In the first year of his reign, 538 BCE, Cyrus issued a proclamation to the Jews throughout his empire, allowing them to return to Judea and, to rebuild the House of God in Jerusalem. 7,337 servants accompanied a band of 42,360 Jews, and 200 singing men and women availed themselves of this edict. They set out under the dual leadership of Zerubbabel of the house of David, and Joshua the High Priest.

   To no avail, however, the work on the wall was interrupted by the neighboring governors, who were against the erection of the second temple. Haggai was then raised up by God in the year 52 and completed the work within a few years; they were assured that this latter house's glory would far exceed the former's glory.

    Every generation looks to past glory with hopes the present or latter will be greater. A time is coming when honor will return to the house of God, and the weight of the Shekinah will be ever-present. But we have seen Haggai's words repeated time and time again!

 

   Consider at Sinai how things were shaken and removed from Israel in its infancy? Polytheism, which was injected into Israelite culture from Egypt, prevented Israel from being formed into a single nation under one God - Adonai. God shook the nation of Israel forcing them to turn from the influences of worshipping multiple gods; they had to see that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was The One, and Only True God! Things that could not be shaken rose up and remained fir,m such asGod'se unity and the unbreakable covenant Jehovah has with Israel.

   

   Also, unabashed love and devotion to Hashem prove that no persecution or long-term exposure to Egypt's gods could remove from the heart and people of Israel the Only Truth! So it is today!