughly 50,000 people) and reinstituted the national commitment to following the law of Moses.
Structure
Like the other history books, Ezra and Nehemiah were written as a single book and divided into the two works we know as part of the Septuagint.
Ezra has two major parts:
- The first section [chapters 1-6] covers the initial return under Jeshua and Zerubbabel and the work rebuilding the city and the temple in spite of resistance and political opposition from the people surrounding them.
- The second section [chapters 7-10] is the account of Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s work restoring the proper practices of worship and sacrifice and adherence to the Mosaic Law.
Major Themes
Ezra is a book about God restoring his people. There are three major aspects to this restoration:
- God restores the Jewish people to their homeland – the land he promised Abraham would be a permanent home for his chosen people.
- God leads the people to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple – to restore the proper worship through sacrifice.
- God wants the people to restore obedience to his law to its proper place in their personal life and the life of the Jewish nation.
Even though the Jewish captives had considerable freedom as individuals in Babylon (in fact only a small number of the Jews living in Babylon during this period actually returned to Palestine – perhaps 50,000 out of 2 million), they still could not sacrifice as required by the Mosaic Law. It was important that the remnant who returned rebuild God’s house and rebuild his role in their lives.
Get into the Word:
1. Who wrote this book? What was his position in the Jewish community? How is this situation different than the previous history books?
2. What is the political and military situation at this time? Who is the dominant nation? How is this empire different than the previous one? What freedoms do they allow captive people?
3. Who is the ruler at the beginning of this book? What does he do for the Jews in Babylon? What does he give them for their work? Who are the leaders of the Jews?
4. Who are the leaders of the second group of returning exiles? When do they return to Jerusalem? What is their primary task in Jerusalem? Who do you think had the tougher challenge?
5. How is this book similar to the other history books? What are the major sections of this book? When do the events of each section take place? Why do you suppose the author had such a gap between the two sections?
6. What is the central topic of this book? What are the primary themes that develop this topic? Why are these concepts important to the writer? To the Jews?
Bible Trivia:
The first three verses of Ezra are identical to the last two verses of Chronicles (which supports the idea that Ezra was involved in writing, or at least editing both books).
Notes . . .
God’s Promise:
Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel warned the Israelites about the coming exile; but they also told the people that God would be faithful and that they would return and rebuild the temple. Isaiah even named Cyrus as the ruler who would authorize this, [check Jer 31, Ezek 40, and Isaiah 44].
Who returned:
The second chapter is basically a census of the Jews who returned to Palestine with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. The total is approximately 50,000 out of the roughly 2 million Jews then living in Babylon. Evidently the majority had sufficiently adapted to life in the pagan city they chose their current situation over the hardships of travel and dangers of a land they no longer knew.
Political Resistance:
Chapter 4 recounts the resistance of non-Jews (moved into the area by the Babylonians) to rebuilding the temple, including a series of letters to the Persian rulers and their response allowing the rebuilding to go forward.
The “foreign” wives:
Evidently many of the men in the first group of returning exiles married women from the local tribes, in violation of the Mosaic law [Deut 7:3] in one of the harshest incidents in the Old Testament, Ezra decides that all the men who had foreign wives and their children must be sent away [the roster is at 10:18-44]. This zealotry for the letter of the law grew over time to the point that the Pharisees of Jesus’ time had basically made the law into an idol – worshipped for its own sake rather than as the expression of obedience to God.
23: Worship Restored at Jerusalem —
Ezra 3:1-4:5
Get Ready
Have you ever gone back to a place you had not been for a long time? How did you feel as you made the journey? How did you feel once you arrived? What was different about the place than what you remembered? What was the same? How did you feel about the changes?
The Word
3 When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening. 4 And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day, 5 and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the sacred festivals of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foun-dation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia.
8 In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work on the house of the Lord.
9 And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviahd along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.
Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple
4 When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, “You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us.”
4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, 5 and they bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia. NRSV
Get into the Word:
1. Where do these events take place? Who are the leaders of the Israelites? What are their roles with the people?
2. What is the first task the people undertake? Why is this an important task? What do they do when they finish the work? What direction do they follow? Why are these rituals important to the Israelites?
3. What project do the people start next? Who is doing this work? What all is involved in this effort? Who authorized this project?
4. Who are some of the people involved in this project? Who are the leaders? Who are the supervisors? Why do you suppose the writer names all these workers?
5. What happens when the first part of the work is finished? Who is involved here? What pattern do the people follow for the celebration?
6. How do some of the people respond to the project? What do they compare the current work to? Why is it different than the original?
7. Who else tries to get involved in the project? How do the Jewish leaders respond? Why did they respond as they did? What do the other people do in turn?
Get Personal:
What practices or rituals do you have in your faith life? How did you choose them? How do they help you in your relationship with God?
Notes . . .
3:2. Zerubbabel — was the grandson of the last king of Judah and heir to David’s throne, but served as a governor under the Persian ruler.
Build the altar — during their captivity the Jews realized their situation was due to their disobedience to God’s commandments, so they made sure they could sacrifice according to the Mosaic Law to atone for their sins [Deut 27:6-7]. In addition, Cyrus’ decree specifically said they were to return to “rebuild the house of the Lord,” [1:3].
3:3. In dread — the Jews’ fear of the people the Assyrians had moved to the area after the fall of Jerusalem was another reason to get right with God as soon as possible.
3:4. Festival of booths — also translated “tabernacles” or “tents” – it follows the Day of Atonement when the high priest sacrifices for the sins of all the people [Lev 23:26].
3:6. Foundation of the temple — once the ritual of sacrifices was established the leaders turned their effort to rebuilding the temple.
Food, drink, oil — Solomon provided similar provisions to the workers on the original temple [2 Chron 2:10].
3:10. Directions of King David — the priests followed the same ritual as when David brought the ark to Jerusalem.
3:12. Seen the first house — some of the people could remember the splendor of Solomon’s temple and they wept when they saw the basic, less ornate appearance of the new one.
4:1. Adversaries — people the Assyrians had brought in to work the land, they became the Samaritans of Jesus’ time. The Jewish leaders rejected their involvement in favor keeping the temple worship “pure.” The adversaries then tried to stop the work through intimidation and political pressure [vv. 4-5], but Darius, the king, directed that the work on the temple should be completed [6:6-12].
Memory Verse:
God is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel, [Ezra 3:11].
Next Lesson:
Nehemiah 8: Summoning the people to obey the law.
