Ezra 7:1 Commentary and Bible Study

We now come to the second part of the Book of Ezra. The book had started with the return of captives from Babylon by the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC, and chapters 1 to 6 are about the return of the 42,000 plus, the first group of returnees from captivity in Babylon. The Babylonian Empire had fallen, and the empire of the Medes and the Persians had taken its place. The people of God had been in captivity in Babylon for a nominal 70-year period, and then there had been the decree of Cyrus, the Medo Persian king, that they should return to Jerusalem and the temple should be rebuilt, and in that year the first party, the main party of returnees go back to Jerusalem had arrived. They were led by Zerubbabel, who was the appointed governor of Judah and Jerusalem, and Joshua, or Jeshua as he’s called in this book, was the high priest at the time. The foundation of the temple was laid in 536 BC, and it had taken 20 years to rebuild, the work being completed in 516 BC. It is now 458 BC and much work still remains to be done, for the walls of Jerusalem have still not been repaired, and Ezra journeys from Babylon with a small company of returning Jews. Between the end of chapter 6 and the start of chapter 7 is a 60-year gap, during which time there had been considerable decline, so the book covers altogether a period of about 80 years. Now this second wave of coming up towards eight thousand former captives returns with Ezra. It is a much smaller than the forty-two thousand plus wo came with Zerubbabel, and there are not many priests, and very few Levites. Most people in the Babylonian captivity, most of the Israelites, had settled and were comfortable. They didn't want to return and their comforts and their homesteads that they built and prepared, meant much more to them than the God-given purpose of their nation. Ezra is raised up to bring in reformation. This particular chapter is really about the minister’s credentials and life. The way it is written, unusually, you would not think that all that was accomplished was entirely the work of God. Of course it was, and it does say so, but it doesn't emphasise that. You wouldn't think that all was accomplished was also due to the efforts of the people. As you read the narrative, you would think it was entirely through Ezra. His was the instrumentality, and his was the life and the conduct which determined the measure by which God blessed them. That is unusual, but it is intentional in this passage, because it focuses one's mind on the instruments of God and their responsibility before him, their significance. It all refers to the credentials and the life of Ezra, the priest, preacher, leader of that people. In modern times the lessons we learn would be applied to preachers, pastors, office bearers in the church of Christ.