The Zone Gathering

Background

For 490 years, the people of Judah ignored God’s ordinance to allow the land to lay fallow (i.e., unsown, resting) every seventh year, essentially missing 70 Sabbaths.  They also broke or ignored other statutes.  As a result, God allowed them to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians and they remained exiled for 70 years, as prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:1-14).

In 539 B.C., Cyrus and Darius of the Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon.  Approximately 175 years before Cyrus, King of Persia, was born, Isaiah prophesied that he would sanction the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Isa. 44:28 - 45:7).  Unlike the Babylonians, the Persians allowed their subject nations to live in their own native regions under the authority of a ruling governor.

The theme of Ezra is the restoration of the remnant of God’s covenant people (the Jews) in Jerusalem, in obedience to His law.  Through Cyrus and a later Persian king, Darius I, God allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild His temple.  The book of Ezra tells this story in two parts.  Chapters 1 through 6 recount the return of the first exiles to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, while Chapters 7 through 10 detail Ezra and a smaller remnant returning to Jerusalem and addressing the sin of intermarriage.  Approximately 60 years lapsed between the events recorded in Ezra 1-6 and those recorded in 7-10.

Synopsis

In his first year as king of Persia, Cyrus is moved by the Lord to issue a proclamation calling for the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Lord’s temple (1:1-4).  Cyrus also instructs people living where the exiles reside to provide them with gifts of silver and gold, goods and livestock (1:4-6).  He also returns the articles belonging to the Lord’s temple (1:7-11).

Chapter 2 provides a list of approximately 50,000 exiles who return (2:1-67).  When they return, some heads of families give freewill offerings to help with the rebuilding of the temple (2:68-69).  After settling into their own towns, the people of Judah “assembled as one” in Jerusalem to rebuild the altar of God upon which to sacrifice burnt offerings (3:1-3).  Religious feasts and regular burnt sacrifices are restored even before the foundation of the temple is laid (3:4-6).  Work begins on the temple and a celebration ensues when the foundation is established (3:7-13).

Enemies of the remnant offer to help rebuild the temple, but are rebuffed by Zerubbabel, Jeshua and other heads of Israel’s families who argue “you have no part with us in building a temple to our God” (4:3).  As a result, the Persians discourage the rebuilding of the temple by instilling fear in the returning exiles (4:4-5).  This opposition is formalized at the beginning of the reign of Xerxes when enemies of Judah stress to the king how the rebuildilng of the temple and Jerusalem will lead to rebellion against the Persian government (4:6-16).  Xerxes permits his authorities to issue an order to cease reconstruction, and work on the temple comes to a standstill (4:17-24).

In chapter 5, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah exhort the people to continue rebuildilng the temple, and the work begins again under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest (5:1-2).  The Persian governor Tattenai questions under whose authority the temple is being rebuilt and sends a letter of protest to the new king, Darius I (5:3-17).  Tattenai indicates that the people of Judah contend they are acting under the original decree issued by Cyrus and asks Darius to rule on the validity of their claim.

Darius finds the decree of Cyrus (6:1-5) and confirms it, ordering Tattenai and other provincial officials to refrain from interfering with the rebuilding.  He also instructs Tattenai to assist the exiles by providing funding for their expenses and whatever else they may need (6:6-10).  Darius issues a strict warning against disobeying his instructions, and the consequences of doing so are dire: “Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted up and impaled on it. And for this crime his house is to be made a pile of rubble.  May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.  I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence” (6:11-12).

Darius’ decree is carried out and the temple is completed (6:13-15).  The people of Judah celebrate the dedication of the temple with offerings and celebrate the Passover together (6:16-22).

Approximately 60 years pass before the story picks back up.  Under the authority of King Artaxerxes, Ezra comes to Jerusalem from Babylon, bringing with him another wave of exiles (7:1-26), numbering less than 2,000 men.  The king authorizes Ezra to take gold and silver from Babylon as offerings for the temple and gives him the authority to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice in the exiles’ province (Trans-Euphrates) according to the laws of God (7:25-26).  Ezra gives praise to God for the king’s favor (7:27-28).

Chapter 8 lists the exiles who return to Jerusalem with Ezra (8:1-14) and details all that transpires to enable them to return.  The exiles are assembled and a fast is proclaimed to seek God’s protection on the journey (8:15-23).  Ezra sets apart 12 of the leading priests and puts them in charge of the offering of silver and gold (8:24-30).  Ezra and the exilres arrive in Jerusalem and offer burnt sacrifices to God (8:31-36).

God uses Ezra to rebuild the people spiritually and morally.  When Ezra discovers that the people and priests of Judah have disobeyed God’s law and intermarried with foreign (pagan) women (9:1-2), he identifies with the sin of his people and offers an intercessory prayer on their behalf (9:3-13).  The people are moved and join in confessing their sins of intermarriage (10:1-4), vowing to “send away” (”put away”) the foreign women and their children.  They fulfill their commitment and respond to God’s Word, which brings about a great revival (10:5-17).  The book ends wiht a list of those guilty of intermarriage (10:18-44).

For Your Consideration

Some of you may find the command to “send away” the pagan women and their children troubling — why should these women be effectively divorced and sent off without any means of support?  However, Ezra’s action must be understood in light of the drastic situation that faced the Jewish community in Jerusalem following the return from exile.  Only a small remnant had returned, and it was important for them to keep themselves from pagan idolatry and foreign cultural influences.  This was one of the problems which led to their downfall and captivity as a people in the first place.

The book of Ezra is an important chapter in the lives of God’s chosen people, and it is a testament to our Lord God, who keeps His promises.  He did not break the covenant with the Jews and preserved a remnant.  As we read Ezra today, we can be challenged to think about how God deals with sin/disobedience among those He calls His own, His tremendous mercy and and love, and His ability to use outsiders – as He did with Cyrus and Darius — to bring about His ultimate purposes.  That is the God we serve!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 9:06 am and is filed under Bible Drills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.