MY SHORT REPORT EZRA - NEH 9
The link that brought you to this page and the page title are a bit of a misnomer, because this short report is not long enough to cover so many chapters of the Bible. What the link and the title do, however, is track where we are in our plan to read through the entire Bible in 1 year. May each report pique your interest and help you to draw near to God. The Bible, James 4:8, tells us if we do so God will draw near to us. Works cited are at the end of the report.
BIBLE READING—WEEK 21-- EZRA - NEHEMIAH 9: Last week I reviewed the six “kingdom” books and took a brief look at the five best kings of the Southern Kingdom. This week’s Short Report illuminates the relationship between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and presents some facts about Cyrus and how the God of history used him to repatriate the exiles.
In his Bible handbook Halley mentions that Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther close out the division of Old Testament History. These books, he continues, cover about a one-hundred year period, which he further divides into two separate stages from 536-516 B.C. and again from 457-432 B.C.. Ezra recounts both stages, Nehemiah gives just the second account, and the book Esther took place in between the two stages. Halley also points out that there was three distinct homecomings: 1) those with Zerubbabel in 536 B.C., 2) those with Ezra in 457 B.C., and 3) Nehemiah’s return in 444 B.C. (p. 229).
Burg, in the People’s Bible Commentary, makes a compatible statement when he presents the background information to the section on Ezra. In addition he explains that the 50 year gap in the period separating the two stages happen “between Ezra chapter 6 and chapter 7” (p. 7). He also notes the similarities between the two books, and adds, “Jewish rabbis and some versions of the Bible have treated them as one book. The book of Nehemiah has sometimes been called 2 Ezra” (p. 65).
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary agrees, saying, “Origen (A.D. c. 185-253) was the first Christian to distinguish between two books, which he called I Ezra and II Ezra, but he noted that they were one book in the Hebrew” (p. 572). Keil and Delitzsch, however, explain the reason for combining the books this way: “For the sake of making the number of the books contained in their canon of Scripture correspond with the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the Jews had from of old reckoned the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as one” (Olive Tree).
In addition, in his general introduction, Burg notes that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah don’t receive as much attention as other Old Testament books, but they provide good insight to God’s plan of salvation. They show how God is in control even when He is using His still small voice. God did not have to change water to blood, nor plague the Persians with boils, or cover Mesopotamia with immeasurable darkness for three days. Nor did He need to step into a fiery furnace or write His message on a wall for all to see in order to be perceived by the Persian leadership. Rather, because of God’s “quiet power,” the Persian kings unknowingly became the servants of God’s people. Finally, Burg concludes by informing his readers that through the hand of God, “The land of Judah was repopulated so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem—just as the prophet Micah had foretold” (p. 1).
Of course, God is foremost among the central characters of these two books. It was God—indeed, the God of heaven—that “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” as well as the Jewish people He moved spiritually and physically “to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1, 5).
His grace and mercy are especially apparent as we see Him make all things work for good for those who love Him and are called according to His good purpose (Romans 8:28). Thus, He calls His remnant people out of captivity and back to the Promised Land. Moreover, He provides the way and the means through Cyrus, who released the captives and “brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem” (Ezra 1) so the children of God could return to Judah with their articles of worship and other national treasures.
It is interesting to note the use of the term the God of heaven. It occurs only 23 times in the KJV. Twice each in Genesis and Revelation, once in Jonah, once in Psalm 136, four times in Daniel, once at the end of 2 Chronicles—in a parallel passage to Ezra, and twelve times in Ezra and Nehemiah, or 16 of 23 times when the term is viewed from the postexilic books of Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah.
William Swan Plumer, “an intellectual leader of the Presbyterian Church in the 1800s” (Wikipedia), is quoted in The Treasury of David as saying the term the God of heaven “is a sublime and appropriate designation of the true God, expressive of his glorious elevation above the passions and perturbations of earth. To him all flesh should give thanks, for all receive his mercy in many forms and ways. His favors come down on generation after generation, and to his willing, obedient they shall flow on during eternal ages” (Spurgeon, 224).
King Cyrus was the founder of the Persian Empire. The “Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia (modern–day Iran). The first of these was the Achaemenid Empire established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires. It covered much of the Ancient world when it was conquered by Alexander the Great” (Wikipedia).
To this, Halley adds that it was Durius III who lost a famous battle to Alexander the Great, in 331 B.C., close to the Assyrian city of Nineveh that ushered in the rise of the Greeks and “empire passed from Asia to Europe” (p. 230).
It’s worth noting that the Romans defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Corinth (146 B.C.), which soon led to Roman domination (Wikipedia). Before long Roman Legions marched into Asia and the Near East, including Israel. Thus Jesus was born into a Jewish world that had been both Hellenistic and Romanized, and the Gospel was spread throughout the east as well as the western world—the God of heaven at work!
Finally, as God’s messenger and prophet Isaiah spoke of Cyrus, by name (44:28; 45:1), over a hundred years before he was born! Speaking of this account the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary says, “This great passage, with its two explicit references to Cyrus, has attracted much scholarly discussion. Some modern scholars cannot conceive of supernatural predictive prophecy in such detail” (p. 1121).
In closing, this week’s Short Report shed some light on the relationship between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and shown how God used Cyrus to return the exiles back to Jerusalem.
In his Bible handbook Halley mentions that Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther close out the division of Old Testament History. These books, he continues, cover about a one-hundred year period, which he further divides into two separate stages from 536-516 B.C. and again from 457-432 B.C.. Ezra recounts both stages, Nehemiah gives just the second account, and the book Esther took place in between the two stages. Halley also points out that there was three distinct homecomings: 1) those with Zerubbabel in 536 B.C., 2) those with Ezra in 457 B.C., and 3) Nehemiah’s return in 444 B.C. (p. 229).
Burg, in the People’s Bible Commentary, makes a compatible statement when he presents the background information to the section on Ezra. In addition he explains that the 50 year gap in the period separating the two stages happen “between Ezra chapter 6 and chapter 7” (p. 7). He also notes the similarities between the two books, and adds, “Jewish rabbis and some versions of the Bible have treated them as one book. The book of Nehemiah has sometimes been called 2 Ezra” (p. 65).
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary agrees, saying, “Origen (A.D. c. 185-253) was the first Christian to distinguish between two books, which he called I Ezra and II Ezra, but he noted that they were one book in the Hebrew” (p. 572). Keil and Delitzsch, however, explain the reason for combining the books this way: “For the sake of making the number of the books contained in their canon of Scripture correspond with the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the Jews had from of old reckoned the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as one” (Olive Tree).
In addition, in his general introduction, Burg notes that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah don’t receive as much attention as other Old Testament books, but they provide good insight to God’s plan of salvation. They show how God is in control even when He is using His still small voice. God did not have to change water to blood, nor plague the Persians with boils, or cover Mesopotamia with immeasurable darkness for three days. Nor did He need to step into a fiery furnace or write His message on a wall for all to see in order to be perceived by the Persian leadership. Rather, because of God’s “quiet power,” the Persian kings unknowingly became the servants of God’s people. Finally, Burg concludes by informing his readers that through the hand of God, “The land of Judah was repopulated so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem—just as the prophet Micah had foretold” (p. 1).
Of course, God is foremost among the central characters of these two books. It was God—indeed, the God of heaven—that “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” as well as the Jewish people He moved spiritually and physically “to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1, 5).
His grace and mercy are especially apparent as we see Him make all things work for good for those who love Him and are called according to His good purpose (Romans 8:28). Thus, He calls His remnant people out of captivity and back to the Promised Land. Moreover, He provides the way and the means through Cyrus, who released the captives and “brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem” (Ezra 1) so the children of God could return to Judah with their articles of worship and other national treasures.
It is interesting to note the use of the term the God of heaven. It occurs only 23 times in the KJV. Twice each in Genesis and Revelation, once in Jonah, once in Psalm 136, four times in Daniel, once at the end of 2 Chronicles—in a parallel passage to Ezra, and twelve times in Ezra and Nehemiah, or 16 of 23 times when the term is viewed from the postexilic books of Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah.
William Swan Plumer, “an intellectual leader of the Presbyterian Church in the 1800s” (Wikipedia), is quoted in The Treasury of David as saying the term the God of heaven “is a sublime and appropriate designation of the true God, expressive of his glorious elevation above the passions and perturbations of earth. To him all flesh should give thanks, for all receive his mercy in many forms and ways. His favors come down on generation after generation, and to his willing, obedient they shall flow on during eternal ages” (Spurgeon, 224).
King Cyrus was the founder of the Persian Empire. The “Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia (modern–day Iran). The first of these was the Achaemenid Empire established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires. It covered much of the Ancient world when it was conquered by Alexander the Great” (Wikipedia).
To this, Halley adds that it was Durius III who lost a famous battle to Alexander the Great, in 331 B.C., close to the Assyrian city of Nineveh that ushered in the rise of the Greeks and “empire passed from Asia to Europe” (p. 230).
It’s worth noting that the Romans defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Corinth (146 B.C.), which soon led to Roman domination (Wikipedia). Before long Roman Legions marched into Asia and the Near East, including Israel. Thus Jesus was born into a Jewish world that had been both Hellenistic and Romanized, and the Gospel was spread throughout the east as well as the western world—the God of heaven at work!
Finally, as God’s messenger and prophet Isaiah spoke of Cyrus, by name (44:28; 45:1), over a hundred years before he was born! Speaking of this account the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary says, “This great passage, with its two explicit references to Cyrus, has attracted much scholarly discussion. Some modern scholars cannot conceive of supernatural predictive prophecy in such detail” (p. 1121).
In closing, this week’s Short Report shed some light on the relationship between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and shown how God used Cyrus to return the exiles back to Jerusalem.