 Ezra 1 - 10 Questions and Answers |
| Q. What timeframe does the Book of Ezra cover? | A. Notes: After the Babylonian exile when the Israelites began to return to Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. |
| Q. Did the Israelites willingly go back to Judah? |
A. Ezra 1:5 = Yes. God gave Cyrus the prophesy and then God stirred the hearts of the leaders, priests and Levites to return home. Note: God! It is all God's doing. Let God stire the hearts of anyone you must face with telling His gospel message to, dealing with conflict, or anything else relational in nature. He will help you to handle it right. |
| Q. How could the Israelites afford to rebuild the Temple? | A. Ezra 1:4 = By order of Cyrus, their neighbors in Babylon piled abundant gifts on the returning Israelites. |
| Q. What happened to all the templewares that Nebuchadnezzar took? | A. Ezra 1:7 = Cyrus gave it all back to the Israelites! |
| Q. Did Zerubbabel help rebuild the Temple? | A. Ezra 3:8 = Yes. |
| Q. Was the task done without conflict? | A. Ezra 4:1 = No. Other non-Jews insisted on helping the rebuilding, but the Israelites said no. The prophesy did not include non-Jews in the task. Also, Local residents tried to discourage and frighten the Israelites to keep them from their work. The conflict went on through Cyrus' entire reign. |
| Q. What else happened to hinder them? | A. Ezra 4:6 = Judah's old enemies wrote to later kings of Persia to protest Judah's rebuilding, stating that the historial records showed that the Israelites rebelled against ruling authorities over them continually. |
| Q. Did those complainers get a response? | A. Ezra 4:17 = Not until Artexerxes was in power. He stopped the rebuilding of Judah after reading the historical records. |
| Q. How long was the rebuilding of the Temple stopped? | A. Ezra 4:24 = Until King Darius of Persia came to power. |
| Q. What prophets were alive during Darius' reign? | A. Ezra 5:1 = Haggai and Zechariah. |
| Q. Did they help rebuild the Temple? | A. Ezra 5:2 = Yes. |
| Q. So they began rebuilding again during Darius' reign in Babylon (Persia)? | A. Ezra 4:24 = Yes. |
| Q. What got them going again? | A. Ezra 5:1 = Haggai and Zechariah, who received instructions from God in the 2nd year of Darius' reign, that the rebuilding would resume. |
| Q. Who opposed the rebuilding now? | A. Ezra 5:3 = Governor Tattenai of the west province to the Euphrates River. |
| Q. And he complained to Darius? | A. Ezra 5:6 = Yes. Since the Jews said they were decreed by Cyrus to rebuild the Temple, he asked Darius to find the document Cyrus wrote to allow it originally. |
| Q. And the document was found? | A. Ezra 6:3 = Yes. Not the original one, but another record was found. |
| Q. How did Darius respond? | A. Ezra 6:6 = Darius decreed the work was good and they should help pay for it too! He threatened punishment, to Tattenai too, for anyone who didn't help in the rebuilding of the Temple. |
| Q. Was the Temple finished? | A. Ezra 6:15 = Yes! |
| Q. Why did Darius help Israel? | A. Ezra 6:22 = Because God changed the attitude of King Darius of Assyria toward them and he became enthusiastic to help. |
| Q. Did Darius see God as being real? | A. Ezra 6:10 = Yes. Darius wanted the priests to pray for him and his sons and offer up appropriate sacrifices for them. |
| Q. Was there a 2nd Artaxerxes of Persia? | A. Ezra 7:1 = Yes. He reigned during Ezra's time. |
| Q. Was Ezra a priest? | A. Ezra 7:5 = Yes. He came from Aaron's line; a scribe, well-versed in the Law of Moses. (v.11). |
| Q. Where was Ezra from? | A. Ezra 7:6 = He lived in Babylon, but he went to Jerusalem with some priests and Levites. |
| Q. Was Ezra liked by Artaxerxes 2? | A. Ezra 7:6 = Yes. |
| Q. Why was Ezra so well liked by God? |
A. Ezra 7:10 = Because he determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those laws and regulations to the people of Israel. Note: What a great life choice! How passionate are you to know God? God loves this attitude! |
| Q. While they were exiled those 50+ years, what did many of the Jews do? | A. Ezra 9:2 = They married pagans who worshipped idols. |
| Q. Even Jewish leaders and officials did this? | A. Ezra 9:2 = Yes. |
| Q. What is considered a right attitude toward God's word? | A. Ezra 9:4 = When one trembles when reading or hearing it. |
| Q. What baffled Ezra? | A. Ezra 9 = Israel's inability to keep themselves pure as God's holy people. |
| Q. What did the Israelites do to fix the error of intermarriage? | A. Ezra 10:16 = They divorced their pagan wives in a massive ceremony. |
| Q. What lessons can we glean from the Book of Ezra? |
A. Lesson 1 = If you think Ezra's attitude toward his Maker was unusual, think again. You can have the same love for God that he did. He loved God's word and took it to heart, devoting his life to learning it and teaching it too. If you do this, you will be as free as can be on this earth. It is true that you will see the struggles of mankind a waste of time in comparison to knowing God intimately. I can't think of a better way to spend my time than learning who God is. I anticipate the foreverworld and am terrified at the same time. It just doesn't get better than this! Lesson 2 = Draw close to God no matter what your circumstances are. Ezra was in Babylon, loving God and drawing near. Wear out many bibles, marking them up as verses speak to you. When you can no longer see your notes, start afresh. I am so thankful to live at a time when I can easily acquire a fresh bible in the version of my choosing. Lesson 3 = Powerful rulers do not intimidate God. He changes all hearts to do His will. |