Background
The Jewish community was struggling to maintain its identity as the people of the Lord, as it faced internal and external pressures. The community was located in Jerusalem and in towns and villages in the territory of the former kingdom of Judah. Its position was somewhat insecure for at least two reasons. First, the community was composed of those who had been away in exile for a long period—70 years according to Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11). (This may be reckoned, as a round number, either from the first wave of exiles in 605 B.C. to the return in 538–535, or from the destruction of the temple in 586 to the building of the new one in 516; see ESV Study Bible notes on Jer. 25:11; Dan. 9:2; Zech. 1:12.) They returned as strangers to a land that had a population consisting of Jews who had not been taken into exile, along with persons of other ethnic origins who had begun to settle there. In addition, leaders in Samaria (the old northern capital) who now held power in the Persian province Beyond the River (see ESV Study Bible note on Ezra 4:1–2) resented the resurgence of Jerusalem as a separate administrative and political center. The returnees therefore had to press their claim to ancient entitlements in the land against local opposition. They were able to do so by virtue of providential help from a succession of Persian kings, though this support was variable. The persistence of opposition from enemies is clear in Ezra 4 and Nehemiah 4; 6.
Second, the Jewish community was insecure because of the severe moral and religious challenge presented by the need to remain a distinctive people faithful to the Lord. The time that elapses in the narrative of Ezra and Nehemiah allows this challenge to appear. When Ezra arrives in Jerusalem, he finds the people intermarrying with non-Jews (Ezra 9–10), which poses a threat to the community because it implies a loosening of the covenantal bond between the Lord and his people. This explains the strong emphasis in both books on keeping strictly separate from the so-called peoples of the land, who, because they do not hold to the religion of the Lord, are morally identified with the old inhabitants of the land whom Israel was long ago commanded to drive out (Ezra 9:1; see also Deut. 7:1–5). Ezra is often blamed for exclusivism in his attitude toward the mixed marriages. But the issue is essentially religious, and also a matter of survival. It has to be balanced by the openness of the community to non-Jews, who were welcome to adopt the religion of the Lord (Ezra 6:21). In this respect Ezra is no different from the book of Ruth. Marriages to such converts, and to their children, were not part of Ezra’s concern in chapters 9–10, but only marriages that were leading to apostasy (as is clear in Neh. 13:23–24). The problem was acute, however. Under Ezra’s leadership the people agree to face up to this danger, but the same issue reemerges late in Nehemiah’s time (Neh. 13:23–29), about 15 years after Ezra’s arrival, when Ezra is apparently no longer on the scene. Finally, another challenge to faithfulness came from economic pressures, which emerge clearly when Nehemiah requires sustained manpower to complete the city wall (Nehemiah 5).
Several issues occasioned the writing of both books. Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuilt the temple, since this is the first and indispensable mark that the Lord is once again the center of worship in Jerusalem, the ancient Davidic capital. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah also helped to bring this project to fruition (Ezra 5:1). Ezra, “a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6), called the community back to covenant loyalty and thus to obedience to the Mosaic law contained in the Pentateuch. Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls so that the community could enjoy security against possible outright attack by enemies who might take advantage of any weakening in the imperial protection of Judah.
These separate missions were closely associated. Ezra, though responsible for the law, is also charged by the Persian authorities with gifts for the temple, so that he continues the provision for the temple originally made by King Cyrus through Zerubbabel. The books also make it clear that the work of Ezra and Nehemiah overlapped, since Nehemiah 8 indicates that Ezra leads the great covenant-renewal ceremony that followed the completion of the city walls. Again, at the dedication of the wall, each plays a part in the ceremony (Neh. 12:33, 38). And most importantly, this ceremony concludes in the temple, so that the projects of the temple and the securing of the city are finally seen to be one.
The author of Ezra and Nehemiah balances these various concerns. There is a note of thankfulness to God for his faithfulness in restoring the community despite enormous odds. Indeed, this repopulation of the ancient Promised Land after exile was nothing less than a fulfillment of prophecy (see Isa. 40:1–11; Jer. 25:11). But there is also regret that the community is prone to failure in its vocation as a faithful people. The author records a number of great gatherings of the people for the purpose of celebration (Ezra 3:1–13; 6:19; Nehemiah 8), or of communal repentance (Ezra 10; Nehemiah 9). The pervasive concern is the need for the community to remain absolutely faithful to the Lord, because of the conviction that its very life depends on it. The knowledge that the Lord has already judged his people with a great exile is very present in the author’s mind.
A telling insight into the purpose of the two books is given by the prayers of Ezra in Ezra 9:8–9 and in Nehemiah 9:32–37 (the latter may or may not be Ezra’s). The second prayer, besides expressing thanksgiving and confession, acknowledges that the members of the community are still suffering because of their sins, and are slaves even in their own land. While the author of Ezra–Nehemiah sees God’s providential hand in the benign attitude of the Persian kings, he also knows that the community’s situation is as yet far short of full deliverance. This combination of confession and petition is at the heart of his message. The book aims not only to encourage the community to persevere in hope but also to bring them again to repentance, so that the ancient promises of freedom in service to the Lord alone might be more fully realized among them.
History of Salvation Summary
The exile was not the end of the story for God’s ancient people, nor of their calling to bring light to the world. Ezra stresses God’s providence and mercy in moving imperial rulers to favor his people, and in raising up new shepherds to serve them (Jer. 23:3–4), especially Ezra and other priests and Levites. Nevertheless, not all the promises of the prophets have come to pass (Ezra 9:8–9); God will do still more through them. The people really have a new chance to live as God’s distinctive people.
