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Pasa Graphe' Theopneustos Kai Ophelimos (Greek) is one of the most often-repeated passages from the Scriptures, ie, the Bible. The passage appears in the heading of our Facebook page. But what does it say to us in our various tongues? Well, for those of us who speak English, this passage is a bold testimony from the pen of one Paul, a first-century scholar from the Isrealite tribe of Benjamin. It is also a statement steeped in the thelogy of the Biblical narratives. So, Paul wrote to a young ethnic Jew named Timotheus: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable......"
At the time Paul wrote those words, there was not yet a codex known as the "New Testament." The scrolls of papyrus on which were written the Scriptures are what we call today the "Old Testament." In its immediate and limited interpretation, Paul is saying that the messages in the Old Testament are inspired by God. That being so, who is the man who would say that the record of the flood in Noah's day was simply an allegory, and not an historical account?

Ezra

About 600 years before the time of Christ, the Jews were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. Thousands of Jews were forced to leave their homeland in Palestine. For about 70 years, they lived as captives to the Babylonians and then the Persians.

The book of Ezra opens with a reference to Cyrus, king of Persia. King Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return to their homeland to rebuild their religious institutions.

The book of Ezra covers the ministry of two men—Zerubbabel and Ezra. Most of the Jews remained in Persia, but Zerubbabel was successful in leading about 50,000 Jews back to Jerusalem. Ezra arrived 16 years later, only to find that his people had committed a terrible sin. Many of the leading men had married women who didn't believe in God. The result was religious confusion, preventing Israel from bearing an effective witness to the world.

The book of Ezra ends on a positive note, as the people confessed their sins to God and took steps to remove the foreign gods from Jerusalem.