Just in case any of you are worried that I might be tempted to follow Ezra’s example and read from Scripture and preach until noon, you can relax!

But I do want to tell you more about Ezra, because he and Nehemiah together are two of the Old Testament Heroes. If at times  what I am about to say will sound more like a history lesson than a sermon, please appreciate that you cannot grasp the riches of the Old Testament without knowing at least something of its history and of God’s care for his chosen people. Jesus will certainly have learned about Ezra and Nehemiah and seen them as examples of faith and courage and of devotion to the God of Israel.

So now please turn your minds back several centuries, to the year 579 BCE. The kingdom of Israel had been constantly harassed by warlike neighbours. In 579 King Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria finally conquered them. He destroyed Jerusalem. He razed the Temple to the ground. He then carries off to Babylon all the Israelites of any importance whatsoever, not only the spiritual and civic leaders of the community but anyone who was literate or a competent farmer or who could be of use to him and his people He left only a poor remnant behind in Jerusalem.

Thus began the “Babylonian captivity”, but in fact it did not last very long. Fifty years later the Assyrians were in their turn conquered by the Persians. The Persian King, Hiram, heard the pleas of the captive Israelites who longed to return to their homes and to their own way of life. He agreed to let them go. Astonishingly, he agreed to defray the cost of restoring the Temple and to return the Temple treasures which Nebuchadnezzar had stolen. He did not want to offend the God of Israel.

When the captives, led by Ezra, returned to Jerusalem, they found that the poor remnant who had been left behind had done nothing to restore the Temple or the city. Still led by Ezra, they set to and restored the Temple as their first priority. This took about fifty years. During those years the Israelites were continually harassed by their warlike neighbours as before, who did not want a strong nation to grow up among them. The Israelites were not safe; the city walls were full of breaches and the gates had all been destroyed by fire.

News of this came to Nehemiah, an Israelite who had remained in Babylon. He was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, who had succeeded King Hiram. Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah permission to go. When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, he immediately put in hand the repair of the city walls and gates, and achieved this in only fifty-two days. (Think how long we sometimes have to wait to get anything done!) The surrounding hostile tribes were amazed at the speed. They realised that this could only have been done with the help of the God of the Israelites, and they were afraid.

So now at last we come to this morning’s reading! The Temple has been restored. The city is safe against attack.    Ezra sees that it is time for the people to be brought back to their proper way of life. So he calls them all to assemble in the main square. This was a huge gathering: forty-two thousand men and women, plus slaves. The people themselves asked Ezra to bring the books of the Law, to teach them about their God.

Ezra realised that after all their years without proper instruction, many of the people would be unable to understand what they were hearing. So he brought with him twelve interpreters, whose task was to answer the questions of the people and make sure that they fully understood all that they were hearing. The returnees from Babylon would probably also need translation from the Hebrew into their native Aramaic. The people were so moved when they heard the words of the Law that they began to weep. They realised how far away they had drifted from obedience to the Law.

But Ezra and Nehemiah would not allow this to be a day of lamentation. They declared it a holy day. They told the people to celebrate, to eat foods which were normally forbidden, and to make sure that everyone was catered for. Still in Jesus’ day and still today in the Jewish calendar the first day of the seventh month is a high holy day, the first day of the Jewish New Year.

Our reading this morning ends on a joyous note, and this is what we should take from it. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” The God who brought the Israelites back from Babylon and helped them to restore the Temple and the city of Jerusalem is our God, who stands with us and helps us in need. Let us praise and thank Him for his goodness. Alleluia.