Ezra the restorer
Ezra takes the second Exile group back to Jerusalem
Background what is going on at the time of Ezra
Haggai and Zechariah preached in Jerusalem in 520 B.C., the second year of the Persian king Darius I (Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1). Darius secured his claim to the Persian throne in the tumult following the death of Cambyses in 522 B.C. Together the two prophets urged the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish exiles returning to Judah after the edict of Cyrus (538 B.C.) found Jerusalem devastated. Under the leadership first of Sheshbazzar (ca. 537 B.C.) and then Zerubbabel, attempts were made to rebuild the temple, but the task had not been finished by 520 B.C. (Ezra 5:16). Haggai and Zechariah challenged the people to complete the project as an outward sign of their commitment to God. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah at the time, while Joshua, son of Jehozadak, served as high priest.
Haggai, whose name comes from the Hebrew word for “feast” or “festival,” perhaps was an older man who may have been one of the Jews who remained in the land after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. If so, he would have remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple (cf. Hag. 2:2). Haggai preached just over three months (August to December, 520 B.C.), briefly overlapping the ministry of Zechariah (Ezra 5:1).
Haggai chastened the returning exiles for concentrating on rebuilding their own houses while neglecting to work on the temple (Hag. 1:1–15). He encouraged the people by promising that the second temple would be greater than the first, despite outward appearance (2:19), and foretold a time of blessing for the nation (2:10–19).
Zechariah (“Yahweh remembers,” a very common name in the Old Testament) was from a priestly lineage, assuming that the Iddo mentioned in Zechariah 1:1 is identified with the Iddo who returned with Zerubbabel from exile (Neh. 12:4, 16). Zechariah’s ministry lasted at least two years, beginning in 520 B.C. (Zech. 1:1; 7:1). Like Haggai, Zechariah urged the people to rebuild the temple (Zech. 1:16; 4:9; 6:12–15), a task that was completed by 515 B.C. (Ezra 6:16–22; cf. 5:1–5). Zechariah received a series of night visions anticipating a forgiven, restored people in a land of peace and blessing (Zech. 1–8). He believed the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, was a special instrument in God’s plan for a glorious future (Zech. 6:9–10). Emphasizing God’s ultimate triumph over the nations that oppose His will, Zechariah envisioned the universal reign of God (Zech. 12–14).
MALACHI
Malachi—“my messenger”—was the last of the “writing” prophets. He addressed the Jews of Judah sometime between the dedication of the new temple (515 B.C.) and Ezra’s return to Jerusalem in 458 B.C. During Malachi’s time the people of Judah were gripped by spiritual lethargy and threatened by assimilation with pagan people. Evidently the bright future anticipated by the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah had not come about as expected, leading to careless worship practices and neglect of spiritual matters (Mal. 1:6–8; 3:8–15). Utilizing a series of six disputations, Malachi condemned the social and religious sins of the people, including divorce and marriage to pagan women (2:10–16), exploitation of the poor (3:5), and the ingratitude expressed by those who refuse God His tithe (3:6–12). Malachi predicted judgment upon an unfaithful people, but promised deliverance upon those who fear the Lord and keep His covenant. Malachi concluded his prophecy with the promise of an Elijah figure before a new day of judgement and deliverance (Mal. 4:4–6).