{"id":26099,"date":"2020-11-06T13:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2021\/05\/17\/preaching-on-ezra\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:14:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:14:04","slug":"preaching-on-ezra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/preaching-on-ezra\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching on Ezra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Historical Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Harold Macmillan became Britain\u2019s prime minister, he was asked what would determine his government\u2019s course. He replied, \u201cEvents, dear boy, events.\u201d Events are powerful, shaping, and revealing. They are, however, not sovereign. The books Ezra and Nehemiah, once a single volume, are episodic narratives that chronicle events that follow from a single event so powerful that it marked Israel\u2019s identity forever. That event is called the exile, and the ones who experienced it are sometimes called the exiles. Behind this determining event was a gracious God of faithful covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jews of the exilic period watched waves of events sweep over them. The Temple in Jerusalem suffered at the hands of Babylon in 597 B.C. The Babylonians removed temple treasures and began to deport people. This date marks the beginning of the exile. In 586 B.C. the temple was totally destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Babylonians settled Jews throughout Babylon to supply labor and generally strengthen the empire. Life for many Jews was reasonably prosperous. They labored in agriculture, commerce, and administration. During the captivity Aramaic became the principal language of the Jewish people. The Babylonians allowed the exiles a measure of autonomy. This freedom included latitude to practice their religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the exile the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel shaped the captives in rich ways. Before the fall of Jerusalem, many ignored the messages of God\u2019s prophets. Their predictions of the fall of the city and the razing of the temple seemed overly alarmist. That was, until it happened. The prophesies would nourish the faith of the Jews in captivity. Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah mingled strong words of judgement with stronger words of continued purpose and hope. They spoke of a return from captivity and the coming of Messiah. Jeremiah looked like a total failure during his life and ministry. Sometimes sermons have long fuses. His messages became one of the main reasons for the survival of the Jewish faith during the captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyrus II, the leader of the Persian dynasty, conquered Babylonia in 538 B.C. He quickly instituted new policies. He issued a decree that the exiled Jews could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and reestablish worship in the temple. The Jews interpreted this decree as a gracious move of God. Ezra 1:1 reads, \u201cIn the first year of King Cyrus of Persia\u2019s rule, to fulfill the Lord\u2019s word spoken to Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Persia\u2019s King Cyrus\u2026.\u201d Ezra-Nehemiah\u2019s episodic narratives offer stories that further illustrate God\u2019s stirring grace in the midst of challenge, victory, disappointment, discouragement, sin, and hope-filled repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart: Preaching Through Ezra<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of Ezra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Ezra. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I began a five-part series on July 19, 2020, titled But Now There\u2019s Hope. <\/em>The big idea for the series was taken from the concluding chapter of Ezra. The community faced a critical problem. Decades after their return, it appeared that they had forgotten the lessons of the exile and were again falling into religious idolatry. This idolatry manifested itself in intermarriages with neighboring people. The priests and Levites were complicit along with scores of others. Ezra prays about this situation in chapter 9, and the community responds in chapter 10. In Ezra 10:2 a man named Shecaniah becomes the heart and voice of the congregation. He says, \u201cWe\u2019ve been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the neighboring peoples. But even now, there is hope for Israel in spite of this.\u201d The book of Ezra chronicles \u201cin spite of this\u201d hope. The \u201cthis\u201d of idolatry is met by the hope of God. I chose five episodes from Ezra that illustrate God\u2019s hope in the face of and in spite of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Episode 1: But Now There\u2019s Hope Because of God\u2019s Providence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Text: Ezra 1-2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n