Week 23 Day 6
The 3 R's for the exiles were
re-group
re-build
re-commit.
The exile was a seventy-year period
Near the end of that time
some of the Israelites were allowed
to go back to Jerusalem
and rebuild their city
Some of the older people
remembered Jerusalem
and the original temple
built by Solomon
But most of the people
would have been born
during the exile
and knew about Jerusalem
only from the experience
and stories of others.
God provided
for the needs of the people
but the people had to provide
the willingness to uproot
and return to their homeland
the hard labor
the courage to live again
in the midst of strangers
where their safety
was not ensured
They needed to believe
that they could succeed
and live once more
in the land of their sacred history.
REBUILDING THE TEMPLE
The returning exiles did not come home empty-handed.
Ezra 1, 2 & 3
1The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so
that he made a proclamation, saying,
2All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven
has given me, and He has commanded me to build Him
a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3Who is among
you of all His people? Let him go up to Jerusalem, and
build the house of the Lord God of Israel. 4Whoever is
left in any place, let him help with silver and gold, with
goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for
the house of God in Jerusalem.
5The heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin,
and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had
moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord in
Jerusalem. 6All those who were around them encouraged
them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock,
and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.
7King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of
the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem
and put in the temple of his gods; 8and Cyrus brought them
out, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
1Now these are the people who came back from the
captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon.
64The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three
hundred and sixty, 65besides their male and female servants,
of whom there were seven thousand.
68Some of the heads of the fathers' houses, when they
came to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, offered freely
to erect it in its place. 69According to their ability, they
gave to the treasury.
1When the seventh month had come, and the children of
Israel were in the cities of Judah, the people gathered to
Jerusalem. 2Then Jeshua and his brethren, the priests, and
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and
built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings
on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses. 3Though fear had
come upon them because of the people of those countries,
they set the altar on its bases, and offered burnt offerings
to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings.
This Bible passage was condensed from the NKJV
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