Ezra, Esther, Haggai, and Zechariah
33%Page 9
Ezra, Esther, Haggai, and Zechariah
THERE are two books covered in this week’s lesson; those of Ezra and Esther. Ezra himself was a priest, and one of the influential leaders with Zerubbabel the governor in leading the children of Israel back from the captivity to the building of the temple at Jerusalem. The time of the center of Ezra’s work was about 456. This is followed by the book of Esther, a wife of Xerxes, the Ahasuerus of the Bible. In God’s providence she came to the throne of Persia and worked salvation for the children of Israel. We can not take time to dwell upon the period covered by either of these books, as it is quite fully presented in the articles now running in the SIGNS under “Out of Babylon to Zion.” This week’s reading also includes the book of Haggai and part of Zechariah. Both Haggai and Zechariah were prophets of the captivity, and greatly encouraged Zerubbabel and Ezra and others in the building of the temple.