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The Second Temple

Ezra 6

The words of Cyrus, king of Persia, spoken in the first year of his reign (538 B.C.), make him sound like a convert to Judaism: "All 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" (Ezra 1:2). Cyrus became known for his generous attitude toward the gods of his subjects. If the Jews worshipped a God named Yahweh, then he would give them the opportunity to please their God by building Him a temple in the city where He had chosen to establish His name: Jerusalem.

Cyrus opened the gates of Persia and allowed any Jews who so desired to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and reestablish a presence in their homeland. So "the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites" (Ezra 1:5) prepared to return. Along with permission to leave, Cyrus returned all the temple vessels and articles removed by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon—5,400 vessels of gold and silver.

Within a year of Cyrus' decree authorizing the rebuilding of the temple, the altar on the temple mount was built and work on the temple began the following year (536 B.C.)—but not without opposition. Self-interested parties had filled the power vacuum in Judah during the 70-year absence of the ruling leadership. They tried to convince Cyrus that the Jews would ultimately rebel against him if he supported them. For several years the rebuilding of the temple was opposed and finally stopped for a decade (530-520 B.C.). But Cyrus' successor, Darius, issued a strong rebuke to the opposition in Judah and work on the temple resumed (Ezra 6:1-12).

The second temple was completed in 516 B.C. While it could not compare with Solomon's temple (Ezra 3:12), it served the people until it was completely reconstructed by Herod during the time of Christ. This temple, known as Herod's Temple, was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

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