ated Cyrus to rule over the middle-eastern world of the time. Then, God worked the heart of Cyrus to command Zerubbabel to return with a company of Israelites to the, now, colony of the former kingdom of Judah. Cyrus, also, appointed Zerubabbel governor of the colony (Ezra 1:8, 11; 5:14).
             Zerubabbel lead this first contingent, numbering over 42,000 back to Jerusalem. Nothing is revealed about the trip itself, except it can be induced that it took about four months to make the journey. When they first reached Jerusalem, they set up the altar of burnt offerings, then they proceeded to lay the foundation of the new temple, thus beginning the task of re-establishing the Temple as a symbol of God's covenant presence with His people.
             However, adversaries of the Jews came from Samaria and offered to help Zerubabbel and the Jews to rebuild the Temple. These adversaries were people brought to Samaria by the Assyrian kings before the exile of Judah and Benjamin to Babylonia. But Zerubbabel and the other leaders refused to accept their help as seen in Ezra 4. Zerubbabel did not accept the offer of these foreign people, in contrast to Joshua's being deceived by the Gibeonite's when he brought the Israelites into the land (Joshua 9:27).
             Later, however, during the reign Artaxerxes, opponents of the Jews managed to succeed in stopping the work on the Temple (refer to Ezra 4:6-24). However, during the reign of Darius, the work on the temple resumed and was completed. A great celebration was held to dedicate the new Temple as seen in Ezra 6:16-22. Thus the work of Zerubabbel was completed; he had brought the first returnees back to Jerusalem, and under his direction the Temple was rebuilt. It is not known how Zerubabbel died.
             Zerubabbel was never made king of Judah; but he was the crown prince next in line to the throne with no sitting as king. For all purposes, he did perform the lega...