(Through the Bible) Ezra — Chuck Smith

Ezra’s Historical Setting and the First Return

Let's turn now to the book of Ezra. The book of Ezra, the first part, was probably written by Ezra, but written from the records. Actually, at the time that Cyrus gave the decree to build the temple, Ezra wasn't even alive.

Ezra doesn't come into the story into a first-hand account until you get to chapter 7. The first six chapters deal with the first of the repatriation of the nation Israel after the Babylonian captivity.

Now, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, that the word of the Lord 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 of his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,.

Thus saith Cyrus, the 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 a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Now, he mentions here in order that the word of the prophecy of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

And as you turn to Jeremiah chapter 25, we find that the Lord had predicted that they would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Jeremiah 25, 11,. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.

And it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it. And then also in Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 10,. For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, they are thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end. And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity. I will gather you from all of the nations and from all of the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Daniel’s Prayer and Isaiah’s Prophecy of Cyrus

All right, now turn to Daniel chapter 9. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to God and made my confession and so forth. So that Daniel, knowing the prophecy of Jeremiah that the period of captivity would be 70 years, during this period he began to seek the Lord as to what part the Lord might have him to play in the repatriation of Israel.

Now, let's turn to Isaiah chapter 44, verse 28. Now remember, now in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. Now in Isaiah 44, verse 28.

Thus saith, or that saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and I shall perform all my, and he shall perform all my pleasure. Even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid.

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings. You remember how Belshazzar, it says that his knees smote together the night that he heard that the, he saw the handwriting on the wall.

And it says that his knees began to smite one against another. And, and so here's a prophecy of that experience that Belshazzar had. I will loose the loins of the kings to open before him the two levied gates, and the gates shall not be shut.

And I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in center the bars of iron. I will give thee the treasures of darkness, the hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I the Lord which call thee by thy name am the God of Israel.

For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though you have not known me. So, here the prophecy of Isaiah was uttered 200 years before this particular event, where we read, Now, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, the fellow that even according to Isaiah, the man that God named, said, I have named you, even though you haven't known me, God named him 200, 150 years before he was born, God named him, and declared that he would be the one that would allow the people to go back and to start rebuilding the temple.

So, fascinating prophecies, many of the, you see how much scripture is tied together in really just the first verse here of Ezra, as we see the prophecies of Isaiah, the prophecies of Daniel, for Daniel predicted that the Medo-Persian Empire would overthrow the Babylonian Empire, and of course the prophecies of Jeremiah, the 70 years of their captivity in Babylon, and then that God would release them from that captivity.

Prophecy Fulfilled and Anticipation of Future Events

So, it's exciting times in Bible history when you come down to the point where God is now fulfilling the things that he promised. When you start seeing the things fall together, when you know that the Lord said 70 years will be your time of captivity, and you can count, and you know when 70 years are up, you start getting excited, alright, God's going to start moving, you know, because the 70 years are about up.

When Cyrus is the name of the general that takes over in Babylon, then you really get excited, because you know that God said, hey, I've called you by your name, and I've surnamed you though you haven't even known me, and you will do my bidding, you'll do my desires in allowing the people to go back from their captivity.

So, you see things beginning to come together, and there's always a lot of anticipation and excitement, and hey, the day in which we live today is just that kind of a day, because we see things coming together, and it's exciting to see the things happening in the world, because all of a sudden we say, yeah, that's what the prophet Ezekiel said was going to be.

Yeah, that's what the Lord said would happen there in Isaiah. Yes, and you see how God is setting the whole thing together, and we're moving again to a period of history just like it was here in the first chapter of Ezra, where God is getting ready to fulfill His promises and His Word, and He has set the stage.

Things are coming to pass, and there's just an excitement in the air, because you know that God's Word is being fulfilled around you, and you know what's going to be happening. As God has declared these events, they're going to take place.

So, we look at the world today, and we realize that Russia will soon be making her move into the Middle East. We know that Russia is going to attack the Middle East, and for us as Christians, it's really exciting, because we know what a threat Russia is to our own security and to our own peace.

And to realize that they're going to make this military mistake and blunder in trying to take Israel first before she goes against the United States, we know what's going to happen. And so, we rejoice that God has given to us advanced warning, advanced notices, so that we will actually believe when we see these things happen.

Jesus said, I've told you these things before they come to pass, so that when they come to pass, you might believe. And so, it's always exciting to live in those periods of history when God starts to put things together, and you know, hey, this is the time that the prophets were speaking about.

These are the events God said were going to take place. Wow, this is it. Look at that, you know. And you see the whole thing beginning to just sort of weld together, and it's just really exciting times.

Daniel, Darius, and the Rebuilding of the Temple

Now, Daniel had predicted that the Medo-Persian Empire was going to overthrow the Babylonian Empire, and Daniel actually became a counselor. He was a counselor in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. However, by the time that Belshazzar, his grandson, came around, Daniel was sort of in retirement.

And when the handwriting came on the wall, they brought Daniel in. And Belshazzar really didn't know him. Are you that Daniel that, you know, helped my grandfather and so forth? And Daniel then interpreted the dream for Belshazzar, telling him that that night his kingdom was going.

That was it. He had had it. His days were numbered and finished. That was all for him, and he had a very short span on the scene. Daniel was probably at this time close to 90 years old. He probably lived to be 110, 115.

He lived to the time that the temple was rebuilt. And he, because it was, as we'll get tonight, it was Darius who gave the order to start work again. Cyrus gave the order to start, and about 50 ,000 of the Jews returned, as we will be reading, and started rebuilding the temple and resettling the land.

Then about, oh, then actually a Cyrus was removed. Another king came in who wrote and stopped the building of the temple. And then Darius came on the throne, and he wrote and started the whole project again about 16 years later.

Now it is the same Darius that was a close friend of Daniel. It was Darius the king who was tricked into making the decree, if anyone prays to any god other than me for 30 days, you know, let him be thrown in the lion's den.

And he signed this proclamation, and then they came and said, hey, there's a guy down here that broke your law, and he's got to go in the lion's den. And he said, who is it? It's Daniel. And, of course, he was grieved because he loved Daniel, and he sought all day to try and reverse things, but the laws of the Medes and the Persians could not be changed once they had been sealed.

And so he encouraged Daniel. He said, Daniel, the god you serve, he's able to deliver you out of the hand of the lions. And Daniel said, don't worry, I'm an old, tough customer, you know, and I'll get by OK.

So they threw Daniel into the lion's den, and, of course, the king didn't sleep all night long. He was really troubled over the whole thing. And in the morning, went out early, and I like it, the scripture said, and he cried in a lamentable voice.

Oh, Daniel! However the lamentable voice was. It was, is your God able to deliver you? And he says, ah, live forever, king. You know, God sent an angel down and stopped the mouths of the lions, and I'm in good shape.

So they brought Daniel out, and then the guys that conspired against Daniel were tossed into the lion's den, and before they could even hit the bottom of the den, they were devoured of the lions. Now, this is the Darius that we will get to in a little while, who gave the order to start building again, even ordered them to pay whatever money they needed to help.

So we'll start putting this story together for you as we move along. So Cyrus the king made a proclamation that whatever people there were of the Israelites who wanted to return could go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, for he is the God which is in Jerusalem.

And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

So there rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, and all of them whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, and gold, and goods, with beasts, and precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. And Cyrus the king brought forth vessels out of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods.

Even those did Cyrus the king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithridat, the treasurer, and numbered them unto the prince of Judah. And the number of them were thirty charges of gold, a thousand charges of silver, twenty-nine knives, and so forth.

The Return from Babylon and the Identity of Israel

Now, it was the policy of the Assyrians and of the Babylonians when they conquered people to take them out of their land and to just place them in other lands that they might lose their national identity, and they might lose any fighting spirit.

It was the policy of the Persians. They were far more humane than were the Assyrians or the Babylonians. And the Persians' policy was to sort of repatriate the people. Now, it is mentioned here that those of Judah, the Levites, and Benjamin.

Later on, we'll find that it also mentions those of Manasseh and those of Ephraim that returned. I make mention of that because there is what is referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and those who try to make an identity of the Anglo-Saxon nations with Israel and say that we are a part of the Ten Lost Tribes.

The Bible never refers to ten lost tribes. In fact, in the New Testament, there are references to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. Greetings. And there were people from the twelve tribes that were living and still identified with those tribes during the times of the New Testament.

And so you really don't have lost tribes. That's sort of a misnomer that people have developed, saying the Ten Lost Tribes. Even here, there were those from the tribe of Benjamin, which was, well, that was a part of Judah and Benjamin were together.

But then those of Manasseh, those of Ephraim, and the Levites. And, of course, you have the tribe of Judah. So that even already we have many of the tribes identified. And by the New Testament, Paul the Apostle said he was of the tribe of Benjamin and he knew the tribe from which he came.

And, of course, there were the Levites and all during the time of Jesus Christ. So they may not know their identity today as to which tribe they're from. It isn't necessary. It was only necessary to keep the tribal distinctions until the coming of Jesus Christ.

It had to be that he was of the tribe of Judah. And once he came forth from the tribe of Judah, not necessary to keep tribal distinctions any longer. It was all fulfilled. But God knows where they are.

In fact, God is going to seal them, 12 ,000 from each tribe, in just a very short time as he gets ready to put the final touches upon the whole earth system before the return of Jesus Christ. God is going to seal 12 ,000 from each of the tribes of Israel, 144 ,000 altogether.

So God knows exactly who they are, where they are, and all, even though they themselves may not know what tribe they're from, yet the Lord does know. So here they are, returning to Jerusalem, as I said, some 50 ,000.

And in chapter 2, it gives you the names of the people and the families that came and the numbers that came with them. Beginning in verse 36 to 39, you have the priests that returned. And then beginning with verse 40, the Levites that returned.

And then Solomon's servants that returned. Now in verse 61, there were some of the Levites that were returning who could not find their names in the register. Among those that were reckoned by genealogy.

They just couldn't find their names there. That is, they could not accurately trace their family history. They could not trace themselves back to the tribe of Levi. Therefore, they were as polluted and they were put out of the priesthood.

They were not allowed to minister or to function as a priest or to receive the offerings, the tithes, or the dues that were given to the priest in those days because they could not prove their pedigree.

They couldn't trace their names in the records. And they were kept out of the priesthood until such a time as they could find a priest with the Urim and the Thummim in order that they might inquire of the Lord and determine if these men really belonged to the priesthood or not.

Urim and Thummim and Divine Guidance

Now the Urim and the Thummim are this thing that the high priest wore upon his chest and the words mean light and perfections. Just what they were, we really don't know. But they would use the Urim and the Thummim to inquire of the will of God.

Now the common theory is that it was a little pouch with a black stone and a white stone. And they would ask a question and the priest would say, Lord give us a perfect lot, you know, and he would reach in to the little bag and pull out a stone.

If it was the black stone, then the answer was no. If it was the white stone, the answer was yes. And they used this method to ascertain the will of God in certain things. Keep asking questions, keep pulling out the stones.

And if you pulled out the white stone, then answer yes. If you pulled out the black stone, the answer no. And so this is what some have theorized the Urim and the Thummim to be. Just what it was, we don't know.

It was a method by which the high priest received God's answer for the people and God's directions for the people. It was some type of device by which divine guidance was given to the people. Now, though we don't know exactly what it was, I do know exactly what it wasn't.

It wasn't a pair of glasses that Joseph Smith found with the twelve golden tablets that when he put them on, he could magically decipher the hieroglyphics by putting on these glasses, which he said were the Urim and the Thummim.

That is not so. During the time of Moses, they didn't even know how to make glass. And it wasn't a magic pair of spectacles to read the hieroglyphics on the golden tablets. But as I say what it was, I don't know.

I do know what it wasn't. So there were about 50 ,000 who returned at this first repatriation under Cyrus. And going back to build the temple, plus they had 736 horses and 245 mules and 435 camels and all.

And some of the chief fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem, they offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place. And they gave after their ability, under the treasure of the work, three score and 1 ,000 drams or 61 ,000 drams of gold, 5 ,000 pound of silver and 100 priest garments.

So the priests, the Levites and some of the people and all the singers and the porters and the Nethemim that dwelt in their cities and all Israel in their cities. So they returned and they took up an offering.

Rebuilding the Altar and the Leaders of the Returned Community

Some of the wealthier families and all gave as was their ability for the rebuilding of the temple there in Jerusalem. And when the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in the cities. The people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem and then stood up Joshua, the son of Josedach and his brothers, the priest and Zerubbabel, the son of Shethiel and his brethren.

And they built the altar of God of Israel to offer burnt offerings there on as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. And they set the altar upon its bases for fear was upon them because the people whose countries they offer burnt offerings there on unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

Now, Zerubbabel was more or less the political leader of the people who returned. Zerubbabel was a grandson to the one king of Israel, Jehoiachin. And so had they followed the monarchy, he would have been the king, but he didn't assume the position of a monarch.

But he was the leader of the people in a political sense, whereas Joshua, the priest, was the leader of the people in a spiritual sense. Joshua was the priest leading them in spiritual things. Zerubbabel became more or less a governor over this remnant of people that returned.

However, he was of the royal line of David and could have assumed the position of the king. However, the monarchy had ended and is not to be picked up again until Jesus Christ comes. And he will sit upon the throne of David and God's promise to David that there shall not cease.

One from his family sitting upon the throne forever will be fulfilled when Jesus comes again and establishes God's eternal kingdom upon the earth. And so if you will at this point next week read the book of Zechariah, you will find where Zerubbabel and Joshua fit into the picture.

They were the instruments that God used in bringing the people back and in encouraging the people. These two men were vital instruments of God and you'll find more record concerning them there in the prophecies of Zechariah.

And also of this particular period of the building of the temple, you'll find Haggai has a lot to say about this. So this week as extracurricular reading, you might want to go to Haggai and Zechariah because it fits right into this general period.

Worship, Giving, and the Temple Foundation

So they gathered together and they started offering sacrifices to the Lord. Even before the temple was rebuilt, they cleared off the area of the altar. They began to offer the morning and evening sacrifices because actually there was a lot of hostility from the people around about them.

And they were living in real fear. And so they were really seeking God's protection and started offering sacrifices both morning and evening. Now they kept the Feast of the Tabernacles, which of course is in October.

They were there it said in the ninth month they came back. So they started keeping again the Feast of the Tabernacles the tenth month. They offer the daily burnt offerings according to the number that was required and so forth.

And the special offerings of the feast and all. And everyone that willingly offered a free will offering unto the Lord. It is interesting how that all the time the mention of giving to God is always mentioned in a free will.

Willingly. Pressure is never right when it comes to giving to God. You should never give out of constraint, Paul said. But as every man have purpose in his own heart, so let him give. And so it is a shame that the church has adopted pressure tactics in trying to get pledges out of people or get offerings out of people or get support for God's work.

And there are various types of pressure tactics that are used. There's a lot of weeping and wailing, which is a pressure tactic to get your sympathy so that you'll send your money in. And there's a lot of exuberance and hilarity and all.

And push, push, push. But it should never be. Because so often if I give. Actually, if I give in order that I might be seen of men to give. If I'm giving in a public service because everyone who is going to give so much is going to stand up, you know, and then you get your public recognition.

Then after I give it, I feel bad. I think, oh my, I really didn't want to give that much and I can't afford that and all. And you begin to feel bad and then you begin to resent what you gave to God. That's terrible.

God doesn't want anybody griping over what they've given to him. And thus, your giving should always be willingly a free will offering unto the Lord. And that's really the whole rule of giving to God.

Freely, of your own heart, not by pressure, not by constraint, not by someone begging or pushing. But you're just determining in your heart, I want to give this to God. And then doing it without any fanfare or anything else.

Just, hey Lord, I love you and I want to just give this to you. And Lord, I just thank you for the opportunity of giving and give freely unto God. And always through the Old Testament, this is emphasized.

And of course, the New Testament is declared, not by constraint, not by force, but willingly. Let everybody lay aside that which is purposed in his own heart. So, the people gave in order that they might start building the temple.

And they gave money to the masons, the carpenters, and they hired actually men to go up to Tyre and Sidon and to bring down some of the cedar timbers in order that they might start rebuilding. Even as Solomon had brought the timbers from Tyre and Sidon for the building of the first temple down to Joppa.

So now they are bringing more of those timbers out of the area of Lebanon to rebuild the temple. And the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel and Joshua and the remnant of the brethren and the priests and all they that were come out of captivity to Jerusalem and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.

Then stood Joshua with his sons and his brothers and they set forward the workmen in the house of God. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites and the sons of Asaph with their symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, the king of Israel.

And they sang together by course in praising and in giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is good for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

And so you can get a mental picture of this scene. They came back to Jerusalem, which had been lying there desolate for seventy years. So it just had become overgrown. Some of the men that came back actually had seen Jerusalem before its destruction.

They had seen the original temple, some of the very old men. But most of them had never seen Jerusalem before, only they came back to a city of rubble. The older men no doubt directed them to the place where Solomon's temple had been built.

They cleared away the rubble and they laid the foundation stones once more. And they were so thrilled that the foundation stones were laid, that they had a big ceremony, offering offerings unto God, the priests blowing on their trumpets, others sounding with their symbols.

And there were two hundred singers and so they had no doubt several choirs and one would sing and then another. And there were praises unto the Lord as they were praising God. And as the choirs were singing, the people were there worshiping God and just so thankful that a center of worship was being created once again, where they could gather before God and offer their offerings unto Him.

But as they were singing and praising the Lord, some of these old men who remembered the glory of Solomon's temple, the beauty and the glory of that temple, when they saw the foundations and they realized, hey, you know, we're putting this thing together nickel and dime.

And that one of Solomon's was so glorious. These old men began to weep. The younger fellows were all excited, we're going to have a temple again. But the older fellows, remembering the glory that was passed, the glory that was lost, they wept.

And so you have half of them, or not half, you have a bunch of them weeping, some of them yelling, and you couldn't tell the difference in the noise, whether or not they were weeping or praising and all as their noise mingled together.

But they made such a racket that it was heard afar off. And when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity had started to build the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers and they said, Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do.

And we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esherhaddon, the king of Asher, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel and Joshua and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them, You don't have anything to do with us to build a house unto our God, but we ourselves will build unto the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.

The Samaritans and Opposition to God’s Work

And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building. Now, when the northern kingdom was destroyed by Assyria, the Assyrian king took the people of the northern kingdom, Israel, and scattered them throughout the world.

And they had brought other people that they had conquered and settled them in the land of the northern kingdom. It became known as Samaria. That was the capital city. And the people ultimately became known as the Samaritans.

Now, when they came into the land, the wild animals began to turn against the people. And many of them were devoured. And they came to the king and they said, Hey, we can't get along with the gods of the land.

The animals are turning against us. So send us some priests that they may teach us how to worship in order that we might worship these gods of the land so that these wild animals won't be eating our kids and all.

So the king of Assyria found some priests and they brought them to these people who the priests taught them the worship of God. And it said, so they feared Jehovah, but they worshiped their own gods. In other words, he was just made a part of their whole total worship program.

But it wasn't a true worship of Jehovah, nor were they truly descendants of Abraham or Israel. So they did, however, as a part of their total worship, worship Jehovah, even as they were taught. They did have the sacrifices.

They did offer the sacrifices and all, because the priest taught them the burnt offerings, the peace offerings and these things. So they did do that. And so when these fellows came and we're going to build their temple, they said, Hey, we'd like to help you because we worship your God too.

But they worship God as in a mixture with a lot of other gods. And so Zerubbabel and Joshua and the chief men decided that they didn't want their help. Now, it would be great if the church would maintain that same attitude today.

We don't need the help of the world in doing the work of God. But not all churches see it that way. And many are trying to conscript Satan to come help them in their building programs or whatever. But God doesn't need any help in accomplishing his program, especially from those who are not true servants of God.

And I feel that it is wrong to go to worldly people to try to conscript aid for the work of God. They refuse to accept their help. Now, these are the same people that in the time of Christ were called the Samaritans.

And the Jews would not have any dealings even after they returned. They would not have any dealings 400 years later when Christ came. They still would not have any dealings with the Samaritans. And you remember when Jesus met the woman of Samaria at the well and said, Would you give me a drink of water?

She said, How come you're asking me for a drink? You're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan. The Jews don't have dealings with the Samaritans. It is true. The Jews would usually, when they were coming to the feast from Galilee, go clear on down to the Jordan River and come all the way along the Jordan River and then come up from Jericho rather than take the shorter route directly through Samaria because they just didn't like to be around the Samaritans.

There was a lot of bad blood between the two. Now, the Holy Spirit came upon the church and in one of the early persecutions, the church was sort of scattered and Jesus had said to his disciples, When the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

So in the persecution, as the church was scattered, Philip went up to Samaria and began to preach Christ to the Samaritans and many believed and were baptized when they saw the miracles that were wrought through the hands of Philip.

Now when the church in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had also received the Gospel, they sent unto them Peter and John, for as yet the Holy Spirit had not come upon them. And when they came, they laid hands on them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

And that's when Simon said, Hey, I'd like to buy this power that whoever I lay my hands on, they would receive too. And Peter said, Your money perish with you because you think that the gifts of God can be bought with money.

And told them to pray that God would forgive him the bitterness, the gall that was in his heart. So the Samaritans received the Gospel, a great revival. Now, at the present time, there are still about 200 Samaritans still living.

They're almost extinct. There's only about 200 of them living today. They still live in the area of Nablus, which is in the valley at the base of Mount Ebel and Mount Gerizim. And they still believe that Mount Gerizim is the place where God should be worshipped.

You remember the woman by the well said to Jesus, when she realized that he was a prophet, Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. Our fathers say that we are to worship God in this mountain, Gerizim, right above them there, for they were at Shechem, which is the present day Nablus in that area.

Our fathers tell us we're to worship God in this mountain, Gerizim. You say in Jerusalem, where is God to be worshipped? And so they still today have an annual Passover sacrifice. And they sacrifice a lamb at the top of Mount Gerizim still to the present time.

They are called the Samaritans. As I said, there are only about 200 of them left and they are pretty much imbecilic. They're pretty much imbeciles now because of the close crossbreeding. They won't marry outside and so their numbers continue to reduce and they have just a lot of idiocy among them because of this close crossbreeding.

But they still exist, which is interesting. About 200 Samaritans left. So these were the people. They came to Joshua and Zerubbabel and they said, hey, we will help you because we worship your God too.