After all Israel fell, both north and south, God’s people were humbled. They spent about seventy years in captivity. When the LORD was ready for them to return to Jerusalem, He restored the Sabbath and the land was ready to receive them. The people were called back to Jerusalem through a Persian king named Cyrus. This was predicted in Isaiah 45, a little over two hundred years before it happened. Despite the catastrophe, this is actually very comforting! The LORD has plans established before they actually happen; and when those plans finally happen before our eyes, we know the LORD is with us, and was always with us. The book of Ezra records the time in which Cyrus appears in history and proclaims: “…And He
(God) has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem” ( E Z R A 1 : 2 ) . Ezra 1 is the set up for the end of the Babylonian captivity. Ezra 2 is a list of the captives who returned to Jerusalem. Ezra 3 tells how worship is restored at Jerusalem as the people begin to build the house of the
LORD. God is good all the time. We can always trust in Him.

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