Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap.

Yesterday, the exiles who returned from Babylon started rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem,

and today that comes to the screeching halt.

It starts out subtle.

First, a few of Israel's enemies try to throw a wrench into the plan to rebuild.

The Israelites have been gone for decades, then all of a sudden they show back up to rebuild

the ruins in the land these people have lived in for maybe all of their lives.

This doesn't sit well with their enemies who live there, of course, so their enemies

hatch a plan to put a stop to it.

They're like, oh you're rebuilding the temple to Yahweh?

What a coincidence, it just so happens we've been worshipping him too, so you should totally

let us help.

But Zaruba Bell and Jesua send them packing.

They say Cyrus has commanded that only the Israelites who returned from exile should rebuild

it.

When the enemies plan A doesn't work, they go over the Israelites' heads.

They start bribing officials and lying and scheming to put a stop to things.

And it seems to work.

The construction project is officially put on hold for something like 15 years.

Maybe some of you feel this way about your road system.

By the way, the extent of this delay kind of flies under the radar and the text because

it's only evident if we pay attention to the different kings mentioned.

...