Summary: After 70 years in exile, God allows the Israelites to return from where they are living in the kingdom of Persia to their homeland of Israel, thanks to a ruler named Cyrus. When they return to Israel, things are not as they have been. They have to rebuild Jerusalem – its walls and its temple. Some are upset that things are not as they have been (Ezra 3:12). In this time of new things, we can ask: what new things is God doing for us?
