1. Re-read the blog entitled "Assignment for 3/14/18" and the new blog posted on March 17th containing additional thoughts about reading.
2. Read the book of Ezra.
We briefly looked at the book of Nehemiah last time and saw the need to go back to Ezra to understand the bigger picture. Ezra and Nehemiah go together as one continuous story.
3. The focus this week will be on discovering the historical setting.
Take note of all the names of the Kings listed. Not understanding a proper timeline can make things confusing. This is where study of your Bible will help. Instead of being intimidated by all the names and becoming confused, why not dig in and find facts that will bring understanding? Using your study Bibles or other resources you have, look up each King. Note where they ruled, when they ruled and a couple of main achievements of their reign. Note if their rules overlapped with other kings mentioned in the book.
4. What was happening before the book of Ezra? (We already know what happens after it- the story of Nehemiah.)
5. Where were the people of Israel at during this time and why were they there?
6. Ezra does not show up in the book until chapter 7. Why?
7. Surprise us with other discoveries you make. 😊
Discoveries from our discussion:
1. Ezra and Nehemiah are one continuous story.
2. Larger context for the books of Ezra and Nehemiah:
a. The Jews had been promised the land of Israel as a a permanent possession. However, they chose to sin greatly and turn from God. Deuteronomy 28 told them what would happen if they did so: defeat and deportation would come upon the nation. (Deut. 28:36)
b. They were exiled into Babylon. Babylon was defeated by the Persians whom God used to help send the Jews back to their land. They remained in exile for 70 years (Daniel 9:2).
3. Three Persian kings were used by God to rebuild the nation.
a. Cyrus 550-530 BC
b. Darius 521-486 BC
c. Artaxerxes I 464-423 BC
d. We noted the fact that God used ungodly secular Kings to rebuild Jerusalem was a BIG DEAL! It shows us the overall sovereignty of God in the affairs of men and gives us great comfort as we look upon the events of our world today.
4. The people were sent in three groups.
5. The first group was sent by King Cyrus to rebuild the temple and reestablish the faith. This is found in Ezra 1-6. The Jews were led by Zerubbabel and Joshua.
b. They first rebuilt the altar to establish the sacrificial system. Then the foundation of the temple and finally the temple itself.
c. Opposition arose which caused them to stop the building of the temple for 16 years. A letter was written to King Darius who reaffirmed that they had permission to build and the building began again and was finished.
6. The second group was sent by King Artaxerxes I to teach the people the Bible. Ezra, who was a priest, in the line of Aaron, and a scribe was sent to do this. This is found in Ezra 7-10
7. The third group was also sent by King Artaxerxes I to rebuild the wall. This is the account we find in the Book of Nehemiah.
8. We discovered, by looking at the footnote from Ezra 4:6, that King Xerxes is really King Ahasuerus from the book of Esther. Xerxes is the Persian word and Ahasuerus is the Hebrew word. The story of Esther fits in between the 1st and 2nd returns.
9. In Ezra 5:1 we found the names of Haggai and Zechariah. These are the same men who wrote the books of Haggai and Zechariah found in the last part of the Old testament which is called the minor prophets. They prophesied during this time.
10. So, by doing some digging, we connected the dots with 6 different books of the Bible. Part of Daniel (who prayed so the 1st group could be sent), Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth, Haggai and Zechariah. This will give us great understanding as we read those books in the future.
11. We were encouraged by the fact that once we have discovered these facts, we will not have to discover them again.The next time we read these books we will have that information as part of our foundation and God will build on that foundation to teach us more.
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