Per MSB, Ezra's name does not appear in this book until Chapter 7.  Both Jewish and Christian tradition say that he wrote it.  He was both scribe, and priest.  Ezra is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible.  In my chronological Bible reading, Ezra shows up after Daniel, but in the Bible, after 2 Chronicles.  It is interesting that in the very last chapter of 2 Chron, in vs 22, it says "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia...", and Ezra 1:1 says "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia..."  Ezra would therefore be contemporary with Daniel, and like Daniel, Ezra is captive in what was Babylon, and is now Medo-Persian territory.  The first year of Cyrus would be about 538 BC.  The book goes through the return to Jerusalem from exile, restoration of the Jewish calendar with its feasts, and the rebuilding of the second temple (from 536 BC to 516 BC).  (I wonder if this is the right wording.  Solomon built the first temple.  It was never entirely demolished, I don't think, until Nebuchadnezzar's Captain of the Guard burned down the whole city.  So this temple in Ezra would be the first rebuilding, and result in the setting up of the second temple.  Somewhere along the line, this one will also be destroyed and Herod will build a temple.  I think that's how it goes...).

 

2025 - Got this from Grok:  
Herod's Temple, often called the Second Temple in its renovated form, was not built from the ground up but was a significant enhancement and expansion of the existing Second Temple, originally constructed around 516 BCE after the Babylonian exile. Historical records, primarily from the Jewish historian Josephus and some references in the New Testament, indicate that Herod the Great undertook a massive renovation project starting around 20-19 BCE.Rather than demolishing the existing structure entirely, Herod expanded and beautified it. He enlarged the Temple Mount platform by constructing massive retaining walls, including the Western Wall, which still stands today. The Temple itself was refurbished with fine materials—white limestone, gold, and ornate decorations—making it far grander than the modest structure built under Zerubbabel. The project was so extensive that it effectively transformed the Temple, yet it retained the core of the earlier structure to maintain religious continuity, as the priests insisted on preserving the sanctity of the original site.The renovation took decades, continuing even after Herod's death in 4 BCE, with some work ongoing until around 63 CE, just a few years before the Temple's destruction by the Romans in 70 CE. So, while Herod didn’t build a completely new temple from scratch, his ambitious overhaul was so transformative that it’s often referred to as "Herod's Temple" to distinguish it from the earlier, simpler Second Temple.
Couple of things...I have heard theories that the current Temple mount is not at all the same place where Solomon's Temple was built and therefore the rebuilding of the Temple before or during the 70th week won't have to deal with the Dome of the Rock.  The above paragraph pretty much does away with that theory unless it can show that it was in fact Zerubabbel who built in the wrong place, since Herod just enhanced what Zerubabbel built.  That would also mean that Ezra and Nehemiah either didn't know it was in the wrong place or didn't care.  It was less than 70 years from the time Nebuzaradan burned down Solomon's Temple until the return under Cyrus when they started rebuilding.  The ruins would still have been there making getting it wrong only possible as a deliberate act.  A second thing is this idea that the Wailing Wall was actually built by Herod and was NOT THERE in Solomon's days.  They are praying at the wrong place!  I need to remember that Grok is not infallible, but this assertion is one I would really like to follow up on.  There are some massive stones in the wailing wall.  Did Solomon put them there, or Herod?
2025 - I asked Grok a follow up question trying to come at this a different way.  I asked who laid the massive stones in the wailing wall.  Here is Grok's reply:
The massive stones in the Western Wall, often referred to as the Wailing Wall, were not placed by Solomon but are part of Herod the Great’s enhancement of the Temple Mount during his renovation of the Second Temple, starting around 20-19 BCE. Solomon’s Temple, the First Temple, was built around the 10th century BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE. None of its structures, including any retaining walls, are known to have survived in the archaeological record.The Western Wall’s large stones, some weighing tens or even hundreds of tons (like the famous Western Stone, estimated at over 500 tons), are characteristic of Herodian construction. Josephus, the Jewish historian, describes Herod’s ambitious expansion of the Temple Mount, which involved constructing massive retaining walls to create a larger platform. These walls, including the Western Wall, were built with precisely cut limestone blocks quarried locally, likely from nearby sites like the Cave of Zedekiah. The stones were transported and placed using advanced engineering techniques, such as levers, ramps, and cranes, typical of Herod’s era.Archaeological evidence supports this, as the stones’ size, style (with their distinctive flat surfaces and drafted margins), and construction techniques align with Herodian architecture, not the earlier Iron Age methods used during Solomon’s time. While the Second Temple itself was built on the site of Solomon’s Temple, Herod’s project significantly altered and expanded the platform, meaning the visible stones in the Western Wall today are from his era, not Solomon’s. Some lower, less accessible foundation layers might include earlier elements from the post-exilic Second Temple period (516 BCE), but the massive, iconic stones are Herod’s work.
Note that the conclusion is based on the way the stones are cut and put together, and that this is located as a retaining wall that was built to enlarge the original Temple Mount so that more buildings could be erected on the site.  This ought to be a pretty simple matter to disprove if it is not true just with a simple core of the soil inside the wall.  So at this point, I'm going to accept as fact that the Jews are praying toward the Temple Mount, but are doing so in front of a wall built by the man who killed 100's of children in his effort to murder Jesus.  It seems very much like the wrong place to be praying.

MSB says Ezra most likely wrote the book of Nehemiah, also.  Additionally, there is reason to believe Ezra also wrote both books of Chronicles.  One of the arguments is that the last verses of 2 Chron, and the first verses of Ezra are very similar.  Ezra was descended from Aaron.  So the Aaronic, not the Levitical line.  Tradition says Ezra was the founder of the Great Synagogue (I don't know where this is/was?) where the complete OT canon was first formally recognized.

Much of the information contained in the book of Ezra is from internal documents of the Persian government.  Ezra had access to these as a scribe, and this access shows God's sovereignty in bringing His people out of slavery a second time.  Part of the backdrop of the return of the Jews is that it was opposed by the residents of Samaria, initializing a resentment that continues to  this day.  In Ezra's time, the Samaritans offer to help rebuild the temple, but their true purpose is to pollute it.  Their help is turned down, which they resent, and things go on from there.  MSB says that it was Haggai and Zechariah who's preaching motivated the Jews to continue building, even in the face of continuing opposition from the Samaritans.

Some more good info from MSB:
Esther was also written during this approximate time.  Haggai was active during Ezra 4-6.  Malachi wrote during Nehemiah's revisit to Persia (Neh 13:6).  Ezra covers two of the three "returns" to Israel. The first was led by Zerubbabel, the second by Ezra.  Ezra was descended from Zadok.  This is the line that will service the Millennial Temple.  

MSB says Ezr 4:1-5 and 4:24-5:2 deal with rebuilding the temple under Zerubabbel, while 4:6-23 is a parenthesis recounting the history of opposition in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah.  MSB thinks Ester takes place between the events of Ezra chapters 6 and 7.  So much is "hanging" on the book of Ezra.  

There is going to be a big deal on divorce in Ezra 10.  MSB's opinion is that God allowed divorce here to "remove" the corruption of intermarriage that had been going on since the return.  Divorce was considered the lesser evil, and the overriding purpose was to preserve Israel as a pure nation genealogically.  Divorce was "less" than the OT penalty for intermarriage - which was stoning everyone involved.  Husbands, wives, and children.  God was merciful in letting them divorce instead, though the human cost of sin must have been devastating to many.

Chapter 1
““Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord , the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 
Ezra 1:2 ESV 
Cyrus decrees that the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt, and that all the people of God, where ever they live, can go home, and he orders their neighbors to assist them.  Note that when a Medo-Persian put something in writing, it had to stand, even if he changed his mind.  That is how Daniel ended up in the lions den, though the King tried to find a way to keep him out of it.

2023 - This verse:  5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem. [Ezr 1:5 ESV].  That last part says that only those whose spirit was stirred by God to rebuild went home.  So in this sort of "second Exodus", it was NOT everyone, but those whom God willed that came out of Persia.

So those who were "led" to rebuild the temple prepared to go to Jerusalem, and received gold and silver to help with the rebuilding.  Cyrus himself brought out the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the temple, so they could also be taken back and used there.  Two names:  Treasurer of Persia is Mithredath, and the prince of Judah, Sheshbazzar.  Perhaps we will learn more of his genealogy...Wikipedia says Sheshbazzar was appointed by Cyrus as governor of Judah and sent to rebuild the temple.

Chapter 2
Titled "The Exiles Return".
There is a list of people with whom the people returned.  Among them are Nehemiah and Mordecai.  These two and the others are likely the "prominent leaders" on the trip.  The next verses have the counts by  family(?) that returned.  It reads a bit like a genealogy.  They are divided into people, priests, Levites, temple servants, and Solomon's servants.

2022 - I had always wondered why Mordecai would not have gone back to Jerusalem, given the chance.  It doesn't say anything about him doing so in the Book of Esther, but his name is mentioned prominently here, as a leader even, of a returning group. (If this is the same Mordecai.)

Then a further accounting of people is given.  These people could not prove what house of Israel they descended from, but they were Jews, and claimed that heritage.  These are counted also, but excluded from the priesthood as unclean - until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and the Thummim.  

In all there were 42,360 men going home.  A sizable group!  When they get to the temple, they make some free will offerings and determine to erect a new temple on the site of the old.  

Chapter 3
Titled "Rebuilding the Altar"
All the returnees gather in Jerusalem, as one man, in the seventh month.  Several men, including Zerubbabel (who has been named twice already in Ezra, and is presumably the same one who builds the temple later) and some of the priests, and they rebuild the altar according to the Law of Moses.  I assume they also properly dedicated this altar with blood before commencing sacrifices.  Because they feared the people around them, they began making sacrifices, morning and evening.  So the "cessation" had lasted 70 years, and now is started again.  They keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is the feast that was "due" when the altar was rebuilt.  They also begin gathering materials to lay again the foundation of the temple of God.

 

2025 - Imagine a naked altar with no Temple around it, yet they started making sacrifices according to the Law of Moses, and even on that rude, barely serviceable altar, because their own hearts were right, God accepted what they offered.  So does it really matter how the worship service is organized today or who leads the singing or how they do it, or is the hearts of those who worship that matters?  

In year 2, month 2 after returning, they make a start to rebuilding under Zerubbabel and Jeshua.  Together with the Levites, these lay the foundation of the second temple, and when it is laid the priests put on their vestments and they sing and praise God according to the directions David had given so long ago.  (They still had these instructions.  I would guess that those books of the law were cherished, preserved, and essentially canonized by this time.)  
If they are laying the foundation again, it is apparent that Nebuchadnezzar's Captain of the Guard had razed Solomon's Temple to the ground.  Just as will happen with Herod's in 70 AD.

2024 - But those who remember the old days, who remember the glory of the temple before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it, weep and wail because this new one is so very much less than before.  I don't think this second Temple ever approaches that of Solomon.  And that third temple, renovated at least if not rebuilt completely, is built by a Gentile for his own glory not for the glory of God.  What we are seeing here is the long term result of promising to follow, and then not doing so.  Israel has these "revivals" a number of times in here history.  But go back and count the number of animals sacrificed.  Less each time.  Because the curses are still in effect as they fall further and further away, and the revivals never really overcome the apostasy that went before.  Israel/Judah is a diminishing nation from the time of Solomon's death on.  Each time they fall, it is from a lower starting place.  And we see that this time, in their own land...
3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. [Ezr 3:3 ESV].
They are in terror of the people now living in the land that God gave them, that they have lost through their own apostasy.  They are scared to death, and THAT is their primary motivation for rebuilding this altar.
2024-  And even here, as the foundation is laid, it is not made with materials donated to a great and respected King, but at the command of a pagan King far away.  It is a sad return home, a sad revival even, if we are honest about it.
2024 - Wikipedia says this second Temple we see in Ezra and Herod's Temple are the same.  Herod fixed it up some, but it had not fallen since the rebuilding in 516 BC.  This next is copied from Wiki:
"In the 1st century BCE, the Second Temple was refurbished and expanded under the reign of Herod the Great, hence the alternative eponymous name for the structure. Herod's transformation efforts resulted in a grand and imposing structure and courtyard, including the large edifices and façades shown in modern models, such as the Holyland Model of Jerusalem in the Israel Museum. The Temple Mount, where both Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple stood, was also significantly expanded, doubling in size to become the ancient world's largest religious sanctuary.[3]"

Chapter 4
1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here." [Ezr 4:1-2 ESV]
This clearly says that those who offered to help were adversaries.  I think, from earlier reading, that they were indeed sacrificing to God, but how many rules were they breaking sacrificing in the wrong places, on the wrong altars, and likely concurrent with sacrifices to the gods of the Assyrians, and other surrounding countries.  They may have been sincere in their efforts, but oh so wrong in reality.  Might make a FB post of this.  Would want to find some verses about the other gods they were sacrificing to.  Some bad ones I am sure if they came from the Assyrians.
2024 - Remember when Assyria first resettled the north there was a lot of trouble because God was not being worshiped in the land, so Assyria sent them a priest to teach them to sacrifice to God.  Here are those verses:
26 So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land." 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. [2Ki 17:26-28 ESV].  Couple more...
26 So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land." ... 29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. ... 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. [2Ki 17:26, 29, 33 ESV]
And indeed they began to make sacrifices to God, but they absolutely continued to worship the gods they brought with them also.  So they were worshiping...but they did not recognize God as the One True God.  These were mostly NOT even Jews who had been worshiping in the north for so long.  Lessons?  If you worship God in just whatever way  you care to worship, and do not give him exclusive devotion, you remain an adversary of God.  You can't just do whatever you care to, even to the point of worshiping many gods to make sure your bases are covered, and expect God to honor that.  He requires true and exclusive worship.  

I noticed this verse in 2020:
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. [Ezr 4:6 ESV]  This is the King in the book of Esther.  So this certainly puts Ezra and Esther concurrent in time.

Zerubbabel and the other Jewish leaders rebuffed the above offer of help.  When they did, these other nations conspired against the Jews, perhaps threatened those who worked on the temple, destroyed their crops, made it hard for them to spend time building instead of protecting their own families, mitigated suppliers to keep materials from arriving, or to raise prices beyond reason.  In short, they caused all kinds of trouble, they surrounded Israel so there was no "free" supply line, they did this through the entire reign of Cyrus, until Darius was king.  (Remember, Darius was a title - in this case perhaps both title and name - and in Daniel, it appears that Cyrus was addressed as Darius.)

Further on, in the reign of Ahasuerus, the opponents of Jerusalem sent a letter to this king, accusing the Jews of various things.  This Ahasuerus is the king in the book of Esther, and perhaps this letter of accusation, along with the actions of Haman in response to it, is tied in right here.

Then in vs 7, we get to Artaxerxes.  Wish the order was explained better, but it looks to me like Cyrus II, Darius I, Ahasuerus/Xerxes I, and Artaxerxes I.  Some MSB notes:  Beginning in vs 6, we go on a "parenthetical flashback" recounting continuing and ongoing harassment of those trying to rebuild the temple.  Ahasuerus and Xerxes are the same guy apparently (YES).  Ahasuerus is a title, not a name.  It was Xerxes title.  This was during the time of Esther, 486-64 BC.  Then from 7-23, we learn about opposition to Nehemiah during the reign of Artaxerxes I (434-423 BC).  So this about Artaxerxes is the flashback part.  Then in vs 24, we pick up again in the "current" reign of Darius I, which is actually before either Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes.  Found this though....

 ....And this, though it is a little small....https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Achaemenid_lineage.jpg/220px-Achaemenid_lineage.jpg

These help a lot with the timelines.

So at any rate, we now know where we are.  
A big deal is made in TCR footnotes that from 4:8 to 6:18 was written in Aramaic - the "formal" language of the time.  MSB says there were two different letters, one in Aramaic, and so an official document, and the other just a letter.  
Vss 8-10 tell us who is writing the letter.  Many officials of Samaria are there.  I note that they say they are descended from those that Osnapper deported and settled in the cities of Samaria.  So they are saying that they are NOT of these rebellious and  unruly Jews, but were settled here after the Assyrians conquered Samaria.  This too would be a reason for the Jews in Jesus' time to be distrustful of the Samaritans.  It was truly a big deal when Jesus talked to the woman at the well.  Found a note that says Osnapper is most often identified as Ashurbanipal.  It makes it hard when the King's titles and names are used interchangeably.  Also, it makes it difficult to be absolutely positive which King we are talking about.  

vs 11 starts with "(This is a copy of the letter that they sent).  So this letter was likely in the royal library, or some kind of royal document area, that Ezra had access to since he was a scribe and apparently in high standing.  They accuse the Jews in Jerusalem of not only rebuilding the temple, but also the walls of the city.  It also anticipates that if they complete this work, they will stop paying their taxes, and impair the royal income of the king.  They urge the king to look in the records at the history of this city, Jerusalem, and say he will so learn that it is an historically rebellious city, and that this attribute is what led to its being "laid waste" in the first place.  The letter writers also point out how very loyal they are to the king.

(All of this is very likely the beginning of the deeply held animosity between Samaria and Judah that is extant in Jesus' time.  The Jews were freed after 70 years in captivity, and the Samaritans did all they could to undermine and eliminate them.  So an ancient feud.)  

The king is convinced by this letter, and replies by letter with a decree that the building going on must stop, until he says different.  With this letter in hand, the conspiratorial Samaritan's run off to Jerusalem, and use force to stop the work going on.  Force was authorized here:
22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?" [Ezr 4:22 ESV]
This successfully shut down the work until the second year of Darius, King of Persia. MSB says this was a 16 year work stoppage, from 536-20 BC.

Chapter 5
First verse:
1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. [Ezr 5:1 ESV]
These prophets were active in Judah at this time.  Ezra likely knew them personally, as they also knew him.  I believe Ezra was still in Babylon at this time, but Haggai and Zechariah had "boots on the ground".  The MSB note is long, so I will summarize.  Haggai's book, in the Bible, is styled as a "royal administrative correspondence" from God, as Sovereign King of the Universe, through Haggai his messenger.  Part of the message is addressed specifically to Zerubbabel, Judah's political leader and to Joshua, the religious leader.  Both these prophets were adamant and direct that work on the temple should recommence, and that if it didn't, there would be dire consequences.  And if it did, there would be prosperity.  So work began again, after the 16 year break.

(It is taking me so long to do my morning reading and notes these days...but I am learning so much.  I never understood where these books  (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi - the minor profits) fit in, or why they were important before.  The OT up through Daniel cover the time from creation to the end of the 70 year exile in Babylon.  God had given Israel up to wrath at this time, and they will not return to the glory of Solomon's day until the end times.  But God will preserve them.  The "minor prophets"  cover the preservation of Israel, through that captivity and up until TODAY.  They cover the time of the return from Babylon to the intertestamentary period.  They complete the OT history of Israel up to that point.  Then the long silence...and in Matt 1:1 we pick back up.  Much has changed during that time.  The intertestamentary period is when the Maccabees and all those things occurred.  Masada, repeated rebellions, Roman conquest...at some point Herod builds a temple, or "remodels" this temple we're reading about in Ezra.  The timeline IS CONTINUOUS, from Adam to the intertestamentary period in canonized scripture.  It is continuous in extra-biblical literature from the close of the book of Micah to Jesus in the NT.  Then NT canonized scripture takes it from there through the establishment of the church - basically to the end of the life of Paul.  No other nation can trace its history from creation until today.  Israel can.  No other nation has survived from creation until today.  Israel has.  How can anyone say this book is not supernatural!  It is the history of the world, and the last chapter of it tells us how it will all end!  There is nothing like it anywhere.)

The governor of the "Province Beyond the River" asks them who gave them permission to start again?  So they refuse to stop.  Their prophets are telling them God is with them, and they are to continue.  Beginning in Ezr 5:6 is a copy of the letter the governor sent to the new king.  Again, Ezra had access to the royal archives, and I believe this is an exact copy of that letter.  Ezra held the original in his own hands.  The message relates that those building this temple claim it was ordered by Cyrus, and that they aren't done yet.  It asks King Darius to check his records and see if there is any truth in this story.

The tone of those questioning the elders seems different this time.  It is as if they have forgotten the previous edict to stop building until the previous king said it was okay to commence again.  All that has been forgotten.  They ask the current King if it is true that Cyrus ordered this work done.  They don't ask if the edict to stop the work has been laid aside now that the King who said that is dead.  It's like none of that happened...or...once again the way this jumps around has me a bit confused on the sequence of events.

Chapter 6
Darius orders a search of the archives.  In Ecbatana, the citadel in the province of Media, they find a scroll paraphrasing Cyrus' order that the temple not only be rebuilt, but that the cost be paid from the royal treasury.  This order from Cyrus is very lengthy  and very specific.  So the "current" governor of the Province Beyond the River, Tattenai, receives orders from Darius to not only begin financing and aiding in every way the rebuilding and use of this temple, but he tells what the penalty will be on anyone who refuses to obey his orders.  This verse struck me:
10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. [Ezr 6:10 ESV]
This is one of the reasons that Darius, King of Persia, wanted the temple rebuilt.  So the Jews could pray for he and his sons!  He asked them to pray for him!
With this edict, progress was made and the Temple was finished on the 3rd of Adar, the sixth year of the reign of Darius.  Per MSB, this was the twelfth month of 516 BC.
All Israel - those who had returned, those still there - celebrated the completion of this temple with sacrifices.  They also set up the priestly offices and orders again, "...as it is written in the Book of Moses."  So they must still have had a preserved copy of the Pentateuch.

Next, they kept the Passover.  Interesting that in this case, they didn't wait until time for the Passover to dedicate the temple. 

​

2024 - This:
17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. [Ezr 6:17 ESV].  This is how far they have fallen.  12 goats for the sin offering.  Here is the offering when the first temple was completed:
63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. [1Ki 8:63 ESV].  
Great nations going against God are not great for very long.

Next, they kept the Passover.  Interesting that in this case, they didn't wait until time for the Passover to dedicate the temple.  

Chapter 7
This chapter starts with the genealogy of Ezra the scribe, going all the way back to Aaron.  So he is in the Aaronic line, not just the Levitical.  Ezra goes to Artaxerxes, King of Persia (So this is after Xerxes/Ahasueras), and he is granted all that he asks for.   Because God is with him.
6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. [Ezr 7:6 ESV]  A good little FB post here.  If God is using us, our prayers are answered, our needs are met, our purposes accomplished.  

Ezra returns to Jerusalem, in the 7th year of Artaxerxes, with some priests and Levites who wanted to go back also.  I believe this would be the second return, as the first was under Zerubbabel and Joshua.  Now Ezra...and I believe Nehemiah will lead the third return.  It takes four months for this group to travel from Babylonia to Jerusalem  Ezra's purpose in returning is clearly stated here:
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. [Ezr 7:10 ESV]  He is called to teach.  To study, and then to teach others what he has learned.

The letter from Artaxerxes to Ezra is reproduced here.  A royal document.  First it says anyone who wants to return with Ezra has the King's leave to do so.  He is also sending money with Ezra.  Ezra is to buy bulls and goats, and the accompanying grain offerings, in the House of God in Jerusalem.  A pretty good working knowledge of how the sacrifices worked is indicated here.  The King of Persia is familiar with the worship requirements and practices of the Mosaic Law.  If he wants sacrifices made on his behalf, is he a believer?  Or is he just covering his bases?  He also provides money from the King's treasury for whatever else they need.  So Ezra has a blank check.  Then a decree is addressed to all the Persian officials in "The province Beyond the River" as to how much should be provided, and furthermore, none of the temple officials of any capacity are to be taxed!  Ezra is authorized to install judges and magistrates to judge the people in the province according to God's law AND the law of the king, and they are authorized to execute their judgements up to and including death sentences!  This is remarkable!  When God decided to send them home, he provided for them to do two main things:  To worship in the temple in the way prescribed at Sinai, and to live entirely under the statutes, commandments, and judgements that they had agreed to at Mt. Sinai.  There are no external restrictions on them as to law or worship.  In fact, the King of Persia is compelling them to obey God's law!  They can enter right back in to full covenant relationship with God if they only will!  Ought to be a FB post from this also.

Chapter 8
First 14 verses recount the genealogies and the counts of those who went with Ezra to Jerusalem.  Just as those who returned with Zerubbabel were listed.  Interesting that they had kept these genealogies up to date while in captivity for 70 years.  They continue to keep them until Jesus is born, so that his lineage can be indisputably shown.  The genealogies are lost after 70 AD, so proof of lineage can no longer be proven.

Ezra notes that there are no Levites among them, and he sends for some from a place where he knows there are some.  Many are sent to him, and accompany him to Jerusalem.  Then one of my favorite verses:
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. [Ezr 8:21 ESV]

Ezra does this because he does not want to ask the King for a "protection force" to accompany them.  He had told the King that God protects those who seek His will...so He should protect them on their journey.  And He does.

Ezra is a good organizer...He previously noted a dire lack of priests.  Now, he decides the gold and silver must be guarded.  After all, they have no military escort.  He distributes the gold, silver, and vessels to twelve of the leading priests, and he keeps a strict accounting of how much each has.  He tells them they'll be counting it all again when they arrive, and comparing it to the ledger.  They make the journey in safety, and they count everything back out in due time.  Then they offer sacrifices on the altar that has been restored in Jerusalem.

Chapter 9
The new arrivals soon note that those already there - from the first migration - have taken wives for themselves and their sons from the nations around Judah.  This is strictly proscribed by the Mosaic law.  Doing so brings in false gods, as their history CLEARLY showed, and it dilutes the lineage of Israel from those descended from the people at Sinai, and also dilutes those descended directly from Abraham.  This strategy to cut off the descendants of David, and so cut off the Messiah, had been tried many times before by Satan.  Those were listed in the MSB notes earlier.  In the last few days or so.  (This can be found in previous day's notes.  I remember putting it in.  It showed where Athaliah got rid of all but one direct descendant of David, almost wiping out that line, but one was preserved.)  It is further pointed out that the officials and chief men were "foremost" in allowing this to happen.  This is a grave crisis.  Ezra is appalled, and at the evening sacrifice, starts his prayer this way:
6 saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. [Ezr 9:6 ESV]  This is how we should approach God when we repent of sin in our lives.  We should not presume on His forgiveness, but approach fearfully and submissively.  We should remember that repenting of sin does not remove the consequences of that sin.  This is a good FB post.

These verses recount and explain what the law says about intermarriage in Canaan, the reasons for it, and the blessing that come from adhering to these rules:
11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.' [Ezr 9:11-12 ESV]
Unfortunately, White Supremacists, Hitler, and so on have twisted these verses that were addressed directly and exclusively to the direct descendants of Abraham.  They twist them to say all races are to be kept pure, and so justify their own hatreds.  These rules, again, were God's way of insuring that He would someday keep His promises to Abraham as to the land of Canaan, and rule over the nations.  This is about the Abrahamic and Sinai Covenants, AND NOTHING ELSE!!!  FB post here.  Who would have thought there'd be so many in this little book.
2021 - Intermarriage forbidden.  But note that it never says this is because their skin is too dark or too light, there hair is blond instead of black, or they are too tall to intermarry with short Israeli's.  It is never about any physical characteristic at all.  They are not to marry because all the nations around them are impure and unclean.  For the same reason that we don't do our grocery shopping at the city dump, Israel was not to intermarry with the nations around them.  Further, this is a general rule.  Hagar was from these countries and she is in the lineage of Jesus.  Same with Naomi.  There were exceptions, and the exception was for those who abandoned the ways - the filth - of these other nations and their idols, and their false gods and their sacrificing their own children and their rampant immorality.  If you wanted to intermarry with Israel, then you had to adopt her ways, by choice, and then seek acceptance.  But marriages at this time were arranged.  They were about alliances and protection and defense.  Father's were more interested in these things than in the religion of their future in-law.  And because it was done this way, sons and daughters of other nations were marrying in with no repentance at all as their home town religious practices.  This is what these verses are about.  The OT is not racist.  It is religiously picky.

 

2025 - Back in vs 12 it says, in addition to not intermarrying, that they are to "never seek their peace or prosperity".  How does that translate into the New Covenant?  We are to seek the salvation of the lost, but the peace and prosperity of our brothers and sisters.  We are never to cheat anyone, because that defames the people of God, but we ought to favor our brothers and sisters in all our dealings.  I have no idea if that is the correct way to look at this...but I see no other reasonable way to move this law from OC to NC.  And maybe it isn't supposed to move.  Maybe it is for the Jews only, for the coming physical Kingdom of God but not the spiritual kingdom of the New Covenant.  Maybe this Law went away with the dietary and sacrificial law also...but you cannot really fit it in to either of those.  I think it is still a Law to be reckoned with in some way.  

Chapter 10
All the people are convicted of their sin, and weep before God.  Some come forward, and in their repentance, urge Ezra to arise, and to carry out the requirements of the Mosaic law concerning this sin.  Ezra gets up and makes them swear they will help him to obey the law.  As I remember, what the law says is that they are all to be killed - husbands, wives, and children.  Very severe indeed.

Ezra retires to a quiet place, and spends the night fasting and in prayer.  The next day, a national assembly is called, for all to gather in Jerusalem within three days.  The people come, and there is this verse:
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. [Ezr 10:9 ESV]
A ragged assembly indeed, with many there fearing for their own lives, their relative's lives, their children's lives.  They all knew the penalty for what they'd done...yet they faced their fear of just consequences, and they came, and they sat trembling in the rain.  Note also that all these came from Judah and Benjamin.  Not remnants of the 12 tribes, but of Judah and Benjamin only.  The Southern Kingdom.  Also Levites were represented.  Yet in the Millennial,  all 12 tribes will be restored.  How diluted will they be since they have not at all kept the injunction against intermarriage?

Ezra addresses the assembly.  He tells them they have brought increased guilt on the nation by intermarrying.  The people - most of them - agree, but they say that an accounting of the guilty and their spouses and children cannot be done in a day.  And they propose that a system be set up to conduct a sort of  census, that lists all the families that are guilty of this sin.  This is what they do.

It is somehow decided - we are given no details at all in this chapter - that it will be acceptable for all those who have married foreign women to "put away" their wives, and any children already born.  This is divorce.  It was allowed because of the tragedy that strict enforcement of the law would be.  God allows divorce in this case.  

The book ends on this note of mercy from God - even where the Mosaic Covenant is involved.  It ends on Israel's realization that it must keep itself pure as a nation, and its resolve to do exactly that.  To me, it seems an odd place to end.  It seems awkward and abrupt and sad.  Perhaps this kind of end is a reminder to us that sin cuts off joy, leads to continuing sorrow, and precludes happiness for a time.  When we knowingly choose sin we are "daring" God to impose consequences.  We are ourselves deciding that what WE want is better for us than what God wants.  We can never be right about this.  And we can never really know what blessings we forego because of our own willful, stubborn, attitudes.  This would be a good FB post, but I am not sure how to put it together.  Maybe sometime.