The Beauty of the Writings of the Prophet Esdras

Perhaps there are none of the writings of the ancient prophets that are more accurate, and distinct in pointing out future events, than the writings of the prophet Esdras., which are found among the apocryphal writings of the Old Testament. Some of his writings upon the works of God in his own day, are also very plain and precise,. Therefore, we opine that a few extracts from them, will be interesting to our readers. The idea that the writings of Esdras are genuine, as far as the historical matter is concerned, is not so much disputed, as the idea of their being written by the inspiration [inspiration] of God. We suppose that the principle objection to them, is that they are written in a different language from the other writings of the Jewish prophets. And tradition or supposition seemed to infuse the idea, that the Hebrew language was a sign that the writings of the prophets were written by inspiration; therefore, because the writings of Esdras were not written in this language, the compilers rejected them as not being inspired writings.

We have reasons for believing that Ezra, whose writings are acknowledged to be pure, and Esdras are the same person, or that the two names are synonymous. The difference in the name, no doubt, arose from the different languages from which it was translated. Names that end with h in the Old Testament, which were translated from the Hebrew, end with s in the New, which were translated from the Greek: for instance, Isaiah, and Jeremiah in the Old Testament, are Esais and Jeremias in the new. And the following shows not only that the writings of Esdras in the Apocrypha, were written in a different language from those of Ezra: but that they are the productions of the same man, and that the difference in the name, arose from the different languages it was translated from.

First, it is said in the vii chapter of Ezra, from the 1st to the 5th verse: "Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the sons of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest."

Second, it is said in the first chapter of the second book of Esdras, from the 1st to the 3rd verse: "The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helchias, the son of Sadamias, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob, the son of Achias, the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the son of Amarias, the son of Aziei, the son of Marmoth, the son of Arna, the son of Ozias, the son of Borith, the son of Abisei, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi." It seems as though no one could read the above, without being convinced that the Book of Ezra, and the first and second Books of Esdras are the productions of the same man. But to hasten.

Esdras says, in his second Book, ii chapter, from the 34th verse to the end of the chapter: "And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen,

that hear and understand, look for your shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world. Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore. Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory; I testify my Savior openly. O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath called you, to the heavenly kingdom. Rise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord; which are departed from the shadow of the world, and have received glorious garments of the Lord. Take thy number O Sion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord. The number of thy children whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed. I Esdras saw upon the Mount Sion a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs. And in the midst of them there was young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled [marveled] at greatly. So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what are these?-He answered and said unto me, these be, they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms. Then said I unto the angel, what young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands? So he answered and said unto me, it is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord. Then the angel said unto me, go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy god thou hast seen."-The above is certainly a plain and excellent description of the happy day when the Saints shall be raised from their tombs, and stand upon Mount Zion, and be crowned by Jesus as kings and priests to reign with him. It perfectly harmonizes with the predictions of other prophets upon this subject, which we have noticed in the former part of this work.

It has ever been a matter of dispute, what the fate of the ten tribes of Israel was, who were carried away captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, which is mentioned in the xviii chapter of 2 Kings; but the following gives us some farther particulars concerning them. "Behold, the days come, when the Most High will begin to deliver them that are upon the earth. And he shall come to the astonishment of them that dwell on the earth. And one shall undertake to fight against another, one city against another one place against another, one people against another, and one realm against another. And the time shall be when these things shall happen which I showed thee before, and then shall my Son be declared, whom thou sawest as a man ascending. And when all the people hear his voice, every man shall in their own land leave the battle they have one against another. And an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as thou sawest them, willing to come, and to overcome him by fighling [fighting]. But he shall stand upon the top of the Mount Sion. And Sion shall come, and shall be showed to all men, being prepared and builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without hands. And this my Son shall rebuke the wicked inventions of those nations, which for their wicked life are fallen into the tempest; and shall lay before them their evil thoughts, and the torments wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which are like unto a flame: and he shall destroy them without labor by the law which is like unto fire. And whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him; those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Shalmaneser the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land.-But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the Most High then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is callsd [called] Arsareth.-Then dwelt they there until the latter time; and now when they shall begin to come, the Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, that they may go through: therefore sawest thou the multitude with peace. But those that be left behind of thy people, are they that are found within my borders. Now when he destroys the multitude of the nations that are gathered together, he shall defend his people that remain.-And then he shall show them great wonders."-2 Esdras, xiii. 29-50. The above is a description of the coming of Christ, and the manner that the tribes of

Israel shall be blessed. It also informs us that the ten tribes shall return, at or before the time the Messiah shall stand upon Mount Zion. It says, that they went into a far country where never man dwelt, which was a year and a half's journey from the land of Assyria. Some suppose that the land here described is America; but we have before proved that the Aborigines of this land are descendants of the tribe of Joseph; and, that this is a promised land to the tribe of Joseph; therefore, the ten tribes are not upon this land. The exact place of their location, we do not pretend to have a knowledge of. The prophets speaking of their return say, that they shall come from the North counties. (See Jer. xvi. 15. Do. xxxi. 8.)

Esdras in the xiv chapter of his second Book, says that the law was burnt, and that the Lord inspired him so that he dictated, that his scribes wrote it again. He says that they wrote two hundred and four books. It is evident from this that there has a been a great destruction or hiding of the sacred writings: for we have not half of that number of books, written at so early a period. The most of historians admit, that Ezra or Esdras, compiled the most of the Old Testament writings, which agrees with what is said in the above mentioned chapter.

There are also many other things in the writings of Esdras that are interesting, and well worth a candid perusal. In the xvi chapter of his second Book he gives a full description of the calamity that will come upon the inhabitants of the earth in the last days, and also the manner that the people of God shall be treated;-we advise all to read it, and then judge its merits.