Ezra is usually a book that gets skipped over. You see it briefly as you’re turning to the Psalms, or it serves as a sign that you’ve gone too far in your search for stories about King David. But Ezra has some great lessons for teachers and their students. You can even consider yourself a modern-day Ezra!
Ezra’s Job
Ezra was a priest living in Babylon during the time of the exiles’ return to Israel. King Cyrus had given them permission to return to Jerusalem, but things were going badly. The Jews faced massive obstacles when trying to rebuild Jerusalem. But, more seriously, they had forgotten how to be God’s people! After disregarding his laws for so long, they found it hard to live God’s way. That’s where Ezra came in! He had a wonderful knowledge of God’s law, so the king sent Ezra to teach the people and make of the rag-tag bunch of exiles, a holy nation once again. Ezra preached the law seriously to the people at first to bring them to repentance, but they were receptive. Under his guidance, Israel began to take seriously their true identity once again. Like Ezra, we are called to teach God’s Word to his people in our classrooms.
Lessons for Ezra of the Bible
Enjoy a fascinating study on the book of Ezra with your middle school students using these awesome sketch notes! Your students will read through Ezra and several other books of the Bible learning about God’s forgiveness and restoration in the face of his people’s unfaithfulness.
If you are looking for more ready-to-use resources for your students, check them out in my store.
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Finally, looking for more related articles from other authors? Check out:
Bible Stories for Kids: The Powerful Bible Story of Ezra and Nehemiah
