are in a new and bright era of Israel’s history —the period of restoration, involving a return from captivity to the homeland of Canaan Fix in your mind the following simple outline of the context of Ezra and Nehemiah as you prepare to survey the books There would have been no restoration for Israel were it not for the grace of God The restoration was surely not deserved And before there was even a captivity, the restoration was scheduled on a prophetic timetable by a gracious God who, in the forthcoming captivity period, would be calling out of the communities of Jewish exiles in Babylon a remnant of believers whom He could bring back to the promised land With these He would perpetuate His covenanted blessings for the generations to come Read Jeremiah’s earlier prophecies about captivity and return in Jeremiah 25:11-14 and 29:10-14 Spend time acquainting yourself with the following historical antecedents of these books Some of this material will be review of things studied earlier a) The Two Captivities The word “restoration,” as applied to Ezra’s day, refers to the return of God’s people to Canaan from captivity That captivity took place in two stages, which are known as the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities See Chart 56 1) Assyrian Captivity (fall of Samaria, 722 B.C., recorded in Kings 17) Most of the people and rulers of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were deported to Assyria and scattered among the inhabitants there (Locate Assyria o n Map O ) The Zondervan Pictorial Bible ... (fall of Samaria, 722 B.C., recorded in Kings 17) Most of the people and rulers of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were deported to Assyria and scattered among the inhabitants there... acquainting yourself with the following historical antecedents of these books Some of this material will be review of things studied earlier a) The Two Captivities The word “restoration,” as... “restoration,” as applied to Ezra’s day, refers to the return of God’s people to Canaan from captivity That captivity took place in two stages, which are known as the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities