"The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia" (Ezra 1:1). "Everyone whose spirit God had stirred" (a paraphrase of Ezra 1:5).

God stirred up Cyrus in keeping with His prophetic word through Jeremiah, to bring the people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple after seventy years of captivity. God also stirred up the people, giving them the desire and courage to return and do it.

At the same time, we learn that the people were afraid of the surrounding peoples (Ezra 3:3). They were vulnerable. They had no army to protect them and no fortified walls. They were defenseless — except that the Lord was with them.

The same Lord who stirred them to do this was with them. The same Lord who stirred up Cyrus to issue the decree was with them. The same Lord who had prophesied this seventy years earlier was with them (Jeremiah 29:10). The same Lord who foretold the rise and even the name of Cyrus long before was with them (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1).

Friends, when God stirs us up to do a great work, He does not always take away every fear. He does not always make it easy. He does not remove every obstacle.

Consider the trials and obstacles David faced on the way to the throne of Israel. Even the building of the temple did not go smoothly or quickly. After the altar was built and the foundation laid, work stopped and did not resume for about sixteen years, when the people were stirred by the prophet Haggai to take it up again.

Therefore, dear friends, if you are stirred by God to do some work, work wholeheartedly and faithfully, trusting that God is with you. Don't be deterred by obstacles, difficulties, fears, and challenges. Everyone God used mightily in the Bible faced such things and overcame them. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame," and is seated at the right hand of God (a paraphrase of Hebrews 12:2).

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezra 3 shows both the fear and the worship together. "They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them" because of the surrounding peoples (3:3). The fear did not stop the worship; the worship was their response to the fear. When the foundation was laid, the people shouted and wept so loudly that the sounds could not be distinguished (3:12–13; see #2197).

The sixteen-year pause the comment mentions came from opposition and discouragement (Ezra 4:1–5, 24), and Haggai addressed it directly: "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses," while this house lies in ruins? (Haggai 1:4; see #2086). God's word through Haggai stirred the people's spirits again (Haggai 1:14) — the same verb Ezra uses of Cyrus and of the returning exiles. The comment's central point is well made: God's stirring is not the removal of difficulty but the supply of will and courage to act in the midst of it.

King Cyrus ruled Persia from 539 to 530 BC, following his conquest of Babylon. It was during this period that he issued the decree in Ezra 1:1 for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. About 150 years earlier, the prophet Isaiah (roughly 740–700 BC) had rebuked the Jews for trusting in idols, who could neither deliver them nor tell them what was to come (Isaiah 41:22–23). In contrast, Isaiah told them that the Lord controls both the present and the future. As evidence, Isaiah said that God would raise up a king who would restore the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem and decree the rebuilding of the temple. In Isaiah's day this may have sounded absurd, because the temple had not been destroyed and the Jews had not yet been exiled. Isaiah went further and named the very king who would be born and bring these things to pass: Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:13). By this they would know that there is no other God but the Lord (Isaiah 45:21).

The unbelievers of Isaiah's day would not benefit from Isaiah's prophecy. It was for future generations — even ours — to appreciate. The New Testament is in large part the fulfillment of prophecies made in the Old Testament, and there are still other prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

Friends, by these demonstrations God shows that nothing surprises Him and that He always has everything under His control. He is God, and there is no other. Therefore we can trust Him completely. Ezra's account of Cyrus and the restoration of the temple is an amazing fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Yet when you read the account, what is your response? Are you amazed? Are you skeptical? Or does it not affect you one way or the other? Your response may indicate the temperature of your passion for God.

May the Lord stir you always to have a passion for His name!

AI-Expanded Reflection

The Cyrus prophecy is remarkable for its specificity, and it is one reason Isaiah 40–55 has been so much discussed. Isaiah names Cyrus (44:28; 45:1), calls him God's "anointed" and "my shepherd," and says God calls him by name "though you do not know me" (45:4). Some scholars have proposed that these chapters were written later, during the exile; others hold that the naming of Cyrus long in advance is precisely the point Isaiah is making — that God alone declares "the end from the beginning" (46:10) and that this is what distinguishes Him from idols.

Ezra 1:1 adds that "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia." Scripture repeatedly shows God moving the hearts of rulers who did not worship Him (Proverbs 21:1; Daniel 4:34–35). The comment's question about our response is worth sitting with: the same events can produce wonder, skepticism, or indifference. The psalmist's prayer is a good one for readers who feel the third of these: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (Psalm 119:18).

"many of the priests and Levites... wept with a loud voice" when they saw the foundation laid, while many shouted aloud for joy (a paraphrase of Ezra 3:12).

When the foundation was laid, the younger people rejoiced, but the elders wept. The young knew nothing but this temple; but some seventy years earlier, a far grander temple had stood, built by King Solomon.

Everything was different. Once there had been a great multitude of Jews in the land, and Jerusalem and her king were the envy of nations. Now about fifty thousand returned to a desolate land (Ezra 2:64–65).

Even when the temple was completed, there was no ark of the covenant to signify God's presence in the Most Holy Place. The last mention of the ark historically is in 2 Chronicles 35:3, under King Josiah. There was no glory cloud filling the temple.

So the elders wept.

Yet we read this prophecy from Haggai: in a little while God would shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and shake all nations, so that "the treasures of all nations shall come in," and He would fill this house with glory; the silver and the gold are His; "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former," and in this place He would give peace (cf. Haggai 2:6–9).

Haggai described a future glory for this very temple that would outshine even Solomon's. That glory would not consist in perishable materials like gold and silver but in the presence of the Creator Himself. The One desired by the nations points to Jesus the Messiah, who as a boy would sit in the courts of this same temple, amazing the teachers of His day (Luke 2:46–47).

Even though Solomon's temple was gone, One greater than Solomon would come (Matthew 12:42).

Even though the ark was absent, One greater than the ark would come. Jeremiah hints at this when speaking of a coming restoration: in those days, when the people have multiplied in the land, "they shall no more say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord'"; it shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, and it shall not be made again (cf. Jeremiah 3:16).

God once told Samuel, who was sent to anoint Saul's successor, "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). In the same way, even though the second temple looked small and unimpressive, one day the Lord Jesus would enter it and bring with Him a peace the former temple could never provide.

Friends, could we not find an analogy here to our present lives? There is little visible glory now. Instead we face daily uncertainty, frustration, suffering, and loss. Often the good we do goes unrecognized while wrongdoers seem to prosper. Yet like a shadow, this present life will be eclipsed by an eternal glory. So Paul can write, "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory" to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

This glory — the glory of Jesus — is in us! Again Paul writes that God chose to make known among the Gentiles the riches of this mystery, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). And, "I have been crucified with Christ," and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

What more precious truth is there than this: that we are the temple of God, and that He lives within us? We have this promise: it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, "who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit" as a guarantee (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:21–22). And in Him we also, when we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believed in Him, "were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit," who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory (cf. Ephesians 1:13–14).

He has given us His Spirit — the Spirit of Christ, who lives in us and secures our eternal inheritance: you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you; anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him; but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness; and if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (cf. Romans 8:9–11).

As Christ Jesus was raised from the dead, so we too shall be raised to eternal life. Hallelujah!

AI-Expanded Reflection

The scene in Ezra 3:12–13 is unusually poignant: "the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout" from the sound of weeping. Joy and grief rose together so loudly that the noise "was heard far away." Both responses were genuine. The younger generation rightly rejoiced at a new beginning; the older rightly mourned what had been lost through the nation's sin.

Haggai addressed that grief directly about sixteen years later, asking, "Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?"(2:3) — and then giving the promise of a greater glory. That promise found its fulfillment when Jesus walked in the temple courts, and it culminates in Revelation's vision of a city with no temple at all, "for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (21:22). The comment's application is well drawn: the outward appearance of the Christian life often looks unimpressive, yet what indwells it — "Christ in you, the hope of glory" — is greater than anything visible.

The biblical books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther take place during the Persian Empire. Here are the Persian kings who form the historical backdrop of the last three historical books of the Old Testament, summarized from a Bible-study resource.

The kings of Persia

As you read Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, you will come across the names of different kings. These were Persian kings, and this list can help you understand who each king was and when he lived.

1. Cyrus the Great (reigned over Persia from about 559 to 530 BC; he took Babylon in 539). This is the king whom Isaiah long before promised would come and deliver the children of Israel (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1–5). He conquered the Babylonians and then allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1). Daniel was still alive when Cyrus was king (Daniel 1:21; 10:1).

2. Cambyses (about 530–522 BC).

3. Smerdis (ruled less than a year).

4. Darius the Great (about 522–486 BC). Darius decreed that the work on the temple should continue without hindrance (Ezra 6). The temple was completed during his reign (Ezra 6). Note: do not confuse this king with Darius the Mede mentioned in Daniel (Daniel 5:31; 6:1).

5. Ahasuerus, or Xerxes (about 486–465 BC). This is the king we read about in Esther, whose queen Esther became. He is also mentioned in Ezra 4:6.

6. Artaxerxes I (about 465–424 BC). At first this king ordered the Jews to stop rebuilding the city and its walls (see Ezra 4:7–23). Later, however, he allowed his cupbearer, Nehemiah, to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 1–2). He is also the king who had earlier allowed Ezra to return (Ezra 7–8).

AI-Expanded Reflection

The prophecy about Cyrus is one of the most striking in the Old Testament. Isaiah names him — "Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose" (44:28) — and calls him God's "anointed" (45:1), the only non-Israelite in Scripture to receive that title. God says of him, "I call you by your name... though you do not know me" (45:4). The Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in the ruins of Babylon and now in the British Museum, records Cyrus's general policy of returning captive peoples to their homelands and restoring their temples — consistent with the decree recorded in Ezra 1:2–4.

The Persian setting also explains features of these books. Ezra 4–7 preserves official correspondence in Aramaic, the empire's administrative language. Nehemiah's role as cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11) placed him in a position of great trust, which is why he could make his request directly to the king. And Esther's story unfolds in Susa, one of the Persian capitals, during the reign of Xerxes. Knowing the chronology helps readers see that these books span roughly a century of God's quiet faithfulness to a small, vulnerable people within a vast empire.

Jeshua son of Jozadak with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, rebuilt the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as written in the Law of Moses. They set the altar on its foundation, because fear was on them from the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings morning and evening (a paraphrase of Ezra 3:2–3).

When the people returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, they came back to ruins. There were no fortified cities, for the walls were all broken down. They were at the mercy of marauders and any neighboring peoples who wanted to take advantage of their weakness. Rather than rebuilding the walls, they prioritized rebuilding the altar of God, so that they might make their appeals to the Lord, who alone could protect them.

Here, then, is the benefit of crisis and suffering: people learn to depend on the Lord. When every earthly security is gone, believers find their security in the Lord.

Friends, we ought to be concerned not when things are going badly but when things are going too well, for that is when complacency can set in and we forget to trust in the Lord. When we have no concern for our own security, we may find ourselves slacking in worship and in obeying His Word.

Let us, then, welcome adversity, which may remind us that God is in control and we are not. Adversity can burn away the idols of false security and teach us to trust the Lord more fully and to care more about honoring Him in our lives.

When we find ourselves prosperous, let us be more generous. When we find times of ease, let us increase our devotion. When we experience an outpouring of blessing, let us humble ourselves even more. In other words, let us strengthen our faith in the Lord when times are hard, and do so even more when times are easy.

Let us remember the command and promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness," and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33).

AI-Expanded Reflection

Moses gave Israel exactly the warning the comment describes, on the edge of the land: when you have eaten and are full, and have built good houses, and your herds and silver and gold multiply, take care lest your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:10–14). Prosperity, not hardship, is named as the greater spiritual danger. James makes the positive case — count it joy when you meet trials, because testing produces steadfastness (James 1:2–4).

The rest of Ezra 3 adds an emotional note worth keeping. When the foundation of the new Temple was laid, the people shouted for joy — but many of the older priests and Levites, who had seen the first Temple, wept aloud, so that no one could distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of weeping (3:12–13). Restoration after loss is rarely unmixed. The returning exiles praised God for what He was doing while grieving what had been lost, and the text does not rebuke either response. Haggai 2:3–9 later speaks directly to those who thought the new house was nothing by comparison, promising that its latter glory would be greater than the former.

Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD each morning and evening. (Ezra 3:3 NLT)

Sherry made an important observation in an earlier entry on this date a couple of years ago. She wrote,

The people built the Temple before the city wall. They knew that the strongest stone wall would not protect them if God were not with them, so they put Him first. PUT GOD FIRST!

Amen! "If God is for us, who can ever be against us!" (Romans 8:31). The whole history of the kings reveals that no fortification could protect against the wrath of God (e.g. consider the fall of Jericho's mighty walls) and no army could stand against the LORD when He fought on behalf of those that trusted in Him (e.g. consider the destruction of the mighty Assyrian army in the days of Hezekiah).

The first group returning from exile understood that their first priority back in the land was to worship the LORD. If there was one enduring spiritual benefit from the people's long experience of exile it was this: Ancient idolatry, particularly the worship of the likes of Baal and Molech, was pretty much eradicated from the hearts of God's people. In the post-exilic period we hear no more of this being a problem for the people of Israel. Sometimes the best revivals happen through severe judgment.

Now, while the ancient idols made of gold, silver and stone did not tempt Israel as in the days of old, they faced new challenges, even new idols, of moral and spiritual apathy, immorality, and the abuse of power. Over time it became clear that their God-centered interests were being replaced by self-interest. And it did not take long, for even as they were building the Temple, they left off building, first for legitimate reasons but then for illegitimate ones. They became too busy taking care of themselves and forgot about God. For this reason, the prophet Haggai wrote his book to rebuke the people and encourage them to refocus on God. While they did repent and were blessed by God, in the days of Nehemiah, who God led to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the people again returned to their sinful self-interest.

It was also during these post-exilic years that new sects would form to lead Israel, namely, the Pharisees and Sadducees. But the sins of the people also infected these religious leaders, for they would create large volumes of traditions after their own ideals to "help" the people achieve God's standard of righteousness. Jesus would later blast these traditions as counter to the true worship of God:

Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.” Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition.” (Mark 7:6–9, 13 NLT)

If you read about these hundreds and thousands of new laws and practices that constituted the "man-made ideas," while some seem ridiculous, even humorous to us, they do not sound evil or wrong. Jesus did not condemn them because they sounded evil or wrong in themselves but because they went both beyond and against the "Word of God."

Friends, let us learn three things from our meditation today. First, let us remember to make God the priority. The people coming back from exile were afraid of the locals, but this did not deter them from putting God first. They built the altar and worshipped at the altar before doing anything else. This was right and good. Now, they lost sight of this priority midway through the building of the Temple until Haggai reminded them.

So, second, let us remember to keep God the priority. So often we start by dedicating this or that to God, and then forget all about Him as we go about our own business. Or we go to a revival service or retreat and shout and cry out to God and renew our commitment to follow Him, but when the spiritual "high" wears off, we return to our moral and spiritual apathy. At least until our next fix. Let us learn to daily keep God a priority. This is why Jesus said,

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23 TNIV)

Jesus calls every believer (for believers were called "disciples" before they ever became known as "Christians") to DAILY put Christ first and foremost in their life. Daily means not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights but every day of the week.

Finally, we should take care not to think that we are free from idolatry because we are not tempted to bow down to images of gold, silver or stone. As it was for post-exilic Israel, so it is also for us, the new idols involve self-interest, immorality and the abuse of power. We must be alert, prayerful and diligent not to fall for these temptations, but take to heart the counsel of the New Testament for Christians:

Set your minds on things above, not earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God... Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry...anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other... Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility and gentleness. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:2–14).

These are the things that should shape our behaviors in Christ, not how often you "go to church" or how much you "tithe," or how well you "serve" in the various ministries at church. None of these things are commanded in Scripture and, when they substitute for clear New Testament commands, they get dangerously close to the same kind of "traditions" and "man-made ideas" Jesus warned against. Words like "Church," "tithe," and "serve" are indeed biblical ideas but they are often distorted and taken out of context to serve ecclesiastical and organizational interests. Be careful that you don't fall into this trap. Therefore, stay daily and thoughtfully in the Scriptures so that you can be free of this. As Jesus taught,

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31, 32 TNIV)

AI-Expanded Reflection

Ezra 3 portrays worship beginning before the rebuilt temple is complete. The altar is established in its place, sacrifices resume, and the Feast of Booths is observed while the community still feels threatened. The detail challenges the instinct to postpone obedience until circumstances seem entirely secure. It also shows continuity: the returned people are not inventing a new identity but resuming worship according to what had been written. Their vulnerability does not remove the importance of careful practice.

Sherry's observation about the temple preceding the wall captures a genuine priority, though it should not become a universal rule that religious construction always outranks physical protection. Nehemiah will later undertake the walls precisely as an act of faithful service. The issue is whether security becomes an excuse for indefinitely withholding obedience. Romans 8:31 likewise does not promise that opponents will disappear. Paul's following verses describe hardship and persecution while affirming that neither can overturn God's saving purpose. Worship before the wall expresses trust within danger, not a guarantee of immunity from it.

The reflection's historical overview needs some boundaries. The postexilic biblical narratives no longer portray Baal worship as the dominant recurring national problem, but that does not establish the complete eradication of every form of idolatry among all Jews. The Pharisees and Sadducees emerged much later in the Second Temple period, and they did not share identical attitudes to inherited traditions. In Mark 7, Jesus targets a particular practice that permits neglect of parents under cover of a religious vow. His objection is that the practice sets aside God's command, not that every human arrangement or inherited custom is intrinsically wrong.

That specificity strengthens the application to churches. Attendance, financial support, and organized service can express obedience: Hebrews 10:24–25, 2 Corinthians 8–9, and 1 Peter 4:10 commend gathering, giving, and service. But institutional measurements can become substitutes for the love, honesty, generosity, and holiness those practices should nurture. A busy volunteer may still be cruel at home; a conscientious attendee may still practice greed. The response is not to abandon Christian community, but to recover the purpose of its activities.

Colossians 3 moves from the believer's life in Christ to concrete relationships. The risen Lord's claim reaches speech, anger, sexuality, forgiveness, and compassion. Keeping God first therefore involves more than preserving an initial emotional commitment. It requires allowing his Word to examine the ordinary choices through which self-interest quietly returns, including choices made in the name of religious efficiency.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the LORD moved his heart to issue a decree permitting the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the Temple, fulfilling what Jeremiah had spoken (a paraphrase of Ezra 1:1). This entire section demonstrates God's sovereignty over history to accomplish His redemptive purposes. Isaiah, prophesying roughly 150 years before Cyrus's birth — well before the Medo-Persian empire even existed — named Cyrus specifically as the LORD's chosen instrument, the one who would subdue nations, free the exiles, and see both Jerusalem and its Temple rebuilt (a paraphrase of Isaiah 44:28; 45:1–3, 13). Ezra therefore records an extraordinary fulfillment of prophecy, spoken not only through Isaiah but through Jeremiah as well. Jeremiah had earlier warned that Judah's unfaithfulness would bring Babylonian captivity lasting seventy years, after which the LORD would judge Babylon itself and bring the exiles home (a paraphrase of Jeremiah 25:8–14). Jeremiah's letter to the exiles promised that after those seventy years God would fulfill His good word toward them, giving them a future and a hope, and that they would find Him when they sought Him with their whole heart (a paraphrase of Jeremiah 29:10–14) — urging them meanwhile to settle down, build, marry, and multiply in Babylon rather than despair. Ezra documents the fulfillment of exactly these promises. Because the LORD is sovereign over the affairs of mankind, we can trust His promises and live in obedience to His commands.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Worth adding is how precisely datable this fulfillment is: Cyrus's decree is preserved not only in Ezra but independently corroborated by the Cyrus Cylinder, a Persian inscription discovered in the nineteenth century describing Cyrus's broader policy of returning displaced peoples to their homelands and restoring their local temples and worship — a policy Ezra 1 explicitly attributes to God providentially shaping a pagan king's heart. That an ordinary ancient Near Eastern administrative practice supplies independent, non-biblical confirmation of the very policy this comment cites as prophetic fulfillment doesn't diminish the theological claim — it sharpens it: Isaiah's specificity wasn't merely that some future king would be generically favorable to captives, but that this particular figure, named in advance, would enact exactly this policy toward Jerusalem specifically.

Why the weeping?

I see in Ezra 6:3 that it was rebuilt to be 90 feet high and the same width — bigger. Weeping since it was not as the original?

AI-Expanded Reflection

Worth clarifying one thing here: Ezra 6:3 records Cyrus's decree specifying the Temple's dimensions, but the weeping itself is actually described earlier, at the foundation-laying (Ezra 3:12–13) — and historically, the rebuilt Temple was widely understood as lesser than Solomon's, not bigger, which is exactly why it provoked grief. Ezra 3 says the older generation, who remembered the first Temple's glory, wept aloud, while the younger generation shouted for joy — and the two sounds were indistinguishable from a distance. Haggai puts it even more directly a few years later, asking who among them remembers the former glory of this house, and how it now looks by comparison (a paraphrase of Haggai 2:3). But Haggai doesn't leave it there — two verses later he promises the glory of this latter house will exceed the former (a paraphrase of Haggai 2:9), a promise that found its answer centuries later when Jesus Himself taught within that very temple complex (John 10:23). The weeping in Ezra 3 turns out to be the opening scene of a story that isn't over yet.