Ezra Audio Sermons

Ezra records the returned exiles’ rebuilding of the temple and Ezra the priest’s reform by the law. Recovery of a community centered on the word is its heart.

Background of writing

• Author and inspiration — Ezra, or a writer close to him, is thought to have written it under God’s inspiration. With Nehemiah it tells the restoration after the exile.
• Date of writing — From Cyrus’s decree about 538 BC, the first return and the temple, to Ezra’s second return and reform about 458 BC.
• Historical setting — In the Persian period the Judeans returned, rebuilt the temple, and corrected mixed marriages and neglect of the law.

Purpose of writing

• Through Cyrus, God opened the way to rebuild the temple and restored his people as he had promised.
• Ezra studied, practiced, and taught the law (Ezra 7:10), and led the people in repentance and a holy community.
• It calls believers to build church and life on the word, and to hold God’s restoring grace.

Select a session in the list below to play the exposition in the player. (8 sermons)