Ezra 6-7
What I Noticed Today (Ezra 6-7)
Ezra 6
In verses 1-5, Darius, king of Persia, received the letter from Tattenai, the Persian governor of the area west of the Euphrates river.
- Darius ordered a search of the records in the Babylon library. The records were eventually found in the fortress of Ecbatana.
Note: The fortress of Ecbatana is located in modern-day Hamadan which is 300 miles northeast of Babylon. Ecbatana was the capital of Media. King Cyrus had spent the summer there in 538 B.C., the year he wrote the decree for the rebuilding of the temple.
In verses 6-12, King Darius issued his own decree that confirmed the decree by Cyrus, ordering the repairs to be paid for out of the royal treasury.
- Additionally, Darius warned anyone that might consider interfering with the rebuilding of the temple that they would be killed.
- Tattenai, the governor of the region, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the commands of King Darius.
- The Jews continued to work on the temple and completed it on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius (515 B.C.).
In verses 16-22, once the temple rebuilding was finished, the Israelites celebrated the dedication of the temple.
- Then they celebrated Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with great joy.
Ezra 7-10
The second return of exiles from Babylon under the leadership of Ezra in 458 B.C.)
Ezra 7
Note: Ezra 7 begins with a reference to King Artaxerxes of Persia. Artaxerxes’ reign was 57 years after King Darius, so there is a 58-year gap between the close of Ezra 6 and the beginning of Ezra 7.
Note: Also, Ezra 1-6 records the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple, while Ezra 7-10 primarily contains a memoir of Ezra’s return and his reforms. Ezra was a scribe and an expert in the Law of Moses.
In verses 1-5, the genealogy of Ezra, the scribe is listed.
In verses 6-10, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra requested 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).
Note: Verse 6 refers to the “hand of God” being on Ezra. This is the first of six times the hand of God is mentioned in the book of Ezra (Ezra 7:6, 7:9, 8:18, 8:21, 8:22, and 8:31).
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 ordered 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.
Note: Ezra was clearly a man a dedicated man of God with great skills and passion (Ezra 7:10). But Ezra recognized that what he was able to accomplish, he accomplished because God’s hand was on him (Ezra 7:6). This sentiment is restated in Ezra 7:28, when Ezra recognizes that God’s steadfast love gave him the courage to face the great challenge that was before him.
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.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.