Ezra: Remembrance & Restoration
Condensed History of Israel ;-)
1400 BC: Joshua – Enter Promised Land
1150 BC: Time of Judges
1021 BC: Time of Kings - Saul, David (1000 BC), and Solomon (967 BC)
922 BC: Divided Kingdom: Northern – Israel, Southern – Judah
721 BC: Assyria conquers Northern Kingdom, Lost Tribes of Israel
586 BC: Babylon conquers Southern Kingdom, Solomon’s temple destroyed, Jews taken into captivity in Babylon (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel)
539 BC: Persia conquers Babylon overnight, Cyrus issues decree (Ezra 1)
Four Persian kings
Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great): Initial decree to rebuild temple, First Return, Stopped by opposition for 16 years (536-520 BC)
Darius the Great: Restarted temple rebuild, Temple completed (516 BC)
Xerxes (also called Ahasuerus): Son of Darius, Mentioned briefly in Ezra 4, Husband of Esther
Artaxerxes: Second and Third Return, Law and Worship Established, Wall Rebuilt
Main Israelite Figures
Zerubbabel/Sheshbazzar: Ezra chapters 1 to 6 (First return), Governor to oversee temple build, Rebuilt altar, Laid temple foundation (537 BC), Same person
Haggai: Prophet, Tells Israel to start rebuilding God’s house
Zechariah: Prophet, Prophecies the Restoration of the Temple and City of Jerusalem
Ezra: Arrives 457 BC in Ezra chapter 6 (Second Return), Brought the law/worship
Nehemiah: Arrives 444 BC in Nehemiah 2 (Third Return), Oversaw wall rebuild, Wall rebuilt in 52 days
The Lord REMEMBERS His Word.
Ezra Chapter 1:1a
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah...
Jeremiah 25:11-12
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jeremiah 29:10
“But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever.
Jeremiah 29:10 & 51:11
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
“Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
Isaiah 44:28
(The Lord) Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’
Ezra 1:1b-4
The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
The Lord KEEPS His Word.
Ezra 1:5-6
Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
The Lord RESTORES everything according to His Word.
Ezra 1:7-8
Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
Jeremiah 27:22
“They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,” declares the Lord. “Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”
Ezra 1:9-11
This was the inventory:
gold dishes 30
silver dishes 1,000
silver pans 29
gold bowls 30
matching silver bowls 410
other articles 1,000
In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The Lord…
• REMEMBERS His Word.
• KEEPS His Word.
• RESTORES everything according to His Word.