Random Thoughts

Tattenai’s letter to Darius Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, inquires of Darius who has given permission for the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. The rest of this chapter is devoted to the text of the letter he sends.

Opposition to the Rebuilding The enemies of Judah and Benjamin come first and offer their assistance to rebuild the temple. But Zerubbabel does not accept their help. Then they send a letter to the king to inform him that Jerusalem was destroyed because of their rebellion and sedition. The king consults the archives and sees…

Rebuilding the Altar The priests first rebuilt the altar and began all the regular sacrifices according to what had been written in the law of Moses. Rebuilding the Temple The workers paid for cedar to be brought in from Lebanon and began work on the foundation of the temple. The people were overwhelmed, some wept…

The inventory continues of all the people who left Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Some were unable to verify there lineage to confirm they were of Israel, so they were excluded from the priesthood and considered unclean. An offering was taken from this group for the funds needed to begin the cleanup efforts.

The List of Exiles Who Returned This chapter begins the listing of some of the key exiles who returned from Babylon to their towns in Judah. The format is a list by family of how many people from each group returned.

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return Cyrus of Persia issues a decree that honors God and he not only credits God with his victories but proclaims that the temple in Jerusalem is to be rebuilt. He also gives back all the gold and silver articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple to be restored…

The End Times Daniel is shown the rise of Michael, the angel. He is told the length of time will be 3 1/2 years. He is assured that he should go on living his life and at the end, he will rest and be resurrected in the end times. A prophecy is given regarding the…

The King Who Exalts Himself This is the prophecy of another King who will conquer much of the known world. The King of the North and the King of the South will wage war against him. He will not honor the god of his ancestors but will set himself up as a sort f god.

The Kings of the North and South Daniel provides detailed descriptions of the progression of leadership of Persia and Greece. This section ends with the abomination of desolation.

Daniel’s Vision of a Man Daniel introduces a vision he is given while he is by the Tigris River after a period of fasting. He tells Daniel that the current Persian kingdom will be overthrown by the Greeks.