After the exile Men who dream or Lowered dreams 6th May 2010

Old testament timeline

Solomons Temple Inside it was 27 metres long, 9 metres wide, and 13.5 metres high. The entrance room was 4.5 metres deep and 9 metres wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. The temple was quite small but none the less impressive:

Section of Temple In the rear of the temple an inner room was built, where the Lord’s Covenant Box was to be placed. This inner room was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide, and 9 metres high, all covered with pure gold. (1 Kings 6:19) The Temple of Melqart of Tyre The Phoenicians had a proven record of their building skills in their Temple of Melqart in Tyre. Historians refer to it as one of unmatched magnificence in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was said to have two great columns one of gold and the other covered with precious stones. Herodotus sang its praises when he visited Tyre. Its name was change to the Temple of Heracles when he visited -- much like the name of the Columns of Melqart at Gibraltar were changed to the Columns of Heracles/ Hercules. Solomon's Temple Copy of Melqart's Temple After studying records about Solomon's Temple and Melqart's Temple, one finds a lot in common between the two. It would not be a far-fetched suggestion to say that Solomon's Temple of Jerusalem was a copy of Melqart's Temple of Tyre. Because of the splendor it occupied in their mind, it is understandable that the Phoenician builders must have used Melqart's Temple as a prototype for designing and building Solomon's Temple.

the ashen heaps remaining.

Babylonian exile 587BC

1. God can work through Political leaders

King Cyrus - Shepherd who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid."' Isaiah Isaiah the prophet, writing in 700 B.C.E. records the Lord as saying:

2nd Temple - King Cyrus "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD (Ezra 1:14) Almost all that is known about the history of the Jews between 538 B.C.E., when Cyrus conquered Babylon and 457 B.C.E. when Ezra came to Jerusalem, is known from the book of Ezra the scribe. Ezra records Cyrus' decree of 538 which allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple: In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: The first group of returned refugees was led by Sheshbazzar, who had been appointed governor of Judea. He may have been the son of Jehoiachin, Judah's king in exile. Sheshbazzar and the first group of returnees succeeded in relaying the foundations of the temple, but then the work broke off and remained unfinished until the next return. The most productive return was led by Zerubbabel, a leader from the line of David, in 522 B.C.E. near the beginning of the reign of Darius. The most significant event of this period was the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Authorities call this one the Second Temple; the one built by Solomon was the first. The Second Temple remained intact until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. Aided by Jeshua and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel motivated the people to complete the project begun by Sheshbazzar, and it was finished in 515.

2. Men who dream

After 50 years Cyrus lets them go

3. Lowered dreams or The Signet ring of God

Altar erected The altar was erected on the first day of the seventh month which is the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets (Numbers 29:1-6) Ezra 3v6 When the Persian king Cyrus the Great had allowed the Jews to return home from their exile in Babylon (after 539 BCE), one of their leaders was the governor Zerubbabel, a grandson of Jehoiachin, one of the last Davidic kings of Judah. Stirred up and encouraged by the prophet Haggai, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, the elders of the Jews were able to obtain a written reversal of the order to stop work, and in fact a new decree from Darius allowing the work to proceed and in fact providing the Jews with tax revenues for their work: As is always the case, the work of God in the world always meets with opposition from the Enemy, no matter what form it takes, or the period of history. Ezra recorded four different attempts originating in the counsels of Satan to stop the work. First, Samaritan enemies of Benjamin and Judah tried to join the work force and to undermine the efforts. When this attempt failed, these enemies mounted a campaign of discouragement. Next the enemies of Israel wrote letters to Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) and his successor Artaxerxes I Longimanus (who later followed Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius I Hystaspes as successors to the throne of Persia). Finally force was even used. Work on the temple was stopped for 16 years (until 520 B.C.E.).

Foundation laid But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy; so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar. (Ezra 3:8-13) The first section of Ezra, termed the Book of Zerubbabel, relates the history of the early returns from Babylonian exile. It covers the period from the end of exile in 538 to the completion of the rebuilt temple in 515. The book begins with a verbatim record of the decree of Cyrus allowing the Judean refugees to return to Jerusalem. 2 Thus says King Cyrus of Persia, This decree, issued in 538, authorized the rebuilding of the temple. Notice how Cyrus, a Persian, talks as if he acknowledges Yahweh, the God of Israel, and attributes to him the gift of his power. The fact that Cyrus authorized the temple rebuilding becomes important later in the book when Samaritans from the north and others opposed rebuilding activities in Jerusalem.

2nd Temple Then arose Jeshua (the high priest) the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. They set the altar in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths (the 15th to the 22nd day of the seventh month), as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required, and after that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the LORD. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. (Ezra 3:2-7)