Ezra

To me, Ezra tells two parts of the same story.
The first is Zerubbabel’s restoration: the homecoming of the people and priests, and the repairing of the place of worship.
The second is Ezra’s reform: the reviving of the people to worship.
In this painting, the exiles from Babylon return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the ruined temple at the command of King Cyrus. You can see Cyrus telling them to go back. At the bottom right, Ezra is shown reading the Law to the people.
The people stood in the rain and listened to Ezra’s words. They repented of their transgressions and separated themselves from their foreign wives and children. Part of the preparation for returning to the temple involved cleansing the people from these mixed marriages. I represented the women and children standing apart, emphasizing that difficult act of separation.
You can also see people from the tribes returning in the banner colors I assigned to them earlier. The priests and Levites wear purple, while the sons of the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the temple servants, and others are shown in white.
Many of the people are carrying silver, gold, holy vessels, and other treasures with them. These objects remind us that not only the people, but also the sacred things connected with worship, were being restored.
At first, the altars are rebuilt and sacrifice begins again. Then the work of restoring the temple starts, but it is interrupted when jealous enemies send a message to the king. You can even see the naughty little tattletale riding out of the Ezra picture. The work is begun and stopped more than once before it is finally completed and dedicated.
You can also see the governor of the province beyond the River and other officials preparing to send a report to Darius to verify whether the rebuilding should be allowed. Darius finds the decree of Cyrus and orders Governor Tattenai to leave them alone.
So this is not only a story of rebuilding a structure. It is also a story of restoring worship, reforming the people, and reviving obedience to God.