EZRA BIBLE STUDY
1:1-4
The Decree
The book of Ezra tells us the story of a remnant of Israel returning from the Babylonian captivity. This captivity occurred when the Babylonians attacked and destroyed Jerusalem under king Nebuchadnezzar. There were actually several attacks, culminating in a final 18 month siege that ended in the fall of the city in 587 B.C. Many Jews were killed, the walls of the city were broken down andthe temple and the king’s palace were burned down.
The last king of Judah, Zedekiah, attempted to escape the siege with his two sons. They were caught, the sons were executed, Zedekiah’s eyes were put out, and he was taken to Babylon in chains and was never heard from again.
Most of the survivors were taken to Babylon. There were 10,000 plus survivors taken away. Among them were Daniel in 605 B.C. and Ezekiel in 598 B.C. Also taken were many treasures from the temple. (2 Chronicles 36) The Lord did all of this because the Jews had turned away from him into idolatry and had refused to listen to the prophets God sent to warn them and to call them to repentance.
This punishment of the Jews was part of the covenant God made with Israel. The covenant included blessings for obedience and curses, or punishments, or disobedience. You can read about both in Leviticus 26. The ultimate punishment was to be conquered, the cities destroyed, and the survivors driven from the land. The Lord kept his word and did what he said he would do, although he gave them may chances to repent.
The last of the prophets God sent was Jeremiah. He warned the king and those in Jerusalem of God’s coming judgment. Instead of listening and repenting, they turned against Jeremiah and punished him. They even kept him in a cistern for a while. Yet, Jeremiah continued to prophesy, telling them that Nebuchadnezzar would come and destroy the land. (Jeremiah 25:8-11) He also told them they would be in exile for 70 years. After that, God would punish the Babylonians for who they had done.
Nebuchadnezzar did what Jeremiah prophesied. He later died and his son Nabonidus became king. In the waning years of the kingdom, Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar were co-regents. Daniel 5 and 6 show us Belshazzar using holy items from the Temple during a feast and how God brought the Medes and Persians to kill Belshazzar and take over the kingdom. Cyrus the Great became king.
Also about that time Daniel read the book of Jeremiah and realized the 70 years were coming to a close. He began to pray for God bring an end to the captivity. (Daniel 9)
Daniel survived the regime change into the reign of Cyrus the Great, or Cyrus II, the conquering king. (Daniel 10) So, Daniel would overlap with the people alive at the time of Ezra. But he would have been very old.
So, the book of Ezra opens up by telling us that the Lord, acting to fulfill his word through Jeremiah, stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to make a written proclamation that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, the house of YHWH. He called for the people around them, Jews who did not want to return to Jerusalem, to assist them monetarily with the project. (4) We will later be told that Cyrus also gave money from his royal treasury.
In doing this, Cyrus acknowledged that God gave him his kingdom and says God charged him to build the temple in Jerusalem. (2) There is also a passage in Isaiah 44:24-25:13, where Isaiah relays the word of the Lord that Cyrus would be the Lord’s chosen one to bring the Jews back to Israel.
In contrast to the writer of Esther, who never mentions God, the writer of Ezra wants us to know from the beginning of the book that God accomplished the return of the Jews to Judah. As Ephesians 1:11 says, God works all things according to the counsel of his will.
There is a cylinder in the British Museum that is called the Cyrus Cylinder. It was discovered in 1879 in the Marduk Temple of Babylon. Part of its text refers to Cyrus’s policy of returning the religious artifacts of conquered nations back to those nations and rebuilding their temples, while soliciting their prayers.
1:5-11
Some Decide to Return
As God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to decree the return of the Jews to Israel, he also stirred up the spirits of some of the Jews to return. Not all of the exiles returned. But, some did, including the heads of houses\families within the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with some priests and Levites. (5)
Others, who did not want to return, gave them money and goods, as well as animals. (6) Cyrus the king returned the goods that had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar from the temple. (7) They were given to Sheshbazzar to take care of. (8) He is described as a “prince of Judah”, which likely just means he was one of the leaders. There is nothing else in the book that indicates he is royalty descended from David. The writer lists everything that was returned, adding up to 5,400 total items of gold and silver.
Why would the writer gives us such a detailed inventory of all of these vessels?
First of all, they were holy. They were dedicated to God for use in the temple as part of worship. As such, they could not be used for anything else. That is why Belshazzar was killed right after he drank wine from one of the holy vessels. It was an intentional sacrilege.
Second, these items were symbols of God’s covenantal dealings with Israel. They were items the Jews had been told to make for the temple. Just looking at them would make the Jews remember the Scriptures they had been taught and the stories they had been told.
Third, these items would be needed for the Jews to use in the worship of God in the rebuilt temple. Getting them back would be an encouragement and a symbol that they were beginning a journey back into a full covenant relationship with God and were no longer the objects of his wrath.
Fourth, it was the fulfillment of prophesy. Isaiah 52:11-12 says:
Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing:
go our from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord
For you shall not go out in haste and
you shall not go in flight,
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
With these items for the temple, their own household items they were taking, family members, and animals, this remnant of Israel began a journey of several months to return to Israel. It was a journey of faith. Many of these people were born in Babylonia\Persia. They were born in exile. They had not seen the magnificence of Solomon’s temple or the city of Jerusalem. They only knew what they had been told. Others likely went into exile too young to remember much about it. Only a few of the oldest had seen the city and the temple and remembered it. Yet, they all went out of faith and a desire to see God honored again in his temple.
The book of Ezra will show God as sovereign. Even the mightiest ruler on earth is subject to God’s will and purpose.
And the story of redemption continues to move along. It was God’s intention the the Messiah come to his people, the Jews. Therefore, he preserved the Jewish race from extinction and assimilation. It was God’s intention that the Messiah come to country of Israel, so he sent the Jews back to their country when the time for their exile was complete.
God always fulfills his word and keeps his promises. He told the Jews they would go into captivity and he told them he would bring them back and restore the land to them. He did both.
We can count on him to fulfill the prophesies of the New Testament, too, and to keep his promises to us, including the promise of eternal life to those who believe.
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