an
Empire about 1500 B. C., and now loomed so large in the eyes of the
world, fell, when the combined forces of the Medes and Babylonians
captured Ninevah her capital (B. C. 607) and was numbered among the
dead nations. (2) The Babylonian Empire rose to supremacy and was the
dominating power when Judah went into captivity. She was the most
splendid kingdom the world had ever seen. (3) The Persian power
conquered Media and the greater part of Assyria and the Medo-Persian
Empire under Cyrus conquered Babylon and held almost universal sway at
the time of the restoration.

The Decree of Cyrus. It is now about 150 years since Isaiah in his
prophesies called Cyrus by name and predicted that he should restore
God's captive people to their own land and now in fulfillment of that
prophecy God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and caused him to issue a
proclamation for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the
temple. He gave orders that his people should give the Jews silver,
gold and beasts. He also restored to them the vessels of the house of
the Lord (Ezra. 1:1-3) and instructed the governors along the way to
assist him.

Three Expeditions to Jerusalem. The return from Babylon covered a long
period of time and consisted of three separate detachments under as
many different leaders. There were important intervening events and
contributory causes. (1) The first colony to return was _under
Zerubhabel_ (536 B. C.) and consisted of about fifty thousand. Ezra
chs. 1-6. We have given us the records of activities of this colony
for a period of about twenty-one years, during which time the temple
was rebuilt and dedicated. Much opposition was encountered in the
matter of rebuilding the temple and the work was finally stopped. It
is here that Haggai and Zechariah delivered their stirring prophesies
which together with the influence of Jerubbabel and Jeshua, the
priest, stimulated the people to renew their building operations and
complete the temple (B. C. 515). In the course of history, Haggai and
Zechariah would come in between the fourth and fifth chapters of Ezra.
(2) The second colony returned to Jerusalem _under the leadership of
Ezra_ (Ezra chs. 7-10) and consisted of about 1800 males with their
families. There is here a lapse of about fifty-seven years from the
completion and dedication of the temple to the time of Ezra's going to
Jerusalem-the last thirty years of the reign of Darius, the twenty
years of the reign of Xer