Cornerstone Found

Cooper McGuire

Description

This book is the third in a series of five books.
The purpose of these books is to bring to light some very important to one's faith by revealing some not widely known facts of the history of events that have come to pass. In this sharing with you these events that might increase your faith.
We would be joyfully thinking God may have used us to increase your faith.
The time setting in this book is during Israel's captivity in Babylon and their release to return to their land and rebuild their Temple by the Meades, now known as Iraq. They and their ally, the Persians, now known as Iran, had conquered Babylon.
We learn of the 'Seventy Years Captivity' prophecy of Israel and its fulfillment by its release as given to Jeremiah by God.
We see it gives the name of the person who would release them as Cyrus. The prophecy was given a hundred and fifty years before its fulfillment.
If we can place you in that time, living a life as one there and seeing and feeling as one of those that were there, then we accomplished what we set out to do.
Making God's witness, Israel, to the world, an actual event in your life, will draw you to seek to know more about God and what He desires from you.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• Word of God
• Cornerstone
• Spirituality
• Religion
• History

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 25 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823004930
• Langue: English

Extrait

CORNERSTONE FOUND
The Third Book
History
 
 
 
Cooper McGuire
 
 
 
 

 
AuthorHouse™
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© 2023 Cooper McGuire. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 04/24/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0492-3 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0491-6 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0493-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023905936
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
HISTORY
Seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, a caravan of Jews came to Jerusalem with their leaders, Zerubbabel, and their High Priest, Joshua, to rebuild the Temple.
In the years after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, God brought judgment upon Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, and the Babylonian kingdom was lost. Therefore, the kingdom of Babylon is fallen to the Medes and Persians.
After the fall of Jerusalem and before The Seventy Years Prophecy of exile was fulfilled, we see-
Sheshbazzar (Zerubbabel?), the cupbearer, requested Cyrus, king of the Medes and conquerer of Babylon, to allow him to go to Jerusalem to work on rebuilding the Temple. This young man of Jewish descent, called Zerubbabel, becomes a taster for Cyrus, and Cyrus accepts him as a close friend.
Zerubbabel is saddened when he hears of the condition of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Traveling merchants had come to Pasargadae, Cyrus’s capital, giving news of the conditions of Jerusalem.
The Jews in the city passed the news among themselves.
Zerubbabel hears and takes it into his heart to try to do something.
God was moving in the hearts of many of them to return.
God calls Zerubbabel to take the lead to go to Jerusalem with those he could find to return with him.
This calling created a desire to work on rebuilding the Temple that could not be turned away and kept growing in his heart with a pang of sadness.
Cyrus inquires why does he look so troubled?
First, he explains his love for his home country and then relates the condition of Jerusalem and the Temple of his God. Afterward, he voices his concerns and requests permission to go to Jerusalem and help restore the Temple of his God.
Cyrus permits his trip to Jerusalem with a promise to return in a set time because Cyrus does not want the deprivation of companionship of Zerubbabel.
Cyrus writes a decree for Zerubbabel to take with him giving Zerubbabel authority as a governor to request the local authorities to provide him with money and materials.
This proclamation of Cyrus marks the end of the Seventy Year Prophecy by Jeremiah of captivity and their return to their homeland.
With reluctance and a desire to accommodate him, he sends Zerubbabel to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel returns, bringing 5400 pieces of gold and silver articles taken by King Nebuchadnezzar and given to him by Cyrus.
Cyrus makes the proclamation carried by Zerubbabel to the inhabitants to help and give aid to Zerubbabel or be hanged on a beam taken from their house.
The date of the proclamation was when the seventy-year exile ended.
Another miracle billboard sign of Israel’s road through time gives witness to the true God of Israel.
When Zerubbabel arrives in Jerusalem, he goes to the Temple sight. He finds the old stones of Solomon’s Temple scattered far and wide.
The larger bottom wall stones, three feet high by three to six feet long and three feet wide, had been drug by teams of oxen and mules to distances as far as half-mile away.
Finding, selecting, and placing these stones back surrounding the Temple foundation stones would be difficult.
The Altar of Sacrifice would be the first to be rebuilt.
The Israelites first constructed altars of sacrifices in their cities because worship was primary. The requirement from God was to use uncut stones that had not seen a hammer or chisel for the construction. These uncut stones were scattered among the rectangular Temple wall stones and easily distinguished.
There was no need to measure and seek certain ones to build the Altar of Sacrifice.
After completing the Altar of Sacrifice, they started to work on the Temple foundation and set stones without the Cornerstone.
The Temple stones were everywhere and sunken into the earth, with the growth covering many of them.
The wall stones have one finished side, which is the outside face of the stone. The other five sides are to scale but not rubbed smooth. These stones scattered on the ground would have many turned over to find the face.
*Have you heard the old saying, “No Stone unturned?” Where did it originate?
The stonemasons would set a stone in the wall and look for one of that height and approximate length, allowing the vertical joints to line up close to the mid-point of the one below.
There were stones specially made for corners with their faces finished on a side and the end. These had to be searched for and found first before they could run another course.
Begin with corners setting first and then lay the course of stones.
Searching for the engraved Cornerstone was everyone’s objective for months. But unfortunately, they could not find the Cornerstone though they turned over many.
One of the men walked past a large stone and spied a cut in the earth around the bottom. The rains backed up against the top rock, and water running around it made the recess.
This cut was about the width of a hand in the ground, and the erosion revealed the top of another stone underneath.
The ones destroying the Temple had buried the stone in the earth, and another larger stone was placed on it to keep it from being found.
After turning over many stones, they think they have finally found the Cornerstone face down, buried under another large stone!
They removed the stone on top and then dug around the one underneath to remove it. It was turned over and revealed an eye engraved on it.
The masons cleaned the engraved eyes filled with dirt.
*As recorded in Zechariah 3:9, “I will engrave the engraving.” This word used by Zechariah, ‘engrave,’ means to cut the earth from the engraving.
Seventy years it had rested in the dirt. It would now return to the corner of the Temple of worship.
God had forgiven, allowed them to return to their land, and gave them hope through their return and His Temple to worship Him.
Later, Cyrus died, then Cambyses, his son, became king. Their work on the Temple stopped for sixteen years. He stopped the work politically and financially and gave no support.
Then Cambyses dies. The new king of the Persians, Darius, takes control of the combined kingdoms of the Medes, Persians, and Babylonians.
The Jews had tired of the neighboring tribes that caused problems in constructing the Temple. So, with no money or protection from the king, they quit after finishing the Temple and concentrated on building their houses.
Ezra returns to Sushan from Jerusalem and tells Nehemiah of Jerusalem’s grave conditions and affairs. He reports to Nehemiah that all work in the city has stopped and describes the walls and streets.
It grieved Nehemiah that the rebuilding in Jerusalem had stopped.
Darius then sought to know why Nehemiah was sad.
Darius is told of a proclamation to rebuild the Temple written by Cyrus and has it brought to him.
Nehemiah has Ezra read it to the king. Darius reinstates it and adds a new order.
He sends Nehemiah and the Jewish high priest, Ezra, back to Jerusalem to resume the completion of the Temple amenities and infrastructure of the city streets and walls.
*This new order by Darius marks the beginning of time for fulfilling the prophecy concerning the first advent of the Messiah. It begins at Mary’s conception, given in the scriptures in Daniel 9:25.
*The Temple was completed and rededicated in 515 BC with the Cornerstone reset in its foundation.
Darius began his reign in 522 BC, a little more than six years before the Temple was completed. His proclamation given to Nehemiah was in 512 BC.
These dates are hard to place perfectly in time, but they allow you to perceive when the events happened. As in the conception of our Lord Jesus, there is only a range of about seven years to place this time in history.
INTRODUCTION
In this book, Gibbar is the son of a priest, Azariah. Azariah witnessed the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and was in the city when the Cornerstone was removed and lost.
This narrative is the second book, Cornerstone Lost, of the five books. The Cornerstone is the center of interest in all books and relates to the prevalence of its events in Israel’s history.
Gibbar, a descendant of the fifth generation from Barpetra, the engraver of the Cornerstone, in our first book., Gibbar follows his father’s lead and becomes a priest. Following his father’s steps, he serves as a Levite priest in Chebar as an instructor of young priests in the Laws and statutes given in the scriptures. He marries and has two sons, who have also married and have children.
After Jerusalem’s fall and the Temple’s destruction, Azariah, his father, was commanded to s