I love reading the Bible, no surprise there! I love that the more you read the Bible, the more the matrix becomes clear. Sometimes we can forget that with all its different authors and all its different books, the Bible has a divine thread of salvation history that runs through it all; all the historical books, all the prophetic books, the psalms, the gospels, the letters, all play a part in this divine story. And as we journey along, God uses the matrix of these authors, stories and letters to reveal His plans bit by bit.

The Book of Ezra, believed to be written by Ezra between 450-430 B.C., is a historical narrative, recording the post-exilic events of the Jewish people returning from captivity in Babylon. It is a fascinating story that beautifully displays God’s sovereignty as His purposes unfold for His chosen people. We see ungodly leaders, such as Cyrus of Persia, being used by God as His vessels for bringing about these purposes. Further, we see the fulfillment of a number of prophecies, such as that in Jeremiah 29:10, which rightly predicted the length of exile in Babylon.

There is a double sided encouragement in the Book of Ezra: one for those who need teams and one for those who have gifts. The Book of Ezra is an encouragement for leaders who are trying to build something, that the right people will be there at the right time and God knows what you need. So if you are leader reading this book, take this encouragement to heart. Highlight and study how God brought all the right people to help with the building of His house and be encouraged – God will do the same for you.

No matter what you do for God, two things are guaranteed: God is going to be faithful to His promises and the enemy is going to try to stop what you are doing.