As we begin this study of Ezra, may we keep our focus on the fact that God is a Promise Keeper and we are the recipients of those promises. Seventy years prior God allowed a heathen nation to take captive His people in order to discipline them and restore them to purity and also their national status as His people. Although separated from the geographical location of Israel and Jerusalem in particular, God protected His remnant through the prophets of Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. He stirred the heart of one man, Ezra, to learn and transcribe the Law of Moses and to prepare himself to teach it. Thus when the 70 yrs. had come to a close, Ezra was adequately prepared to fulfill his role in the restoration of his nation. What has God stirred in your heart in order that your life may be prepared to do His work? 

PRINCIPLES:  God is a Covenant Keeper; He is sovereign, God prepares His people to do His work and sometimes uses unbelievers to direct our path and to fulfill His purpose.
AIM: That we may be alert to the purpose God has for us and how He will fulfill it

DAY ONE: Ezra 1:1-11 “Proclamation—Freedom”
1.How many years have passed since the southern kingdom was taken captive and deported such noteworthy individuals as Daniel, Shadrach, etc.?  See: II Kings 24:11, Jer. 25:11; Dan. 9:2. In II Kings we learn of the time when Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city of Jerusalem, taking captive the royals (10,000 in all) as well as the riches of the temple. In II Kings 25 we learn that he broke up the city as well as the Temple. According to the prophecy of Jeremiah, the time was to be 70 yrs. Daniel read about this prophecy and began to implore the Lord to remember His promises and restore His people to their land. This teaches us an  important principle of prayer: it is right to recite the prophecies and promises of God back to Him. 

2. Who was looking for the return of God’s people from the ‘east’ to the land of Israel? Is. 43, Dan. 9, Ps. 137:1-6. Not only was Daniel looking forward to God’s restoration of the nation of Israel but also Isaiah and the godly remnant who were in Babylon. 

APPLICATION QUES: Are you like Isaiah and Daniel looking in God’s Word for His return? 

3. Use II Kings 24:11-25:21 to answer the following questions: 
Who was the king in Israel at that time? There were three kings: Jehoiachin, Zedekiah followed by Gedaliah.  Who was king in Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar.   

4. Not only did the king of Babylon take the royal youth, but what else did he take and where did he store them? II Kings 24:13, Daniel 5. He took the treasures of the Temple and stored them in Babylon. We read of Belshazzar using them at his banquet at which the finger of God proclaimed the end of the Babylonian empire and it being given to Darius the Mede.  

5. Use Isaiah 44-45 and Ezra 1:1-4 to answer these questions:
Who is on the throne now in Babylon? Cyrus, the Persian Is he a Babylonian king? NO, he is Persian (present day Iran)
What can we glean from scripture about him? Isaiah prophesied about him: he would be God’s shepherd and will do all that God commands of Him (thus showing us the attribute of Sovereignty), that he would be used to rebuild God’s Temple at the point he is over the Persian empire. In chapter 45 Isaiah records that God would reveal His plan to Cyrus and that he would comply with God’s wishes. In Ezra we read of this taking place by the proclamation that Cyrus had written and read before the people, giving them freedom to return to the nation of Israel to the ‘west’. 

DAY TWO:  Ezra 1:1-11 “Proclamation—Freedom” cont’d
6. What does Cyrus have in his possession? Ezra 1:7-11 Cyrus has the Temple Treasures. This teaches us an important principle: Even though a heathen king and an unbeliever took them from their appointed place, and they were desecrated by Belshazzar in the time of Daniel, God essentially preserved all of them for the future restoration of the Temple. How marvelous is our God who orchestrates and takes care of even material possessions that will be used in His worship according to His plan. If He can accomplish this, how much more will He accomplish what He desires for us who are the “implements” (our bodies are His temple 1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? to be used in His worship.) How often do we do as Belshazzar and desecrate our “temple”? We have the promise that God can and will redeem it and use it for His purpose of worship. 

7. What did Cyrus proclaim to the Jews residing in Babylon/Persia? Cyrus gave them permission to return to Israel for the express purpose of rebuilding the Temple. He also provided the materials to be used in the service. He challenged the people to look within: who is there among you of all His people? (what an important question: if someone were to ask this question of us would we be able to answer affirmatively? 
He then also challenged those who would remain behind to provide for the travelers for their personal needs as well as stock to be used in the offerings once they arrived there. Once again we see God’s provision for His work being established—and this time through His instrument Cyrus. 

8. Review your history of the northern and southern kingdoms. Which of the 12 tribes were included in this repatriation? Why only those tribes? The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Judah and Benjamin made up the southern kingdom and the tribe of Levi were the priests that resided in Jerusalem or nearby to serve at the Temple. 

DAY THREE:  Ezra 2:1-70
9. Read through the list of the peoples that were a part of the contingent that left Babylon to head ‘west’ to the land of Israel. (this is just a reading exercise as there are 70 vs.) 

10. What does vs. 1 tell us about them? They are the children of the province (of Babylon most likely); they were the ones that had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and they were going back to their own city. (This is an interesting verse for it tells us that they did not all return to Jerusalem but to the surrounding towns and villages that were a part of the southern kingdom which made up the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. How orderly is our God! He shows us that He is not just a promise keeper to return His people, but that they would return to the exact location from which they were taken! An important principle!  God provides for us. ) 

11. What do you learn about the Levites using vs. 40-54? First the number 74 is an exact number. Secondly, the singers who were of the lineage of Asaph. In I Chron. 15, we read that King David appointed him as one of the trio who were assigned to be singers to be a part of the worship. In I Chron. 16 we learn that Asaph was the chief singer and he also played the cymbals. From 1Ch 25:1  Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: Psalm 83  is one of his songs. 
Then we also learn that the porters were listed. And then the Nethinims  (the NetBible notes: an incorrect translation as listed with an “s”) (the name given to the hereditary temple servants in all the post-Exilian books of Scripture. The word means given, i.e., "those set apart", viz., to the menial work of the sanctuary for the Levites. The tradition is that the Gibeonites (Josh. 9:27) were the original caste, afterwards called Nethinim.)

12. Who else was a part of this group and what problem arose? Vs. 55-63. The problem was that these could not prove their lineage as to being Jewish. This was an important piece of evidence to show their purity and part of the lineage of Abraham. To not have this evidence meant that they were considered outcasts. Thus too it prevented them from serving in the priesthood and thus their livelihood as being a part of the Levitical system by which the Judahites and Benjaminites would be paying for their needs. 

DAY FOUR: Ezra 2:1-70 CONT’D
THOUGHT QUESTION: How do you explain the biblical principle that is being taught by the problem in vs. 59-60? How often do we use this biblical principle to exclude those who ‘do not belong’  by forming a ‘holy huddle’, tending to speak in ‘christianeeze’, and/or use mainly male nouns to define all Christians? How can we avoid this phenomenon in practical terms? There is an important principle being taught here: purity and holiness begins with separateness. The Levitical priests were set aside as the first offering to God, to not be able to prove this was a disgrace and thus they were considered unclean. In our Christian fellowships we are needful of purity as well but we are also not to exclude those who are seeking and are new believers. We often tend to exclude by how we behave and respond to those who are truly seeking and who are new believers. 
How do we prevent this from occurring? By how we respond to visitors to our congregations: do we make them feel welcome or do we point them out by how we single them out by making them stand and announce their presence as is done in one local congregation with which this author is familiar. Do we use such terminology as “born again” or “I was really blessed this week in my quiet time”  in the presence of non-believers who have no idea what we are talking about? And finally how often do we unconsciously use the terms “brother in Christ” or “sons of God” around non-believers thus causing them to feel excluded. Perhaps we need to become more aware of our language, our holier than thou attitudes that tend to set us apart. POINT: There are times when separateness and sharing in our fellowship, such as when sin is in evidence—Paul speaks of this in I Cor.—but we are here noting how we as 21st century believers often tend to drive those away that are seeking rather than drawing them into our fellowship. 

“Whereas those excluded from Israel for want of ancestry were excluded for life, we separate Christians out of fellowship only until they are reconciled with God and the community of faith. Finally, as Israel prevented some proclaimed priests and Levites from ministering in that role, so we may need to prevent some individuals from performing certain ministerial function.” 
Mark Roberts “Mastering the Old Testament”, p. 66.  

13. How many altogether were a part of this godly remnant returning? Vs. 64 The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, ( once again we see the order of God’s servants to note the exact number of individuals). 

14. What else did they take with them and for what purposes? Vs. 64-70? Note the inclusion of those who served in the capacity of servants and maids and singers (both men and women) . Also, the notation of the animals that accompanied them, horses, mules, camels, asses. They were to be used in the sacrificial offerings once they arrived at the Temple site. 

DAY FIVE: Ezra 3:1-13
15. What was the first order of business upon their arrival in Jerusalem and how might this establish a strong spiritual foundation? Ezra 3:3.  They established the altar-note it was on the bases. That is they rebuilt it upon the original foundation of the original Temple brazen altar. This then established the foundation of where, when and how the sacrifices were to be offered. They were being obedient to the plan established by God in His Holy Temple. This gave to the returning ones a place to which they could return, a command to follow, and order in which it was to be accomplished. 

16. Who is Jeshua and who is Zerubbabel? What is the significance of including them in the establishment of the altar?  Ezra 3:1/ Haggai 1:1& 2:21 Jeshua is the priest that was to serve as the ‘high priest” and Zerubbabel was the political governor. This then gave order to both the secular and the religious and established that there was to be no separation between “church and state”. 

17. What feast did they celebrate? What is its purpose? Who celebrated it in the NT? Vs. 4, Lev. 23, John 7:1-11. They celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. This tells us that it was in the fall of the year’s lunar calendar, in the month of Tishri, (Sept. or Oct); the last feast of the year to be celebrated. Also, it was to be celebrated for a period of 7 days. And because it is often also referred to as “Sukkot”, it was the Feast of Booths. This was to commemorate the time when their ancestors lived in tents in the wilderness. They were thus a part of the 2nd exodus of sorts and were to remember the 1st exodus in this manner. It is also a celebration of God’s bounty in nature and His protection, symbolized by the fragile booths in which the Israelites lived in the wilderness. It is also called the Feast of Lights to commemorate the pillar of fire that led the children of Israel by night. How fitting then to celebrate this feast in the city, which was desecrated, and without any form of the Temple, nor its candelabra or menorah in the Holy Place for the Temple was no longer.  Their establishment of the illumination at night gave them protection as they arrived, gave light and a presence to the heathen that had overtaken the city or the surrounding lands to let them know they were there to re-establish the Temple and its order.  
Jesus went to the Temple at this feast, but He went secretly to teach the people. 

APPLICATION QUESTION: How is the celebration of this feast both with praise and mourning a fitting beginning for the work that is to be undertaken? What do you do to establish your spiritual foundation each day as you seek to have your quiet time with the Lord? Personal responses 

THINKING QUESTION: Look back over your life; what markers can you point to that shows God has continued to keep His promises to you; has placed you in the fellowship of believers, has established a sure foundation upon His principles? Personal responses.