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Ezra
Jeremiah had prophesied 70 years of captivity for the Jews. This time began around 606-605 B.C. For the next 70 years or so, God’s people would be exiled in Babylon because of their sins. The Babylonian empire was overtaken by the Medo-Persians. When Cyrus, the Persian, became king, he would issue a declaration of restoration for the Jews that would free them up to return to Jerusalem and start rebuilding what they had lost. This decree from Cyrus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy some 200 years earlier (Isa. 44:26-45:1). The return to Jerusalem started in about 538-536 B.C.
Ezra discusses this time of restoration. Under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who was appointed governor, the people would return home and start rebuilding the temple. Because of opposition, the people stopped building for about 15 years. Under the urging of Haggai and Zechariah, and with the support of king Darius (not the one from Daniel), they finally finished the temple. It was completed in about 516 B.C.
Ezra himself returned to Jerusalem in about 458 B.C., some 80 years after the initial decree from Cyrus (and just shortly after the time of Esther). Ezra’s mission was to reform the spiritual condition of the people, to teach the law of God, and restore proper worship.
When Ezra arrived, he found the spiritual condition of the people unacceptable. Many of the priests and leaders had entered into marriages God had forbidden. They married idolatrous, foreign wives, and were in danger of being right back in the condition they were in before captivity. Under Ezra’s leadership, this was remedied, and the people could get back on the righteous path once again.
Discussion
1. Who was Zerubbabel? What position did he occupy? Why was he important to the return from captivity?
2. Why did the work on the temple cease? Which prophets pleaded with the people to continue? When was it finished?
3. Who was Ezra? What position did he occupy? Why was he so important to the spiritual restoration of the people?
4. Why did the people have to put away their foreign wives? Why was such a drastic measure necessary?