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here were nearly 50,000 people who left Babylon as part of
the plan to rejuvenate Israel (Ezra 2:64 & 65). Their main objective was to
go to Jerusalem to build another temple in the name of Jehovah. God's
objectives were various. He wanted to gain the loyalty of His own people. He was also simply keeping His promises. And, there were preparations to be made for
the coming of the Messiah.
It is apparent (from the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and
Zechariah) that the leader of the returning remnant was Zerubbabel. He became
the governor of Judah. Now, before he could begin building a temple, Zerubbabel
had some other matters to deal with. Obviously, the journey of 50,000 people
over a span of 700 miles (or so) was not a minor undertaking. Additionally,
there were problems with some of the Jews not being able to prove their lineage
(Ezra 2:59 & 62). In fact, that problem was so significant that it ended up
costing some of the priests their position and office.
Upon the arrival of the great caravan of Jews to Zion, a
couple of other issues were immediately important. Appropriately, worship
through the collection of freewill offerings on the holy ground of the holy
city was immediately commenced (Ezra 2:68 & 69). And, of course, the people
had to settle in and find a place to live (Ezra 2:70). Obviously, Zerubbabel
would have been very busy. But, the mission was surely worth the effort. They
were only a shadow of what they had been centuries earlier, but their faith was
alive and God was still the same. It was a good time to be alive in Jerusalem.
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