It has been fifty-seven years since the completion of the temple. Under the orders of the Persian king Artaxerxes, Ezra the scribe, a man learned in the law of God, is sent back to Jerusalem. He has two tasks:
He must ensure that the temple worship of the Lord is taking place and take back supplies to help with this.
He must ensure that God’s people are living in accordance with his word.
Ezra gathers a group of around 5,000 exiles together and makes a special effort to find Levites to also join them on the journey. Despite having no armed guard and carrying lots of silver and gold, they are protected by the Lord as they make the journey and safely arrive back in Jerusalem.
1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,