Ezra, Esther & Leonidas “The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are one book in the Hebrew Bible and should be seen as a unit. They were written by Ezra the priest, and Jewish tradition says he wrote the books of Chronicles, as well as Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra [like Jeremiah in the fall of Jerusalem] was an eyewitness to many of these events and was a key character in the later events. These books were written some time in the 5th century BC…” [The Word For Today Bible, NKJV, p. 588] This is going to be a history, which will include in it the books of Ezra and Esther, as well as covering some of the critical history of the Persian Empire, along with the struggle of the Greek city-states to maintain their freedom against the vast and powerful Persian Empire under both Darius and his son Xerxes. This will fill in the historic gap between Kings & Chronicles and the historic events, fulfilled prophecies, found in the book of Daniel. As such, part of this will be an expository study of Ezra and Esther, but will also read like an exciting history text. So let’s step into a sort of historic time-machine and go back to where the story of Kings & Chronicles end and this one starts off. Part I: The Fall of Jerusalem, then Babylon, the Rise of Persia 2nd Chronicles 36:15-23, “And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; he gave them all into his hand. And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” Proclamation of Cyrus “Now in the first year of Cyrus [539BC] king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD God be with him, and let him go up!’” Cyrus Prophecied in Isaiah But long before, during the lifetime of Isaiah, during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah (715-686BC), God prophecied through Isaiah about this proclamation of Cyrus, naming Cyrus long before he was born. So let’s say God prophecied this around 700BC through Isaiah. In Isaiah 44:24-28 God is promising Judah and Jerusalem, and the Temple will be re-inhabited and rebuilt, long before they fell under Nebuchadnezzar. Cyrus was born either 600BC or 576BC, so God prophecied through Isaiah about Cyrus 100 years before his birth, bare minimum. Isaiah 44:24-28, “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by myself; who frustrates the signs of babblers, and drives diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness; who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ to the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ and I will raise up her waste places; who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; Who says to Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,’ and to the temple, ‘Your foundations shall be laid.’” In Isaiah 45:1-5 the LORD is speaking directly to Cyrus, who is not yet born. This is fascinating. If ever there is a proof of the Bible, fulfilled prophecy is one of the major proofs. Isaiah 45:1-5, “Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held---to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. [The LORD, the God of Israel had just called Cyrus, Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, by name through this prophecy in Isaiah 45, verses 1-5. Isaiah wrote and lived during the reign of king Hezekiah of Judah, and was killed by his evil son Manasseh. Hezekiah reigned from 715-686BC. So at the very latest, 686BC, this prophecy predated the birth of Cyrus the Great by 86 years, as Cyrus was born 600BC at the earliest date. Some date him as being born 576BC, which would make Isaiah’s prophecy at the very latest, predate Cyrus’ birth by 90 years. Could be more, as we don’t know when Isaiah 44 and 45 were penned, perhaps even earlier.] For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my elect. I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides me. I will gird you, though you have not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other…’” About Cyrus and the end of the Babylonian Empire First we will look at how Cyrus conquered into the Babylonian territory, and then took the city of Babylon. From Wikipedia we get “The Battle of Opis, fought in September 539BC, was a major engagement between the armies of Persia under Cyrus the Great [Cyrus II] and the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabonidus during the Persian invasion of Mesopotamia. At the time, Babylonia was the last major power in western Asia that was not yet under Persian control…At the time of the Battle of Opis, Persia was the leading power in the Near East. Its power had grown enormously under its king, Cyrus II, who had conquered a huge swathe of territory to create an empire that covered an area corresponding to the modern countries of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. The only remaining significant unconquered power in the Near East was the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which controlled Mesopotamia and subject kingdoms such as Syria [the territory which had been] Judea, Phoenicia and parts of Arabia.” While the children of Judah were in captivity in Babylon, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great in 539BC, this same Cyrus mentioned by name in Isaiah chapters 44 and 45, one hundred years before his birth. The Persians at Cyrus’ command began to allow the Jews to return. Zerubbabel took around 50,000 people back to begin work on the construction of the temple. Later, Ezra followed with about 2,000 more people to aid in rebuilding the temple, and Nehemiah would follow to help restore the city walls of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra begins with the declaration that came from Cyrus, the founding king of the Medo-Persian Empire, which gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. This was the declaration of which Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9:25. It started the clock ticking which would culminate in the coming of the Messiah, Yeshua haMeshiach, Jesus Christ. The book of Ezra follows the efforts of Zerubbabel and those with him to institute the building project of the Temple, and the first six chapters chronicle the problems they went through. Then chapters 7 through 10 tell of Ezra’s involvement as he came to encourage the people and to complete the restoration of the Temple, and is about how he led them in spiritual reform. He wasn’t just interested in finishing a building project, he cared about the spiritual condition of the people. Ezra is a great example of a man who led by following the Word of God and by encouraging others to obey the Word of God. Now back to how Cyrus conquered the Babylonian Empire, and its capital city, Babylon, the last of his major conquests, and installed his uncle, Darius the Mede, as ruler over the province of Babylon.