Stunned Silence

Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses. . . . The gracious hand of the LORD his God was on him.   Ezra 7:6

Josiah’s attempt to call people back to the God’s Word quickly faded, and then God allowed enemies to reduce his own city to a pile of rubble. The Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem, and those who survived fled for their lives or were taken prisoner and marched off to resettlement camps in Babylon.

The city of God became a smoldering ruin, and silence reigned where a community of believers once lifted their voices in worship. The Temple that was once filled with the cloud of God’s presence was completely destroyed.

But God had not forgotten his promise. After seventy years in captivity, the exiled people watched the Babylonian empire fall. Then the new king, Cyrus, decreed that Jewish exiles who wished to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple could do so. Fifty thousand people caught a vision for rebuilding the city of God and responded to the challenge.

The land had been uninhabited for years, so the first challenge was to build homes. When they were complete, Zerubbabel called the people together to build an altar (see Ezra 3:1-2). When it was finished, the people offered the sacrifices God had commanded Moses, and they began to rebuild the Temple.

Soon Ezra arrived in Jerusalem. When he discovered the spiritual condition of the people, he sat down in stunned silence until evening (see Ezra 9:2-4). He could hardly believe that the people of God in the city of God knew so little about the Word of God.

Ezra was faced with the challenge of teaching the Bible to people who thought they knew the Lord, but who knew very little of the Bible. Surrounded by the language and literature of the Babylonians, many had become assimilated into their culture. The returned exiles knew they were the people of God, but they knew very little about the God whose people they were. This is true of many people today. How well do you know the God of the Bible? As you spend more time in his Word, you will come to know God better.

For further reading, see Ezra 9