As I promised way back on August 25, today we return to the Old Testament for our First Readings, starting with the Book of Ezra.
Ezra is one of eleven “historical books” in the Hebrew bible. Ezra is set at the end of the Hebrew disgrace we call the Babylonian Captivity. The Babylonian Captivity is a historical event that occurred around 586 BC. Centuries earlier, God had made a covenant with His people. As time went by, the Hebrews became complacent, careless with sin, and presumptuous about God’s forgiveness. They thought that surely, God would not punish them, that He would always be patient with them because they were his chosen people.
And God was patient. Up to a point. After years of patience, and after years of warning, God finally pours out on His Hebrews his righteous punishment. In 722 BC, the entire northern kingdom of Israel was defeated by and exiled to Assyria. Yet the southern kingdom of Judah did not get the message. Finally, in 597 BC God sent King Nebuchadnezzar (I have, since my youth, loved that name—so hard to spell) of Babylon to besiege Jerusalem. Upon Judah’s defeat, Nebuchadnezzar took Judah’s King Jehoiachin and the nation’s leading citizens off to Babylon. About ten years later he uprooted everyone else and destroyed the temple. Thus began the Babylonian Captivity.
The exile lasted until about 538 BC. This is where the Book of Ezra begins. Ezra records two separate time periods directly following the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. Ezra 1–6 covers the first return of Jews from captivity, led by Zerubbabel, a period of twenty-three years beginning with the edict of Cyrus of Persia and ending at the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (538–515 BC). Ezra 7–10 picks up the story more than sixty years later, when Ezra led the second group of exiles to Israel (458 BC). The book could not have been completed earlier than about 450 BC, the date of the events recorded in Ezra 10:17–44. The events in Ezra are set in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. The returning exiles were able to populate only a tiny portion of their former homeland.
Jewish tradition has long attributed authorship of this historical book to the scribe and scholar named Ezra. He plays a major role in the second half of the book, as well as in the book of Nehemiah, its sequel. In the Hebrew Bible, the two books were considered one work, though some internal evidence suggests they were written separately and joined together in the Hebrew canon (and later separated again in English translations).
Ezra was a direct descendant of Aaron, brother of Abraham, and the chief priest immediately after the Israelites moved into the Promised Land after the death of Moses. Ezra led the remaining Jews back to Israel during King Artaxerxes’s reign over the Persian Empire, which had replaced the Babylonian Empire that had originally exiled the people of Judah.
The Book of Ezra provides a much-needed link in the historical record of the Israelite people. We witness the rebuilding of the new temple, the unification of the returning tribes as they shared common struggles and were challenged to work together. By the end of the book, Israel had renewed its covenant with God and had begun acting in obedience to Him. Through his narrative, Ezra declared that they were still God’s people and that God had not forgotten them.
God moved the hearts of secular rulers (Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes) to allow, even encourage and help, the Jewish people to return home. He used these unlikely allies to fulfill His promises of restoration for His chosen people. Have you encountered unlikely sources of blessing? Have you wondered how God can really work all things together for the good of those who are called by His name (Romans 8:28)? Take time today to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and mercy in your life. Recommit to Him your trust, your love, and your obedience.
And share your reflections with your friends. In today’s short Gospel reading (Luke 8:16-18) we hear the familiar parable of the light on the lampstand. The light represents the truth, love, and grace of God, that he has bestowed upon us. By placing the light on the lampstand, we attest to our faith. Everyone who witness our lives and works, and who interact with us, may come to know God and His truth by our examples and inspirations. We need to show everyone that we walk His path; and we need to be His light in our world darkened by sin.
Let us commit ourselves to love God with all our heart and mind, with all our strength and capabilities, and with all our being. Let us all also be loving and forgiving, compassionate and kind to our fellow brothers and sisters. Let us all be great and faithful disciples of the Lord, with hearts and minds ever focused on Him. And let us be bright lights on the lampstand.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!