153 | Wisdom and wealth (2 CHRONICLES 1)

161 | Completion and dedication (Ezra 5-6)

It's around 520 BCE. We're in Jerusalem—or what's left of it. The city has been in ruins for about 70 years. Back in 586 BCE, the Babylonians destroyed everything, including Solomon's temple, and took most of the Jewish people to Babylon. But things changed when Persia conquered Babylon. Their king Cyrus said the Jews could go home and rebuild. About 50,000 people made the trip back. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16cv1B-zSZT2VCEj2gsbr2MOl7NMKYzzk/view?usp=sharing

160 | Temple reconstruction and opposition (Ezra 3-4)

It's 538 BCE. After seventy years in Babylon, thousands of Jewish families have just finished an 800-mile journey back to Jerusalem. The city their grandparents left is now rubble. The temple that was the center of Jewish life? Gone. Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed it in 586 BCE. For most of these people, this isn't a homecoming. It's showing up at a construction site where you have to rebuild everything from memory. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dxc9WGkVTwg2pbQe0i7hLmm22Zkex5WJ/view

159 | Cyrus's decree and returnee list (Ezra 1-2)

It's 538 BCE. The Jewish people have been living in Babylonian exile for seventy years—scattered across Mesopotamia since Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and its temple back in 587/586 BCE. But everything just changed. Babylon fell to the Persians, led by Cyrus the Great, and Cyrus has a different approach to ruling conquered peoples. Instead of forcing them to stay put like the Babylonians and Assyrians did, he's letting people return home and rebuild their religious sites. It's smart politics—happy subjects pay their taxes and don't rebel. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wu4YT_rOb1veobAC4M9d0y2xpla5HZJG/view?usp=sharing

158 | Exile and Cyrus decree (2 CHRONICLES 36:17-23)

We're looking at one of the darkest moments in the biblical story—Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BCE. Judah had been under Babylonian pressure for decades. Nebuchadnezzar II ruled the Babylonian Empire, and he'd already beaten the Assyrians and Egyptians. The Babylonians had already taken some Jews captive—Daniel and his friends went to Babylon in 605 BCE, and King Jehoiachin and thousands more in 597 BCE. But this final attack in 586 BCE is what ends Judah completely. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gfyDWLTD3dFr424rKezHWvwoWP_dFgs/view?usp=sharing

157 | Hezekiah to Zedekiah (2 CHRONICLES 29-36:16)

We're in Judah during the late 700s to early 600s BCE. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria around 722 BCE. Judah is still standing, but barely. Assyria dominates everything. Egypt watches from the south. Babylon is getting stronger. These chapters cover about 130 years—from one of Judah's best kings to its complete destruction. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MebvGMeoSj-x9uXV10E98MycKVAhU9NU/view?usp=sharing