"We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this." In 539 BC King Cyrus of Persia captured Babylon and soon thereafter issued a proclamation freeing the Jews in Babylonian captivity to return to Judah. The first wave of exiles returned to Jerusalem and started rebuilding the temple in 536 BC and construction was completed in 516 BC. Ezra, a priest and scribe, wanted to return to Jerusalem to teach the returning exiles the commands and statutes of God (vs. 7:10). Ezra departed Babylon and arrived in Jerusalem leading a second wave of exiles in 458 BC during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia. Upon arriving in Judah, Ezra discovered that in the time since the return of the first exiles, about 60 some years, many of them were involved in the same sin as their forefathers that had caused their captivity in the first place! They intermarried with the non-Jewish inhabitants of the land and practiced idolatry. This breaking of faith was particularly egregious because it involved some of the priests and other religious leaders (vs. 9:2). Ezra began to mourn, pray, and confess the sin of Israel to God. While Ezra was praying a great assembly of people came forward and acknowledged their sin and called upon the mercy of God to forgive them. They had hope for restoration even though they had broken faith with God. In spite of your sin, you can have hope that if you will abandon your sinful ways, God in His great love and mercy will forgive you and restore you to Himself.
