I listened to the book of 1 Esdras today. I’ve been curious what the books of the apocrypha say due to my interest in the Esdras Eagle prophecy. So, on a family trip I decided to pull up that book and listen to it. Time and time again it reminded me of reading the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. I thought that was interesting.
Wow. I found it fascinating for a few reasons.
- It seemed to be both a spiritual and civic history
- The 3 wisest statements
- The destruction of the temple by NebuchadnezzarÂ
- The promise to rebuild the temple by King Sirus
- The celebration when the temple was completed.
The three wisest statements
This was interesting. Three young men of the bodyguard decided the king would favor the one who made the wisest statement. The statements were:
- The first wrote, “Wine is strongest.”
- The second wrote, “The king is strongest.”
- The third wrote, “Women are strongest, but truth is victor over all things.”
I just thought they were each interesting and each very true. The wine corrupts man and has power over man. Kings have power over men. But women, they create men. They create kings. And have natural powers to persuade and control men, even kings.
The destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar
This was heartbreaking the way it was told.
1 Estras 1:53-56
53 These slew their young men with the sword around their holy temple, and did not spare young man or virgin, old man or child, for he gave them all into their hands.
54 And all the holy vessels of the Lord, great and small, and the treasure chests of the Lord, and the royal stores, they took and carried away to Babylon.
55 And they burned the house of the Lord and broke down the walls of Jerusalem and burned their towers with fire,
56 and utterly destroyed all its glorious things. The survivors he led away to Babylon with the sword,
The promise to rebuild the temple by King Cyrus
Back during the beginning of the Donald Trump presidency, there were many comparing Trump to King Cyrus. The comparison may have stemmed from a hope he would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Obviously, that didn’t happen. I always thought the comparison was odd. I thought about that while listening to this. Both the destruction and the rebuilding together. This very interesting to hear some details about his life.
1 Estras 6:24-26
24 “In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, King Cyrus ordered the building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, where they sacrifice with perpetual fire;
25 its height to be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, with three courses of hewn stone and one course of new native timber; the cost to be paid from the treasury of Cyrus the king;
26 and that the holy vessels of the house of the Lord, both of gold and of silver, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the house in Jerusalem and carried away to Babylon, should be restored to the house in Jerusalem, to be placed where they had been.”
The celebration when the temple was completed
I thought this was so beautifully written. Expressing the overwhelming joy the children of Israel felt having the temple once again. They were not righteous long, but I felt I could glimpse the level of joy they felt as I listened to it.
1 Estras 5:58-65
So the builders built the temple of the Lord.
59 And the priests stood arrayed in their garments, with musical instruments and trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals,
60 praising the Lord and blessing him, according to the directions of David king of Israel;
61 and they sang hymns, giving thanks to the Lord, because his goodness and his glory are for ever upon all Israel.
62 And all the people sounded trumpets and shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord for the erection of the house of the Lord.
63 Some of the Levitical priests and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the former house, came to the building of this one with outcries and loud weeping,
64 while many came with trumpets and a joyful noise,
65 so that the people could not hear the trumpets because of the weeping of the people.
For the multitude sounded the trumpets loudly, so that the sound was heard afar;
Overall, I though the book was inspirational and fascinating. If you ever have a chance to read it, I would. It can be read here.