LESSON 15 • A Peg in the Holy Place

OPEN 

God’s chosen people had gone so far astray from their covenant with him that God had allowed them to be conquered and carried away into exile. The prophets made clear God’s disdain for their disobedience. What could have been!! Now their land and their temple of worship were in ruins.

After years of warnings, finally Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army had destroyed the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom. Many of the best and brightest of the land had been taken to Babylon. Then, as had been prophesied (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10-14), 70 years after the first group was taken to Babylon, the first group of exiles was allowed to return to their homeland in 538 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel. This was done under the proclamation of Persian king Cyrus after he overthrew Babylon.

Much of the story of God’s people after the exile is told in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. For Ezra-Nehemiah, it was about those who returned. A story of those who stayed in the new land is in Esther.

• Can you imagine the mixed emotions of that first returning group? Excitement at returning…the adventure of the trip…discouragement at what they found with the city and temple in ruins…anguish over what was lost…the realization of much hard work ahead.

• Why didn’t everyone return? What was the spiritual state of those who remained in Persia?

• Was God unhappy with those who didn’t return?

DIG

Three Returns

Three returns are recorded in Ezra-Nehemiah, which was originally one book in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). It was divided for the Greek translation (called the Septuagint) of that Bible.

The first return, under Zerubbabel, though begun with the support of King Cyrus, encountered opposition to their efforts to rebuild the temple (see Ezra 4:1-5, 24). The new foundation of the temple was quickly laid, but it would not be completed for about 20 years when there was a new king of Persia, Darius.

The second return was led by the scribe and priest, Ezra (see Ezra 7). This occurred 80 years after the first return and was done with the blessing of the Persian king at the time, Artaxerxes, who supplied the group with funding from the royal treasury. Much of the rest of the book of Ezra deals with serious problems Ezra learned about shortly after his arrival—the intermarriage of the Jewish people with the pagan peoples surrounding them. Even the leaders were guilty.

Nehemiah, in the book with his name, leads the third return thirteen years later. When Nehemiah, the cup-bearer of king Artaxerxes, learns that Jerusalem still has no wall around the city, he is determined to correct this problem. He asks his king for a leave of absence and assembles a group. Nehemiah wastes no time in accomplishing his mission. After three days of rest he inspected the wall by night, then rallied the people to the cause. Despite opposition from surrounding people, the wall is rebuilt in just 52 days under Nehemiah’s inspiring leadership.

There was still a need for spiritual reform. The leaders took advantage of the poor, the people in general did not know the laws of God, they were doing business on the Sabbath, and still intermarrying with people of other nations.

For a time, all is well and Nehemiah goes back to the king to report. But when he returns (ch. 13), he finds that the promised reforms have not continued. Nehemiah again acts decisively to make corrections.

Those Who Stayed

The book of Esther takes place primarily in Susa, the capital of Persia, during the reign of Persian King Xerxes (486-465), after the first return led by Zerubbabel but before the return led by Ezra. Though the book does not mention God, it is clearly a story of God’s providence for his people when one high official in the government has a vendetta against a Jew named Mordecai and seeks to destroy all the Jewish people in the kingdom. Mordecai’s niece, Esther, is chosen to be Xerxes’ wife, and when annihilation looms for the Jews, Mordecai entreats her to use her position to save them.

The book has great literary qualities, including intrigue, irony, suspense, and thematic elements such as 3 sets of twin feasts. It is excellent reading.

REFLECT

Throughout the history of the Jews, God had intervened for his special people, often miraculously. All three of these books show God’s intervention again, but this time without any supernatural events (see Ezra 1:1). As Bayliss remarks, “Unlike Yahweh’s ancient acts of deliverance, his actions in these books take place behind the scenes. He is the sovereign God of history who can bring things to pass without showing his hand.” (p. 338). It is remarkable to see that Ezra and Nehemiah give credit to God repeatedly for the good things that happen (Ezra 7:6, 27-28; 8:18, 23, 31; Neh 2:18; 4:15, 20; 6:16). 

Esther is filled with seeming “coincidences” that lead to happy results for Mordecai, Esther, and fellow Jews. Even without God’s name being included in the book, the Jews recognize God’s hand in those events, include the book in their canon, and continue to celebrate a feast in remembrance of that time even to the 
present day.

• How does God’s activity in this period differ from his great acts of salvation in earlier periods? Which approach is closest to our own time? (from Bayliss, p. 346)

• What do the attitudes of Ezra and Nehemiah toward God’s oversight suggest about God’s guidance? (from Bayliss, p. 347)

• How is the book of Esther different from Ezra-Nehemiah? How is it similar? (from Bayliss, p. 347)

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah show the need to obey God, even when it is difficult. The history of the Jews shows that their disobedience had nearly cost them everything; it was the reason they were in exile. A prominent theme of both books is recognition and confession of sin, and taking action to correct their wrong ways (Ezra 9:6-7; 10:1-4, 10-11; Neh 1:6-9; 2:17-18; 5:9-13; 9:1-3, 13-38; 13:1-31).

• What was the attitude of these men toward sin? (from Bayliss, p. 347)

• What are the specific sins that trouble the people at that time? What specific sins might God list if he was evaluating his people today? (from Bayliss, 346)

Both Ezra and Nehemiah take strong stands against the Jewish people intermarrying with pagan peoples surrounding them. Comments by Bayliss would again be important:


“This is not a matter of pure bloodlines. Israel’s history is dotted with those descended from other nations—Rahab and Ruth being two conspicuous examples. The concern is not with pure ancestry but with a pure people. There is a vast difference. Anyone can join this people, as Ezra 6:21 indicates, but to marry idolatrous peoples is to compromise faith with Yahweh. Solomon’s foreign wives stand as a warning against this folly (Neh 13:26-27). Divorce seems like a tragic and difficult option. But when God’s directives have been disregarded, people often find themselves in a no-win situation. Their initial sin has made it impossible to cleanse themselves without causing more pain and suffering” 
(p. 340).


Ezra’s solution was to require those who had intermarried to quickly (within 3 months—Ezra 10:9, 17) divorce their foreign wives. The pain was increased because it also meant sending away their children by these wives (10:3). Nehemiah’s actions did not seem to involve divorce, but were strong nonetheless (Neh. 12:23-27). From the beginning of his relationship with the people of Israel, God had emphasized the importance of them being a distinct and separate people who would not allow paganism and idolatry to divert their attention and allegiance from him as Lord. Their failure to abide by this command caused much of the problems throughout their history (again, see Neh. 13:26-27).

• Why did God want the Israelites to be separate from the rest of the world? Does God want his people today (followers of the Way) to be separate? in what ways?

• Give examples from the Old Testament of intermarriage causing God’s people to fall away.

• How does the New Testament attitude about separating from unbelieving partners (see 1 Corinthians 7) differ from what was prescribed here? Why? (from Bayliss, p. 346)

• What principle of dealing with sin can we learn from the approach of Ezra and Nehemiah? Are there any examples in the New Testament of this type of approach? Do God’s people today have any sins which deserve strong action from the community of believers?