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

162 | Ezra's commission (Ezra 7-8)

It’s the fifth century BCE—most likely 458 BC—and the Persian Empire stretches from the borders of India all the way west to the shores of the Aegean Sea. Jerusalem, once the capital of the kingdom of Judah, had been destroyed by the Babylonians about a hundred and twenty years earlier, its people scattered, its Temple reduced to rubble. But things have been changing. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon decades ago, and under Persian rule a first wave of Jewish exiles was allowed to return home. By the time our story opens, the Temple has actually been rebuilt—completed around 516 BC—but the people, their laws, their spiritual life? That’s another story entirely. Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PJSl_-tSdXuD24-a_MmHrBU-K3sKtuxX/view?usp=sharing

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