Victory Baptist Church Bible Institute
3rd year, 2nd semester; russkellyphd@yahoo.com
This is a faith ministry. Your assistance is appreciated.
1. 1:1-2 When does Ezra begin in relation to the 70-year prophecy of Jeremiah?
2. 1:2 What did the Persian king Cyrus call the Hebrew God and what did he consider his special mission?
3. 1:3-11 What did Cyrus command the Jews who remained in Persia to contribute and what did he contribute?
Chapter 2 names and numbers the families which returned from Babylon in 538 B. C. with Governor Zerubabbel. Verses 41 and 42 list only 128 Levite singers and 129 Levite porters.
Chapter 3 is about setting up the altar, keeping the yearly festivals and laying the foundation of the temple
4. 3:12-13 515 B. C. What two different responses were given by those who had seen the first temple?
5. 4:17-24 After Judah’s enemies sent a letter to a later Persian king (4:12-16), how did the king respond?
6. 6:17 With the help of Haggai and Zechaiah, Zerubabbel sent a letter to Persian King Darius. What did they ask him to do?
7. 7:1-5 Why does Ezra go to such extremes to prove his genealogy?
8. 7:11-28 In 457 B. C. Ezra led more captives from Babylon to Judea. He carried a second decree authorizing the rebuilding of the temple from Persian King Artaxerxes. What did this decree repeat?
Chapter 8 lists the families of Jews who returned with Ezra in 457 B. C. while Artaxerxes was king of Persia.
9. 8:15 Once again, which tribe did not want to return to Judea?
10. 8:22-36 How did God miraculously preserve this remnant?
11. 9 This is Ezra’s prayer. He prayed that Israel would not ______________. (Use few words.)
12. 10 What did the leaders of Judah and Benjamin do in response to Ezra’s prayer?
13. ESTHER 1:1 Who was Ahasuerus?
14. ESTHER 1:22 After Queen Vashti refused to honor her husband, what did the king’s advisers convince him to decree?
15. ESTHER 2:1-20 While Esther was preparing to be chosen as queen, how did her Uncle Mordecai help the king? (2:21-23)
16. 3:12 After Mordecai refused to reverence Haman, Haman acted with the king’s authority to plan to kill all Jews in Persia. Why could this decree not be annulled?
17. 4:11 Why was Esther afraid to speak to the king about Haman’s plans to kill all Jews?
18. 4:13-14 What did Mordecai tell Esther?
Chapter 5 is about Esther plotting to expose Haman and Haman plotting against Mordecai.
19. 6 all: List 3 ways God controlled the events of Esther, chapter 6.
20. 7:8 Why was Haman on Esther’s bed?
21. 7:8-10 Write a proverb for this event?
22. 8:8 What was Esther’s dilemma?
23. 8:17 Why did many become Jews?
24. 9:17-32 Which Jewish festival still celebrates this deliverance?
25. What name is used for God in Esther?
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ANSWERS: EZRA AND ESTHER
1. 1:1 Ezra begins in 538 B. C. with Cyrus, King of Persia, allowed Jews in Babylon to return home 70 years after the first siege and deportation in 608 B. C.
2. 1:2 Cyrus called the Jewish God “LORD, YHWH and said it was his mission to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
3. 1:3-11 Cyrus commanded the Jews who chose to remain in Persia to give gold, silver and brass. He returned the vessels of the temple by the Babylonians.
4. 3:13-14 Many cried because the new temple was so inferior and many others shouted because they had a temple for worship.
5. 4:17-24 The Persian king commanded that all building at Jerusalem stop.
6. 5:17 Zerubabbel asked Darius to research the decrees of King Cyrus who authorized the rebuilding of the temple.
7. 6:1-5 Ezra’s job was to remove those who were not true priests and wanted to prove he was legitimate.
8. 6:11-28 It repeats the decree of King Cyrus to Zerubabbel in 538 B. C.
9. 8:15 Levites, servants of the priests
10. 8:22-36 They were not attacked and robbed on their journey.
11. 9 Ezra prayed that they would not repeat the same sins which caused their exile and captivity.
12. 10 They made a covenant agreement with Ezra and put away their foreign wives. The offenders are all named.
13. ESTHER 1:1 Ahasuerus was Persian King Xerxes I (486-465 B. C.)
14. 1:22 “Every man should rule his own house.” Meaning: replace the queen for disobeying the king.
15. Esther 2:21-23 Mordecai saved the king’s life by revealing a plot to kill him.
16. 3:12 Like God’s decrees to Abraham, Israel and David, king’s decrees could not be revoked.
17. 4:11 She could die for entering the king’s presence without permission.
18. 4:13-14 She would not escape the slaughter if she kept quiet. 4:14 “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
19. 6 (1) The king chose that very night to read a ledger where Mordecai saved him from death. (2) Haman was in the courtyard to be questioned by the king.. (3) The gallows were being built for the next day.
20. 7:8 Haman was pleading with Esther for mercy.
21. 7:10 When things go wrong, they really go wrong.
22. 8:8 8 “Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.”
23. 8:17 Unable to reverse the previous decree, a new one was issued allowing Jews to protect themselves and own the property of those who attacked them. Haman was promoted and Jews became leading citizens.
24. 9:17-32 Purim is the 12th month of the religious calendar corresponding to March. It celebrates the deliverance under Esther for Jews.
25. None. No names or titles of God appear in Esther.
