The Book of Ezra

The book of Ezra is part of a continuous history of the Jews written after their seventy years in Babylon exile.


The book of Ezra records how God fulfilled the promise He made through the prophet Jeremiah. God's promise was to restore the Jewish people after seventy years of exile by bringing them back to their own land. Judah's collapse as a nation and their exile to Babylon occurred in three distinct stages and the return of the exiles occurred in three stages.


This book was written to show God's compassion, provision and faithfulness as He returned and restored a portion of their Jewish nation to their homeland. In doing so, God motivated the hearts of three different Persian kings to assist God's people in returning to their homeland, resettling Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple; and provided godly and capable leaders to lead the returning Jews in a revival of worship, commitment to God's Word and repentance for unfaithfulness to God. The book ends with Ezra leading the men in an act of public repentance.


Four major features characterize the book of Ezra. 1. Ezra - Nehemiah is the  only historical record in the Bible of the Jews' restoration in Palestine following the exile. 2. A remarkable feature of this book is that its two main divisions have a historical gap between them of about sixty years. The whole book covers about eighty years. 3. Ezra clearly reveals how God fulfills His Word. God even motivated the Persian kings to provide protection and material supplies for the Jews' restoration to their homeland. 4. Ezra's actions in relation to the ungodly women whom the Jewish men (including priests) had married in violation of God's commands reflect the following spiritual principles: God requires His people to be separated from the ungodly practices and lifestyles of the world and God sometimes uses radical methods to deal with dangerous compromise among His people. Ezra's action strongly reminded God's people of their primary calling to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They were not just another earthly nation.


The return of the Jews to their homeland shows us that God always desires to restore spiritually wayward people to a relationship with Himself. God does not judge and leave one without a chance of returning to Him. This principle also is evident in the New Testament.