Ezra was a priest descended from Aaron, born in Babylon long after Jerusalem fell. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, and the Persian king gave him everything he asked, because the hand of the LORD his God was on him. He led a second group of exiles home, and was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers after telling him God protects those who seek him. So they fasted and prayed instead.
In Jerusalem he found that many of the returned people had married into the nations around them. He tore his clothes, pulled hair from his head and beard, and sat appalled until the evening sacrifice, then prayed a prayer of confession. Years later he stood on a wooden platform and read the Law aloud from early morning until midday while the people wept, and the Levites helped them understand it.
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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.
Name means
“Help”
Home
Babylon, then Jerusalem
Role
Priest and scribe skilled in the Law of Moses
Read in
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Ezra's story
Reading the Law
Beginning
A scribe in Babylon
A priest and scribe who set his heart on God's law.
High point
The journey home
He fasts instead of asking for soldiers, and God protects them.
Low point
Appalled
He learns of the people's sin and confesses it as his own.
Turning point
A painful reform
The people weep with him and commit to change.
Ending
Reading the Law
He reads the Law aloud, the people understand, and they are told to rejoice.
Starts as a scribe far from Jerusalem. Ends as the teacher who gave the returned people God's word.
Where Ezra lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Ezra is wired
The Reformer
Enneagram 1, Helper wing
To be right with God and to make God's people right too.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 7 Under stress, toward 4
Why we think so
1
He studies to obey. He set his heart to study, do and teach the Law. ()
2
He grieves over wrong. He tears his clothes and sits appalled. ()
3
He leads reform. He calls the people to put away what is unlawful. ()
The 2 wing shows in his care to help the people understand. ()
The Enthusiast. At his best he tells the people not to mourn but to rejoice, for the joy of the LORD is their strength. ()
The Individualist. Under stress his grief becomes severe self-reproach. ()
The case for 6
Some read Ezra as a Loyalist: devoted to the Law and the community, and anxious about another judgment ().
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in the books of the exile and return.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Devoted, careful, earnest
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Ezra
Studied, obeyed and taught God's word in that order (). Trusted God over armed escort (). Grieved over sin as his own (). Gave the word clearly to ordinary people ().
Where Ezra struggles
Scripture records no clear failing. The marriage reforms he led were severe and painful for many families ().
What Ezra wanted most
A people who know and obey God's law (; ).
What Ezra feared most
That the people's sin would bring God's anger again ().
Ezra read God's word to a people starting over. Jesus is the Word, and he opened the Scriptures to his people.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus began with Moses and all the Prophets and interpreted to them the things concerning himself (). Ezra made the Law understood; Jesus fulfilled it (). Ezra confessed the people's sin as his own; Jesus carried it as his own.
Questions to sit with
1
Ezra studied, then obeyed, then taught. Which of those three do you tend to skip?
2
He grieved over sin he had not personally committed. Who are you praying for that way?
Study Ezra with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
