For God to fulfill His promise, spoken through Jeremiah, that the captivity would last only for seventy years (Jer. 25:11-12; Dan. 9:2), He accomplished two returns. The first return was under the leadership of Zerubbabel, a royal descendant. The second return was under the leadership of Ezra, a priest.
The first return did not need the priestly leadership of Ezra; rather, it needed the kingly leadership of Zerubbabel, a royal descendant who knew how to govern. Zerubbabel governed quite well, taking the lead in building up the altar and the temple. After this, the need shifted from the royal family to the priesthood, to Ezra, a descendant of the high priest Aaron. Ezra was not only a priest but also a scribe, someone who was skilled in the law of God (Ezra 7:6). As such a person, Ezra had the capacity to meet the need.
Chapters seven and eight are concerned with the return of the captivity under Ezra.
The return of the captivity under Ezra began through his request to the king (7:1-10). Ezra must have appealed to the king to give many of the Jews in his empire the freedom to go back to the land of their fathers. As we will see, the king not only granted Ezra’s request but also provided everything he needed.
Ezra’s genealogy in 7:1-5 indicates that he was a descendant of Aaron the chief priest.
The king granted the request of Ezra, a scribe skilled in the law of Moses (v. 6).
Ezra, some of the children of Israel, some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants left Babylon on the first day of the first month in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king and came safely to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month according to the good hand of God.
The book of Ezra does not speak of the Spirit of God, but the hand of God is mentioned a number of times (7:6, 9, 28; 8:31). What is the difference between the Spirit of God and the hand of God? When God’s Spirit works inwardly, that is the Spirit. When God’s Spirit works outwardly, that is God’s hand.
Ezra had set his heart to seek and do the law of Jehovah and to teach His statutes and ordinances (7:10). We need to see the difference between the statutes and the ordinances. The Ten Commandments are the main items of the law, but all these commandments have their statutes, which give the details. For instance, the fourth commandment is about keeping the Sabbath. The details regarding this commandment are found in the statutes. The ordinances are statutes to which judgments have been added. When a judgment is added to a statute, that statute becomes an ordinance. Regarding the commandment to keep the Sabbath, there are not only statutes giving the details but also ordinances telling of the judgment that will come upon those who break this commandment. Ezra set his heart not only to seek and do the main part of the law of Jehovah but also to teach His statutes, the details, and His ordinances, the verdicts and judgments.