In 721BC, the northern state of Israel was wiped off the map by the mighty Assyrian Empire. The people were carted off into exile, never to be heard of in history again, and in the process provided the basis for a variety of legends, most of which are highly fanciful, concerning ‘the lost tribes of Israel’.
A Hundred and forty years later, between 597 and 581 BC, the southern state of Judah was annihilated by the conquering Babylonians, leaving Jerusalem in ruins, the Temple destroyed, and the royal line of David in jeopardy. The nation was route marched across the desert, the Hebrew hope of a Promised Land seeming to have gone forever, and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became master of all he surveyed. God’s threatened punishment for continued apostasy, warned about so graphically throughout the books of the prophets, had finally arrived. What hope was left?
The time of exile had arrived, and God’s people languished in Babylon. All that remained, amidst the bitter sadness and mourning of exile, was the hope, that one day, things could get better - a hope of return.
Nowhere in the Bible is this emotion better expressed than in Psalm 137:
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. (Psalm 137:1-6)
But hope was on its way. The Lord had not forgotten His people. On the one hand, the prophets speak of God’s judgement, punishment, and the need to pay for the consequences of one’s actions. On the other hand, they also write of God’s unfailing love, His longing to see His people prosper and living in obedient relationship with Him. And within this we see the hope of restoration and renewal, the promise of a new beginning.
The prophet Isaiah looked forward to a day when Cyrus would restore God’s people to their own land:
‘It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.’ (Isaiah 45:12-13)
We see this fulfilled in 537BC. Cyrus, the first of the great Persian Emperors, has conquered Babylonia. His policy towards the exiled groups within his vast empire was entirely different to that of the Babylonians. He seeks to repatriate them, and allow them to live within their own homelands, in peace, under his benign rule. So, we come to the last two books of history in the Old Testament, Ezra and Nehemiah. The story follows on directly from the end of 2 Chronicles and concerns the return of the people from exile. Initially, in the Hebrew Scriptures, these books were bound together as one, and were only divided into two parts later in history. Ezra begins by telling us, ‘The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus’ (Ezra 1:1), and the first exiles were allowed home to rebuild the Temple.
Together, Ezra and Nehemiah cover a period of about 150 years. They tell the story of three returns to Jerusalem by the Hebrew exiles. The first is led by Zerubbabel (a descendant of the royal line) and Jeshua the High Priest. They were charged with the rebuilding of the Temple. Some ninety years later, Ezra led a second group of returning exiles. His mandate was to enforce the rule of law and so restore the true worship of God. He addressed the question of moral purity, which sadly, had rapidly declined to the low point of pre-exilic times. Still later, Nehemiah led a third return, which included many skilled artisans, and at this stage, the city walls were rebuilt, and once again, the law is re-stated, and the covenant renewed.
These books contain extensive genealogical records, principally for the purpose of establishing the rightful claims of the people to the land, most especially, the authenticity of the priesthood.
We don’t know for certain who wrote these two books, but the tradition is that Ezra himself was responsible for them. In fact, Ezra was quite likely one of the senior Jews responsible for the formulation of the entire Old Testament canon – the books that form the Scriptures. He first appears in chapter 7 of the book that bears his name, and he continues to minister throughout the story of Nehemiah.
THE FIRST RETURN
‘With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.’ (Ezra 3:11)
Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin, (the penultimate king of Judah), led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem, thus re-establishing the royal line of David in the land. Although he was never crowned as king, he is referred to by the prophet Haggai as ‘the governor’, and his role in the story is clearly important. The royal line had not been wiped out by the exile and the prophecies concerning the future Messiah, who will be a descendant of David, can be fulfilled. Although this royal line disappears from the pages of the Bible, it is picked up at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 1:12-16), which clearly sets out to demonstrate that Jesus is born of David’s line.
The very first act of the exiles, upon their return to Jerusalem, was to build an altar to God. Worship is fundamental to the nation’s life. The Temple rebuilding programme began with great enthusiasm but seems to have been somewhat erratic, taking place over a number of years. For a long time, work was halted, whilst some of the indigenous population complained to the Emperor (Ezra 4). These were most likely the Samaritans – descendants of the Israelites from the northern kingdom who had remained in the land during the exile of both kingdoms, so were cousins of the ‘pure bred’ Hebrews, but not accepted as being ‘pure’ enough to rejoin the nation. Jewish/Samaritan antipathy continued right up until the time of Jesus.
Building continued, following an appeal to the Emperor, and carried on during the reigns of Cyrus, Xerxes, Artaxerxes and Darius. When the work was finally completed, a great Passover celebration was held. God’s people were back!
THE SECOND RETURN
Ezra 7:6, this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.
Well over half a century elapsed between chapters 6 and 7, so the characters involved in the first return have died by the time that Ezra began his ministry in Jerusalem. His role was primarily that of teacher. He expounded upon the law of God, drew the people back to their true spiritual roots, and sought to restore the nation’s purity. The most significant sin that was dealt with was that of intermarriage with the surrounding tribes – important because it compromised the purity of the nation, with consequent implications upon religious practice and the maintenance of the Law of God. Ezra called the nation to repentance, and separation from the surrounding tribes.
Because of Ezra’s endeavours, Israel endured. He expounded the Scriptures to the people, and their worship came as a natural response.
THE THIRD RETURN
"They said to me, 'Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.'" (Nehemiah 1:3)
"O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man." (Nehemiah 1:11)
"So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." (Nehemiah 6:15-16)
Nehemiah was a Hebrew living in Persia when word reached him that the Temple was being reconstructed. He grew anxious knowing there was no wall to protect the city. Nehemiah invited God to use him to save the city. God answered his prayer by softening the heart of the Persian king, Artaxerxes. Not only did the king give his blessing, but he also supplied the materials to be used in the project. Despite significant local opposition, the wall was built with remarkable speed, with the protection of armed guards, and the enemy was silenced. The people, inspired by Nehemiah, gave tithes of money, supplies, and manpower to complete the wall in a remarkable fifty-two days. This united effort is short-lived, however, because Jerusalem quickly fell back into apostasy when Nehemiah returned to Persia.
After twelve years, Nehemiah returned to find the walls strong but the people weak. He set about the task of teaching the people morality and didn't mince his words.
"I argued with those people, put curses on them, hit some of them and pulled out their hair" (13:25).
He sought to re-establish true worship through prayer and by encouraging the people to revival by reading and adhering to the Word of God.
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THESE BOOKS?
Taken as a single story, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah cover an important period in the history of Israel. God’s people return to the land of promise. After their return, and resettlement in Jerusalem, biblical history takes a break, only to re-appear several centuries later during the Roman occupation, with the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. During this inter-testamental period, Hebrew history continues to have somewhat mixed fortunes. Persian rule gives way to Greek rule with the coming of Alexander the Great, and after a short period of self-government (the Maccabean or Hasmonean period), the land is swallowed up by the Roman Empire. But the continued existence of the Hebrew nation demonstrates the faithfulness of God to the nation. God is a loving and faithful God and His promise of restoration is fulfilled. This is the land where the Messianic promises will be accomplished.
The other key lesson is that of obedience. In both books, the physical re-building is accompanied by a re-building of lives, as the people learn over again the importance of obeying the Word of God and of applying it to every aspect of their daily living. Ezra himself appears after the walls have been re-built and proclaims the Law to the people. Having held a very public confession, the covenant (see the Pilgrim’s Guide No. 6) is ratified.
The final chapter of Nehemiah tells us of the reforms that were needed. Nehemiah had returned to Persia, to work for the king, but he came back to Jerusalem in order to sort out the nation’s problems. Here he had to deal with the misappropriation of funds, neglect of the Sabbath law and dereliction of duty by the priests.
In the lives of Ezra and Nehemiah, we meet two men who are devoted to God. Ezra is the teacher of law – he studied it, lived it, taught it. Nehemiah is the man of prayer. He prayed before everything he did. He lived a life of absolute devotion to God. Through their examples, we are challenged to give ourselves whole-heartedly to God, and to live for Him.
The central message of these books is two-fold: obey God’s law; persevere in prayer.
‘Make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do His will.’ (Ezra 10:11)
‘But I prayed...’ (Nehemiah 6:9)
Comments