BIBLE SURVEY - EZRA

"Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord His God upon him." Ezra 7:6
 
Who Was Ezra?
Ezra was a scribe, a descendant of Aaron, the original high priest, through his son Eleazar, and later Phinehas and Zaddock. Ezra was of the tribe of Levi, with a long, unbroken line of priests in his ancestry.
 
When Was Ezra Written?
The Book of Ezra was written between 460 and 440 BC.
The first exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon 537 BC.
The Temple was rebuilt 516 BC.
Esther became Queen of Persia 479 BC.
Ezra led the second expedition from Babylon 458 BC.
The Book of Ezra covers over 100 years, dealing with the three deportations from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and the three returns from Babylonian captivity.
 
THE MESSAGE OF EZRA
 
Return
There had been two exiles. The first exile involved the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, when Assyria conquered Samaria and deported the ten tribes in 721 BC.
 
The second exile involved the two tribes in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, following the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. The main prophets to the Judeans in exile in Babylonia were: Ezekiel and Daniel.

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