5/5/2021 0 Comments Ezra Commentary722 BC: God sends Assyrians to deport the 10 northern tribes. 605 BC: First deportation of Israel by Babylon 597 BC: Second deportation of Israel by Babylon 586 BC: Third deportation of Israel by Babylon 539 BC: Cyrus the Persian overthrows Babylon. 538 BC: Zerubbabel leads the first return to Jerusalem. 458 BC: Ezra leads the second return to Jerusalem. 445 BC: Nehemiah leads the third return to Jerusalem. Ezra ("Jehovah helps") chronicles the story of the exiles, under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Ezra, returning back to their land, which they lost through their rebellion against their covenant-keeping God, who remains faithful to their survival. Ezra 1:
in the midst of being under the severe hand of discipline from the Lord, the nation Israel finds a reprieve, and has a semblance of a brand new start. Ezra 2: they are far from being half-hearted about going back to Jerusalem. They are not merely going on a road trip, and changing geographical locations at the behest of Cyrus, like some slaves. They are taking account of every head, every resource. They , in Paul’s lingo , are girding up the loins of their mind, and cutting off all loose ends. Every man matters for the cause. Every silver counts and is not to be wasted. They anticipate difficulty ahead, and must make every expenditure count. 3: Ezra: First things first before starting work: ritualistic self-reminder of their origins and identity as people that God made. Reminder that their responsibilities are toward God first. Nothing is sweeter to the ears like a good music after a hard day’s work. 4: Ezra: It is most effective to hinder the progress toward success from within: through infiltrating and sabotage. The next best thing is through police action. Solid case of a letter: 1. We are your eyes and ears here in Jerusalem and want to report a problem. 2. You can’t trust these people to do what is right. They have a track record of rebellion. 3. We have your best interests at heart, nothing more. Ezra 5: God changes people in charge of the empire. God speaks and people hear, are encouraged and motivated to start the work again. All grievances of the annoying neighbours should be taken up with the temporal world power, who is in the hand of God. Ezra 6: It is good to have a level of normalcy and rituals back into our lives: to remember the salvation of the Lord, and celebrate. The more joyful you are, the less work it seems to sacrifice hundreds. Ezra 7: Enter in Ezra the Aaronic Priest / lawyer as the head of the second wave of return. Committed, and disciplined, Ezra lives out a life of integrity, by studying, striving to be eminently practical in his knowledge putting them to practice, then mass distributing the knowledge to others which makes himself even better at retaining knowledge, and creates accountability for himself. God reassures Israel of His continuing covenant promises: just as He worked through pagan kings to deport them, He works through world powers to bring them back. Messiah will one day rule, but not before the sin of the Gentiles is complete. ezra 8: Preparation for departure to Jerusalem. Recruiting of Levites. Humourous commentary on Ezra’s righteous boasting of God’s sovereignty and His omnipotent hand against their enemies, and Ezra’s anxious prayers to allay his misgivings. Ezra teaches Levites to be responsible stewards of God’s riches. ezra 9, 10 Ezra, heartbroken over the unfaithfulness of the people, take upon himself to teach Israel by example, how to mourn over their sins, and to shoe what effects their sins have on God’s own emotion. The people choose the lesser evil to stay pure before God in their devotion: divorce. Horrible disowning of wives and children, the consequence of their disobedience, will not be easily forgotten and disappear in its further effect in history.
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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