How to Understand the Book of Ezra in the Bible

What is the book of Ezra all about? How can we better understand the book, and how can we make application for our personal lives? I'm no Bible expert, but I have found a few thing that help tremendously in studying this book, and discovering how the book of Ezra has wonderful application for us today.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bible
• Note Book
• Pen/Pencil

1. It's like one famous christian of the past said, "I read the Bible like I shake an apple tree. First I shake the whole tree and whatever falls off I eat. Then I shake each limb, then each branch, then each twig and leaf." Step number one: read the book through one time. See what you get out of it then read it again and dig a little deeper.

2. One helpful hint in understanding the book is having some good back round information. The book of Ezra takes place after the Jewish captivity in Babylon. The Jews had been exiled there for 70 years and are now, under the rule of Cyrus king of Persia, returning to their home land. The book of Ezra is broken up in to two sections. Part 1: The First Return. Chapters 1-6 Zerubbabel a political leader and man responsible for rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem leads a 50,000 man contingent back to Jerusalem. Part 2: The Second Return. Chapters 7-10 Ezra lead a much small group of 1,400 people back. Ezra was a priest, a scribe (this book is the first mention of scribes in the Bible, that's important to note for studies in the New Testament) and the spiritual leader of the time. Ezra upon his return was not seeking to rebuild the city, but to revive the hearts of the people.

3. Further break down:
   Part 1: Chapter 1-6 Rebuilding
   1-2 The Return
   3 The Rebuilding
   4-6 Resisting the Enemy
   The victory over the enemy, the motivation to get back to work came from Zechariah and Haggai preaching the Word of God. Those two prophets and their books fit in to this time historically.
   
   ----between chapters 6 and 7 there is a 58 year gap. This is also the time that the book of Esther takes place-----
   
   Part 2: Chapter 7-10 Reformation
   7-8 Ezra Returns
   9-10 Ezra in Jerusalem (deals with a problem of mixed marriages)

[kaytay]

on 3/1/2009 Great article and information. 5*

[jennen]

on 2/8/2009 Mixed marriages... people of different faiths or beliefs... it is a tough one... good job 5 stars

[Vanillatte]

on 12/11/2008 Good article on how to understand the book of Ezra. Fascinating timeline!

[Pillain]

on 12/10/2008 Helpful article. Thanks.