Final Old Testament Lesson for 2010 - The Great and Dreadful Day

Outline for Lesson 48 – December 26, 2010 – Sherwood Hills Ward

Introduction:
Ask: What do you feel when you hear the words: Second Coming, or Last Days, or Signs of the Times?
Malachi 4:5 gives the title of today’s lesson – Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord.
Ask: How can it be both?
President Benson said “The Savior’s coming will be both glorious and terrible, depending on the spiritual condition of those who remain”
Today we explore prophecies that Zechariah and Malachi made about the last days and assess our preparation for the Second Coming

Background to Zechariah
Around 588 BC Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had laid siege to Jerusalem, there had been a terrible famine, the temple, the walls to the city, and even the city had been destroyed
In 538 under King Cyrus of Persia, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. They were led by Zerubbabel and Joshua. The prophet was named Zechariah and in his writings, we have his preachings and his prophecies. The preachings were to motivate the Jews in rebuilding the temple and the prophecies dealt with the Second Coming.
Background to Malachi
Nothing is known about this prophet. His name was not used elsewhere in the Old Testament. He ministered in 460 BC when Judah was ruled by a Governor. Their was an atmosphere of religious indifference and moral laxity during his ministry.
Yet the message he gives in Malachi 4 is taught in each of the Standard Works (turning hearts of fathers to children and children to fathers) – Joseph Smith History, Luke, 3 Nephi 25 and D&C 2
Prophecies Fulfilled:
Mal 3:1 – Dual fulfillment – John the Baptist and Joseph Smith
Mal 4:5-6 – Prophet Elijah would return – (Kirtland Temple) – we should search out the names of our ancestors and perform ordinances for them
Prophecies Yet to Be Fulfilled:
Zech 10:6-8 – People of Ephriam will become mighty. The Lord will hiss or call for his people and gather them. (we can assist in the gathering by sharing the gospel)
Zech 12:2-3, 8-9 – A great war will be fought in & around Jerusalem; Lord will intervene and save the inhabitants (we should trust God to defend his people)
Zech 14:8 – Living waters will flow from the temple (Ezekiel 47:1)
Ask: How can we maintain hope when we hear of the prophecies of war, natural disasters, and widespread wickedness in the last days?
Prophecies that will be fulfilled when the Savior Comes:
Zech 14:3-4 – Savior will stand on Mound of Olives, it will be divided in half
Zech 12:10 – 13:6 - Jewish people will mourn because they have rejected Savior
Zech 13:2 – False idols, unclean spirits and false prophets will be destroyed
Zech 14:5 – Righteous will meet the Savior (Elder Eyring Quote about 14:7)
Zech 14:9 – Lord will be king of earth and rule during Millennium
Zech 14:12-13, Mal 3:13-18, 4:1-3 – Wicked will be destroyed & righteous spared
Ask: Why has Lord revealed these prophecies about the last days?
How can we prepare for the Second Coming? (President Benson Quote)
How does it help you to know that righteousness will eventually triumph over wickedness?
Malachi teaches about the blessings that come to those who pay tithes & offerings
Mal 3:8-12
Ask: How do people rob God?
What does it mean to pay a full tithe?
(Mal 3:10-12)
What blessings has the Lord promised us if we pay tithing?
How has the Lord blessed you?
Malachi prophesies of Elijah’s return to earth to restore the keys of the sealing power

Mal 4:4-6
How was this prophecy fulfilled?
How have you felt your heart turn to your ancestors as you have done family history work?
Seven Latter-day Appearances of the Savior Prophesied? Can you name them?

1. To Joseph Smith in the First Vision (Acts 3:19, 21)
2. In latter day temples (Mal 3:1)
3. In Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman (D&C 116)
4. In Jerusalem during Armageddon (Ezekiel 38-39)
5. In New Jerusalem (Missouri) – 3 Nep 21:24-26
6. To righteous at time of Second Coming (Zech 14:5)
7. To the wicked (D&C 133:42-51)
When will the Second Coming Occur –
Wilford Woodruff – “I would live as if it were to be tomorrow, but I am still planting cherry trees.”
Conclusion:
Gratitude for teachings of the Old Testament and Excitement to Study with Families the New Testament
Guided by the Spirit in our study, we have been able to testify with Job, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

Last Lesson of the Year - Reading Assignment

"Lesson 48: “The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord”," Old Testament Class Member Study Guide, (2001), 31

Zechariah 10–14; Malachi


Study Zechariah 10–14 and Malachi.



Zechariah and Malachi prophesied of many events of the last days. What events are described in the following passages?

Zechariah 12:2–3, 8–9

Zechariah 14:3–4 (see also D&C 45:48)

Zechariah 12:10; 13:6 (see also D&C 45:51–53)

Zechariah 14:5 (see also D&C 88:96–98)

Zechariah 14:9

Zechariah 14:12–13; Malachi 4:1–3 (see also 1 Nephi 22:15–17, 19)

Malachi 3:1

Malachi 4:5–6 (see also D&C 2; 110:13–16)


Malachi said that people “rob God” when they do not pay tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8–9). How is this true?


What does it mean to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”? (It means to be sealed for eternity to all our ancestors—our “fathers”—and to all our posterity—our “children”—through the sealing power of the priesthood and the temple ordinances for the living and the dead.)


How have you felt your heart turn to your ancestors as you have done family history and temple work for them? How do the promises of temple covenants turn your heart to your parents, spouse, and children?

Additional reading: Doctrine and Covenants 45.

Let Us Rise Up and Build - Lesson Outline

Lesson 47: “Let Us Rise Up and Build”," Old Testament: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2001), 220–24

Since we had such an enjoyable discussion of Esther, there is a lot of good material on Ezra and Nehemiah that we didn't cover today that you'll find a little way into the outline.

1. Introduction

a) Esther

i) We have spoken of how many Jews – estimated at about 80% of those taken into captivity – did not return to Israel after Cyrus allowed the Jews under his control to return to Jerusalem.

(1) Referred to as the diaspora or the dispersion

2. Esther

a) Esther's Hebrew name is Hadassah - name of the largest volunteer Jewish women's organization

b) Diaspora/Dispersion

i) We have spoken of how many Jews – estimated at about 80% of those taken into captivity – did not return to Israel after Cyrus allowed the Jews under his control to return to Jerusalem.

c) People in this story

i) King Ahasuerus (The names of Persian kings were sometimes rendered differently in different languages. Bible Dictionary identifies him as Cambyses, king of Persia, 529–521. Ezra calls him Ahasuerus, a Hebrew name. The Greek names, Xerxes or Artaxerxes, are sometimes used as well) – King of Persia, grandson of Cyrus, who allows the Jews in Babylon to return to Jerusalem

ii) Queen Vashti: King Ahasuerus made a seven-day feast for the people of his palace. On the seventh day, when he was somewhat removed from a state of soberness, he sent for his wife, the queen, “to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on” (Esther 1:11 ). The Queen refused to come and parade for the inebriated king and his drunker courtiers (see Esther 1:1-12) Queen Vashti loses her crown and Ahasuerus marries Esther.

iii) Mordecai is Esther’s cousin who raises her after Esther’s parents die.

iv) Haman is promoted to be the highest-ranking prince in the court of Ahasuerus

v) Things get interesting after Haman gets his promotion.

d) Reading 1 – Esther 3:2-5

2And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

3Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?

4Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

i) We see the consequences of the captivity for the Jews

(1) Outside of the land of Israel, they are regarded as a separate people

(2) Haman persuades Ahasuerus to order the death of all Jews in the Persian empire because of this slight by one Jew, Mordecai, because they are the people of Mordecai

(3) We will see this same pattern replicated thousands of times among the Jews of the diaspora, which, after Jerusalem falls to the Romans in 70 AD, will be all the Jews in the world.

(4) The only prior time the Jews were an oppressed people in captivity was before Moses lead them out of Egypt

(5) For Mordecai and the Jews living in the Persian empire, there would not be a Moses, but there would be an Esther

e) Mordecai and all other Jews rent their clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning. They begin to fast.

f) Esther, living in the King’s palace, hears about this mourning and learns from Mordecai of the decree of the King to kill all the Jews.

g) The law in Persia was that anyone, man or woman, who comes to the king who is not called by the king will automatically be put to death unless the king extends his golden scepter to spare the person from death.

h) Part of Mordecai’s message to Esther – Esther 4:14 - who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

i) This statement raises the question of foreordination, or, in the case of Esther, who did not hold the priesthood, foredesignation.

ii) Reading 2 – Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said: Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine. For each of us, there are choices to be made, incessant and difficult chores to be done, ironies and adversities to be experienced, time to be well spent, talents and gifts to be well employed. Just because we were chosen “there and then,” surely does not mean we can be indifferent “here and now.” Whether foreordination for men, or foredesignation for women, those called and prepared must also prove “chosen, and faithful.” (See Rev. 17:14; D&C 121:34-36). In fact, adequacy in the first estate may merely have ensured a stern, second estate with more duties and no immunities! Additional tutoring and suffering appears to be the pattern for the Lord’s most apt pupils. (See Mosiah 3:19; 1 Pet. 4:19). Our existence, therefore, is a continuum matched by God’s stretching curriculum (“Premortality, a Glorious Reality,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 16).

i) Esther sends a message to Mordecai

j) READ Esther 4:16

16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

k) After three days of fasting, at the peril of her life, Esther approaches the king. He stretches out his golden scepter as a sign that she is not to be killed.

l) The king asks Esther what her petition is and she tells him that she would like to give a banquet for the King and Haman.

m) Haman is honored to come, but orders that a gallows be built so that Mordecai will be hanged on the second day of the banquet.

n) On the second day of the banquet, the king asks Esther what her petition is.

o) Reading 3: Esther 7:3-6

3Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

4For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.

5¶Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?

6And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

i) The king orders that Haman be hanged on the gallows that were built to hang Mordecai.

3. King Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple

a) Set the Scene

i) After Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C., Babylon declined rapidly in power.

ii) In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the Medes and the Persians, united under the leadership of Cyrus.

(1) Reading 4 – President George Albert Smith wrote: When Cyrus was about fifty years of age, after subduing many peoples and small nations, he appeared with his army before Babylon, the then greatest of all cities, with its impregnable walls, 91 meters high, and its mighty gates of iron and brass. Instead of attacking the walls he diverted the Euphrates River that flowed through the city and used the channel under the walls by which to enter Babylon. (George Albert Smith, "Origin of Man and Prophecy Fulfilled", Liahona, Jan. 1980, 39)

(2) Cyrus was much more tolerant of the religions and cultures of conquered peoples than the Babylonians had been

b) Isaiah

i) Over 150 years before the birth of Cyrus, Isaiah issued a prophesy that must have greatly puzzled the children of Israel

ii) Reading 5 – Isaiah 44:28, 45:1-5

28That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

CHAPTER 45

1Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

5¶I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

(1) A prophesy addressed directly from the Lord to Cyrus

iii) When Cyrus took over Babylon, he would have met the prophet Daniel who had prophesied to the son of Nebuchadnezzar that “thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting” and “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:27-28)

(1) Either through Daniel or another source, Cyrus had access to captured records of the Jews and learned of Isaiah’s prophesy naming him specifically

iv) Response of Cyrus

(1) READ – Ezra 1:1-3

1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of theLord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

(2) Cyrus decreed that the temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt.

(a) He invited the Jews in his empire to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, and

(b) he returned the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar’s troops had stolen from the temple.

4. First Exodus to Jerusalem

a) Not all the Jews left Babylon at the same time

b) Zerubbabel and Jeshua led the first group of Jews back to Jerusalem

i) Found Samaritans were occupying the land

(1) Samaritans were descendants of Israelites who had escaped at the time of captivity and had intermarried with Assyrian and Babylonian colonists whom the kings had sent to occupy the land.

ii) Samaritans had a request

(1) Reading 6: Ezra 4:1-2

1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel;

2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

iii) Response of the Jews to the Samaritans

(1) READ Ezra 4:3

3But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

iv) Reaction of the Samaritans

(1) Reading 7 – Ezra 4:4-5

4Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

(a) Verse 4 – Weakened the hands

(b) Reading 8 – Brother Andrew Skinner has written: "The phrase used in Ezra 4:4, which says the Samaritans 'weakened the hands' of Judah, reflects a Hebrew idiom which means to cause someone to lose heart and become discouraged. . . . . Thus, in their spiritually and emotionally weak state, the Jews, having little resolve, allowed harassment from the Samaritans to hinder their work on the new temple for several years." (Studies In Scripture, 4:342-343)

c) We see here the source of the negative feelings of the Jews toward the Samaritans

i) They had violated Mosaic law by marrying outside of the tribe of Israel

ii) They actively impeded the rebuilding of the temple

iii) This is why Christ’s actions regarding Samaritans were so shocking to the Pharisees

(1) Parable of the Good Samaritan

(2) The Woman at the Well was a Samaritan

d) Also see resistance to the building of the temple

i) READ - Brigham Young said “We never begin to build a temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring” (JD vol. 8, 355, 356).

5. Haggai and Zechariah

a) After many years of no work being done on the temple, the Lord raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah

b) Reading 9 – Ezra 5:1-2

1Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

2Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

c) Haggai gets the work moving forward again by calling the people to repentance

i) READ – Haggai 1:3-8

3Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ^acieled [paneled] houses, and this house [the temple] lie waste?

5Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^aConsider your ways.

6 Ye have ^asown much, and bring in little; ye ^beat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that ^cearneth wages earneth^d wages to put it into a bag with ^eholes.

7¶Thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^aConsider your ^bways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the ^ahouse; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.

d) The Samaritans and some provincial governors continued to cause problems, but Darius, the grandson of Cyrus, decrees that the temple will be built without further interference

6. Ezra Leads Another Group of Jews Back to Jerusalem

7. Nehemiah Goes To Jerusalem - Leads the People In Rebuilding the Walls

a) Nehemiah was the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia. This was a position of great trust and responsibility, requiring Nehemiah to ensure that the king’s food and drink were safe. Even though Nehemiah was in a position of importance in Persia, he cared about his people in Jerusalem and sought to help them when he heard of their difficulties.

b) King Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem with authority to rebuild

c) No walls around Jerusalem

d) Nehemiah persuades the discouraged Jews to rebuild the walls

i) READ Nehemiah 2:17-18

17¶Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth ^awaste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

18Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

ii) Again, there was opposition to this construction

iii) Nehemiah had to set guards to protect those who were building the temple walls

iv) When two of the opponents of the rebuilding asked Nehemiah to come for a meeting, he replied:

(1) READ Nehemiah 6:3

3And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

8. Ezra Reads The Scriptures To The People

a) After the walls were complete, the people requested Ezra to read "the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel" (Nehemiah 8:1)

b) Most of the Jews had been in captivity so long that they had never heard or read the scriptures.

c) Reading 10 – Nehemiah 8:2-3

2And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

3And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

d) The Response of the People

i) READ Nehemiah 8:6,9

6And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

SKIP

9¶And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

e) People Entered into a Covenant

i) READ Nehemiah 10:29

29They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;

9. Ezra Restored the Law

a) Ezra, known as “the Scribe,” is an extremely significant figure in the story of Israel. An Aaronic priest, he was among the returned exiles determined to rebuild Zion. In later generations, he has come to be highly regarded among the Jews as the one who restored the lawful pattern of worship to the Jewish people. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, “Ezra was worthy of being the vehicle of the Law, had it not been already given through Moses. It was forgotten, but Ezra restored it.”

“Let Us Rise Up and Build” – Scriptures and Quotes

Lesson 47: “Let Us Rise Up and Build” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Esther 3:2-5

Reading 2 – Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said: Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine. For each of us, there are choices to be made, incessant and difficult chores to be done, ironies and adversities to be experienced, time to be well spent, talents and gifts to be well employed. Just because we were chosen “there and then,” surely does not mean we can be indifferent “here and now.” Whether foreordination for men, or foredesignation for women, those called and prepared must also prove “chosen, and faithful.” (See Rev. 17:14; D&C 121:34-36). In fact, adequacy in the first estate may merely have ensured a stern, second estate with more duties and no immunities! Additional tutoring and suffering appears to be the pattern for the Lord’s most apt pupils. (See Mosiah 3:19; 1 Pet. 4:19). Our existence, therefore, is a continuum matched by God’s stretching curriculum (“Premortality, a Glorious Reality,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 16).

Esther 4:16

Reading 3: Esther 7:3-6

Reading 4 – President George Albert Smith wrote: When Cyrus was about fifty years of age, after subduing many peoples and small nations, he appeared with his army before Babylon, the then greatest of all cities, with its impregnable walls, 91 meters high, and its mighty gates of iron and brass. Instead of attacking the walls he diverted the Euphrates River that flowed through the city and used the channel under the walls by which to enter Babylon. (George Albert Smith, "Origin of Man and Prophecy Fulfilled", Liahona, Jan. 1980, 39)

Reading 5 – Isaiah 44:28, 45:1-5

Ezra 1:1-3

Reading 6: Ezra 4:1-2

Ezra 4:3

Reading 7 - Ezra 4:4-5

Reading 8 - Brother Andrew Skinner has written: "The phrase used in Ezra 4:4, which says the Samaritans 'weakened the hands' of Judah, reflects a Hebrew idiom which means to cause someone to lose heart and become discouraged. . . . . Thus, in their spiritually and emotionally weak state, the Jews, having little resolve, allowed harassment from the Samaritans to hinder their work on the new temple for several years." (Studies In Scripture, 4:342-343)

Brigham Young said “We never begin to build a temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring” (JD vol. 8, 355, 356).
Reading 9 – Ezra 5:1-2

Haggai 1:3-8

Nehemiah 2:17-18

Nehemiah 6:3

Reading 10 – Nehemiah 8:2-3

Nehemiah 8:6,9

Nehemiah 10:29

Jerusalem Destroyed - Jerusalem Rebuilt

The following description of the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem was written by President George Albert Smith:

Then there is the instance where Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be overthrown and her people remain in bondage for seventy years. This was to be accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. In due time Jerusalem with its beautiful temple was burned. Her princes, nobles, artisans and many of her people were carried as prisoners to Babylon along with the sacred vessels from the temple.

One hundred and forty years before Cyrus the Great was born the prophet Isaiah predicted his birth and announced his name and said that he should overthrow Babylon; also that he would rebuild Jerusalem, notwithstanding the fact that he was alien to all the interests of the Jews.

When Cyrus was about fifty years of age, after subduing many peoples and small nations, he appeared with his army before Babylon, the then greatest of all cities, with its impregnable walls, 91 meters high, and its mighty gates of iron and brass. Instead of attacking the walls he diverted the Euphrates River that flowed through the city and used the channel under the walls by which to enter Babylon. He captured the city without difficulty while Belshazzar with his courtiers were drinking themselves drunk and desecrating the sacred vessels of the house of the Lord which his father Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem.

When in the city Cyrus found the Hebrew prophet Daniel, who had already interpreted the handwriting on the wall, having informed Belshazzar that he had been “weighed in the balance and found wanting.” (See Dan. 5:27). Having access to the Jewish records Cyrus learned that the God of Israel had decreed that he was to rebuild Jerusalem. He promptly issued a proclamation to the Jews to return to Jerusalem and for the nations to assist them in rebuilding the city and the temple. This was accomplished exactly seventy years after Jerusalem was destroyed, thus fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy uttered more than one hundred years before.

The destruction of Babylon is another case in point. When Babylon was in the height of her glory Isaiah prophesied that it should be destroyed, “that it should never be inhabited, neither dwelt in from generation to generation.” It was completely destroyed and inundated by the flood waters of the river. Now after more than two thousand years the city that at that time was the greatest under heaven is still a heap of ruins.

George Albert Smith, "Origin of Man and Prophecy Fulfilled", Liahona, Jan. 1980, 39

The Prophet Nehemiah

From the Bible Dictionary:

Nehemiah. Comfort of the Lord. (1) A Jew (either a Levite or of tribe of Judah) who held the important office of “cupbearer” at court of Artaxerxes, from whom he obtained a royal commission authorizing him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The book of Nehemiah (which is a continuation of Ezra, the two being regarded by the Jews as forming one book) contains an account of the progress and difficulties of the work and its final completion. The book divides into four parts: (a) 1:1–7:73, Nehemiah’s first visit to Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the walls in spite of much opposition; (b) 7:73–10:39, religious and social reforms; (c) 11:1–13:3, lists of names, and account of the dedication of the wall; (d) 13:4–31, Nehemiah’s second visit after 12 years’ absence, and his further reforms. (2)Ezra 2:2 = Neh. 7:7. (3) Neh. 3:16.

The Prophet Ezra

From the Bible Dictionary:

Ezra. A famous priest and scribe who brought back part of the exiles from captivity (Ezra 7–10; Neh. 8; 12). The object of his mission was “to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” In 458 B.C. he obtained from Artaxerxes an important edict (Ezra 7:12–26) allowing him to take to Jerusalem any Jewish exiles who cared to go, along with offerings for the temple with which he was entrusted, and giving to the Jews various rights and privileges. He was also directed to appoint magistrates and judges. On arriving in Jerusalem his first reform was to cause the Jews to separate from their foreign wives, and a list is given of those who had offended in this way (Ezra 10). The later history of Ezra is found in the book of Nehemiah, which is a sequel to the book of Ezra. Along with Nehemiah he took steps to instruct the people in the Mosaic law (Neh. 8). Hitherto “the law” had been to a great extent the exclusive possession of the priests. It was now brought within the reach of every Jew. The open reading of “the book of the law” was a new departure, and marked the law as the center of Jewish national life.

A good many traditions have gathered round the name of Ezra. He is said to have formed the canon of Hebrew scripture and to have established an important national council, called the Great Synagogue, over which he presided. But for none of these traditions is there trustworthy evidence. The Jews of later days were inclined to attribute to the influence of Ezra every religious development between the days of Nehemiah and the Maccabees.

The book of Ezra contains also an introductory section (chs. 1–6) describing events that happened from 60 to 80 years before the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem, that is, the decree of Cyrus, 537 B.C., and the return of Jews under Zerubbabel; the attempt to build the temple and the hindrances due to the Samaritans; the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, and the completion of the temple, 516 B.C. There is no record in the book of any events between this date and the mission of Ezra.

Religious values in the book of Ezra are found in the teaching that (1) the promises of the Lord through his prophets shall all be fulfilled (Ezra 1:1; cf. Jer. 25:13; 29:10; D&C 1:37–38; 5:20); (2) discipline and patience are borne of disappointment, as one expectation after another was frustrated; (3) there is eternal significance in everyday life; (4) preparation is needed for the rule of Messiah, the law being the schoolmaster to bring men to Christ.