BIBL 105: Old Testament Survey
09 Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther
Ezra & Nehemiah
Author: Ezra (scribe and priest)
Time period: ___post-exile_______ (5 c.)
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Audience: _Returned_________ exiles
Location: Judah
Reason:
o1. __Encourage________ returned exiles
o2. __Explain________ how the nation returned and rebuilt
o3. __Record________ the preservation of the Messianic Line
Post-Exile
______Time____ Rounds of Return
Round 1
Around 50,000 people return
_Zerubbabel_________ (descendant of David): leads people to begin to rebuild the
Temple. It is finished in 515 BC.
Haggai and Zechariah: post-exilic _prophets_________ encourage the rebuilding of the
Temple
Round 2
More Jews return under __Ezra________ in 458 BC
Round 3
__Nehemiah________ returns and becomes the governor (445 BC)
Builds city walls
High Priest becomes the leader of the nation since they have no king
Ezra
Setting
___Return_______ from Babylon
oEdict of Cyrus the Great
oZerubbabel becomes the new governor
oRebuilt the altar and foundation of 2nd Temple
oHad a 16 year delay when opposition arose from their neighbors
__Reconstruction________ of the Temple
oEncouraged the rebuild by Haggai and Zechariah
oBuilding resumed by Zerubbabel
oObjection by Tattenai and Shethar-bozenaei
oAppeal to decree of Cyrus under Darius
o___Temple_______ finished: _515_________ BC
Ezra Returns
Ezra returns with 2,000 more Jewish people during the reign of __Artaxerxes________
Attempts to reform the nation in 3 ways
oNational __fast________
oSeparation from the Samaritans
o_Intermarriage_________ with pagans is renounced; pagan wives divorced
Nehemiah
Setting
Nehemiah is the royal __cupbearer________ to Artexerxes of Persia
There’s word from Jerusalem that the city is still in ___ruins_______ outside of the
temple being rebuilt
Nehemiah is sad in the presence of Artaxerxes and is asked about it
Nehemiah prays and answers the king
The _king_________ sends Nehemiah to return and be the governor of the region
oGives him documents that pay for the supplies necessary to rebuild the city
oGives him royal bodyguards to protect him on his trip to Jerusalem
Inspection and Opposition
Nehemiah arrives, personally inspects the city walls and begins rebuilding them.
Nehemiah __rallies________ the people to rebuild the walls by having each family work
on a different part.
He faces opposition from Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem
Opponents
oLaugh at them for trying to rebuild (2:19)
oMock them (4:1)
oConspire to invade (4:8)
Nehemiah prays for __________
oCarries a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other
They overcome the opposition and ___finish_______ the walls in 52 days
Revival
Ezra reads the ___Law_______ at the water gate
The people admit their sin and ____repent______
The Covenant is renewed
Ezra/Nehemiah & Jesus
Jesus as the true Temple
Jesus as the faithful Priest
Jesus as the Word of God
Esther
When? 450 BC
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Why? Teaches the _providence_________ of God over the Jewish people even when
they are outside of Israel
This is the only book of the Bible that does not name __God________
Setting
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon
Darius I: Temple is rebuilt
Demotion of Vashti
Xerxes or Ahaseurus: Marries Esther
Artaxerxes: Ezra and Nehemiah
Xerxes throws a six-month party in the third year of his reign
Wants Vashti to show off at the party
Vashti refuses
Xerxes is furious and banishes Vashti from being queen
Esther wins the beauty contest and becomes the next queen
Her cousin/guardian __Mordecai________ tells her not to tell anyone that she is Jewish
Mordecai stops a plot by two of Xerxes’ eunuchs to kill him, and Mordecai gets access to
the royal palace
Haman
Promoted to Xerxes’ right-hand advisor
Mordecai refuses to ____bow______ ____down______ to Human like everyone else
Haman gets angry and convinces Xerxes into making a __law________ to __kill________
all Jewish people in the Empire
Laws of the Medes and Persians: once the law is made, it cannot be __revoked________
Mordecai finds out about the law and asks __Esther________ to intervene
Esther’s Courage
Puts on the royal robes and goes into the _inner court_________
Xerxes __raises________ the __scepter________
Esther invites the king and Haman to a __banquet________
Xerxes asks Esther what she needs, but she asks him to attend another banquet the next
day
Haman’s Humiliation
Haman is feeling confident
On the way home, Haman sees __Mordecai________ refusing to bow to him
Haman talks to his wife and friends and decides to build _gallows_________ to
__hang________ Mordecai because he no longer can bear seeing Mordecai defy him
That same night, the king can’t _fall asleep_________ and gives orders for the
__book________ of his great acts to be read to him
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The king reads of Mordecai’s heroic act saving his life, and he realizes that Mordecai has
never been __honored________ for it.
The king asks who is in the court to give him advice. Haman is outside waiting to talk to
the king about the gallows.
“What should be done to the man that the King delights to honor?”
Haman thinks that the king is referring to him, so he responds with a dramatic and
elaborate response.
The king says, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to
Mordecai.”
Esther’s Courage
At the second banquet, Esther tells Xerxes that someone is trying to kill her.
Xerxes is angry. Haman begs. The king enacts vengeance.
Xerxes’ Decree
Xerxes cannot change the law
However, he makes a __new law________ that allows the Jews to _defend_________
themselves, and they do defeat their enemies
The Feast of _Purim_________ is established in Judaism to remember how God
delivered the Jews during this time.
Esther & Jesus
Jesus as embodiment of grace
Jesus as the protector of his people
Application
How to act in a pagan world
Recognize God’s hand even when it is bleak
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