TODAY IN THE WORD
Of all the lessons we can learn from a study of Ezra and Nehemiah, one of the most important is that God never does anything halfway. That’s good news for us, giving us hope even in tough times. Once His judgment of the seventy years’ exile for Israel was completed, God began moving His hand to restore His people to their land and to Himself. And He didn’t stop until the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem were rebuilt. The return of Ezra to Jerusalem in 458 B.C. was another crucial step in the fulfillment of God’s plan.

About fifty-eight years elapsed between the events of Ezra 6 and the beginning of Ezra’s story in chapter 7. Those years are silent in the book of Ezra, but not in the Bible. The king who ruled in Persia before Artaxerxes was Xerxes, who played a very prominent role in the story of Esther’s heroism in rescuing the Jewish people from annihilation. The events of that book concerned Jewish exiles who chose to stay in Persia rather than return to Israel, which many Bible commentators believe was an act of disobedience against God.

But Ezra had a different spirit. We learn that this godly man was a descendant of Aaron, which established his right to function as a priest and teacher (vv. 5–6). This would become important later when Ezra acted to rid the exiles of sin in their midst. Ezra also knew the Word of God and lived it, which was one of the most important features of his life. Being “well versed” in the Scripture means that Ezra was skilled in understanding God’s law and explaining it to others.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Ezra’s commitment to know and live God’s Word was one reason for the impact he had for the Lord in his time.

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