Monday
Monday
Opposition and Encouragement
Zerubbabel … and Jeshua … set to work to rebuild the house of God…. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
Ezra 5:2
Whenever a work of God is prospering, we can expect opposition to arise. In Jerusalem it began with the Samaritans and continued later with others who were anxious to bring the rebuilding of the temple to a halt. They succeeded for a while, and during this period two encouragements took place.
Firstly, research into the royal archives revealed that the Jews had been fully authorized to rebuild the temple, and the message came to the governor of the Trans-Euphrates province in Jerusalem: “Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God” (6:7).
Secondly, two of Yahweh’s special prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, strongly encouraged Zerubbabel to finish the work. Here is Haggai’s exhortation: “‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? … But now be strong … and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Hag. 2:3–4).
The word of God also came to Zechariah, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it” (Zech. 4:9). So “Zerubbabel … and Jeshua… set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them” (Ezra 5:2). The reconstruction of the temple began again in 520 BC and finished in 515 BC, some seventy years after the destruction of its predecessor, as Jeremiah had predicted. After the dedication of the building with joy, priests and people celebrated the Passover, as if they were newly redeemed. Indeed, that is exactly what had happened. They began to detect the threefold pattern of their redemption, as Yahweh called Abraham out of Ur, Israel out of Egypt, and the exiles out of Babylon. All three foreshadow that greater redemption that God has accomplished through Jesus Christ.
For further reading: Revelation 5:9–10; 14:1–6