#TIME.#--538 B. C. to about 400 B. C. #PLACES.#--Babylon, Jerusalem. [Illustration] #SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.#--The return to Jerusalem and the institution of reforms were events of tremendous import to the Jews, and the faithfulness of a few men was given high recognition. The rebuilding of the Temple and reconstruction of the city walls looked forward through four centuries to the fitting setting for the scene of the coming Messiah. The Captivity and the Return #95. Condition During Captivity.#--The captivity of Judah lasted seventy years, dating from the first captivity under Jehoiakim, 605 B. C., when among others Daniel was taken captive. The lot of the captives in Babylon was bad enough, but it was not by any means as severe as the bondage in Egypt. Quite a number of the captives, such as Daniel, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, occupied positions of great trust and emolument. Still, by the rivers of Babylon, Judah did mourn and weep, as her people thought of Jerusalem and its vanished glories. #96. The Return.#--The seventy years having been completed God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, and he issued a decree allowing all Jews who so desired to return to their own land. He also gave them many vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadrezzar had taken from the Temple, that they might use them in the new house of God which they were to build. Zerubbabel led the caravan from Babylon to Jerusalem. Arrived in Jerusalem, they began their work by erecting the altar first. This was right, as the altar was the foundation of all the temple services. Altars existed long before temples had been built. For a while the building of the temple was interrupted by the foes of Judah, but at last it was completed, the people being encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. So they dedicated the temple with much joy, and restored the sacrifices as Moses, the man of God, had commanded. For all of this see Ezra 1-6 and the books of Haggai and Zechariah. #97. Ezra.#--Now comes a period of about 60 years, in which we have no knowledge of the condition of affairs in Jerusalem. At last, however, Ezra, the scribe, goes up to the Holy City, and with him a number of patriotic Jews. The work of Zerubbabel was the rebuilding of the temple. That of Ezra was emphatically the reformation of religion among those who were in Judah and Jerusalem. There was much danger that through intermarriages with the people of the land the Jews would again abandon the religion of their fathers. A large part of Ezra's effort was aimed against this evil. The people declared their willingness to do as Ezra dictated, and so the danger from this direction was for the time being avoided.