Ezra-Darius and the LAST Time the Advisors Tricked Him

By Mary Vee
Ezra 6 

From Darius' Chronicles

Photo Courtesy

My name is Darius. I am king over the territory belonging to the Medes and the Persians which includes the Babylonian provinces. 

One of the problems I am forced to deal with as king is bickering people. 

One recent event really blew up and it was because I listened and didn't check the facts. Well, I made sure to not let that happen again.

What was the problem, you ask? 

Well, a few of my advisors took it upon themselves to spy on the Jews who returned to Jerusalem. I must admit I didn't have the whole story. Before I became king,  the Jewish captives had been given permission to return to their home. Some did. Some did not. I had too many other issues to worry about and didn't have time to deal with this.

A few of my advisors, though, didn't like the situation. They went to Jerusalem and saw the Jews rebuilding their temple. I knew a former king of Babylon, a man named Nebuchadnezzar, had conquered the Jewish city and burned their temple to the ground. 

The advisors wrote me, reporting all the work the Jews were currently doing. They seemed to think this Jewish temple would give power to the Jewish people. They requested I have the work stopped. I didn't see anything wrong with the request. I ordered the work to stop.

A second letter came from my advisors claiming the people had indeed stopped their work at first, but then, resumed. When asked why they were disobeying orders, the Jews claimed Cyrus gave them permission to rebuild.

Cyrus? Really? A former king of the Medes and Persians? 

This new information turned the whole issued into a huge problem. Cyrus was not only a Mede, but also my relative. I couldn't undo one of his orders. I called the guard to conduct a search for Cyrus's decree. It took some time but they finally found it. And to my great disappointment, the Jews were right.

Great. Now I have to undo what I said to the advisors. That doesn't look good for a king.

I called the complaining advisers, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates and Shethar-Bozenai and their officials to come to my chambers. 

I said to them, "You are to stay away from Jerusalem. Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site. 

I also decree you must pay out of the royal treasury all the funds needed for the construction, specifically from the Trans-Euphrates funds. Whatever is needed--young bulls, rams, male lambs for offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem must be given to them daily for sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and then pray for the well-being of the king and his sons without fail.

AND, I decree that if anyone, ANYONE at all changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted up and impaled on it. And for this crime his house is to be made a pile of rubble. May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I, Darius, have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

MOVE IT!!!

Those advisors left with a panic look on their faces. 

I must admit, I found my chat with those advisors rather entertaining. 

Especially when I received the report that they carried out my orders with diligence. That should be the last time they trick me.


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1.  Who was Darius?
2.  Why was he upset with his advisors from Trans-Euphrates?
3.  What did he tell them to do?

Ezra-Hah! The Proof Backed Up The Jews Word

By Mary Vee
Ezra 6 

From Ezra's Journal

Photo Courtesy Bringing Cedars logs to rebuild the temple

My name is Ezra. I am a prophet sent by God to give His message to the Jews living in Jerusalem.

Spies came to the city of Jerusalem. Spies that didn't want to see the temple being built. They bullied us and threatened us to stop the work. 

At first we listened. We were afraid. But then God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage us to keep building. 

The spies saw us disobeying their orders and wrote to the king of Babylon. They paced, waiting to hear news from him.

King Darius received the letter from the spies. Scroll down to the last story to read their letter. 

Darius didn't know about the arrangements the former king, Cyrus had made years ago. He had taken the spies word and believed their first letter. "Now the Jews are saying they had permission from King Cyrus?"

Darius said, "I can't undo a decree made by Cyrus. If these Jews are right, they need to be able to build this temple of theirs." He called for his soldiers. "Go, search in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. Look for one written by King Cyrus giving the Jews permission to rebuild their temple."

The men left for the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media and were gone for a long time. They searched through all the scrolls, wanting to be sure they had the correct one. One of the men held up the parchment, "I found it."

They took the scroll to Darius. "Read me what it says," Darius ordered.

These words were read: 
In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem.

Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem. They are to be deposited in the house of God.

Come back next time to see what Darius said to those spies.

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1.  Why did the spies try to get the Jews in trouble?
2.  What king did they ask for help?
3.  Where did the king search for the records?
4.  What did the scroll say?

Ezra-The Scoundrels Convinced the King

By Mary Vee
Ezra 4

From Ezra's Journal

Photo Courtesy

My name is Ezra. I am with the Hebrews who chose to return to Jerusalem. Not everyone wanted to come back to our homeland. Some of our brothers preferred to stay in their new homes in Babylon. At this moment I think they are better off.

King Cyrus had given us permission to return to Jerusalem to build the temple.

I must admit, the work has not gone well. Besides the lack of willingness to do the work on the part of nearly everyone here in Jerusalem, there are a group of Babylonian followers who are trying to stop the little progress we've made.

King Cyrus died. His son was murdered. The man who took his place received a letter asking for permission to make us stop our work. I just received news what the new king's answer to that letter was:

To Rehum the commanding officer Shimshai the secretary, and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:

Greeting.

The letter you sent has been read and translated in my presence. I investigated your accusations against the city of Jerusalem and found the city has indeed had a long history of rebelling against kings. Jerusalem has had powerful kings in the past, ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates. Taxes, tribute, and duty were paid to them. 

Because of this new report I am ordering the men of Jerusalem to stop work. They are not to rebuild until I so order. Be careful not to neglect any portion of this matter. I don't want this threat to grow to the detriment of the royal interests.

Your King, Artaxerxes
(also known as Cambyses)

Rehum, Shimshai, and their associates wasted no time traveling to Jerusalem. They showed us the letter and commanded us to stop, by order of the king.

As they ordered, the work on the temple came to a stop. 

Not long after, King Cambyses died. Darius, a relative, became the new king of Persia. Maybe Darius will listen and let us resume building.

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1.  What did the king say in his letter?

2.  Why did the men and their associates rush to Jerusalem?

3.  What did the Jews have to stop doing?

4.  Who is the new king?

Cyrus-The Great Decree

By Mary Vee
Ezra 1

From Ezra's Journal

Photo Courtesy

I am here on the streets of what is now called Persia with many other of my Hebrew brothers and sisters. The cheering is so loud!

As you probably remember, we the people of Judah were taken captive to the land of Babylon. God had told Jeremiah we would be slaves for seventy years due to our disobedience to Him.The seventy years have ended!

The Babylonians who first captured us were conquered by the Medes. And now the Medes have been conquered  by the Persians. Cyrus is the king of Persia, and the ruler over us.

The Babylonians and Medes liked to take their prisoners away from their homeland and make them slaves in their country.

Cyrus, king of Persia, preferred to let the people live in their homeland and be under his power. He felt the people would not rise up against him that way and be easier to control.

The year is 539 BC and a herald has just read this decree from Cyrus:

"The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you--may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

We get to go home.

Imagine that.

We can go back to Judah, plow our fields, worship in the temple, do everything we use to do. I imagine we'll have to pay tribute to Cyrus, but going home is worth it.

We're going home.

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1. Who first took the Hebrews from Judah?
2. Where were they taken?
3. Who conquered the Babylonians?
4. Who conquered the Medes?
5. Who is the new king?
6. Why did he make this decree?
7. What made the Hebrews from Judah so happy?