We shall begin the study of the book of Ezra of the Old
Testament this week.
Preface to the Book of Ezra
Ezra and Nehemiah originally existed as one book with Ezra considered as the author of both books plus 1 & 2 Chronicles. In fact, the last two verses of the last chapter of 2 Chronicles are identical to the opening verses of the book of Ezra. Origen (3rd century A.D.) was the first to divide Ezra-Nehemiah into two books. Like the book of Daniel, part of Ezra was written in Aramaic: 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26. It is worth noting that the (Hebrew) Masoretic notes of Ezra-Nehemiah were placed only at the end of the Nehemiah section, proving that the Masoretes regarded Ezra-Nehemiah as one book.
The
Scriptures record three groups of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem. They came at various times:
(1) Around 538 B.C. under the leadership of Jeshua, the high priest and Zerubbabel, the governor over the region (the Babylonian empire fell into the hands of Cyrus, the Persian, in 539 B.C.);
(2) Around 458 B.C. with Ezra
a. Cyrus died in 529 B.C. and was succeeded by
b. Cambyses who died in 522 B.C. and was succeeded by
c. Darius in 519 B.C. during whose reign the edict of Cyrus for the rebuilding of Jerusalem temple was rediscovered and honored. He was succeeded by
d. Xerxes who reigned from 486-465 B.C.—the long reign and which served as the background to the story of Esther; and he was followed by
e. Artaxerxes who reigned from 465-424 B.C.
(3) Around 445 B.C. accompanying Nehemiah (still under the reign of Artaxerxes).
When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., he carried many Jews into exile to Babylon, leaving behind only the poorest of the poor. Archeological findings have confirmed the utter destruction in the land of Judah. Many of the remaining Jews later fled to Egypt.
The book of Ezra begins with the miraculous call by Cyrus to the Jews in Babylon to return to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. A great number of Jews chose to remain in Babylon, presumably because they had become prosperous and were satisfied with their alien status as they enjoyed freedom and success in business. Archaeology tells us that more than a century later, the Murashu family among these exiles started the first banking-house in human history.
(1) As we read the miraculous order of a foreign king to accomplish the will of God for His people, let’s take a look at the precise prophecies of Isaiah who prophesied well before the fall of Jerusalem and the rise of Cyrus. See Isaiah 44:28–45:13.
(2) Suppose that you were Cyrus, upon your conquering of Babylon and coming into contact with the Jews in exile, especially with Daniel who would still be alive at Cyrus’ conquest (See Dan. 6:1).
a. What chance would there be that Daniel and others would read to you the prophetic words of Isaiah?
b. How would you have reacted to the reading of your name prophesied at least 150 years before your birth?
(3) Besides the prophecies of Isaiah, there is the prophecy of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:10:
a. How did Daniel take the prophecy of Jeremiah? (See Dan. 9:1-3)
b. What did he do about it?
c. According to Ezra 1:1, how did God cause His prophetic promise to come to pass?
(4) What is the most spectacular part of this event to you?
(5) How then should you look at the current history of the world? (Read Prov. 21:1 as well.)
(6) Read this royal decree in detail and consider the following:
a. What did Cyrus call the LORD (i.e. Yahweh), the God of Israel?
b. How did he see his role (and mission) as in the hand of the LORD ?
c. What would be the specific mission of these Jews who would return to Jerusalem?
d. How would this project be funded?
(7) The Persians, no doubt, had their own gods:
a. Why then would Cyrus give credit to the LORD (i.e. Yahweh) for his success?
b. What might be the political impact on his own people, especially the priests who served at the temples of their gods in Persia?
(8) Suppose that you were one of the Jews in exile in Babylon:
a. What would be your reaction to the hearing of this decree?
b. Would you, therefore, jump at the first opportunity to return to Jerusalem?
- What would be the reasons for you to return?
- What might be the reason that you would hesitate to return? (Remember that it has been 70 years since your exile and that you have listened to the exhortation of Jeremiah in Jer. 29:4-7.)
(9) Pause and reflect on the main message to you today. How may you apply it to your life?
“The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Prov. 21:1)
The Book of Ezra opens with one of the most amazing accounts in the Bible: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:”
It is amazing because:
1. Cyrus, a gentile king, a Persian to be exact, had great ambitions and expanded his power bit by bit: First he gained control over the Indo-Arian Medes and this combination of the Persians and the Medes became a formidable force; then he invaded Asia Minor all the way to India; and finally he took over the powerful Babylonians. But God controls even the heart of such a powerful, gentile king and “turns it wherever He wishes” to accomplish His plan (Prov. 21:1);
2. But this gentile king not only complied with the will of God ungrudgingly, but he even acknowledged that it was this Yahweh, who is not just the God of Israel but also the God of heaven, who had given him his kingdom—what a humble admission; and
3. He also understood that the giving of the kingdom carried with it a purpose and that was to appoint him “to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem" (Ezr. 1:2).
It is perhaps not too far-fetched to assume that since Daniel was eventually elevated to a high position in this new Persian kingdom (Dan. 6), he or other Jewish leaders would have the opportunity to inform Cyrus that his name and his rise to power had already been prophesied at least 150 years or more before him by the prophet Isaiah (44:28-45:13). But one has to admire not only the humility of Cyrus, but his courage too, because such a declaration of his gratitude to Yahweh and the decree to re-build His temple would have cost him potentially dearly politically because it would definitely not have sat well with the Persian priests who were very powerful political figures in those days.
Many of the kings in Israel past paled in light of the obedience exemplified by Cyrus. But it also shows that, in spite of the failure of His people which had led to the destruction even of God’s temple, our God is still in absolute control—He is indeed not only the faithful God of Israel who honored the promised return of His people exactly seventy years after their exile (Jer. 29:10), but He is the God of human history too.
As He had steered the heart of Cyrus to accomplish His plan for the people of Israel, He will direct the hearts of kings and rulers to bring about the consummation of His plan of salvation for the entire human race and the defeat of Satan with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ one day.
Note:
“These seventy years commenced with the first taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when Daniel and other youths of the seed-royal were carried to Babylon (Dan. 1:1, 2) in the fourth year of King Jehoaikim…This year was the year 606 B.C.; hence the seventy years terminate in 536 B.C., the year of the sole rule of Cyrus over the Babylonian empire.” (K&D, Ezra, 14)
(1) Can you recap how incredible and significant was the moving of the heart of a foreign king to fulfill the promise of God to His people?
(2) From the list of returnees in chapter two, we understand that not too many of the exiles had chosen to respond to the call of the king to return to Jerusalem. Accordingly to v. 5, who were the ones who were prepared to go up and build the temple of the Lord?
(3) What lesson can we learn in trying to have people participate in the work of the Lord?
(4) “All their neighbors” presumably refer to those Israelites who have decided not to return to Jerusalem:
a. What did they do in lieu of going back themselves?
b. Do you think they were doing the “next best” thing under the circumstances?
c. Did they get the “best” of blessings as a result? What would they have missed?
(5) What is the significance of having the articles of the temple returned to the house of God?
(6) The list of people who returned to Jerusalem might be a bit boring to read, but do try to read it slowly:
a. How many priests went back to Jerusalem?
b. How many Levites (i.e. assistants to the priests), including singers, gate keepers and temple servants went back to Jerusalem?
c. There were those who could not prove their Jewish genealogy (including some priests) in vv. 59-62. How would they feel and why would they return, given the possibility of not being allotted any land back in Jerusalem, and in the case of priests, not being allowed to share in the sacrifices (v. 63)?
d. What is the total number of the “whole company” who returned to Jerusalem?
(7) Although
v. 68 said they arrived at “the house of the Lord”, it really meant the ruin of
the original site of the temple. Try to imagine the feelings of the following people:
a. The returnees upon seeing the poverty and ruins of their former homeland. (What might have the freewill offerings of the family heads of about 1,100 lbs. of gold and literally tons of silver meant to the morale of the people?)
b. The poorest of the poor among the Jews who had stayed behind.
c. The neighboring Gentiles upon seeing the return of some 40,000 Jews.
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.” (Ezr. 1:5)
The next chapter of Ezra took a detailed inventory of the people who had responded to the call of the king and followed the movement of the hand of God by moving back to Jerusalem. One would assume that the majority of the Jews would be so overjoyed that they would not have had to think twice but would move back to Jerusalem immediately—after all they had been exiled for 70 years already; and they had been lamenting their plight with words like, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land. If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill” (Ps. 137:4-5). Now, miraculously, God has moved the heart of this foreign king who not only allowed them to return, but also provided assistance for them. And yet, only 30,000 to 40,000 Jews returned; it was definitely a very small portion of the exiles according to the opinion of virtually all commentators. One wonders why?
However, if you are like me, an immigrant, or like many others who are 3rd or even 4th generation immigrants, you might understand the dilemma faced by these exiles. After 70 years of exile, if you are in your 40’s or 50’s, you would be a BBJ (Babylonian born Jew) and your children would be 3rd generation BBJ. In other words, you and your family would have been quite Babylonianized; you would have established your career or business (in fact, within the next 100 years, one of the exile-families, the Murashu family started the first banking-house in human history); you have nothing left in your former homeland which had deteriorated into one of the poorest region in the world. In other words, Babylon was home to them. To return to Jerusalem would mean having to uproot the entire family; to lose virtually all you had fought and worked so hard for; to risk your life and that of your family’s to embark on a journey that could be more dangerous than that of the “boat people” of our time; to face fierce political and potentially violent opposition from those who had already occupied Jerusalem or its vicinity; and to start all over again in that poverty-stricken land.
Who would in their right mind go? Indeed, only a small fraction did decide to go. But they were not out of their mind for they were people “whose heart God has moved” (Ezr. 1:5):
- Not that they had not talked among themselves, especially with their families;
- Not that they had not considered all the pros and cons;
- Not that they had not taken a hard look at reality—the sacrifices, the dangers and the impossibility of the task;
- But ultimately, it was their sense of calling—that burden that was laid in their heart by God that would not go away:
- That desire to serve God;
- That love for the temple of the Lord;
- That sense of brotherhood; and
- The pride of being God’s people!
All these combined together to move this small fraction of the people to step out of their comfort zone and make the most drastic change in life for God. Simply put, they now became men and women with a mission!
What about you? Are you a man or woman with a mission for God?
(1) The returnees spent the first six months of their return in settling in their towns. What might they be doing to “settle in”? Did you have a similar experience in your life?
(2) But once settled, what did they come together to do?
(3) How important was the building of an altar to God? What did this altar enable them to do according to vv. 2-6?
(4) As we understand from the rest of the book of Ezra, the fear of their neighbors was real. How did the offering of morning and evening sacrifices help them in the midst of their fear?
(5) What might be more important: The laying of the foundation of the temple or the building of an altar? Why?
(6) What can we learn from these returnees in this respect?
(7) Perhaps the first six months of settling in was also important for the re-establishment of a local (provincial) government and for its smooth operation too. Once that was achieved, the people now turned their full attention to the rebuilding of the temple—the original intent of the decree by king Cyrus: Do you think without the king’s decree, the people of Sidon and Tyre would send them cedar for the building of the temple? Why or why not?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The list of the men of the people of Israel: the descendants…” (Ezr. 2:2-3)
Chapter two of Ezra gives us a detailed list of the people by descent who had returned to Jerusalem. It is understandable that most of them were from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin because those who were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar were of the two tribes, plus the Levites. The reason for the supply of such a detailed list has been a debate among scholars for a long, long time, and some of the arguments given include the giving of legitimacy to the new resident in contrast to the Samaritans; the restoration of land rights and the compilation for tax purposes.
I believe all these suggestions are valid, because an official list for all of the above reasons was needed for such practical purposes, but for Ezra to include it in his book carries its spiritual significance, as would all material in the books in the Canon do. Perhaps its spiritual significance lies not necessarily in its details but in the sum total of the list in that it reflects only a small minority of God’s people who had made themselves available to accomplish the extremely important but difficult task of the rebuilding of God’s temple and the city of Jerusalem. The recording of the Levites, the priests, the temple singers and the temple servants, though small in number, highlights what is the most important in the life of the nation—the worship of Yahweh without which they cease to be a people of God.
I find this to be an important message for us today as well, as many of us focus on the various ministries and activities of the church and hold them to be of utmost importance. In fact, many church-hoppers shop around for the church that offers ministries and activities that most meet their needs and that of their families, forgetting that it is not the size of the church or the vibrancy of the activities and ministries that are the most important to the life of the church. It is its worship without which it ceases to be a church.
(1) Why did they only assign Levites to the supervision of the building of the temple while the masons and carpenters might not even be Israelites (See Ezr. 3:7 and 1 Chr. 22:2; 2 Chr. 2:7)? What might be the principle behind it?
(2) We all understand how important the laying of the foundation to a building is:
a. In this case, what do you think is the real foundation to the laying of this temple?
b. The temple of God in the New Testament is the body of Christ: What is its foundation according to Ephesians 2:20?
c. What insight does Ephesians 2:20 shed on your answer to a. above?
(3) Ezra spells out the exact words from the Psalms that they sang in this foundation-laying ceremony:
a. What are the words being sung?
b. How meaningful are they to this particular occasion?
(4) Why did some of the older priests and Levites weep? Would you do the same, under the circumstances?
(5) It must have been quite an emotional scene, with shouts of joy mixed with the sound of weeping:
a. Have you ever had a similar experience before?
b. Upon the return of the Lord, do you think that apart from shouts of praise and joy, there would be weeping as well? Why or why not?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.” (Ezr. 3:3)
It is understandable that upon the return to Jerusalem, the people of God spent the first six months to settle down in their towns: The allotting of their land would have taken some time. The renovation of their dilapidated houses, the replanting of their vineyards, the digging of wells, etc. would have taken a least six months, not to mention the need to re-establish a functioning local government. It should be quite surprising that it only took them six months and they immediately turned their attention to the rebuilding of the temple.
To a certain extent, it affirms that they were really men and women with a mission—they had come back with a clear vision of rebuilding the house of the Lord as their hearts were moved by the Lord.
However, it is worth-noting that they did not begin the rebuilding work with the laying of the foundation of the temple, but with the erection of an altar. In other words:
- They understood that such a work of rebuilding could not be accomplished by themselves; they expressed their total dependency on the Lord by erecting the altar of sacrifices first.
- They also realized that they had sinned against the Lord, and as much as they might have confessed their sins (the ones which had led to the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple and the nation), it was the first time in the last 70+ years that they were able to offer any atoning sacrifices in Jerusalem—a sign of corporate and individual repentance and reconciliation to the Lord.
- They also knew that the rebuilding of the temple was a spiritual battle and out of fear of their neighbors, they needed to find strength in the Lord and to depend on Him.
I find that most Christians also understand these important principles when it comes to the rebuilding of the work of the Lord and especially of His church, but our prayer meetings are mostly very low in attendance. They are rarely marked by a sense of genuine and contrite repentance with fervent expressions of utter dependency on the Lord, which should be the mark of a spiritual battle.
(1) Do you think the enemies of Judah and Benjamin were sincere in their offer to help rebuild the temple of the Lord? Why or why not?
(2) What was the basis of their offer? (see 2 Ki. 17:24-29)
(3) What was the reply of the leaders of the Jews and what reason did they give? Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
(4) These enemies set out to discourage the Jews:
a. What tactic did they use?
b. What might they have done to the point that the people were “afraid to go on building” the temple?
(5) The words “to discourage” literally mean “weakening the hands” of the people of Judah (Fensham):
a. In your experience in serving or following the Lord, what might be the reasons that could weaken your hands or discourage your heart?
b. What might be the most destructive?
c. How can we best counteract such a weakening of hands or discouragement of hearts?
(6) The opposition began presumably from shortly after the laying of the foundation all the way to the reign of Darius. Look up the years mentioned in the “preface” of this week’s devotional guide, and see how long a period it was.
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“You have no part with us in building a temple to our God.” (Ezr. 4:3)
As the people of God began the rebuilding of the temple, they had received what appeared to be a friendly offer by their neighbors to help build the temple. This was what they said to the Israelites:
“Let us help you build because like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” (Ezr. 4:2)
Now, if they were sincere and they were really worshippers of Yahweh, I would find it hard to sympathize with the Israelites, and would even consider their rejection of the help of their neighbors arrogant and discriminatory. However the Bible calls these neighbors, “the enemies of Judah”, not without reasons.
It is what 2 Kings 17:24-29 tells about their so-called seeking the God of Israel:
“The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon…and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so He sent lions among them and they killed some of the people…Then the king of Assyria…(sent) one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places.”
In other words, they were not true worshippers of the Lord. The acceptance of their help would only make the house of God unclean, and worse, would eventually seduce the Israelites to follow their gods—a sin that these post-exilic Jews appeared to have utterly repented from.
The Apostle Paul is indeed right when he warns us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Co. 6:14). It is particularly true when it comes to serving in the house of the Lord.
It is important to distinguish the two events—the building of the temple of Jerusalem and the building of the city of Jerusalem. Ezra somehow inserted the event of 4:6-23 parenthetically regarding the stalling of the building of the city in the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (486 B.C.) perhaps to give just an example of the kind of political maneuver used by the enemies of God’s people, and in this case, the beginning of their maneuver in 486 B.C. which eventually consummated into a formal complaint after 465 B.C. That’s how persistent the opposition was. (Note also that 4:8–6:18 is all written in Aramaic, not Hebrew):
(1) The chief writer of the complaint was Rehum, the commanding officer of the Trans-Euphrates which means the region west of the Euphrates including Palestine:
a. Who were the people he included as co-writers of the letter?
b. What do you think happened that the enemies of the Jews could, after some 15 years, come up with such powerful allies to go against the people of God?
c. Can you think of some parallels today of political maneuvers that target the church of the Lord?
(2) The letter described the people of God as rebellious and wicked:
a. Was there any truth to this accusation?
b. What do the opponents of Christians accuse us of these days?
(3) What kinds of potential threat or harm would the restoration of the walls of the city pose to the Persian Empire?
(4) What kinds of threat or harm against the society do the opponents of Christian allege against us today?
(5) In the king’s reply, what did the historical record prove? In what aspects was it correct? In what aspects was it incorrect?
(6) Ultimately, what might be the real reason of the king’s edict?
(7) In the attacks against Christians these days, we are often painted as bigots and are accused of being intolerant, taking away people’s right to choose, and imposing our moral values on the society. How should we answer to these accusations?
(8) What did the enemies do immediately based on the king’s edict?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezr. 4:5)
The story of the opposition to the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra 4 by the gentile neighbors has such a contemporary ring to it that I cannot help but relate it to what is happening to Christians in North America.
These Gentile neighbors were so afraid of the Jews who returned from exile that they “set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building [the temple]” (Ezr. 4:4). While Ezra did not explain what they did to make the people of Judah afraid, it was obvious that the least they had done was to use some kind of harassment tactic to intimidate them. And when it did not work, they took legal actions against them. But their legal allegations were very distorted.
- First they blurred the actual issue: They understood very well that the main goal of the people of Israel was to rebuild the temple for God—a purely religious goal, not harmful or relevant to anyone outside of the Jewish community. However, they turned it into a political and economic issue, meaning they resorted to playing politics.
- In playing politics they used lobbying: the counselors they hired were government officials and as Ezra said, they used bribes to have them get behind them.
- They also used the potential loss of revenue as their trump card.
- They made the accusation that Israel would be strong enough to rebel and take over the entire Trans-Euphrates, something that not even David and Solomon could do in their prime.
- Finally, backed by the royal decree, they immediately used force and violence to achieve their end (4:23).
Whether it is the issue of abortion or gay marriage, we have seen similar tactics being used against Christians who openly disagree with the pro-choice and pro-gay movements. Harassments and legal actions have already been taken seeking to silence of the voice of Christians. The branding of Christians who oppose same-sex marriage as bigots is not news any more.
The continued tactic to discourage the granting of new licenses to churches in many North American cities has much to do with the potential loss of tax revenue by the cities.
The tragedy is that all the opposition is taken against us who genuinely love them and desire nothing but the well-being of their body, soul and spirit; and ultimately, they are not persecuting us, but as the Lord reminds Saul on the road to Damascus, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4).
(1) Take a look at Haggai 1:1-6.
a. What kind of a spiritual condition was being painted by Haggai?
b. Can you blame the Israelites? Why or why not?
c. Is there a parallel to Christians, including yourself, today?
(2) What impact did the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah have on the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem according to Ezra 5:2?
(3) What kind of risk were they taking in obeying the words of the Lord?
(4) Was the opposition by the governor and the rulers of their region unexpected? How did they deal with it?
(5) Read the contents of the letter sent by the governor and his associates to Darius:
a. Was the letter about the rebuilding of the city or the temple?
b. What did the reply of the Jews, given in vv. 11-12, show?
c. How different was this letter from the one we read in chapter 4?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.” (Ezr. 5:1)
In our reading of the books of the Prophets or even in studying the Old Testament history, we tend to focus on certain individuals who were most instrumental in the accomplishing of the plan of God for their respective eras. In the time of Exodus, we tend to focus on Moses; in the time of the occupation of the Promised Land, we zero in on Joshua; in the glorious days of the United Kingdom, we would study with delight the life of David; and during the Divided Kingdom eras, we focus on individual great prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. We seldom relate the influence of one ministry on another. Not so with the time of the rebuilding of the temple of God in the post-exilic era. The names of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah, were mentioned as serving at the same period of time, painting a wonderful picture of joint ministry that God uses to minister to His people. What a beautiful picture.
We understand that the traditional view is that Ezra returned from Babylon in 458 B.C. during the time of king Artaxerxes as a well-versed teacher of the Law of Moses; Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in 445 B.C. with royal support to rebuild the wall of the city and to restore the cultic activities which had fallen into disuse, presumably after the departure of Ezra; but before the arrival of Ezra and Nehemiah, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were there to teach and warn the people to finish the work of rebuilding the temple.
So, God used successive prophets and teachers to ensure that the entire work of the rebuilding of the temple and the city of Jerusalem would be finished. It was not the lonely voice of any one prophet or servant of the Lord that contributed to the success of this important ministry.
However we
should not overlook the intercessory ministry of Daniel in this respect. Towards the end of his ministry, in the first
year of Darius (about 520/519 B.C.) when the work of rebuilding the temple was
still being stalled because of opposition, Daniel was reading the Book of
Jeremiah and saw the unfulfilled prophecy and interceded on behalf of God’s
people (Dan. 9). As we know, the work of
the rebuilding would resume in the 2nd year of Darius and was
completed in 516 B.C.
As God reminded Elijah that He had “reserved 7,000 in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal” (1 Ki. 19:18), we who might feel lonely and alone at times in the service of the Lord should always remember that God is not just using us alone to accomplish His work. There are those who are more visible, and there are those who are behind the scene on their knees, and together, they will bring about the completion of the plan of God.