Reading Ezra

The book of Ezra was written by perhaps the most overlooked author of the Bible, who also comes from an overlooked period of history for the Israelites. Of course, I'm talking about the man Ezra himself! Most times, not a single non-Christian has a clue who Ezra is, and the same can be said for many Christians as well. This specific book also depicts a period of history for the Israelites that many can say that they have only briefly heard of. The time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem is a short, quick period, that many only skim over in their readings.

Ezra was a scribe and scholar. Because of this, he is commonly labelled as the author of Ezra, and First and Second Chronicles. His style was extremely factual, yet also sentimental in a way. It is clear Ezra clearly cared about his material, and presenting the exact happenings in a nearly perfect manner. We also know that Ezra was a descendant of Aaron the chief priest, and if this book tells us anything, Ezra took on many of the chief priest's roles and responsibilities admirably. His zeal for God and the people is evident in almost every action. We can also look at Nehemiah for another identical picture of Ezra and his passion for his work.

This book contains an important part of history for the Israelites. In fact, it almost acts as a connecting puzzle piece between the period of reign, and the period of slavery/being captured by foreign powers. Ezra depicts how the Israelites were able to return to their home country and begin to rebuild for the future. Ezra serves as the next step before the New Testament, as many of the other books that follow don't mention the next parts of Israel's history, from the rebuild to the domination of the actual city of Jerusalem by foreign powers such as the Romans.

While the book does focus on actual history, again there are many lessons that can be gleaned. Again, highlighted from this short book is the character of Ezra. His zeal and passion are something missing from churches today. Even though we may not be in as drastic of a situation, we can still mimic that love for God and His work. In fact, we need to, in order to change the way the church does things today. Our perception in society, our work, our future is extremely shady. Renewing our vigour will certainly change that, and we could use a page from Ezra's book in order to do so.