The book of Ezra - Why is it so rare?
This week I'm preparing a sermon on the book of Ezra. The focus of the sermon will be on Ezra chapter 9. In this chapter Ezra shares his moment of conviction regarding his sin (and corporate sin of the people of God). It comes at a strange moment in the narrative and I suspect it is the strangeness of Ezra's narrative flow (coupled with some lists) which make for it's uncommon appearance in contemporary western Christian churches and households.
The book of Ezra has some incredibly juicy political intrigue that would have any television writer salivating. In no particular order here are some of the fascinating aspects of Ezra's account:
*Infighting within the Persian empire (the world's superpower at the time).
*Deception among the single most powerful person's courtesans.
*Incredible amounts of wealth moved via caravan.
*Romantic relationships in tension.
*Character development over multiple years.
*Families broken up and in conflict.
*Ethnic/Cultural norms on the brink of war.
*A massive public project only rivaled by the original temple of Solomon.
*Dynamic personalities that assail one another in sometimes violent, sometimes subversive conflict.
Putting all these aspects together would make for the hallmarks of an incredible story! The story would be one with depth, tugging at the very affections of the audience. So why don't we read more about this amazing historical account of true spiritual struggle manifested in the physical world?
...there are some very entertainment driven reasons why we don't dive into Ezra more.
First off, Ezra is incredibly meticulous in it's historical approach. Many of the books of the Bible jump around chronologically and account their history without a contemporary (shocking that texts written thousands of years ago have different priorities than our own today). In this regard Ezra stands out a shocking distinction. While we have questions about the exact dating of books like Exodus, the four Gospels, the Epistles of Paul, we know right away the historical context of Ezra because of how meticulous it is. Ezra gives us more features than we could care to pay attention to regarding the people, places, and events surrounding the events described.
Secondly, Ezra name-drops. While in other books of the Bible we have questions about the historical significance of someone mentioned, their role, story, or background, Ezra once again stands out. He provides long lists of names, including members of Persian politics, surrounding nations political representatives, Israelite dissidents, returning leaders, exiled slaves, family households, and more! When evaluating our use of time, we could entertain ourselves with something we enjoy, or we could spend time wrestling through and mis-pronouncing lists of names from people long dead thousands of years ago. Ezra's lists of names and goods are often boring to read.
Thirdly, Ezra is focused on scripture. Ezra's ministry of teaching, transcribing, and repenting flows from his life's work as a scribe. The process of manually transcribing something is almost completely foreign to the digital native. To think of copying, editing, and compiling stories, documents, and oral histories by hand is enough to put most of us to sleep. Then again, this was the work of Ezra for much of his life. His emphasis on the need for God's people to repent and turn again to following God's Word is one that is needed in every generation. When we fall away from God, when we sin, when we stray from righteousness, is it not because we have either ignored God's Word or are ignorant of it's commands? It's not a trendy spiritual sort of thing to say "read God's Word", yet Ezra's confession of sin and proclamation for repentance comes from remaining focused on scripture.
Fourthly, Ezra isn't quoted in the New Testament. This simple reality means that digging into the interpretation of Ezra for a contemporary audience can put preachers in "hot water". Ezra confesses about marital unfaithfulness by God's people. Let's not beat around the bush, in today's present adversarial climate Ezra can very easily be distorted or misunderstood to be racist (against all the "ites" peoples who Israel intermarried with) or simply bloodthirsty (referring back to the conquest of Canaan when the "ites" peoples were to be completely wiped out). With divorce, racism, and ethnic cleansing as topics that may arise from a reading of the book of Ezra, no wonder why so many preachers and households avoid the book of Ezra!
While many complain about the historical accuracy and validity of texts within the scriptures, we can't really blame a culture or atmosphere of challenging the historical validity of texts within the scriptures when we don't read the scriptures ourselves! Especially the meticulous and worthwhile parts of scripture that are so historically entrenched that there is nigh no disputing their validity. The next time someone brings up historical citations and the bibles lack of evidence - ask them if they would be willing to read Ezra together with you. They may come away with a different complaint (that the Bible is dis-interesting), but hopefully their challenge regarding historical validity is set to rest.
So, in the upcoming weekend, I challenge you to take 5 minutes of your time, and listen (via audio - it's actually only 2 minutes and 1 second) or read Ezra chapter 1. Then see if it's worth your time to continue reading Ezra, there may be something you learn about that you had never read or heard before from God's Word!
The book of Ezra has some incredibly juicy political intrigue that would have any television writer salivating. In no particular order here are some of the fascinating aspects of Ezra's account:
*Infighting within the Persian empire (the world's superpower at the time).
*Deception among the single most powerful person's courtesans.
*Incredible amounts of wealth moved via caravan.
*Romantic relationships in tension.
*Character development over multiple years.
*Families broken up and in conflict.
*Ethnic/Cultural norms on the brink of war.
*A massive public project only rivaled by the original temple of Solomon.
*Dynamic personalities that assail one another in sometimes violent, sometimes subversive conflict.
Putting all these aspects together would make for the hallmarks of an incredible story! The story would be one with depth, tugging at the very affections of the audience. So why don't we read more about this amazing historical account of true spiritual struggle manifested in the physical world?
...there are some very entertainment driven reasons why we don't dive into Ezra more.
First off, Ezra is incredibly meticulous in it's historical approach. Many of the books of the Bible jump around chronologically and account their history without a contemporary (shocking that texts written thousands of years ago have different priorities than our own today). In this regard Ezra stands out a shocking distinction. While we have questions about the exact dating of books like Exodus, the four Gospels, the Epistles of Paul, we know right away the historical context of Ezra because of how meticulous it is. Ezra gives us more features than we could care to pay attention to regarding the people, places, and events surrounding the events described.
Secondly, Ezra name-drops. While in other books of the Bible we have questions about the historical significance of someone mentioned, their role, story, or background, Ezra once again stands out. He provides long lists of names, including members of Persian politics, surrounding nations political representatives, Israelite dissidents, returning leaders, exiled slaves, family households, and more! When evaluating our use of time, we could entertain ourselves with something we enjoy, or we could spend time wrestling through and mis-pronouncing lists of names from people long dead thousands of years ago. Ezra's lists of names and goods are often boring to read.
Thirdly, Ezra is focused on scripture. Ezra's ministry of teaching, transcribing, and repenting flows from his life's work as a scribe. The process of manually transcribing something is almost completely foreign to the digital native. To think of copying, editing, and compiling stories, documents, and oral histories by hand is enough to put most of us to sleep. Then again, this was the work of Ezra for much of his life. His emphasis on the need for God's people to repent and turn again to following God's Word is one that is needed in every generation. When we fall away from God, when we sin, when we stray from righteousness, is it not because we have either ignored God's Word or are ignorant of it's commands? It's not a trendy spiritual sort of thing to say "read God's Word", yet Ezra's confession of sin and proclamation for repentance comes from remaining focused on scripture.
Fourthly, Ezra isn't quoted in the New Testament. This simple reality means that digging into the interpretation of Ezra for a contemporary audience can put preachers in "hot water". Ezra confesses about marital unfaithfulness by God's people. Let's not beat around the bush, in today's present adversarial climate Ezra can very easily be distorted or misunderstood to be racist (against all the "ites" peoples who Israel intermarried with) or simply bloodthirsty (referring back to the conquest of Canaan when the "ites" peoples were to be completely wiped out). With divorce, racism, and ethnic cleansing as topics that may arise from a reading of the book of Ezra, no wonder why so many preachers and households avoid the book of Ezra!
While many complain about the historical accuracy and validity of texts within the scriptures, we can't really blame a culture or atmosphere of challenging the historical validity of texts within the scriptures when we don't read the scriptures ourselves! Especially the meticulous and worthwhile parts of scripture that are so historically entrenched that there is nigh no disputing their validity. The next time someone brings up historical citations and the bibles lack of evidence - ask them if they would be willing to read Ezra together with you. They may come away with a different complaint (that the Bible is dis-interesting), but hopefully their challenge regarding historical validity is set to rest.
So, in the upcoming weekend, I challenge you to take 5 minutes of your time, and listen (via audio - it's actually only 2 minutes and 1 second) or read Ezra chapter 1. Then see if it's worth your time to continue reading Ezra, there may be something you learn about that you had never read or heard before from God's Word!
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