以斯拉记 Ezra

以斯拉记记载被掳七十年后的归回。波斯王古列元年，「耶和华为要应验借耶利米口所说的话，就激动波斯王古列的心」，下诏容许犹大人回耶路撒冷重建圣殿。这开篇第一句已道出全书的信念：历史的真正主宰不是帝国的君王，而是守约的神——连外邦王的心，也在祂手中如陇沟的水。

全书分为两次归回：前六章记所罗巴伯带领的第一批人回国重建圣殿，工程因仇敌搅扰停顿多年，后借哈该、撒迦利亚的勉励复工完成，献殿时欢呼与哭声交织；后四章记约六十年后文士以斯拉的归回。以斯拉的生命是历代读经人的榜样：「以斯拉定志考究遵行耶和华的律法，又将律例典章教训以色列人」（拉 7:10）——先考究，再遵行，然后教导，次序不可颠倒。

面对百姓与异族通婚、信仰边界崩塌的危机，以斯拉没有先指责别人，而是撕裂衣袍、跪下认罪，把自己算在「我们的罪孽」之中，带出全民的悔改。重建的殿远不如所罗门的辉煌，但神的同在使它满有荣耀——这指向那位道成肉身、以自己身体为殿的基督。今天的读者也被提醒：复兴始于回到神的话语，始于有人先跪下来。

Ezra tells the story of the return after seventy years of exile. In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, "in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus" to release the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. That opening sentence states the book's conviction: the real ruler of history is not the emperor but the covenant-keeping God, who turns even a pagan king's heart wherever He wills.

The book records two returns. Chapters 1–6 follow the first group under Zerubbabel, who rebuild the temple — a work stalled for years by opposition, then revived through the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, and finished amid shouts of joy mingled with weeping. Chapters 7–10 jump some sixty years to the return of Ezra the scribe, whose life remains a model for every reader of Scripture: "Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws" (Ezra 7:10) — study first, then practice, then teaching, in that unalterable order.

When Ezra discovers that the people have intermarried with the surrounding nations and the community's covenant identity is dissolving, he does not begin by accusing others; he tears his robes, falls on his knees, and confesses "our sins" as his own — and his grief draws the whole people into repentance. The rebuilt temple was far humbler than Solomon's, yet God's presence gave it glory, anticipating Christ, who spoke of the temple of His own body. The book still asks today's readers a searching question: every renewal begins with a return to God's Word — and with someone willing to kneel first.