Study Desk

Years ago the Lord sent Jeremiah with a message about a promise for the people of Israel. Then in the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord kept his promise by having Cyrus send this official message to all parts of his kingdom:

I am King Cyrus of Persia. The Lord God of heaven, who is also the God of Israel, has made me the ruler of all nations on earth. And he has chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The Lord God will watch over and encourage any of his people who want to go back to Jerusalem and help build the temple.

Everyone else must provide what is needed. They must give money, supplies, and animals, as well as gifts for rebuilding God's temple.

The others helped by giving silver articles, gold, personal possessions, cattle, and other valuable gifts, as well as offerings for the temple.

They gave all they could, and it came to a total of 1,030 pounds of gold, 5,740 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.

The people followed the rules for celebrating the Festival of Shelters and offered the proper sacrifices each day.

King Cyrus of Persia had said the Israelites could have cedar trees brought from Lebanon to Joppa by sea. So they sent grain, wine, and olive oil to the cities of Tyre and Sidon as payment for these trees, and they gave money to the stoneworkers and carpenters.

They praised the Lord and gave thanks as they took turns singing: "The Lord is good! His faithful love for Israel will last forever." Everyone started shouting and praising the Lord because work on the foundation of the temple had begun.

But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, "You cannot take part in building a temple for the Lord our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."

Later, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their advisors got together and wrote a letter to Artaxerxes when he was king of Persia. It was written in Aramaic and had to be translated. A letter was also written to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem by Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors, including the judges, the governors, the officials, and the local leaders. They were joined in writing this letter by people from Erech and Babylonia, the Elamites from Susa, and people from other foreign nations that the great and famous Ashurbanipal had forced to settle in Samaria and other parts of Western Province. This letter said: Your Majesty King Artaxerxes, we are your servants from everywhere in Western Province, and we send you our greetings. You should know that the Jews who left your country have moved back to Jerusalem and are now rebuilding that terrible city. In fact, they have almost finished rebuilding the walls and repairing the foundations. You should also know that if the walls are completed and the city is rebuilt, the Jews won't pay any kind of taxes, and there will be less money in your treasury. We are telling you this, because you have done so much for us, and we want everyone to respect you. If you look up the official records of your ancestors, you will find that Jerusalem has constantly rebelled and has led others to rebel against kings and provinces. That's why the city was destroyed in the first place. If Jerusalem is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will no longer have control over Western Province. King Artaxerxes answered: Greetings to Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and to your advisors in Samaria and other parts of Western Province. After your letter was translated and read to me, I had the old records checked. It is true that for years Jerusalem has rebelled and caused trouble for other kings and nations. And powerful kings have ruled Western Province from Jerusalem and have collected all kinds of taxes. I want you to command the people to stop rebuilding the city until I give further notice. Do this right now, so that no harm will come to the kingdom. As soon as this letter was read, Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors went to Jerusalem and forced everyone to stop rebuilding the city. The Jews were forced to stop work on the temple and were not able to do any more building until the year after Darius became king of Persia.

We are telling you this, because you have done so much for us, and we want everyone to respect you.

I had the old records checked. It is true that for years Jerusalem has rebelled and caused trouble for other kings and nations.

We also asked for the names of their leaders, so that we could write them down for you.

took its gold and silver articles, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon. They also said that during the first year Cyrus was king of Babylonia, he gave orders for God's temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem where it had stood before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar governor of Judah and sent these gold and silver articles for him to put in the temple.

Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.

with one row of wooden beams for each three rows of large stones. The royal treasury will pay for everything.

I want them to be able to offer pleasing sacrifices to God and to pray for me and my family.

One hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs were offered as sacrifices at the dedication. Also twelve goats were sacrificed as sin offerings for the twelve tribes of Israel.

The priests and Levites had gone through a ceremony to make themselves acceptable to lead in worship. Then some of them killed Passover lambs for those who had returned, including the other priests and themselves.

For seven days they celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread. Everyone was happy because the Lord God of Israel had made sure that the king of Assyria would be kind to them and help them build the temple.