As we continue to study the Old Testament book of Ezra I’d like to suggest we do a biographical study of Ezra, the priest and teacher, who led the 2nd return of exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem. Human interest stimulates concentration and captures the imagination. We perk up when we see or hear how someone else managed in a situation. This is especially true when circumstances have similarities to what we’re facing at the time. The more we learn from others the less we need to learn through the hard knocks of experience. The biographical study helps us learn from the experience of Bible characters.
Like the “3C” topical study, collect the references in the Bible referring or relating to the character to be studied. Use a concordance to help you. Correlate the material you find on the person into either a character analysis or an historical portrait. The latter emphasizes events in the person’s life while the former emphasizes the character qualities of an individual. Then crystallize what you’ve learned into applications.
To study the life of Ezra using this study method you’ll find most of the information on him in Ezra chapters 7-10 and Nehemiah 8-12, specifically. To prepare for our ongoing study read over these chapters and collect as much information about Ezra as you can. We’ll be doing a character analysis of his life. I hope you can join us for this study.