Enemies

«Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased.» Ezra 4:24

In their invasion of Jerusalem, the Babylonians took away the important families of the kingdom. Babylon was later dominated by another kingdom, Medo-Persia. Cyrus, a commander of the Persian army, became the king of the nation. He had heard of a man of God named Daniel, and became friends with Daniel’s people, brought as slaves from Jerusalem.

God had promised the people that He would not forsake them and would bring them back to their country. This king had signed a document authorizing the people to return and rebuild their city. After his death, King Darius found this document and the people were able to return to their land.

Many returned to their land excited. Then they worked hard to rebuild the city. However, when some enemies heard about this, they began to hinder the work. They offered to help, only to get in the way. Then they criticized the work and wrote letters to the Persian king, saying bad things about the Jews.

They annoyed the builders so much that the rebuilding of the temple was stopped. What a pity!

Let’s practice!

Draw a beautiful picture of the house of God that the Jews were rebuilding.