Key Passage
For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra 7:10 (NASB 2020)
Series Content
Scriptural and Historical Setting
Composition and Authorship
Who is Ezra?
Content Outline
The Message of Ezra
“The primary message of the book is that God orchestrated the past grim situation (captivity) and would continue to work through a pagan king and his successors to give Judah hope for the future (return).
God’s administration overrides that of any of the kings of this world and, thus the Book of Ezra (“Jehovah helps”) is a message of God’s continuing covenant grace to Israel.”
Dr. John MacArthur“Years after the Jewish people had been defeated and dispersed by their enemies, a group of Jews, in three waves over a period of about a hundred years, returned to their ancestral homeland to rebuild their nation.
The book of Ezra teaches us to seek the Lord in prayer, submit to His Word, and acknowledge His wisdom, power, presence, and love.
The rubble may not be cleared away in a day or a year, but when we put first things first, the rest of life will come back into alignment.”
Dr. David Jeremiah“The book of Ezra is about spiritual restoration.
It deals with the restoration of the templeople after their return from Babylonian captivity as a result of their persistent disobedience and idolatry.
God had made a kingdom promise to them that if they would return to him, he would bring them back to the land.”
Dr. Tony Evans“The book of Ezra-Nehemiah started out by raising our hopes in the prophetic promises of the messiah, the temple, and the Kingdom of God, but then none of it happens.
Even though Israel is back in their land, their spiritual state seems unchanged from before the exile. While Ezra and Nehemiah try their best, their political and social reforms don’t change the core issues in the people’s hearts.
Israel is in need of a holistic transformation of their hearts if they are ever going to love and obey their God.”
Bible Project“Ezra, as a priest, was unable to serve during the Captivity.
There was no temple. It had been destroyed. He did, however, give his time to a study of the Word of God.
Ezra 7:6 tells us that he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses.”
The theme of the Book of Ezra is the Word of the Lord. There are ten direct references to God’s Word in this little book: Ezra 1:1; 3:2; 6:14, 18; 7:6; 10, 14; 9:4; 10:3, 5.
The place of the Word of God is seen in the total lives of these people: religious, social, business, and political.”
Dr. J. Vernon McGee“This divine steadfastness is the first thing that meets usin this pair of books.
The whole train of events was set in motion to fulfil a promise (Ezra 1:1). What is equally apparent is the divine sovereignty.
Whether he chose to protect his people through their own vigilance and hard work, as above, or through the imperial officers and horsemen who escorted Nehemiah to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:9), or invisibly and silently, as he protected Ezra on a similar journey when he was ‘ashamed to ask the king’ for military help (Ezra 8:22), the entire operation was’the Lord’s doing’, and it is still marvellous in our eyes.”
Dr. Derek Kidner“Ezra-Nehemiah affirms the centrality of the Law (the Torah, or the first five books of the OT) of God in the life of the community.
Ezra was not presenting a new book recently finished; he was recalling the people to the law of God which they had neglected.
The Book of Ezra-Nehemiah calls the people back to the centrality of God’s revelation in “the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6).”
Dr. Mervin Breneman
References
