The Edict of Cyrus is dated most commonly 538 BC. It probably took a couple of years for the first group of 50,000 returnees to get everything organized. Then the journey would have taken no less than four months to travel some 900 miles or so. They would have followed the Euphrates north to Syria, then cross and make their way back down to southern Palestine. It took some time to assess the housing and farmland needs for this large group. This makes the start of Chapter 3 about 25 September 536 BC.
Once everyone had a place to live, the first order of business was building an altar to restore the daily sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord. This was just in time for the Feast of Trumpets (agricultural new year), followed soon by the Day of Atonement and then Tabernacles. The primary figures are Jeshua (Joshua) the High Priest, Zerubbabel the grandson of King Jehoiachin, while the appointed governor was Sheshbazzar.
A significant factor in their choice to build the altar first was the hostile environment of the local nations who had migrated into the land during Judah’s absence. The returnees had spread out to occupy the livable cities near Jerusalem. The point in that was to reclaim the agricultural land so they could feed themselves. This came with an imperial edict, so the squatters were none too happy with the eviction notice. The returnees needed Jehovah’s protection.
Cyrus had granted cypress trees from the Lebanese forest. These were cut, dragged down to the sea, and sailed in large rafts to Joppa. From there, they were dragged along the best roads to Jerusalem. All the other materials were assembled from local quarries, etc.
After Pentecost in the following spring (May-June), the foundation of the Temple was laid. The 341 Levites who made the long journey back were charged with overseeing the Temple construction. It was obviously smaller than the original; they simply didn’t have the resources to replicate Solomon’s massive project. Once the foundation was completed, they celebrated by singing Psalm 136 antiphonally. Those too young to have seen the first Temple shouted with joy, while those who remembered the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple were weeping, but it was hard for mere observers to tell the difference.
It’s important to notice that the people are apparently seeking the Lord’s favor, but are hindered by some false expectations. Also, the imperial throne changes hands rather often during this first few decades, so things can get a little confused back at the palace, while the distance makes communications very slow.
Their exposure to first Babylonian, then Persian culture allowed their basic assumptions to drift from the Hebrew. The synagogue system was already somewhat elitist, so the people weren’t regularly taught the Covenant in its full meaning. So, they didn’t really know how to enter firmly into shalom and what to expect from God. Ezra did his best to teach them, but this was at least a century away from the last time someone really understood things from the ancient Hebrew perspective.
This seems to disagree with another passage in Haggai.
Could you explain this difference?
Does this have something to do with their false expectations?
Ah yes, Haggai was notoriously mystical in his pronouncements. Read the whole passage (vv. 1-9). God admits that the Second Temple does not compare with the First (v.3). He then encourages the leaders to be firm in their commitment, because somewhere down the road that faithfulness will yield something quite new, when God will shake the whole earth. He refers to something we now regard as a messianic promise, in which all the nations will be welcomed under a new Covenant. Thus, the phrase “this latter temple” refers to something in the Messianic Age, and should not be taken literally.