Our first surprise in opening up the Book of Ezra is that the time and circumstances in which the Jewish people and the nations were living in then, is so similar to the one we are living in today.
At the time, while the majority of the Jewish people were out of the land of Israel, in the Diaspora, a small number returned back to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem. This return was partly prompted by a world-wide rise of antisemitism which culminated in the Book of Esther, events which occurred just before the coming of Ezra to Israel. This return was to prepare and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. It was in preparation for the Messiah’s first coming to earth.
But we see how the situation in Israel today is very similar. Less than 80 years ago, the time of a world-wide wave of antisemitism (especially with the Nazis and earlier with Russian and Muslim anti-Jewish pogroms), prompted a small number of Jews to return to the land to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and make it ready; this time for the Second Coming of the Messiah. And today this preparation is ongoing and antisemitism is again reaching very high levels, making the time of Esther and Nazism that much more real in our day.
Furthermore, a strong parallel between Ezra’s time and today is the ongoing resistance to Jewish presence and efforts to rebuild in the land. No neighbor of theirs was happy and they demonstrated unimaginable anger and hatred, like it is today.
What is even more striking is that while these surrounding nations are today far more numerous, they originate from many of the same regions mentioned in the days of Ezra, which were the very territories left unconquered when Joshua first entered the land. Reading this book, one can’t help but feel that circumstances in and around Israel and the Jewish people has barely shifted in the past 3,500 years.
Above all else, the Book of Ezra wastes no time in highlighting what matters most in these times of turmoil and preparation. From the very first verse, it sets the tone for the entire book. There we find a clear call for us to pay attention to what God’s Word and the Biblical prophecies declare concerning our own days. The opening verse draws us back to consider these things.
It begins with the Hebrew letter vav, which means ‘and.’ When a narrative begins with ‘and,’ it signals a continuation, prompting us to ask: what came before? To which events is this story connected?
Some rabbis concluded that Ezra is the sequel to Daniel’s prophecies. Others saw a sequel from the Book of Jeremiah, since Ezra directly mentions him. But what we learn is that the events and actions of men and women in this book were triggered by their knowledge of the Word of God and especially by the prophecies of God. This helped them to be victorious.
Furthermore, what was the quality of faith of that small number of Jews who did return to the land and were so instrumental in doing God’s will? They believed in the Word of God, and they knew and believed in prophecies, and they believed in the literal fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah.
Faith in literal prophecy interpretation is dwindling in today’s evangelical Christianity. Many still profess faith in the power of God’s Word, yet they approach it selectively. Prophecies, in particular are often dismissed, either ignored altogether or treated as vague allegory, pushed aside with loose and convenient interpretations.
Not so the people of Ezra who quote the prophet Jeremiah. Listen to what the prophecy of Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 25:11, This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And so, it was after 70 years, not 1000 years, nor an undetermined lapse of time. It was 70 years and those who believed it were blessed.
But now, see how the Lord used His Word to move hearts and souls! We learn in vs.1 that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia. Stirred is עוּר (ʿûr) in Hebrew, and means to awaken, to incite. This word is used to kindle a fire or to awaken a wind that could cause a harp to play.
When the Lord stirred Cyrus, this king could not resist and wrote a letter allowing the Jewish people to return to their land, and he even gave them gold and silver, and more than that. We read in vs.7 that, King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods. Only God could have brought a foreign king to give back so much gold and silver to a people who were in captivity: only God can stir a heart this way. But it was not only the king’s heart that was stirred; we see the same word used in vs.5 where we read that, Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. The Lord stirred the hearts and minds of the people of Israel, and many responded, leaving behind the comfort of life in Babylon to return to Israel for the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem.
It was a hard and uncertain journey, one that only a divine calling could have inspired them to undertake. But this is how the Lord works when major events begin to unfold. As He did with Ezra, He also did with Moses, when He stirred the heart of men and women when it was the time to build the Tabernacle. We read in Exodus 35: 21, Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing. God does stir the hearts of the people but see our side; we ought to be willing. God makes the first step – we need to make that second step and respond, and wonderful things begin to happen.
And if there was a time when God is calling and stirring hearts it is today as so many things are happening around us. Have you felt a calling, an urge to do something for man? This may very well be the calling of the Lord who is stirring your heart.
Begin to pray about it. Do like Daniel, observe, study, read the Scriptures. Don’t be afraid or intimidated, the Lord will equip you for every work He has in store for you. One thing you can be sure of: He has something for you.
Click Here for the Video : Ezra – Part 1 – Return and Rebuild