Ezra, the King’s Trusted Friend

About seventy years after the first exiles returned, Artaxerxes Longimanus came to the throne of Medo-Persia. Ezra and Nehemiah lived and worked during his reign. In 457 b.c. he issued the third decree for Jerusalem’s restoration. He often showed favor to God’s people during his long rule, and in his trusted Jewish friends, Ezra and Nehemiah, he recognized men whom God had appointed.RR 214.1

Ezra, living among the Jews who remained in Babylon, attracted the favorable notice of King Artaxerxes. He talked freely with the king about the power of God and the divine purpose in restoring the Jews to Jerusalem.RR 214.2

Ezra had received priestly training and had also become familiar with the writings of the Medo-Persian realm’s wise men. But he was not satisfied with his spiritual condition. He longed to be in full harmony with God. And so he “prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it.” Ezra 7:10. This led him to search the books of the Bible to learn why the Lord had permitted Jerusalem to be destroyed and His people taken captive to a heathen land.RR 214.3