Isaiah 44:24-28 “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; (25) Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; (26) Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places; (27) Who says to the deep, 'Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers'; (28) Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." ”
The next key event that we will discuss is the building of the Second Temple. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of a prophecy given by the prophet Isaiah in approximately the year 711 BC[1]. In this prophecy, the Lord told the Jews that Cyrus would give the instruction for the temple to be rebuilt and for the waste places of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah to be rebuilt. At the time of the prophecy, Cyrus had not yet been born and there was zero evidence of the impending destruction of Judah along with the city of Jerusalem and the First Temple. Nevertheless, as we have already seen, 124 years later in the year 587 BC, the city of Jerusalem along with the First Temple and the rest of the cities of Judah were laid waste by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
Ezra 1:1-2 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 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, saying, (2) Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: 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.”
The above-quoted passage of scripture is an account of the simultaneous fulfilment of two prophecies. The first prophecy fulfilled, which is mentioned in this passage, was Jeremiah’s prophecy about the ending of Judah’s exile after seventy years had expired. The second prophecy fulfilled, which we are discussing in this section, was Isaiah’s prophecy about Cyrus authorising the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the building of the Second Temple. And so we see that in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, this passage reveals to us that King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Second Temple. This passage teaches us that King Cyrus’ decree was issued in the first year of his reign. Historical records reveal to us that the first year of the reign of King Cyrus was in the year 539 BC[2]. We have seen that Isaiah's prophecy was delivered in the year 711 BC; and so we see that historical records confirm that 172 years later in the year 539 BC, King Cyrus of Persia gave the instruction for Jerusalem and the Second Temple to be built.
Ezra 3:1-6 “And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. (2) Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak 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 the man of God. (3) Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. (4) They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. (5) Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. (6) From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.”
When the Jews finally returned from exile in the year 539 BC, they immediately began to rebuild Jerusalem and the rest of the cities of Judah. The above-quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that they also set up the altar in Jerusalem so that they could once again resume offering the regular burnt offerings to the Lord. And so we can see from this passage that when the Jews initially returned from exile, the rebuilding of the Second Temple was not one of their priorities; although it must also be said that scripture teaches us that the local Samaritan population had hindered the rebuilding of the Second Temple through various legal challenges. “Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5). Nevertheless, the Jews continued to build their homes in Jerusalem and throughout the cities of Judah during that period. As an aside, it is important to note that because of the absence of the altar between the years 587 BC and 539 BC; Israel had been unable to offer sacrifices to the Lord for 49 years, which was the prophetic equivalent of 7 weeks.
Haggai 1:1-8 “In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, (2) "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." ‘“(3) Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, and (4) “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" (5) Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! (6) "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." (7) Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! (8) Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the Lord.”
Finally, the Lord had enough, and in the above-quoted passage of scripture, we have the account of the Lord sending Haggai the prophet to rebuke the Jews for concentrating on building their own homes, while they neglected the rebuilding of the Lord’s temple. And so finally the Jews obeyed the Lord and began to rebuild the Second Temple. Scripture teaches us that the foundation of the Second Temple was laid in the second year of the reign of Darius the Great, “On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, … 'Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid—consider it” (Haggai 2:10-18). Historical records confirm that the second year of the reign of Darius the Great took place in the year 520 BC[3]. And so we see that it was a full 19 years after the Jews had initially returned from exile in the year 539 BC, that they finally began to build the Second Temple.
Michael E.B. Maher
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