EZRA 6-10 OBSERVATIONS

CHAPTER 6

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

· So Darius did a search, and found a scroll which did, indeed, contain the decree by Cyrus, concerning the house of God at Jerusalem.

o The decree was to rebuild the temple of God…

o Ezra 6:3 - 5 (NASB) ³“In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; ⁴with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ⁵‘Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

· Darius then commanded that these enemies:

o Ezra 6:6 - 12 (NASB) ⁶“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, keep away from there. ⁷“Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸“Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay. ⁹“Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, ¹⁰that they may offer ^£acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹“And I issued a decree that any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. ¹²“May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be carried out with all diligence!”

· So God worked in Darius’ heart to not only let the work continue on the temple that Cyrus had decreed, but ALSO, these enemies were to help the building progress!!!

o LESSON: What God has decreed, keep your focus clear. Even though Satan may incite enemies to work against you, CONTINUE to work towards that goal and TRUST GOD to work HIS PERFECT work in you through those in AUTHORITY OVER YOU…whether they are believers or not!!

o LESSON: The lesson here is very similar to the lesson of Hamaan and Esther. Don’t get caught trying to plan a plan against God or the people of God…that can be hazardous to your health.

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

· So these enemies did in fact support the rebuilding of the temple.

· The prophets Haggai and Zechariah contributed to the rebuilding by prophesying God’s messages to the leaders of the rebuilding effort.

· OBSERVE: Success resulted when the people began to listen to God’s leaders instead of rejecting them.

· Temple was completed on 3^rd day of Adar in the 6^th year of the reign of Darius.

· Completion resulted in a big celebration and dedication.

· NOTE: In the dedication and celebration they offered 12 male goats…showing their desire to include all 12 tribes under their “umbrella”

· They then completed the dedication by appointing the priests and Levites according to what Moses wrote.

The Passover Observed.

· 14^th Day of the First Month (Nisan?)

· Purified themselves

· Offered the Passover lamb (why is this such an important and central part of Passover?)

· They then separated themselves from the nations around them to seek the Lord.

CHAPTER 7—THE SECOND WAVE OF RETURNING EXILES

Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

· Ezra the scribe, of the line of Aaron, went from Babylon at the direction of the king Artaxerxes, king of Persia…to Jerusalem

· 5^th month of 7^th year of the king

o Note: he started on the 1^st of the 1^st month…and arrived in Jerusalem on the 1^st of the 5^th month.

· God’s hand was on Ezra

· WHY? Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach God’s statues and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

· King Artaxerxes to Ezra-this is the second wave of Jews returning after the exile.
Ezra 7:12 - 21 (NASB) ¹²“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now ¹³I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴“Forasmuch as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God which is in your hand, ¹⁵and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶with all the silver and gold which you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; ¹⁷with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸“Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. ¹⁹“Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰“The rest of the needs for the house of your God, for which you may have occasion to provide, provide for it from the royal treasury. ²¹“I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently,

· And whoever doesn’t support you Ezra, let judgment be executed on him strictly.

o Ezra 7:26 (NASB) ²⁶“Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment.”

The King’s Kindness

· Ezra’s gratefulness expressed to God

o Ezra 7:27 - 28 (NASB) ²⁷Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

CHAPTER 8

People Who Went with Ezra

· Ezra 8:1 - 14 (NASB) ¹Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: ²of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; ³of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list;

· ⁴of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him;

· ⁵of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him;

· ⁶and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him;

· ⁷and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him;

· ⁸and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him;

· ⁹of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him;

· ¹⁰and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him;

· ¹¹and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him;

· ¹²and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him;

· ¹³and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them;

· ¹⁴and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and 70 males with them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

· Once Ezra assembled the people at the river, camping for three days, getting ready to travel to Jerusalem... While performing a “sanity check” of the people and priests, he realized he did not have any Levites.

· He immediately sent to Iddo the leader that remained, to bring ministers / teachers to him for the house of “our God”.

· Iddo brought with him Sherebiah, a “man of insight” along with 20 other men and 220 temple servants

Protection of God Invoked

· Before going any further, Ezra PROCLAIMED A FAST to HUMBLE THEMSELVES before God and to seek a safe journey….

· Why?

o He was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to protect him from the enemy on the way.

· Why?

o Because he had told the king “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and anger are against all those who forsake Him.”

o NOTE: THIS WAS CLEARLY EXERCISING FAITH IN GOD.

o NOTE: HE HAD PUT GOD”S REPUTATION ON A HIGH PEDESTAL AND BELIEVED GOD WOULD PROTECT HIS OWN REPUTATION.

o So they fasted and sought God concerning this matter…and God listened to them.

· He then parceled out the articles from the temple among twelve of the leading priests and charged them with the safe keeping of them as “holy items” which were to be presented to the leading priests at Jerusalem when they arrived.

· They took off on their journey on the 12^th day of the first month

· The hand of God was over them.

· He (God) delivered them from the hand of the enemy and ambushes by the way.

· After arriving at Jerusalem, they remained there 3 days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

· At Jerusalem, on the 4^th day he presented the temple utensils to the priest.

· Then the exiles who had come from the Babylonian captivity offered burnt offerings to God

· Then they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps and to the governors in the province…AND THEY SUPPORTED THE PEOPLE AND THE HOUSE OF GOD.

CHAPTER 9

Mixed Marriages

· Then word came to Ezra that the people of Israel and the priests and Levites had not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands.

· They had taken some of their women as wives

· The HOLY RACE was INTERMINGLED WITH THE PEOPLES OF THE LANDS

· In fact the princes and rules were among the chief offenders.

· This grieved Ezra greatly.

· Then all who TREMBLED AT THE WORDS OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to Ezra and sat with him in mourning until the time of the evening offering.

Prayer of Confession

· At the time of the evening offering, Ezra

o rose, with torn garments.

o Fell on his knees

o Stretched out his hands to the Lord

o Said:

§ Ezra 9:6 - 15 (NASB) ⁶and I said, “O my God,

§ I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God,

§ for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.

§ ⁷“Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt,

§ and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day.

§ ⁸“But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place,

§ (Why?) that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

§ ⁹“For we are slaves;

§ yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us,

§ but has extended loving-kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia,

§ to give us reviving

§ to raise up the house of our God,

§ to restore its ruins and

§ to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

§ ¹⁰“Now, our God, what shall we say after this?

§ For we have forsaken Your commandments, ¹¹which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity.

§ ¹²‘So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

§ ¹³“After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,

§ ¹⁴shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations?

§ Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?

§ ¹⁵“O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”

CHAPTER 10

Reconciliation with God

· While Ezra was praying this prayer, one of the men came to him offering this suggestion:

o Ezra 10:2 - 4 (NASB) ²Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra,

o “We have been unfaithful to our God and

o have married foreign women from the peoples of the land;

o yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

o ³“So now let us make a covenant with our God

o to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of ^£my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and

o let it be done according to the law.

o ⁴“Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you;

o be courageous and

o act.”

· NOTE: The ray of hope God has provided through this man in this suggestion

· NOTE: But it’s going to require making a covenant with God AND action.

· Ezra accepted this man’s proposal and

o Made priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath

o Went into a chamber

o Did not eat or drink out of mourning for the unfaithfulness of the exiles

o Proclaimed that whoever did not come w/in 3 days, all his possessions would be forfeited and he himself excluded form the assembly of the exiles.

· NOTE HOW SERIOUS THEY TOOK GOD AT HIS WORD THAT THEY WERE TO BE A SEPARATED PEOPLE.

· Result:

o All men of Judah and Benjamin assembled

o 20^th day of 9^th month

o All people say in open square before the house of God, trembling because of the weightiness of this matter AND the rain.

· Ezra, the priest, then stood and said:

o Ezra 10:10 - 11 (NASB) ¹⁰Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel.

o ¹¹“Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

· Then all the people in the assembly replied with one voice:

o Ezra 10:12 - 15 (NASB) ¹²Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “That’s right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do.

o ¹³“But

§ there are many people;

§ it is the rainy season and

§ we are not able to stand in the open.

§ Nor can the task be done in one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.

o ¹⁴“Let our leaders represent the whole assembly and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city,

o until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.”

· Q. Were there any opposing voices in this response?

· A. Yes

o ¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

· So what did Ezra do?

· He did what he proposed, in spite of these few opposing responders

· He selected leaders who convened

· …on the 1^st day of 10^th month

· … to investigate this matter

· …The investigation was finished by the 1^st day of the 1^st month.

List of Offenders

· Priests: Listed by name; pledged to put away their wives; being guilty; offered an offering for their offense

o NOTE: Here’s the verse in the Septuigint:

o και εδωκαν χειρα αυτων του εξενεγκαι γυναικας αυτων και πλημμελειας
κριον εκ προβατων περι πλημμελησεως αυτων

o Ezra 10:19 (NASB) ¹⁹They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense.

o Εξενεγκαι: Dictionary Form: φερω Type: 1st aorist active
Parsing: Aorist Active Infinitive

· Levites:

· Singers

· Israel:

· Ezra 10:44 - (NASB) ⁴⁴All these had married foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

· NOTE: Here when the people realize they have violated God’s ordinance regarding marrying foreign women, they take steps to correct it. This is very different from what Solomon did. He just married more and more foreign women until they took his heart away from the Lord.

· OBSERVATION: Here the Israelites are doing better than Solomon, by correcting the problem.

· QUESTION: What happened to these women and children?

· OBSERVATION: The word used for “put away” in the Septuigint is from the root “pherow” meaning basically to bear or carry. Often used in this context with the idea of brining or carrying an accusation.

o See for example:
John 18:28 - 29 (NASB) ²⁸Then they led^* Jesus from Caiaphas into the ^£Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ²⁹Therefore Pilate went out to them and said^*, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”