Summary...
What it may have meant to its original audience...
How Jesus might have read it...
What it might mean for our faith today...
Some important themes in this book...
Some important questions to ask about this book...
Ezra opens with a proclamation made by Cyrus, the conquering emperor of the Persians, ‘in the first year of his reign’. In the proclamation, the people of Judah are told that they may return to their city in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The temple relics and treasures that were stolen by the Babylonians are also returned to the people of the ‘God of Israel’. (Side note: for his actions, Cyrus has been seen as an anointed saviour of the Jewish people—a “messiah”)
The people of Judah, Benjamin (who had been absorbed by Judah), and the priests and Levites who had lived among them up until the exile all begin preparing to return home for the rebuild. An account of the families is given, detailing how many people would participate in the return. An interesting footnote is provided to some of the families—stating that ‘they could not prove their families or descent’—and meaning that their status as a people of Israel was unclear. This highlights a particularly important theme for this time of return from exile… restoring the purity of a sacred people who felt they had a special relationship with God.
The returnees arrive at Jerusalem and offer sacrifices. They begin reconstructing the temple and receive offers of help from people who are described as ‘the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin’ who ask to ‘Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do and have been sacrificing to him since… Assyria who brought us here’ (Ezra 4:2). The reference to the Assyrian invasion and the revelation that these ‘adversaries’ sacrifice to God (without a temple) are clear references that these people were the now-intermarried remnants of the Kingdom of Israel, whose capital was in Samaria—this likely reveals the origins of the Samaritans, who claim to worship the same God as Israel, yet are so thoroughly rejected by the Jewish people in the New Testament. The name ‘Jew’ or Jewish and thus the religion ‘Judaism’ begins to emerge in the Bible here, with the name being taken from the kingdom of Judah. It remains as a key term for the remnants of Israel, right into the New Testament.
After some challenges for the returning settlers from these Samaritan adversaries and other non-Jews, construction begins in earnest. The Bible mentions that some prophets arrive to direct the reconstruction, including Haggai and Zechariah—two prophets that give their names to some of the final books in the Old Testament.
We are then told that Cyrus passes on and is succeeded by Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes appoints the book’s namesake, the priest Ezra, to go and oversee the establishment and education of the returnees. Ezra take the idea of Jewish purity very seriously. He re-establishes Jewish law before separating and forcing out any non-Jews from among the people
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