Week 4 - The Jews Under Persia (1)

After Cyrus’ decree allowing the Jews to return to their homeland, the first wave of those returned set out after a time of planning and raising the funds necessary. Rebuilding and starting an entire community from scratch was a formidable task. Once the Jews arrived in their homeland, they faced significant challenges. How were they to deal with finding the necessary resources for providing for their community and how were they to navigate the suspicion and hostility from those who already lived in the land? Only by the help of God did they succeed and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, they resettled Jerusalem and prepared to build the temple.