Where it fits

Ezra is the fifteenth book of the Bible, with ten chapters. It was originally one book with Nehemiah and picks up where 2 Chronicles ends, with the decree of Cyrus of Persia in 538 BC. It covers about 80 years, from the first return to Ezra's own journey around 458 BC. Parts of it (4:8–6:18; 7:12–26) are written in Aramaic, the language of the Persian government. Jewish tradition credits Ezra with the book, and much of chapters 7 to 9 is written in the first person. Read straight through, it takes about 35 minutes.

The big story

Cyrus, king of Persia, conquers Babylon and allows exiles to return home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (1:1–4). Isaiah had named Cyrus generations earlier (Isaiah 44:28–45:1), and the book sees God's hand in the king's decision. About 50,000 people return with Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, and Jeshua the priest (2). They rebuild the altar and lay the temple's foundation, and the people shout for joy while the older ones who remember the first temple weep aloud (3:10–13). Neighbors offer to help, but when Zerubbabel refuses, they discourage the builders and get the work stopped (4). Only after the prophets Haggai and Zechariah stir the people is the temple finished in 516 BC (5–6).

Chapters 7 to 10 jump ahead about 58 years. Ezra, a priest and scribe who had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to do it, and to teach it (7:10), leads a second group to Jerusalem with the king's blessing. He is ashamed to ask for soldiers for the dangerous road, and instead calls a fast and asks God for protection (8:21–23). In Jerusalem he learns that many people, including leaders, have married women from the surrounding peoples. He tears his clothes and prays a heartfelt prayer of confession (9). The people weep and agree to send away their foreign wives and children (10).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. God is at work in the rulers of the world. God stirs the heart of Cyrus to send his people home (1:1), and later kings fund and support the work (6:8–12; 7:11–26).
2. Small beginnings still matter. The rebuilt temple was modest, and the older generation wept. Even so, the work went on and was finished (3:12–13; 6:14–15).
3. God's Word shapes God's people. Ezra's aim, to study, practice, and teach the Law, is a model for anyone who reads Scripture (7:10).

Passages people ask about

• Ezra 1:1–4. Cyrus's decree.
• Ezra 3:8–13. Joy and tears at the new foundation.
• Ezra 4:1–5. An offer of help that was refused, and the opposition that followed.
• Ezra 7:1–10. Ezra's character and aim.
• Ezra 8:21–23. A fast for safe travel instead of a military escort.
• Ezra 9–10. The marriage crisis, among the hardest chapters in the book. The concern was the idolatry that had undone Israel before, not ethnicity as such, since foreigners like Ruth and Rahab were welcomed into God's people. Even so, the response is severe, and many Christians read it with unease. The New Testament teaches that faith, not ancestry, defines God's people (Galatians 3:26–29).

How it points to Jesus

Ezra looks to Jesus in what it leaves unfinished. The people have returned, but they are still under Persian rule (9:9), and the glory of the first temple has not come back. Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, appears in the family line from David to Jesus (Matthew 1:12–13). Ezra himself, a scribe devoted to teaching God's Law, anticipates the Teacher who not only taught the Law but fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17).

A common misunderstanding

The return from exile is sometimes read as the complete fulfillment of the prophets' promises of restoration. Ezra tells a more modest story. Only a fraction of the exiles came home, the temple was smaller than Solomon's, and the people were still subjects of a foreign empire (9:8–9). The prophet Zechariah speaks of a “day of small things” (4:10). The book is right to celebrate, but it leaves readers aware that something greater is still ahead.