The Long Awaited Signal: This passage launches the first of the three missions narrated in Ezra-Nehemiah. The other two missions will focus on individual leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, and their God-given work within the restored community. This mission, announced here and carried out in 1:5–6:22, involves restoring the Judeans to their own territory and rebuilding the temple for the worship of God. Throughout the story, the actual return of the people is subordinate to their task of building the sanctuary. Their return is a means of achieving the rebuilding. To be the people of God means to be dedicated to the adoration of God, as a worshiping community. The perspective is that of the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, where the goal of the exodus and of the initial occupation of the land is to bri…