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1-11: After the Jews were held captive in Babylon for 50 years, the Persians defeated the Assyrians and took control of the city under King Cyrus. Jeremiah prophesied that God would punish Babylon (Jeremiah 25:12-14), and Isaiah prophesied that a King named Cyrus would defeat nations, free Israel, and rebuild the temple and city (Isaiah 44:24-28, Isaiah 45). Cyrus was a pagan king, but The Holy Spirit worked in his heart to free the captives in Babylon. Archaeology confirms that the king wrote a decree, freed the people, and funded the building of the temple (Cyrus cylinder).

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1-70: Ezra listed all the Jewish people who left captivity in Babylon and returned to their home land. They took an offering for the materials to build the temple.

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1-7: Israelites were finally united in Jerusalem. They didn’t have a temple yet, but the priests built a temporary solution; an altar where they could sacrifice animals according to the Mosaic Law. They also observed the festivals, feasts, and gave money to builders of the temple.

8-9: Leviticus priests were selected to supervise the building of the temple.

10-13: When the foundation of the temple was finished, Israelites shouted and praised God with music, according to the tradition David (1 Chronicles 16:4-6). However, many of the older people who had seen the original temple wept because the new one wasn’t nearly as grand as the original. God responded to their weeping by telling them and Zerubbabel to stay strong (Haggai 2:3). Yes, the temple may not have been as grand as Solomon’s, but it still served the purpose of bridging the gap between God and sinful mankind.

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1-16: Enemies of Israel opposed their building fo the temple, city, and wall. They tried many different ways to thwart Israel’s plans and even wrote a letter to scare the Persian King into ending the construction of the city. We know from Nehemiah that Sanballat and Tobias were some of the leading men in opposing the construction of the wall (Nehemiah 2:10, 6:1-14).

17-24: The letter that Israel’s enemies wrote to King Artaxerxes worked, and they were given permission to stop Israel by force. However, construction would continue under King Darius’s reign.

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1-17: During the reign of King Darius, Zechariah and Haggai’s prophecies prompted Zerubbabel and the priests to start rebuilding the temple. They sent a letter to King Darius asking for permission to build the temple. They recounting how King Cyrus decreed that the temple be built, and asked Darius to search his own records for the decree.

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1-12: The Persians searched their archives and found a record of King Cyrus’ decree to build and fund the Jewish temple. Darius forbade Israel’s enemies from stopping the construction of the temple. He promised an extremely violent execution to whoever opposed Israel in this matter.

13-18: God prospered the Jews in constructing the temple and they celebrated.

19-22: The Jews celebrated the Passover. God worked in the heart of the Assyrian King, who helped keep the temple functioning.

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1-10: Ezra was a scribe and prophet who was skilled in God’s word (the Law of Moses). He set out to study the Law and teach it to Israel. His lineage was given to show that he was a Levitical priest—a descendant of Aaron the high priest.

7-28: King Artaxerxes sent a letter that gave Ezra the authority and resources needed to carry out his teaching of the Law and ensure that the temple would be run properly. The King also allowed all Israelites to leave Babylon for Jerusalem. Artaxerxes closed with an acknowledgement that God’s hand was on him.

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1-14: This is a record and genealogy of the people who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra.

15-21: When Ezra realized that none of the people were sons of Levi, he requested that specific temple workers and Levitical priests to come with him to Jerusalem.

22-23: Ezra fasted and made the bold move of trusting in God’s promise to protect them rather than putting his trust in the king’s protection. This isn’t a general condemnation of asking for human protection; Ezra grounded his decision on a specific promise God made to the Jewish people at that time.

24-36: Ezra and the exiles brought the temple treasures on their journey to Jerusalem. God protected them from enemy attacks and they made it to Jerusalem. Then they rested, weighed the gold and silver, and provided sacrificial offerings to God as a way to praise him.

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1-15: Officials revealed to Ezra that the Priests and other Israelites were marrying pagans from the surrounding nations. They broke God’s command not to do so in order that Israel would remain a separate people. The command obviously wasn’t racist or xenophobia since anyone from any nation could become an Israelite if they repented and worshipped the one true God according to the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 14:2). The reason is clearly stated in Ezra 9:14 and Deuteronomy 12:30-31; God didn’t want Israel to intermarry with people from pagan nations because they were worshipping false gods and sacrificing their children. God simply didn’t want his chosen people to partake in this evil or associate with people who did. Ezra mourned and confessed Israel’s sins because this was the exact reason their ancestors were judged. God graciously preserved a remnant despite his judgment and these people were part of it.

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1-17: When God judged the Canaanite nations, Israel was commanded to completely destroy them as punishment for their idolatry, child sacrifice, temple prostitution, incest, adultery, and beastiality (Leviticus 20:1-23). This was also necessary to stop their evil practices from corrupting God’s people and message. However, Israel left survivors and repeated the same sins. The extreme situation called for an extreme solution; divorcing their unrepentant spouses. The command to divorce didn’t apply if their Canaanite spouse repented of their Idolatry and became part of Israel (cite).

18-44: Ezra listed the priests who transgressed and married women from the nations God forbade.