If you were in prison, what words would you like most to hear from your captors? Would they be "You can go home now"? King Cyrus of Persia said this to the Israelites when he freed them from captivity. And he also sent them back to their homeland with all of the treasures of the former temple of Jerusalem and with money and supplies to build a new altar and temple.

This would have been momentous to the people of Israel. More than 200 years before (722 B.C.) the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom, Israel. In 587 B.C. the Babylonians conquered what remained of the southern kingdom, Judah. They destroyed the temple and took the leaders of the people into exile. Psalm 137:4 gives us a glimpse into the crisis that this was for the people of Israel: "How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?" The sense of loss and grief was profound.

Then came Cyrus the Persian in 538 B.C., who conquered Babylon and set in motion policies of religious tolerance and encouragement that would largely characterize the attitude of the Persian kings to follow, Darius and Artaxerxes. This policy enabled and encouraged the people of Israel to return to their homeland. No doubt it was advantageous for the kings to have a loyal buffer between them and the other major superpower of the day, Egypt, but whatever the motives of the Persian kings, the author makes it clear that God is the one who controls history.

Ezra is the first part of a divided book. Nehemiah is the second half. The Hebrew Bible treated the two books as one. They became separated due to Christian influence. If you read the two books together, the story will make better sense. There are three different return trips that take place (Ezr 1—6, 7—10; Ne 1—7), and the book concludes by a gathering of the congregation of Israel for repentance and rejoicing.

The book of Ezra focuses on several themes: the continuity of the leaders before and after the exile, the place of the community in bringing about God's work, the rebuilding of the altar and the temple, and the importance of holiness within the community. It is clear from this book that the freedom that the Israelites have received is from God. We can take encouragement for our lives from this picture of a God who is faithful to his promises.