almost to the point of extinction, and what worship there was happened in private gatherings with wistful longings for a return of better days. Following the return of the exiles under Zerubbabel and the rebuilding of the temple, attempts to restore biblical worship in the city had languished. For the better part of seventy years, even under the preaching ministry of Ezra—who had by now been in the city for thirteen years—there was little evidence of genuine religious enthusiasm. It would be unfair