Upon that occasion,the book of Esther was to be read aloud to every Jewish community and the name of Haman was to be publicly execrated.And the rich were to give liberally to the poor in memory of the good Queen who had saved her people from destruction.
The faithful Jews who had already returned to Jerusalem did not welcome this innovation and for a long time they opposed the annual celebration of Purim,which seemed a little bit too “foreign.”But the feast (which probably was of Assyrian or Babylonian origin,and very old)rapidly gained in popularity in its new form and it has survived until our own time.
The story of Esther shows clearly how very important the foreign colonies were during the rule of the Persian kings.
They completely overshadowed the home country and all accounts seem to agree upon the desolate state of affairs in Jerusalem.
The Temple had been rebuilt after a fashion.But the walls of the city were still in ruins and commerce and trade were slow to revive.Zerubbabel had died and had been succeeded by a number of men who,hampered by a lack of funds and a lack of immigrants,had not been able to do anything to improve matters.
At last the Jews abroad decided that something must be done for the old homeland.A priest by the name of Ezra was given a sum of money to go to Judah and report upon conditions there.He asked for volunteers to accompany him.There was little enthusiasm.After a great deal of argument,Ezra persuaded some five hundred people to go back with him.
After a journey of four months,this band of pilgrims came within sight of the ancient Temple.
But conditions in Jerusalem,as Ezra found them,were terrible.The colonists (for they were little else)had taken wives from among the neighbouring villages.
They had become very lax in the execution of their religious duties.
Judah was in a fair way to become another Samaria.
Ezra,ably assisted by Nehemiah (one of Artaxerxes’former body servants),came to the rescue and reorganised the decaying state.The walls of the city were at last rebuilt.The streets were cleared of all rubbish.The foreign wives were sent back to their parents.And outside the main gate of the Temple a wooden pulpit was built from which Ezra regularly read and explained certain parts of the holy laws that the people might forever be reminded of their duties.
Even then the larger part of the old city remained an uninhabited wilderness.
As this meant constant danger (there were hardly men enough to defend the elaborate system of walls which had been laid out in the populous days of Solomon),some drastic steps were taken to complete the quota of necessary inhabitants.
One-tenth of all the Jews living in the adjoining country districts,selected by lot,were told that they must move into Jerusalem.A few came voluntarily and were given great honour as very unselfish patriots.The others were brought in by force.
Even then,Jerusalem remained a shadow of her former self.The old days of political and commercial importance were gone and they were gone for good.
The dream of Ezekiel could never come true.
But soon the city was to be the home of that great prophet whose ultimate appearance had been predicted by that “unknown author”whose courageous eyes had dared to look forward when all of his fellow-exiles placed their faith in the glories of the past.