Ezra

Ezra covers a long period of time from the declaration of Cyrus for the Jews to return from captivity to their homeland of Israel to rebuild the Temple in 536 B.C. all the way to the declaration of Artaxerxes for the Jews to build the walls of Jerusalem in 440 B.C. Ezra is actually split up into two sections, Chapter 1-6, which detail the rebuilding of the Temple, and Chapter 7-10, which detail the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

The author of the book according to tradition is Ezra. He was in charge of the return of the Jews from Babylon in 460 B.C. He along with Nehemiah returned to build and secure the walls of Jerusalem from intruders. Other books in the Bible that should be read along with Ezra are Esther, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.

Section 1
The beginning of Ezra is one of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible. Cyrus here declares that the Jews may return to rebuild the temple. This was actually prophecied in Isaiah 44 and 45 almost 200 years prior to this. It is likely that Daniel showed Cyrus these writings, which then inspired Cyrus to worship the One and Only God. It is clear from this declaration that Cyrus had a firm belief in the God of the Bible. Almost 50,000 Jews returned at this time to rebuild the temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.

Section 2
The second section of Ezra from Chapters 7-10 occurs about 100 years later. This is the era when Ezra was alive and returned to Jerusalem under the decree of Artaxerxes. There is an interesting tie between Artaxerxes, Esther, and Nehemiah. Esther was the step mom of Artaxerxes. She married Xerxes, Artaxerxes Dad, when he was in power. When you read the book of Esther, you find that she had an amazing life and saved the Jews from destruction. Esther's step-son likely looked up to his step-mom and offered to allow the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. Nehemiah was the cup-bearer of Artaxerxes and also asked to return to rebuild the walls when he saw that his people were in trouble back in Israel. Ezra had returned with 2,000 Jews to Jerusalem under the decree of Artaxerxes 13 years before. This amazing time shows the wonderful hand of God in restoring the Jews to their homeland.