For God, Country, and Messiah
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther relate events during the postexilic period, the time after the return from Babylonian exile when “the God of heaven” (a distinctive term for God found more in Ezra and Nehemiah than anywhere else in the Old Testament) used various individuals to bring deliverance, restoration, and renewal. It was a very important but challenging time for God’s people: challenging because they were still under the thumb of a foreign empire (in this case, Persia) but important because what took place was critical preparation for the coming of Messiah. Thanks partly to the work of leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah, Jesus was born into a distinctly ethnic Israel with a functioning Temple and a concern for the Law of Moses. (And thanks to Mordecai and Esther, there was still a Jewish nation.)
Several Persian kings are mentioned in the course of the biblical narratives of the postexilic period and provide the chronological framework helpful for the sequence and timing of the events recorded.
Ezra 1-6. The “First Return” and the rebuilding of the Temple
The book of Ezra begins where 2 Chronicles ends. The first six chapters tell the story of those who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and cover a roughly 23-year period of time from the first year of Cyrus the Great (538 BC) to the completion of the Temple in the sixth year of Darius the Great (516-515). These six chapters actually take place before the life of Ezra himself. The key leaders during this first return from Babylon were Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, and Zechariah. As you read these chapters, note how opposition caused the Temple rebuilding to cease and how God’s stirring them up through His prophets re-energized the Temple rebuilding project, enabling the postexilic community to finish. Opposition to every effort to restore Jerusalem and Judah is a recurring theme in Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra 4:6-23, in fact, contains a historical parenthesis that highlights opposition faced at various points during the postexilic period.
Esther 1-10. God’s providential protection of the Jews
Chronologically, the story of Esther fits in between the First Return (Ezra 1-6) and the Second Return (Ezra 7-10). King Ahasuerus, Esther’s royal husband, is Xerxes I (485-465) of Persian history. The book of Esther never uses the name of God and even seems in places to deliberately avoid a direct reference to God. Esther will mention fasting but never prayer, and rejoicing but never praise to God. Pagans do not turn to God; they “become Jews” (8:17). Clear throughout the book, though, is the invisible hand of God delivering His people from one of the greatest dangers they ever faced as a nation. When heaven seems most silent, God may actually be most present. As you read Esther, don’t miss the way God quietly orchestrates events along the way.
Ezra 7-10. The “Second Return” and spiritual reformation
Ezra 7 introduces us to Ezra himself, the diligent scribe in the Law of God and direct descendant of Aaron the high priest. Ezra led a return from Babylon during the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458). Ezra worked to bring his people back to obedience to the law of God (7:10) and was especially concerned about Jews who had intermarried with the pagan peoples of the land. Such intermarriage would lead to the very idolatry that had landed them in exile in Babylon in the first place. A repeated expression in Ezra 7-10 (and in Nehemiah) is the good hand of God at work on their behalf as the chief reason for every success achieved (Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31; Neh. 2:8, 18). Note also how often reference is made to the house of God (7:27; 8:17). Ezra’s work of calling the Jews back to the Law is inseparably connected with the worship at the Temple.
Nehemiah 1-13. The “Third Return” and rebuilding the walls
Thirteen years after Ezra’s return from Babylon in 458, Nehemiah led a return back to Jerusalem from Susa, where he was serving as cupbearer to Artaxerxes. His chief burden in returning was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that had recently been damaged again, but he also did much to restore Temple worship (see 10:32-38). Nehemiah and Ezra were contemporaries and their efforts converge in Nehemiah 8, where Ezra reads the words of God to the people. Fresh comprehension of God’s words brought joy and was part of a series of events that led to a much-needed repopulating of Jerusalem (see 7:4-5; 11:1-3).
Nehemiah was a vigorous leader who could get quite confrontational at times (see Neh. 13:25) but who also had discernment in dealing with the many attempts to stop the work of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. Above all, he was a man of prayer, and as you read of what he accomplished, notice how many times he prays. He worked unremittingly, but he also prayed without ceasing. His prayers (typically short “prayer flares”) often use the word remember, as he petitions God to be mindful of what he has attempted to do for Him, what others are doing to oppose his work, and what God Himself has promised (1:8; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). Working with God through prayer resulted in a work done for God that even Nehemiah’s enemies had to confess was a work done by God (6:16).
Several Persian kings are mentioned in the course of the biblical narratives of the postexilic period and provide the chronological framework helpful for the sequence and timing of the events recorded.
Ezra 1-6. The “First Return” and the rebuilding of the Temple
The book of Ezra begins where 2 Chronicles ends. The first six chapters tell the story of those who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and cover a roughly 23-year period of time from the first year of Cyrus the Great (538 BC) to the completion of the Temple in the sixth year of Darius the Great (516-515). These six chapters actually take place before the life of Ezra himself. The key leaders during this first return from Babylon were Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, and Zechariah. As you read these chapters, note how opposition caused the Temple rebuilding to cease and how God’s stirring them up through His prophets re-energized the Temple rebuilding project, enabling the postexilic community to finish. Opposition to every effort to restore Jerusalem and Judah is a recurring theme in Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra 4:6-23, in fact, contains a historical parenthesis that highlights opposition faced at various points during the postexilic period.
Esther 1-10. God’s providential protection of the Jews
Chronologically, the story of Esther fits in between the First Return (Ezra 1-6) and the Second Return (Ezra 7-10). King Ahasuerus, Esther’s royal husband, is Xerxes I (485-465) of Persian history. The book of Esther never uses the name of God and even seems in places to deliberately avoid a direct reference to God. Esther will mention fasting but never prayer, and rejoicing but never praise to God. Pagans do not turn to God; they “become Jews” (8:17). Clear throughout the book, though, is the invisible hand of God delivering His people from one of the greatest dangers they ever faced as a nation. When heaven seems most silent, God may actually be most present. As you read Esther, don’t miss the way God quietly orchestrates events along the way.
Ezra 7-10. The “Second Return” and spiritual reformation
Ezra 7 introduces us to Ezra himself, the diligent scribe in the Law of God and direct descendant of Aaron the high priest. Ezra led a return from Babylon during the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458). Ezra worked to bring his people back to obedience to the law of God (7:10) and was especially concerned about Jews who had intermarried with the pagan peoples of the land. Such intermarriage would lead to the very idolatry that had landed them in exile in Babylon in the first place. A repeated expression in Ezra 7-10 (and in Nehemiah) is the good hand of God at work on their behalf as the chief reason for every success achieved (Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31; Neh. 2:8, 18). Note also how often reference is made to the house of God (7:27; 8:17). Ezra’s work of calling the Jews back to the Law is inseparably connected with the worship at the Temple.
Nehemiah 1-13. The “Third Return” and rebuilding the walls
Thirteen years after Ezra’s return from Babylon in 458, Nehemiah led a return back to Jerusalem from Susa, where he was serving as cupbearer to Artaxerxes. His chief burden in returning was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that had recently been damaged again, but he also did much to restore Temple worship (see 10:32-38). Nehemiah and Ezra were contemporaries and their efforts converge in Nehemiah 8, where Ezra reads the words of God to the people. Fresh comprehension of God’s words brought joy and was part of a series of events that led to a much-needed repopulating of Jerusalem (see 7:4-5; 11:1-3).
Nehemiah was a vigorous leader who could get quite confrontational at times (see Neh. 13:25) but who also had discernment in dealing with the many attempts to stop the work of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. Above all, he was a man of prayer, and as you read of what he accomplished, notice how many times he prays. He worked unremittingly, but he also prayed without ceasing. His prayers (typically short “prayer flares”) often use the word remember, as he petitions God to be mindful of what he has attempted to do for Him, what others are doing to oppose his work, and what God Himself has promised (1:8; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). Working with God through prayer resulted in a work done for God that even Nehemiah’s enemies had to confess was a work done by God (6:16).
Review & Application:
- What period of Israel’s history is recounted in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther?
- Explain how the work of reformation that took place during the postexilic period was preparation for the coming of Messiah.
- Name five Persian kings mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. (Can you name them in order?)
- Is Ezra the scribe a participant in the events of Ezra 1-6?
- What were the three Returns from exile and what was the focused project of each?
- Come up with some examples from Esther that show how God was quietly orchestrating events even though He is never mentioned by name in the book.
- Read through some of the references for Nehemiah’s “prayer flares.” What do you notice about his prayers?
- What can we learn from the way Nehemiah worked and prayed?
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