BBB Bible Series: Ezra Trivia Quiz

Answer: to help them with silver and gold, goods and livestock

Cyrus actually says that God has told him to see that the Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt! "All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah." (Ezra 1:2, NKJV).
In addition to giving the assistance commanded by Cyrus to returning Jews, he also encourages voluntary donations specifically for the rebuilding of the Temple (verse 4b).

Answer: all those whose spirits God had moved

Not all the Jews in exile returned at once. This verse indicates that it was those whom God had called who returned first. Many others remained in Persia for a long time to come. Cyrus took Babylon in 539 BC, and issued this command soon afterwards. Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem, for example, took place nearly a hundred years later. Following the first return, led by Zerubbabel, Jews seem to have continued to leave Persia for Jerusalem in groups until at least 400 BC.

Answer: 200 men and women singers

There is no mention of any escort of Persian soldiers, nor of any Persian citizens (who were not Jewish). These singers could well have been important for their role in remembering and communicating the lore of Israel while in Exile, as well as for their role in worship in synagogues and in the Temple. (cf. 2 Chronicles 25:35)

Answer: offer burnt offerings to the Lord

While Haggai was to rail against the Jews' provision for themselves before they provided for God's Temple, that came much later. The Jews began by reinstituting the worship of JHWH, with the morning and evening burnt offerings, and all the prescribed sacrifices.

Answer: work began on the foundations of the Temple

While it seems to us today that a delay of more than a year in beginning work on the Temple (their whole purpose in returning to Jerusalem!) is very slow progress, we need to bear in mind that in those days there was no such civilised support system in place to sustain life, such as we have today. No supermarkets, modern transport, hospitals or schools - the returning exiles had first to put in place enough of a base on which to survive: to plant crops, close off fields, dig or open wells, etc. Only after they had done this was it possible for them to give their attention to beginning work on the Temple.

Answer: they wrote a letter to Artaxerxes, accusing the Jews of rebellion

A very clever letter, in which they pointed out all the old history of Jerusalem and the Jews, and every case they could remember in which Jerusalem had rebelled against her ruling overlords. They also wrote as if it were Jerusalem being rebuilt, and neglected to point out that most of the work was focused upon the Temple!

Answer: Haggai and Zechariah

Ezra and Nehemiah were not prophets, but Jewish leaders! (Nehemiah 8:9 describes Nehemiah as a governor, Ezra as 'priest and scribe'.)
Hosea and Malachi are the first and last of the minor prophets (the Twelve); Hosea prophesied in Israel before the fall of Samaria, and Malachi in Judah after the Temple had been rebuilt.
Habakkuk and Zephaniah both prophesied during the Exile in Babylon, before the return.

Answer: we are the servants of the God of heaven and earth

While there is nothing specific in the text, one just has such a feeling that some angry little bird whispered in the governor's ear, complaining about the Jews and their Temple. *Something* certainly stirred Tattenai to investigate what was going on! However, the Jews cleverly referred the enquiry back to Cyrus's original command to restore the Temple in Jerusalem (without mentioning the interim letter from Artaxerxes which prohibited further work). One must remember that this was many decades after the initial return, and only the written records could authoritatively report what the commands of the Persian kings had been.

Answer: The building costs were to be paid out of the king's own taxes

This is almost as startling as Cyrus's original command. Rulers in those days were extremely possessive about their taxes - how else could they continue to govern? Darius not only commands that the building costs be covered by his taxes from that district, but that this money be paid directly to the builders!
Furthermore, anyone who hindered the work on the Temple was to be hanged from the roofbeam of his own (destroyed) house. (Ezra 6:11-12)

Answer: widespread intermarriage with the pagan tribes

Ezra 9 and 10 conclude with the story of the purification of the Jews: beginning with Ezra (who appears to have gone into mourning on behalf of the nation, rather than from personal guilt), and supported by Shechaniah, the Jews determined to cleanse themselves (spiritually) in obedience to God's command. In spite of the fact that the worst offenders were among the leaders of the people (Ezra 9:2b), the pagan wives and their children were 'put away'.

This is a marked change in the history of Israel's relationship with God: for the first time, the Jews were choosing to be faithful, and were sufficiently in earnest to sustain this faithfulness. What happened to the women and children who were turned out is not recorded.