Ezra 1-6 (temple building)
Looking to the future with joy (Ezra 6:13-22)
Ezra 6:13-22 The most obvious note that marks out our passage today is the joy of the exiles as they complete the temple building. If we are cynical, we could say that it is easy for them to be joyful…
When God turns obstacles into opportunities (Ezra 6:1-12)
Ezra 6:1-12 We left the story of the exiles and their temple building at a tense point, when they re-started the project under the encouragement of Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 5:1-2) but were challenged by the Persian officials about authorisation…
The possibility of powerful change (Ezra 5)
Ezra 5:1-17 After the commissioning service in my first job teaching Old Testament, someone approached me with the message, which he felt was from God. It was, ‘You in yourself are enough’. For a rookie lecturer those were powerful words…
Difficulties in God’s work and His purposes (Ezra 4:4-24)
Ezra 4:4-24 There are periods in our lives when everything goes swimmingly, the timings are perfect, the details fall into place and difficulties evaporate like the morning mist. There are other phases when everything goes wrong, and we wonder why…
What does it take to build God’s Church? (Ezra 4:1-3)
Ezra 4:1-3 From our modern context, the returnees’ categorical refusal of help from local people feels harsh. Some commentators condemn the exiles and blame them for the subsequent retaliation that comes on them. Is this a fair assessment though? Interpreting…
Waiting for the promises of God (Ezra 3:8-13)
Ezra 3:8-13 As a young Christian, I shared my struggles about singleness with a godly Christian woman who felt the Lord give her a verse for me, Ps 107:28-30. Like the psalmist, I felt storm-tossed at times and while I…
How to reconnect with God and strengthen the relationship? (Ezra 3:1-7)
Ezra 3:1-7 We have all known times when our connection to the Lord was lost or weakened. Weeks went by without praying to God or we read our Bible with one eye on the clock and thoughts buzzing with the…
Were the exiles racist in their definition of identity? (Ezra 2:1-70)
Ezra 2:1-70 Throughout the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, Israel (i.e. God’s people) are defined as Jews who returned from exile (Ezra 2:2). For modern readers with a greater sensitivity to racial and ethnic exclusion and to related atrocities in…
The importance of understanding our identity (Ezra 2:1-70)
Ezra 2:1-70 Trawling through meaningless names and numbers is admittedly tedious, so if you skipped most of the reading above, I don’t blame you. Even Bible devotionals tend to miss out this chapter assuming that its details have no relevance…
The unexpected ways of God (Ezra 1:1-11)
Ezra 1:1-11 In my twenties I was working at an English language school in Budapest but found that language teaching was not a very good fit and decided to leave. Having no idea what else to do, I felt quite…