上帝的子民為了他們冷淡退後，及偶像崇拜已付出極高的代價，客居巴比倫的七十年間，他們飽經劫掠，即使環境是那樣的孤苦絕望，上帝並未放棄他們，也未忘記他們。時候到了，祂興起外邦的波斯王古列，宣佈了讓猶太人回國重建聖殿──這個應許是兩世紀前就已明白揭示，並曾震驚猶太人的預言（賽44：28；45：1－4），令人痛心的是，後來只有少數人響應這個回歸運動，大約只有五萬人由所羅巴伯領軍，帶著國王頒贈的寶物，踏上了漫長的征途，回到滿目瘡痍的家鄉，齊心努力重建聖殿，重建以色列的未來。

        試試下面這個實驗，拿一個錶，注意它的分針或數字，看看你在多少時間內找到迴紋針，郵票和去年的退稅單。好，預備，開始……（如果你能在一分鐘內找齊，那麼你家的擺設真是高雅整潔，若計時在一至三分鐘，那你可能需要一點協助，若是超過三分鐘，大概府上有幾個小孩子吧！）
        當你摒息沈思這個新發現時，以斯拉記第一、二章中大量的人口並不是要嚇你，而是要告訴你，上帝是一位一絲不茍、有條不紊的上帝，所以那些無法查詢到自己家譜的祭司，都被視為不潔，遭到除名，不准擔任祭司之職（2：62），現在請查考哥林多前書十四章四十節，然後在你今日的工作中、日常生活和屬靈生活裡多多留意。

關於以斯拉書──你應該知道的背景
        在中文聖經中，以斯記排在歷代志下之後，繼續歷代志下未完的最後一段（比較代下36：22，23和拉1：1-3），但在希伯來原文聖經中，以斯拉記與尼希米記原是同一本書，而且在歷代志上下之前，一四四八年，首次分成兩卷書，距離寫作時間已超過十八個世紀。

次序是天堂的第一守則。

English

        The people of God have paid dearly for their indifference and idolatry. For 70 years they have languished in Babylonian exile. But though the situation looks bleak, God has neither forsaken nor forgotten them. At the appointed time He raises up a pagan Persian king named Cyrus, whose proclamation permits the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple—an event prophesied in remarkable detail fully two centuries in advance (Isaiah 44:28; 45; 1-4). Sadly, only a relative handful of exiles respond to the invitation. Led by Zerubbabel and supported by the king's treasury, about 50,000 Jews begin the long trek to their shattered homeland, where together they begin to rebuild the nation's temple and the nation's future.

        Try this experiment. Using a watch with a sweep second hand or digital counter, see how long it takes you to find a paper clip, a postage stamp, and last year's tax return. Ready . . . go! (Less than a minute—your house is arranged "decently and in order"; between one and three minutes—you could use some help; more than three minutes—you probably have small children around the house.)
        Now ponder this observation. The myriad of numbers in Ezra 1-2 is not there to overwhelm you, but to show you that God is a God of detail and orderliness. In fact, those priests who sought their family records and could not find them were excluded from the priesthood as unclean (2:62)! Take a moment to look up 1 Corinthians 14:40. Then put it to work today in an area of your life that needs attention.

The Elusive Book of Ezra
        In the English Bible, Ezra follows 2 Chronicles. But in the Hebrew canon, Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book located just before Chronicles. The first division into two books in the Hebrew Bible was not made until 1448, more than 18 centuries after the material was written.

Order is heaven's first law.