Messianic Hope in Ezra-Nehemiah

Ezra calls attention to the similarity between the return to the land and the exodus from Egypt. In Ezra 1-2, the heart of Cyrus was stirred up, and he funded the people’s return to the land. That is similar to the way that God had hardened the heart of Pharaoh and the Israelites had plundered the Egyptians as they left Egypt. Then just as Numbers had enumerated the people, there was a concern for numbering the people in Ezra 2. They had built an altar after they had come out of Egypt, and 237they rebuilt the altar when they returned to the land. They had built the tabernacle at Mount Sinai, and they rebuilt the temple when they returned to the land.

There are similar parallels between the exodus from Egypt and Ezra’s return in Ezra 7. Ezra 7:1-10 presents Ezra as a new Moses figure from the line of Aaron. Just as Pharaoh had been hardened by God, Artaxerxes was prompted to issue a decree allowing the return. Just as they had left Egypt, they left Persia. Just as they had plundered Egypt, Artaxerxes provided funds. Just as the Torah had been given at Sinai, Ezra was given authority to enforce that Torah. Just as they had numbered the people, they accounted for the genealogy of the returnees. Just as the Levites had rebelled against Moses, no Levites volunteered to return with Ezra.

In addition to this exodus and return-from-exile pattern, we see the repetition of the pattern of Davidic worship.

David had made regulations for the worship of God in Jerusalem. Those regulations were renewed when the people returned from Babylon. So there was a renewal of the pattern of Davidic temple worship. It’s as though the pattern of the exodus from Egypt was repeated, and then the pattern of the institution of the worship of God in Jerusalem was repeated.

This includes the similarity of detail between the way materials had been acquired for the building of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 5:6, 9) and the way materials were acquired for the building of the second temple 238(Ezra 3:7). It includes the way that David had appointed the Levites (1 Chr 23:4, 24) and the way that Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 3:8) and Nehemiah (Neh 12:24, 45) did the same.

As the returnees set about rebuilding the temple, their enemies saw them repeating what David and Solomon had accomplished (Ezra 4:20), and the rebuilders themselves stated that they were redoing what Solomon had done (5:11). Just as the plunder of Egypt had been used to construct the tabernacle and the plunder of the nations had been used for the building of the temple (1 Chr 22:2-5, 14; 29:2), Cyrus the pagan king funded the rebuilding of the temple (6:4)

The repetitions of the patterns teach God’s people that God delivers them in unexpected ways; it shows God’s people the type of thing God does when He saves; and it shows God’s people the type of response—worship—that is pleasing to Him. The people of God also see that the enemies of God typically act according to a set pattern: they lie, they manipulate, they intimidate, and they are like chaff that the wind drives away (Ps 1:4). They will not overcome God Almighty.

We’ll see these kinds of patterns in our own lives. We will find ourselves treated the same way that the people of God in the Old Testament were treated, the same way that Jesus and the apostles were treated. We should expect the same treatment. Jesus said that if we kept His word the world would treat us the same way they treated Him, but those who received His word would receive us (John 15:20). We should persevere the same way that Moses and the prophets and Jesus and the apostles persevered, for the love of God and the love of people.

We’ll also see, as those before us have seen, that God keeps His word, that God’s people are preserved through persecution, and that God accomplishes His purposes through Messiah Jesus.

At this point I am not looking at Ezra and Nehemiah and looking back at Israel’s history, as we’ve just done with the exodus and Davidic temple worship. Rather, I’m looking at Ezra and Nehemiah and looking forward to the way that the patterns in their lives would be fulfilled in what Jesus would do. The promise-based typological expectation that develops across the pages of the Old Testament was ultimately fulfilled 239in Jesus, and we can see points of contact between Jesus and key figures in the Old Testament.

Ezra was a man of the Word and prayer who was passionate for the purity of God’s people, seeking to hallow God’s name, to bring in God’s kingdom, and to do God’s will on earth as in heaven. Those are pretty general, but what Ezra also does that is fulfilled in Jesus can be seen in Ezra 9.

In chapter 9 Ezra responded to the disobedience and rebellion of God’s people by weeping over Jerusalem, just as Jesus would weep over Jerusalem’s refusal to receive and welcome Him. Ezra returned to the land, learned that the people had intermarried, and he sat appalled until evening. This is a pattern of one who is concerned for the good of God’s people and who is grief-stricken at the rebellion of God’s people. That’s a pattern that would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus.

This aspect of what we see in Ezra and Jesus is comforting, isn’t it? Jesus loves people. Jesus wants what is good for people. Jesus is saddened by rebellion and disobedience.

Ezra was also a priest and scribe devoted to the law of Moses. Jesus came as the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and He countered temptation and those who challenged Him in debate with appeals to Scripture.

There is typological correspondence between Ezra and Jesus, and there is typological correspondence between Nehemiah and Jesus.

Nehemiah was like the One who would enter the temple and cleanse it. We saw Nehemiah cleanse the temple in Nehemiah 13. Nehemiah was also concerned for the resumption of the worship instituted by David. Nehemiah initiated a renewal of the covenant, anticipating the One who would usher God’s people into a new covenant.

Like Ezra (Ezra 10:1), Nehemiah typified Jesus as one who wept over Jerusalem (Neh 1:4). Just as Jesus would call His disciples to come, follow Him, and build God’s kingdom through the church, Nehemiah called the people of God to rise and build with him (Neh 2:18). The nations rage against the Lord and His Anointed One, as Psalm 2:1-3 describes (cf. Acts 4:25-28), and they raged against Nehemiah too 240(Neh 4:1-3, 7). Just as plots were made against Jesus, there was a plot to ambush Nehemiah (6:2). Just as there was a politically incendiary statement made against Jesus, “we have no king but Caesar,” there was a politically incendiary charge made against Nehemiah’s intentions in rebuild the wall (6:6). Jesus finished the work the Father sent Him to do, and Nehemiah finished the wall (6:15). With the temple and walls rebuilt, Nehemiah initiated a covenant renewal, typifying the way Jesus would come and replace the temple, provide the people with security, and initiate the new covenant.

In Ezra and Nehemiah we have seen five promises, two patterns, and two prototypes. This survey does not exhaust what could be said about issues like these, but it does say to us that God keeps His promises. Christmas proves it.

Ezra and Nehemiah show God keeping His promise of a new David, His promise of a restored remnant, His promise about Cyrus, His promise of the one who prepares the way for the Messiah, and His promise of full restoration of Sabbath rest.

Ezra and Nehemiah look back to point the eyes of God’s people forward, and we see this in the way that the new exodus and the new Davidic worship are heralded in these books.

Ezra and Nehemiah also typify Jesus, and when we consider Jesus in light of these books, we see that Jesus fulfilled the pattern of activity seen in the lives of both Ezra and Nehemiah.

We can trust God. Let us hope fully in Him. Let us study God’s promises, meditate on them, long for them to be fulfilled, and walk in the fruits of the Spirit until Jesus comes and makes all things new.

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