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The events of today’s reading take place roughly 60 years after chapter six. We finally meet Ezra! King Artaxerxes commissions Ezra, who is estimated to be only 22 years old at this point, to lead any of the Israelites in exile who desire to go back to Jerusalem. King Artaxerxes is beyond generous. He entrusts Ezra with silver and gold for the temple, encourages offerings for the temple, and even offers “whatever else is required for the house of your God… you may provide it out of the king’s treasury” (v. 20). It doesn’t stop there. He appoints Ezra to select judges that will enforce God’s law. He encourages Ezra to teach the Scriptures to all the exiles in Jerusalem. Not only is this a huge responsibility and honor for Ezra, but also unheard of for the king to make these sorts of commands!

Immediately after reading the letter, Ezra responds by praising God for moving in the king’s heart. He knows God is working in every single detail of the king’s commissioning (Proverbs 21:1). Ezra proclaims in verse 28: “I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me!” He gives all credit to God! We see Ezra’s courage come not from his status as a gifted scribe, his approval from the king, or his age—but from the Lord. 

Ezra sets an incredible example for believers. We see in verse 10 that “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statues and rules in Israel.” He was determined to know God’s Word, to do what it says, and to teach it to others. His time with the Father overflowed into all he did. Even King Artaxerxes noticed Ezra’s godly wisdom and entrusted the leadership and finances of Jerusalem into his hands. 

Today, may we be spurred on by Ezra’s faithfulness and devote ourselves to spending time with God in His Word, doing what He says, and teaching it to others. May our confidence and identity be rooted in Christ instead of our age, status, or circumstances. Finally, today may we take heart, because the same God who was working in all the details in Ezra 7 is on the move in our lives and world today!

If Ezra 6 was a movie we’d be on the edge of our seat, leaning in, waiting for the fist-pump-in-the-air celebration of the ending. On first reading it, we might miss the drama of it all, but look again: a lost letter of declaration found; the powerful opposition rendered powerless becoming the solution and resource to accomplish the work of the Israelites; an unlikely, ungodly advocate and defender of God’s people; a 21-year project completed; and a 70-year-old prophecy fulfilled. Sit with the drama, the weight, the excitement of it all.

To understand the excitement of it all, we need a little background. Psalm 137 reminds us of the despair of the exiles. The pain of being away from their home. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion (Jerusalem)…how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” They lived as aliens and foreigners in a place that was not their home. Yet, they longed for home and for God to fulfill His promise to them—that He would bring them back to Jerusalem. 

God always pays for what He orders. About 70 years prior, God said (through his prophet Jeremiah), “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” Ezra 6 is the culmination of years of waiting. God is a promise-keeping, way-making God, who is faithful to the faithless and rebuilds places, dreams, and people out of ruins. Imagine the wonder and the buzz and the excitement when the final stone was put in place and the people of God were home again. No wonder the word joy is mentioned so often in this chapter. 

What can we learn from Ezra 6? God is faithful to keep His promises. He hasn’t forgotten us. The work we get to do on this side of heaven is met with opposition and obstacles, but God will often use unlikely and unexpected people and circumstances to fulfill the work He has for us. Our faithfulness to sacred work matters and it will often be harder and require more patience than we thought. And one day, we, too, will experience the joy of being home. Until then, let’s do the work and trust Him to complete it. 

In order to better understand this chapter, we need to first remember how the previous chapter ended. King Artaxerxes had just ordered the people of God to stop rebuilding the temple, and, for about 10 years, the project had come to a “standstill” (v. 24). However, chapter 5 begins with a brand new hope for the rebuilding efforts. Haggai and Zechariah have prophesied to the Jewish people and encouraged them to restart on the mission of building the temple. But once the project begins again, the project once more runs into opposition from the governing authorities. This external threat is a discouraging reminder of what kept the temple from being built in the first place. This obstruction effort is an essential lesson for the people of God. As we seek to faithfully follow God, we should not expect to live our lives unopposed by the enemy.  When God calls on His people to complete a task, we should expect Satan to do whatever he can to keep the task from reaching its fulfillment. 

In Ezra, the opposition comes in the form of the ruling government. But even those leaders who stood in authority weren’t the ones in ultimate control.  While the governor tried to shut the project down, “the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped” (v. 5). Upon receiving push back, the Jewish people could have easily put down their tools just as they did 10 years before. However, this time they decide to continue, in courageous faith, with their mission. 

An essential lesson from this chapter that can impact our lives today is that resistance doesn’t mean something is wrong. If it feels difficult to obediently follow Jesus, remember that it should be expected more than it should be surprising. While Jesus promised that His burden is easy, He also asks us to pick up our cross each day. Even though we may encounter external or internal opposition to following God, we have the assurance that the eyes of God are watching over us. Today, we have an opportunity similar to that of the Jewish people: In the face of resistance, we don’t need to put faithfulness on pause. Instead, we can double down on obedience and choose to follow God even when it’s difficult.  

Why do you think the Jewish people were willing to continue working on this mission in the face of resilience? 

We all know what it’s like to face distractions that pull us off task. Sometimes, the distractions come from things like social media, phone calls, and text messages. We can’t seem to focus on the task in front of us because of the constant barrage of thoughts in our heads. Other times, they come from people who seem to interrupt us at the most inopportune times (all parents immediately think of their children!).

We also know what it’s like to face opposition. There are days when it seems like the universe is conspiring against us as we seek to get through the list of demands we have on any given day. Even the writing of this Bible Reading Plan devotional was delayed multiple times by random distractions and points of opposition!

We’re no different than God’s people. In Ezra 4, we see they have returned home from exile and are on task to rebuild the wall (Nehemiah) and temple (largely Ezra). As promised, God allowed His people to return from captivity to the Promised Land. Now that they’re back home, the people hope to resume the normal day-to-day activities of life in their homeland.

As they begin rebuilding the temple, God’s people face distraction and opposition from both internal and external sources. In Ezra 4:1-5, we see God’s enemies initiate a fake friendship with the exiles. They pretend to want to help rebuild the temple. Israel’s leaders wisely told their enemies they didn’t want or need their help. During their rebuilding efforts, internal opposition seeks to pull them off course. These enemies of God showed their true colors by discouraging the people of Judah, raising fears, and bribing officials to work against them. God’s people also faced opposition from the outside. Letters were written that led to what was probably a 16-18 year delay in the rebuilding of the temple.

Any good and worthy deed faces distractions and oppositions. What can you do today to deal with any distractions and opposition in front of you so that you can do the good works God has prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10)?

In this chapter, we see Zerubbabel leading the rebuilding of the temple. Over 42,000 Israelites returned to Jerusalem with him, and they immediately began work on the altar and the temple foundations. However, we see in verses 12 and 13 that this work was met with very different reactions. Those who had seen the original temple, the older priests and Levites, wept at the sight of the new foundation. Those helping to rebuild shouted for joy. Verse 13 tells us that the sounds of both were so loud you couldn’t distinguish one from the other.

Isn’t it interesting that the same event would bring such polar opposite emotions? The shouts of joy are easy to understand. This sight was a symbol of obedience, a promise of hope, and the beginning of a new future. Even though this new temple was not going to be as elaborate or ornate as the original built by Solomon, it was a reminder of God’s protection and promises. 

But for those who had lived through the years of disobedience and punishment, who had seen the destruction of Solomon’s temple, this new building elicited weeping and conviction. The original temple was surrounded by a thriving empire, while Zerubbabel’s temple was surrounded by ruins. For those who had lived through the destruction and fall of the original temple, the sight of this rebuild was a physical reminder of God’s correction and discipline – a reminder of their failures and shortcomings. It is no wonder there was such a range of emotions. Their individual responses had a direct correlation to whether their work was destroyed by sin or whether their work was a result of obedience. 

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3 that we are now God’s temple, and just like the Israelites, our work will be tested on judgment day. Just as the new temple was built on the original foundation built by Solomon, we are now charged with building God’s kingdom upon the foundation of Jesus. Our work will be evaluated and either rewarded or discounted. 

When that day comes and our kingdom work is looked upon, will we weep or will we shout for joy? Will the sight of it be a reminder of our sins or will it be a symbol of our obedience and God’s faithfulness? If we are honest, there will probably be some of both. Thankfully by God’s grace, we will be saved. Let’s get to work today building something that lasts, starting with a firm foundation in Jesus and continuing with materials that pass the test – obedience, love, and faithfulness to the God who has saved us. 

This chapter of Ezra is a historical narrative listing the names and numbers of the families that returned to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Passages of Scripture like this typically elicit one sort of reaction to readers: boring. But before we skim past these 70 verses of Scripture and allow our eyes to cross from the long names and longer numbers, let’s remember who these people were and where they were coming from.

Ezra 2:1 tells us “Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity…”. Seventy years earlier, God had punished the Israelites for their unfaithfulness and sent them into exile. These people returning included those who had experienced the exile firsthand as well as their offspring who had been told by their fathers and grandfathers where to return after their captivity. 

Verse 64 states that “The whole assembly together was 42,360…” so around 50,000 people are returning to Jerusalem and Judah. It’s important to note that this is a small number compared to the half a million people who once lived in Jerusalem. We will learn in later passages of Scripture that this was the first of 3 waves of people returning from captivity, but even so, there were tens of thousands of Israelites who never returned to the Promised Land. We can make assumptions about those who didn’t return: that they were too comfortable in their new surroundings or possibly too afraid of what might await them in their old surroundings. The names listed in this passage of Scripture, though, represent family after family who obediently returned to help rebuild the temple and properly restore worship in Israel and their names are eternally recorded as a result of their obedience.

This group of people is not only remembered for obedience in returning to the Promised Land, but they are also remembered for their contributions to the rebuilding of the temple. Ezra 2:68 says “… when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, (they) made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site.” A freewill offering was given voluntarily and was given as the Lord moved the hearts of the Israelites. So these Israelites took a faithful first step of obedience by traveling hundreds of miles back to their homeland, and once they got there, they continued to be obedient in giving to the Lord of their resources for His glory.

So instead of labeling Ezra 2 as an irrelevant and boring genealogy, we can thank God for each of the names listed in this chapter because they are examples to us of obedience and sacrificial giving. They are heroes of our own faith. Glance back at one of the verses, pick a name, and praise God for their faithfulness. What a gracious God we serve that He has provided us with such precision and details!  

Ezra 1 introduces us to a notable person and a notable group of people. While this book is named after Ezra, we won’t actually meet him until chapter 7. The first person we’re introduced to is King Cyrus, the new Persian king in the first year of his reign. The Jews had lived in exile for decades, and finally, the new king was allowing them to return home. Not only did King Cyrus allow them to return to Jerusalem, he also gave them an important instruction—go rebuild the temple. 

The notable group of people we meet next are the Israelites—God’s people. For some, this was an answered prayer! For others, the news was met with a shrug. Many were comfortable with their new lives in their new lands. The idea of going to Jerusalem to build a temple wasn’t appealing—they would rather just stay where they were. But for some, Scripture tells us that their hearts were moved (v. 5). Those who were ready to go back to Jerusalem were a minority, but they were a faithful minority. As we have seen time and time again throughout Scripture, you can never underestimate what God can do through a faithful group of people. They loaded up their belongings and made the trek back to Jerusalem to begin working on the task at hand. 

So, what can we learn from these faithful few? They were obedient when God started moving in their hearts. Oftentimes we feel that same stirring—our hearts are moved—yet we don’t respond with full obedience because it requires us to give up something. While exiled, Israelites built homes and established livelihoods. To return to Jerusalem meant sacrificing comfort and their new normal, but God stirred their hearts and the faithful responded with obedience. As we go about our day today, pay attention to those nudges from God. He could nudge us to pray for a person whose name comes to mind, to call or text a friend, or he could move our hearts to respond to a need. It may not be as drastic as uprooting your family (although it could be), but obedience is God’s expectation every time.