Ezra and Nehemiah, the rebuilding

After seventy years of exile in Babylon, God’s promise announced through Jeremiah was fulfilled: his people would return to their land. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which in Hebrew tradition formed a single book, narrate this return and the rebuilding of Jerusalem in three stages: first the temple, then the people’s spiritual life and finally the city walls. Three leaders were key: Zerubbabel, a descendant of David; Ezra, the priest and scribe skilled in God’s law; and Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer who became governor and builder.

The decree of Cyrus

In 539 BC Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, conquered Babylon. The following year he issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of God:

“Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.”

Ezra 1:2-3

Isaiah had mentioned Cyrus by name more than a century earlier as the instrument God would use to have Jerusalem rebuilt (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). Cyrus even returned the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple.

Zerubbabel and the second temple

About fifty thousand people returned in the first group, led by Zerubbabel, a descendant of King David, and the high priest Jeshua. The first thing they did was rebuild the altar and keep the feast of Tabernacles. In the second year they laid the foundation of the temple with great joy: the priests blew trumpets, the Levites played cymbals, and they sang praising God: “because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.”

But emotions were mixed: the old men who had seen Solomon’s first temple wept with a loud voice, while others shouted for joy, “so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people” (Ezra 3:13).

Then came opposition. The neighbouring peoples intimidated the builders and wrote letters to the Persian kings, and the work stopped for about sixteen years. Then God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who encouraged the people to resume the work. The temple was finished in the sixth year of King Darius, in 516 BC, and dedicated with great joy.

Ezra: the scribe of the Word

About sixty years later, in 458 BC, Ezra returned with a second group of exiles, with the permission and support of King Artaxerxes. Ezra was a priest descended from Aaron and “a ready scribe in the law of Moses”. The Bible sums up his life this way:

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”

Ezra 7:10

Before the journey, Ezra proclaimed a fast by the river Ahava to ask God for a safe way. He was ashamed to ask the king for a military escort, because he had told him that God’s hand is upon all who seek him. God protected them throughout the four-month journey.

On reaching Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many, including leaders and priests, had married women of peoples who practised idolatry. Ezra tore his garments, sat down in distress and prayed, confessing the people’s sins as if they were his own. The people repented and committed themselves to faithfulness again.

Nehemiah: the cupbearer who wept for Jerusalem

Thirteen years later, in 445 BC, Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in the palace at Shushan, a position of great trust. When some men from Judah told him that Jerusalem’s wall was broken down and its gates burned, Nehemiah sat down, wept, fasted and prayed for days.

One day the king noticed his sadness and asked why he was sad. Nehemiah was very afraid, but he prayed silently to God in that instant and then asked permission to go and rebuild the city. The king not only granted it but gave him letters for the governors and timber from the royal forest. Nehemiah acknowledged: “the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me” (Nehemiah 2:8).

Rebuilding the wall

In Jerusalem Nehemiah inspected the walls by night, in secret. Then he gathered the leaders and said: “Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem.” The people answered: “Let us rise up and build.” Chapter 3 describes how each family and group rebuilt a section of the wall, many in front of their own houses: priests, goldsmiths, apothecaries, merchants, rulers and even the daughters of one of them.

The enemies, led by Sanballat and Tobiah, mocked: “if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.” Then they plotted to attack. Nehemiah responded with prayer and watchfulness: half the men worked and half stood guard, and the builders worked with one hand while holding a weapon in the other. Nehemiah encouraged the people: “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren” (Nehemiah 4:14).

The enemies also tried to trick and frighten Nehemiah into abandoning the work, but he replied: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” The wall was finished in just fifty-two days, and even the enemies acknowledged that God had done this work (Nehemiah 6:15-16).

Social justice

During the building a serious problem arose: the poor had had to mortgage their fields and sell their children into slavery to pay debts and taxes to their own wealthier Jewish brothers. Nehemiah was very angry, rebuked the nobles and made them return the land and cancel the interest. He himself, during his twelve years as governor, did not take the salary due to him, so as not to be a burden on the people.

The reading of the law and revival

When the wall was finished, all the people gathered in the square before the Water Gate. Ezra, standing on a wooden pulpit, read the book of the law from early morning until midday, and the Levites gave the sense so that the people understood. On hearing the Word, the people wept. But Nehemiah and Ezra told them:

“Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10

Then they kept the feast of Tabernacles with great joy, confessed their sins and signed a solemn covenant to obey God’s law, keep the sabbath and support the temple worship.

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Lessons for our lives

God keeps his promises in his time. Worship comes first: the altar before the wall. Opposition must not stop God’s work. Study, obey and teach the Word, in that order. Prayer and action go together. Everyone has a part in God’s work. True faith includes justice for the poor. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

On the road to Jesus

Zerubbabel, the leader of the return, appears in Jesus’ genealogy in both Matthew and Luke. The second temple, rebuilt in Ezra’s time and expanded centuries later by Herod, was the temple Jesus visited, where he taught and where he was presented as a baby. Haggai had prophesied that “the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former” (Haggai 2:9): that glory came when the Son of God walked in its courts. And just as Nehemiah left the king’s palace to rebuild a ruined city, Jesus left the glory of heaven to restore our broken lives.

In the next episode we will meet the last prophets of the Old Testament: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you keep your promises. Rebuild what is broken down in my life and my family. Give me a heart like Ezra’s to study, obey and teach your Word, and like Nehemiah’s to pray and work without giving up in the face of opposition. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Amen.