Reading the Bible in 2025: Ezra
Homecoming!
The people begin to return to Jerusalem, thanks to Cyrus of Persia defeating the Babylonians and ending the exile of the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem. As we work through #TheBibleInAYear, we look at the book of Ezra, which focuses on the efforts of the priest Ezra (and others) who lead the rebuilding of the temple after the exile. The book itself is upbeat and celebrates the construction of the temple. That said, a more careful reading shows the strains of this homecoming and the deep sense that many have that, well, it used to be better.
More broadly, we focus on homecomings, memory, nostalgia and how we deal with things when they are no longer “they way it used to be.”