The Purpose of Ezra

Thinking about Ezra 1.1, this morning. Ezra is quite clear about what his purpose is in the book that bears his name. He is not setting out to just recount historical events surrounding the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, as if, were he not to do so, they would be lost to history. He is writing about God moving, about God fulfilling his promise. Cyrus moved that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. This is the key point in the book of Ezra (it seems to me), against which we must set every event. Ezra's purpose is to describe how God fulfilled the prophecy that he had made through Jeremiah. Consequently, this is not a historical book per se, it is a book of promise fulfillment.