After a seven-decade-long, divinely-orchestrated, and well-deserved disciplinary timeout in Babylonian exile, God's chosen people are allowed (and encouraged!) to return back to the Promised Land by the providential hand of God at work in the hearts of foreign rulers. This comeback group is a mix of Israelites who remember pre-exilic Jerusalem life and those who were born abroad, never having seen the great city in its prime. Together, however, they are charged with the task of rebuilding both the physical and the spiritual infrastructure of Jewish life. Ezra is the first of a two-part book recording that effort, the opposition they faced, the corrections they needed, and the grace of God at work to help them.

To help us unpack the book of Ezra properly we welcome to the podcast, Dr. Donna Petter. Dr. Petter currently serves as Associate Professor of Old Testament and Director of the Hebrew Language Program at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. She has published a number of articles and books, including a commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah which she co-wrote with her husband, Tom.