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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible Department podcast, powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey.

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Family. Welcome to the Book of Ezra. We are on day 339 here at the Bible Department podcast, and we are finally diving into one of my favorite books of the Bible, the Book of Ezra. Today we've got Ezra chapters 1, 2, and 3. If you haven't done the reading, then I want to challenge you to stop the video, pause the audio, go get the reading done. You are not going to want to miss all of the lessons from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. We've got three days in the Book of Ezra, and then we got four days in the Book of Nehemiah. Now, you may be wondering, like, why is Dr. Manny kind of talking about Ezra and Nehemiah together? Well, I'm talking about them together because these were originally one book, okay? These are designed to be seen together. The same way that we would not want to separate Luke and Acts from one another. We don't want to separate Ezra and Nehemiah from one another. There's a lot going on that connects these two works. And to be honest, everything is connected. Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and all of Chronicles. Really, really, really interconnected books of the Bible. And we're gonna dive into all of that. I guess I've already kind of started our context clues for the day. And our big piece of context is that Ezra and Nehemiah in our current Bibles and our modern Bibles appear as two separate books. But in order to translate or interpret what's going on in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, well, we're actually gonna need to see them as one work, okay? As one book. And I'll kind of even give you, like, a mind map. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are gonna function in threes, okay? Threes. If there's a number that I want you to, like, get in your mind, it's threes, okay? So this is just big, overarching context for the whole book. Number one, the first idea is return. Okay? The people of Israel are currently living in Persia, and they are going to return to Jerusalem. This is a big, big, big, big deal. And I didn't realize how big of a deal this return to Jerusalem was until I really started Diving into the books of Ezra and Nehemiah earlier this week. And actually the Bible is going to frame the return from. From exile as a second Exodus. We're going to dive into some of those nerdy nuggets in a moment. This is going to be seen as important, just as important as the people of Israel leaving Egypt in the Exoduses. Returning from exile back into the promised land is going to be seen as a second exodus. In both the original Exodus and the second Exodus, they are going to Jerusalem, to the promised land of Israel. But obviously in the original Exodus, they're leaving the captivity of Egypt. But in the new Exodus, they are going to be leaving the captivity of the Persian empire and coming back to their homeland, which is Judah Judea, Jerusalem. Okay, all right. The book kind of flows in threes, okay? And that first third is going to be return, okay, return. And there's going to be waves of return. We'll talk about the three waves of return, but the first is return, okay? They return with Zerubbabel in 538 B.C. now, you're going to realize quickly that dates are really, really important. But they return with Zerubbabel in 538bc and then they're charged to rebuild. Okay? So the second part of Ezra is going to be all about rebuilding. And then the third movement of Ezra is going to be all about repentance, okay? So there's three big R's that we're going to focus on for both of these books. But for sure, in Ezra is the return of the people, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the repentant hearts of the people. Okay? Return, rebuild. Repentance. Return, rebuild, Repent. Now, said that everything is going to happen in threes. So let me kind of break down a structure that is actually going to span from Ezra all the way into Nehemiah. Okay? Ezra, chapters one through six. Ezra, chapters one through six is the first wave of return. And this is led By Zerubbabel in 538-BC- Ezra is not even going to get mentioned or talked about until chapter seven. And that's going to mark the second part of Ezra, which is chapter seven to chapter 10. So Ezra, chapter one through six is all about Zerubbabel and that first original wave of Jews leaving Persia, coming back to their homeland to rebuild the temple, okay? The altar of sacrifice and the temple. They are there to rebuild the temple. They've come back out of exile, back to their homeland, to ruins and rubble. Okay? Can you imagine? You know, the only event that I could, like, communicate to Kind of put this in context would be 9, 11. Like, could you imagine if you had an apartment or a condo anywhere near, uh, where the Twin Towers fell? You know, and it. And you just, you've. You had to evacuate, and then you come back years later and it's just rubble in ruins. And you have to take rubble in ruins and rebuild in your life. The other example that I would give is, like, Katrina, like, could you imagine, like, your life just being totally sent into a spiral because you had to evacuate? And then when you came back, everything is in ruins and you have to rebuild your life? Okay, this is the scenario that God's people find themselves in when Ezra begins. They're allowed to go back, but honestly, for many of them, their life in Babylon, their life in the Persian Empire would have been better. So it's actually a sacrifice to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild. Keep. Okay, so that first wave that goes with Zerubbabel, this is Ezra, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Then Ezra, chapter 7. We're actually introduced to Ezra. Okay? The entire book is named after, after Ezra. And we don't even get introduced to this man until chapter seven. Well, chapter seven to chapter ten. Ezra comes on the scene 80 years after Zerubbabel. Okay, so 80 years have gone by, and this is 458 B.C. ezra brings a second wave of exiles who were in the Persian Empire back to Jerusalem. And then Nehemiah, chapters one to seven in 446 B.C. so about 12 years later, after Ezra, Nehemiah is going to lead a group from Persia back to Jerusalem, and he is going to rebuild the walls. Okay, so Zerubbabel, his main objective is rebuild the Temple. Ezra's main objective is to get people to recommit to the Torah. And then Nehemiah's, main objective is to get the walls that are supposed to be around the city built and established so the people that are living in Jerusalem can be protected. Okay? Three waves of return, three different leaders, and three different generational time periods. Okay, 80 years separates Zerubbabel from Ezra. And then I would say, you know, less than that. Ezra and Nehemiah would have been closer in age, but Ezra still would have been older than him by about, who knows, you know, anywhere from 10 to 20 years older. So three waves of return, three main leaders and three big projects. The first project being the Temple, the second project being Torah, and the third project being the walls. All right, I think that's all the context that we need in order to really appreciate and understand the Book of Ezra, let's dive into some nerdy nuggets. Okay, Chapter one, verse one. Just kind of start reading here. Says, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing. Okay, and what is Cyrus going to put in writing? It says in verse two, this is what Cyrus, king of Persia, says. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Okay? So, hey, gather up all these Jewish people who are here in exile who are stuck in captivity. Hey, I'm called by God to build the God of Heaven a temple in Jerusalem. Now, this may seem random. Okay, random. However, this is not random at all. This was actually prophesied in the books of both Isaiah and Jeremiah. So it's going to say that in Ezra, chapter one, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah. All right, so let's find what Jeremiah actually said. Okay, let's find it. We're going to look at Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 10. I know we're so used to looking at Jeremiah 29:11, but we're going to back up one verse and look at Jeremiah 29:10. And it says these words. This is what the lord says. When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. What's this place? Jerusalem. Okay. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. Okay, so there's a promise here in Jeremiah chapter 29 that the exile, the captivity would last for 70 years. And then once the 70 year mark hits, boom. God said, I'm coming back for you. And it's going to be like a second exodus, okay? You are going to be led back to Jerusalem from the nations from which I. To which I banished you. So when Cyrus is like the words of Jeremiah, this is what he's talking about. He's saying, oh, great. Hey, it's been 70 years. I'm the appointed leader now. We need one more piece of this puzzle, and that's Isaiah 44, verse 28. Isaiah 44, verse 28. I'll find it for us, and then I'll read it. We're actually going to start reading in verse 24. Okay. This is what the Lord says. Your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb. I am the Lord, the maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself. Okay? And then every line is going to be who? Okay, so who foils, who overthrows, who carries? Who says of Jerusalem? Who says of the watery deep? Be dry, and I will dry up your streams. Who says of Cyrus. Here we go. Cyrus, he is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please. He will say of Jerusalem, let it be rebuilt. And of the temple, let its foundation be laid. Now, this prophecy In Isaiah, chapter 44 happens 150 years prior to Cyrus being born. 150 years. Let's think about that, okay? If someone showed me a prophecy with my name in it 150 years before I'm born. Yeah. You may believe I'm gonna respond like it says in Ezra, chapter one. This is what Cyrus, king of Persia, said. The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Now, Josephus, who is a Jewish historian, is going to claim that someone must have given Cyrus a copy of the scroll of Isaiah and told him, you know, that the God of the Hebrews was prophesied about you 150 years ago. And that Cyrus was clearly taken aback because Isaiah, chapter 44, verse 28, is not the only place it's going to prophesy about Cyrus. Chapter 45, verses 1 to 3 is also going to prophesy about Cyrus. Cyrus says this. Isaiah, chapter 45, starting in verse one, this is what the Lord says to his anointed. To Cyrus. Okay? Not Jesus. No, to Cyrus. A pagan ruler is being called the Anointed One of God. This is what the Lord says to his anointed. To Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. Ooh, that is like that. Knowing that that was prophesied about Cyrus 150 years before he was born gives me goosebumps. Now, how did Cyrus overthrow the Babylonians? Because Cyrus is a Persian king who overthrows the Babylonians. Well, the Euphrates river runs through Babylon. And months before the overthrow, the Persian army figured out how to reroute the Euphrates so that the gates of the city with a water. Typically, since there's water that runs through these channels where the gates are, you can't get in and out of the city because the water is too high. But because they had dammed up the water and rerouted the river, it meant that the water was super, super shallow. And guess what? Just like verse 2 of Isaiah 45 says, I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron, okay? Literally, the Persian army just marched right on in, like, with no conflict, with no problems, because they had rerouted that river, okay? So because they were at ground level with the water, they were able to just literally go right through the bars, go right through the gates, and then overtake the city. That's it. It's a wrap. And the Persian Empire becomes the most wealthy empire on the planet. And so these words here in Isaiah chapter 45 are eerily similar in terms of what actually happened in history to Cyrus, king of Persia. All right, let me give you as many nerdy nuggets as I can, family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold, literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble, or you can go to a Books A Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. There are two different options for the 70 years that Ezra is. That Ezra chapter one is going to talk about. Cyrus says, hey, in fulfillment of Jeremiah's words. Okay, what were Jeremiah's words that the people would be in captivity for 70 years and they would go back home. All right, so we got to map out the 70 years. There's two reasonable options. The 70 years is either going to start with the very, very, very, very, very first deportation, which started in 606 BC this is when Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego get deported to Babylon from Jerusalem. Remember, there were multiple waves of deportation. Actually, to be precise, there were three waves out of deportation, and now there's going to be three waves of return in. I want you to think about this as an ocean. Three ways out, three ways in. Okay? So that first wave of deportation included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Okay, that was 606, 605, 606 BC have you fast forward 70 years. This is Cyrus now in 536 B.C giving the order that Zerubbabel needs to take the Jewish people back to Jerusalem. Okay, so that would, that could be 70 years. Okay, or we could take the 586 B.C. date, which is the date that the temple is destroyed. Now what is Zerubbabel going to Jerusalem to do? Rebuild the temple. And when is it going to get rebuilt? In 516 B.C. which means from 586 BC when the temple is destroyed to 516 BC when the temple is rebuilt. That 70 years. So 70 years could either be happening from the very, very, very first wave of exile and then the first wave of return, or the 70 years could be attached to the time that the people were without a temple. Both make tons of sense because with no temple, there is no worship of Yahweh. With no temple, there are no sacrifices. And so the temple is going to be an insanely important piece of the worship puzzle. Ok, so two options next. Nerdy nugget. Ok? Zerubbabel is going to lead a group of people back to Jerusalem and they're going to start the work of rebuilding the temple. Now this temple building process is not going to go too hot. They're going to get back, they're going to be excited, they're going to start doing the work, and then it lays dormant for almost two decades. And God is going to send two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to prophesy to the people, to kick their rear in gear, and they're going to get the temple going again. So I want to read Haggai chapter 1, verse 8 and Zechariah 8, 9, because you may not have realized that Haggai and Zechariah were a part of this era of ministry. But the reason that they, that Haggai and Zechariah are active prophets are because Zerubbabel has led a group of people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And the people have gotten complacent, they've gotten comfortable, and they don't want to build. And so remember, the theme is return and then rebuild. So God's going to send Haggai and Zechariah. So let's put Haggai 1:8 and Zechariah 8, 9 in context together. Haggai, chapter 1, verse 8 says this, go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house so that I might take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. Okay, go build my house. What house? The temple. Okay? That's what the people have been called back from Persian exile into, into Jerusalem to do. To build God's house, to build a temple. Zechariah, chapter 8, verse 9. Haggai and Zechariah are preaching the same message to the same group, okay, right here in the, in this exact season of, of biblical history, okay, in the sliver of life, let's read Zechariah chapter 8, verse 9. Zechariah says to the people, this is what the Lord Almighty says, now hear these words. Let your hands be strong so the temple may be built. This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord God Almighty. Okay? So both Haggai and Zechariah are both like, hey, let's get busy, like, build the temple. Let's build this temple. We'll get into way more detail on tomorrow's episode. Okay? Last nerdy nugget. I really wanna make this parallel clear that this is a second Exodus, okay? That the return of the exiles is gonna be seen from a biblical perspective just as important as the Exodus event. It's the second exodus. So number one Ezra 1:6 says the articles of silver and gold supplied by the exile's neighbors, okay, is actually the exact same as the plunder of the Egyptians motif in the Exodus story. You can look this up in Exodus chapter 3, verse 22, Exodus chapter 11, verse 2, and Exodus chapter 12, verse 35. So that's one correlation between this second Exodus and the original Exodus. Next. Ezra, chapter 1, verse 11 says that the exiles to be brought up out of Babylon to Jerusalem and is deliberately similar to the classic Exodus formula. The people who I brought you, I brought up out of the land of Egypt to the Land of promise, flowing with milk and honey. That's Exodus chapter 33:11, if you need context. Next, Ezra is going to culminate and we'll see this tomorrow, that the rebuilding, the return of the exiles in the rebuilding is going to climax with the celebration of Passover. Okay? We're going to see this in Ezra, chapter 6, verse 19 to 22, just as the Israelites did as they left Egypt. Exodus chapters 12 and 13. As if three correlations aren't enough, I'm going to give you as many more as I can. Four, we're going to get a big census. What did we get in the Book of Numbers? Okay. As the people left Egypt and prepared to go into the promised land, they had to get counted. And so what are we going to have in Ezra? Oh boy, you're going to get genealogies galore, okay? Because we have that theme that this is a new Exodus. Okay, lastly, Ezra, chapter 2, verses 68 to 69 say this. The exiles provide a free will contribution to the new temple, which parallels with the free will contributions of the Exodus generation for the tabernacle. Okay? And one last little nerdy detail that we'll really talk about over the next couple of days is that once we get to Nehemiah, we are going to be talking to a new generation of God's people, which is really going to be a lot like Deuteronomy. Remember how Moses had to give a second law, Deuteronomos nomos law deutero, second. Ok, why? Because there was a new generation. Okay? Zerubbabel's name means planted in Babylon. Zerubbabel has never lived in Jerusalem. Okay? This is someone who was born in captivity, born in exile, and now he's gonna lead God's people back home. This is huge. They've been waiting for this for 70 years. This is a huge, huge, huge moment. All right, let's recap. Three waves out. Three waves in. Those three waves in are going to be marked by three different leaders. Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Cyrus is prophesied about 150 years before he's born. Not only is Cyrus prophesied about, but what he's going to do is prophesied and the 70 years that the people are going to spend in captivity, that's also prophesied about. Haggai and Zechariah are prophets prophesying during this general time period. There are two legitimate options for the 70 year prophecy and whether or not that is going from original deportation to the time of the first Wave of return, or if that's going from the destruction of the temple to the rebuilding of the temple. And then, last but not least, this is a new Exodus. And I gave tons of reasons as to why it should be seen as a new exodus. And so let's get into our timeless truth. Only 50,000 Jews actually go back to Jerusalem. There are conservative estimations, hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Babylon. I would say some serious estimations are over a million Jews living in Babylon in this time, and only 50,000 are actually going to go back. And I would say that they took the words of Jeremiah, like, too seriously. In Jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 5, Jeremiah is telling the people, hey, you've been carried off into exile and you need to, like, hunker down. Like, it's not going to be short. He says this. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there. Do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I've carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it proffers prospers, you too will prosper. And so by the time the people are able to come back to Jerusalem, they don't want to. It's like they obeyed the words of Jeremiah too good. They like Babylon. And this is my timeless truth for the day. Because there's a lot of Christians who, like, we, we, we are in love with the world. Getting us to actually maybe make a sacrifice so that we can be a part of, of Jerusalem and not Babylon is hard. And only 50, 50,000 of them end up doing it out of, let's say there's a million Jews living in Babylon. Only 50,000. Decide, I'm going to downgrade my life in terms of its comfort, in terms of my economics, so that I can upgrade it in terms of my spirituality. And a lot of times an upgrade spiritually is going to come at the cost of a downgrade in other areas of your life. And that's not just true for these people who are trying to follow Zerubbabel to Jerusalem, but who have found their favorite bakery, have found their favorite coffee shop, have found their favorite whatever, whatever in Babylon. Going back home to Jerusalem is not appealing to them. It's a pile of rocks, it's ruins, it's rubble. Why would I go back there? But God actually consistently calls people not just forward, but also back so they can return, rebuild and repent. And I hope that's not just an encouraging word today from history. I hope that's an encouraging word from the Holy Spirit that you would apply that to your life and that you would make some hard decisions to maybe return, rebuild and repent. Let's keep looking at Ezra as we dive into chapters four, five and six tomorrow for day 340. I hope that this first day in the Book of Ezra is met with tons of excitement. I love the Book of Ezra. I tried to tell you some information that you probably wouldn't have been able to find on your own. I hope I did a good job. I hope to see you tomorrow. I love you. I'm so proud of you. See you soon. Peace.