Chronological Bible Study – Sep 25

What I Noticed Today (Ezra 7-10)

Ezra 7-10

The second return of exiles from Babylon under the leadership of Ezra in 458 B.C.)

Ezra 7

In verses 1-5, the genealogy of Ezra, the scribe is listed.

In verses 6-10, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra made a request to the king to return to Jerusalem.

• Ezra gathered together a number of priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and other Israelites to accompany him back to Jerusalem.
• The trip from Babylon to Jerusalem took four months (they left on the first day of the first month and arrived on the first day of the fifth month).

In verses 11-26, Artaxerxes issued a decree granting permission for the trip, including the payment of silver and gold as needed to be paid out of the royal treasury.

• Additionally, Artaxerxes decree included an order for Ezra to appoint judges and magistrates who know the Law of Moses to govern the people.
• Artaxerxes even order the Law be taught to those who did not know it.

In verses 27-28, begins the memoir of Ezra. Ezra gives praise to God for putting it into the king’s mind to glorify the house of the Lord.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• How amazing that God worked through a series of Persian kings to support and pay for the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord! It shows that God can and will use non-believers to accomplish His purposes.
• Ezra seems to have been overwhelmed by the prospect of returning to Jerusalem as King Artaxerxes ordered to appoint judges and teach the Law to the people. Yet being a student of the Law, he realized that God’s hand was on him, and that gave him the confidence and courage he needed to follow God.
• Sometimes the Lord gives us a grand vision of what He wants to accomplish in our lives. I pray that Like Ezra, we will recognize God’s hand on us when we do the work that God has called us to, and that will give us the confidence to follow him in faith.

Ezra 8

In verses 1-14, Ezra provides a listing of the heads of the families that made the 900-mile journey from Persia back to Jerusalem with Ezra. A total of 1,514 men, plus 258 Levites, for a grand total of 1,772 men.

In verses 15-20, when Ezra gathered the people together, he realized there were no Levites, so he sent for 38 Levites to join the group (18 from Sherebiah’s family, and 20 from Jeshaiah’s family).

In verses 21-30, once the Levites had joined the returning exiles, Ezra proclaimed a fast asking God to give them safe passage to Jerusalem.

• He then set apart a group of 12 of the leading priests who were given the responsibility of carrying the holy vessels and treasures to Jerusalem.
• Ezra weighed out 24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of silver articles, 7500 pounds of gold, 20 gold bowls, and two articles of bronze as offerings to the temple of the Lord. He gave them to the Levites and commanded them to care for the articles on the trip to Jerusalem.

In verses 31-36, the hand of God was on them, giving them safe passage.

• After arriving in Jerusalem, they waited three days and on the fourth day offered burnt offerings to the Lord.
• They also delivered King Darius’ edicts to the officials and governor of the region so they would support God’s people.

Ezra 9-10

Ezra enacts reforms in the land.

Ezra 9

In verses 1-4, officials let Ezra know that there was a major problem among the Israelites that had returned previously.

• They had begun to intermarry with women from Canaanite tribes in direct violation of Deuteronomy 20:18.
• To make matters worse, the people’s leaders, officials, and priests were among the worst offenders!
• Ezra tore his garments (a sign of repentance).
• He sat in the presence of the Lord fasting until the evening when he then bowed down and prayed for the people and the great sin they had committed.

In verses 5-15, after the evening sacrifice, Ezra knelt before the Lord and prayed.

• Verses 6-7 Ezra, ashamed, and disgraced, confessed the sin of the people.
• Verses 8-9 Ezra acknowledged God’s grace in allowing the people to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
• Verses 10-12 Ezra confessed the men’s sin of intermarrying with foreign women.
• Verses 13-14 Ezra admitted God would be justified in destroying the people because of their guilt before the Lord.
• Verse 15 Ezra prayed for God to be merciful to them even though no one in the community was worthy to stand before the Lord.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• The first group of exiles to return had gotten off to a good start with the leaders and priests dedicating the temple, rebuilding it, and celebrating Passover. But somewhere along the way, they drifted away from God, with even the priests and leaders violating God’s commands about intermarriage.
• We tend to be so much like these returned exiles. God shows great favor and blesses us. We begin by acknowledging Him, but slowly we drift away allowing sin to enter into our lives. Beware, a little leaven leavens the whole lump!

Today we close out the book of Ezra. Ezra dealt with foreign wives and the men who married them.

Ezra 10

In verses 1-4, Ezra is distraught over the sin of the people.

• As Ezra was praying, many of the people gathered around him weeping.
• Shecaniah, a priest, suggested that all the men who had married foreign wives send them away in order to preserve the purity of the Israelites.
• The people agreed, entering into a covenant with God to put away the foreign wives.

In verses 5-8, a proclamation was made for all the men to gather in Jerusalem in three days.

In verses 9-15, the people assembled in Jerusalem on the twelfth day of the third month (457 B.C.).

• Ezra addressed the people calling out their sin in marrying foreign women.
• The people agreed to send away the foreign wives but asked that elders and judges oversee each case.
• The people couldn’t look to the priests and Levites as impartial judges because many of them had also married foreign wives.
• The exiles did as proposed over a period of three months; they convened on the first day of the tenth month, and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.

Verses 18-44 is a listing of all the men who agreed to put away their foreign wives.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• It is disheartening to see that the high priest who certainly knew to marry foreign women was a direct violation of God’s law did it anyway. Other priests followed in his sinful example. Ultimately, many of the men among the returned exiles also turned away from God by marrying foreign women.
• Had Ezra not intervened with strong corrective action that was agreed to by the people it is likely the nation would have quickly fallen even further away from God.

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Nehemiah 1-5