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God delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. Commands given by God were to be obeyed if they desired to remain free. God warns the Israelites as to what will happen if these commands are not kept. “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty” (Jeremiah 2:19). Despite the warnings from various prophets God’s people chose to disobey his commands. This resulted in the invasion of the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Many of the northern tribes were forced from their land. Around 586 the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and took many Jews captive. Now a majority of the Israelites were in captivity. The Persians overthrew the Babylonian empire and it was at this time (539 BC) a few of the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Three waves of immigrants returned to Jerusualem. Zerubbabel returned in 538 BC, Ezra in 458 BC, and Nehemiah in 445 BC. This paper will examine the difficulties that Ezra faced as he attempted to restore the temple and the hearts of God’s people. It is the disobedience of God’s commands which caused the captivity in the first place. It’s important the commands are reestablished and adhered.

Ezra is a priest and a scribe. He studied much of the law which gave him authority to implement and teach the law to the people. Ezra’s character is depicted in Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” God’s hand was upon Ezra as evidenced by the king of Persia’s fondness of him.

Ezra’s heart for God’s law is evidenced by his humble and dependent spirit towards the Lord and his laws. Prior to beginning the long journey to Jerusalem, Ezra calls for a fast, “…so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and all our property” (Ezra 8:10). It’s not just enough to make sure everything is secure and ready for the trip. Ezra identifies the need to ask God for the safe trip home. Even prior to reentering Jerusalem, Ezra sets the hearts of the people towards God.

Upon arrival to Jerusalem it comes to Ezra’s attention a specific sin of the Israelites: Mixed marriages. God had instructed the Israelites not to mix their blood with other nations for it forfeited the covenant. In Deuteronomy 7:2 it states: “…when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” The law was very straight forward and it was obvious this law had been blatantly disobeyed. “For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulesr have been foremost in this unfaithfulness” (Ezra 9:2). When Ezra hears his news he tears his robes in anger as he sees the continuance of behavior which resulted in the previous exile. Ezra prays to God concerning this matter and asks for forgiveness. What is interesting about this prayer is that he identifies himself as a perpetrator in this sin. He states, “we have been in great guilt,’ and ‘our iniquities.’ (Ezra 9:6). He sees how the sin of a few people is reflective of the whole nation. Within the prayer he admits guilt and seeks forgiveness. The people see his desperation and anguish over the situation and also join the prayer with tears. It is decided that the wives must be divorced so to align themselves wholeheartedly with God’s law. This is a difficult decision because divorce is not in line with God’s commands either. However, if mixed marriages were allowed than further sins would occur in future generations. Ezra asserts that all mixed marriages are to be dissolved with each confessing to the Lord their wrong doing and acting in a way as to move away from the wrong (divorce).

Ezra studied the law and knew what God commanded. Many of the traditions had not been practiced during the exile. People were unaware of the history of their people. Ezra read the law and the people learned that during the feast of the seventh month they were to live in booths. So the people obeyed this command and “The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day And there was great rejoicing” (Nehemiah 10:17). Ezra read from the book of the law every day and much celebration occurred.

During the exile the fear of the law and God was lost. The time away from Jerusalem was 70 years. Many who were alive during the reign of David and Solomon were no longer alive. Those now alive did not know the magnificence of the old temple and the ways in which it was prized. The new temple was rebuilt and a ceremony was had to dedicate the temple to the Lord. Ezra read the law to the people at this time. The people rejoiced and set their hearts to obeying God and his commands.

It is thought that Ezra is the author of the book of Chronicles as well. At this point the Israelites did not need to be reminded of their failings and disobedience. Ezra reminded them that God seeks those who obey his commands. God blesses those who obey him. Through Ezra the Israelites dedicated themselves to God and to his law. God used Ezra to reach his people through Ezra’s dedication to the reading and teaching of the law. Ezra called the people back to obedience to God.