until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.  Therefore he brought upon him the King of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young men or maidens, old men, or him that stooped for age; he gave them all unto his hand.  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.  And they burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.  And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia.”

At the close of this there was a representation of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the carrying captive of the children of Israel to Babylon.  We were seized, bound in chains, and confined in a dungeon.

Q. What followed?  A. We heard rejoicing, as of good news; the proclamation of Cyrus, King of Persia, was read in our hearing.

Ezra i. 1-3.  “Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, 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, Thus 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.  Who 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, which is in Jerusalem.”

Q. What was then said to you?  A. We were unbound and requested to go up to Jerusalem to assist in rebuilding the Temple, but objected, as we had no pass by which to make ourselves known to our brethren.

Q. What followed?  A. The third chapter of Exodus, 13th and 14th verses, were read to us: 

“And Moses said unto God, Behold! when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, what is his name?  What shall I say to them?  And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am.  And thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you.”

We were directed to use the words, “I am, that I am” as a pass-word.

Q. What followed?  A. We arose to go up to Jerusalem, and traveled over hills and valleys, rough and rugged ways, for many days; during which time, as we stopped occasionally, to rest and refresh ourselves, the following passages from the Psalms were read in our hearing for our consolation and encouragement [Psalms cxli, cxlii, cxliii]: