October 31, 2024 | Be God's Light
Haggai & Zechariah Arrive Amid Conflict
Scripture: Ezra 5(NIV)
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?” 4 They also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7 The report they sent him read as follows:
To King Darius:
Cordial greetings.
8 The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.
9 We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?” 10 We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
11 This is the answer they gave us:
“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14 He even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’
16 “So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”
17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.
Devotional
Let’s review the timeline:
586 BC – the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians.
536 BC – work begins on the reconstruction of the temple.
530 BC – reconstruction work comes to a standstill for a decade.
520 BC – work begins again under the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
Verse 2 says, “Zerubbabel… set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.” Haggai and Zechariah gave both their prophetic words and the sweat of their brows to the temple reconstruction. We will look at some of their prophetic statements in the coming days.
The restart of the building project led to a restart of tension with opponents. The Medo-Persian Empire was vast, incorporating modern-day Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and all points between. In today’s passage, a governor of one of those provinces knew nothing about the plan of the previous king Cyrus to authorize and finance the rebuilding of the temple. So, he wrote a letter to the current king Darius to get clarification.
Even with God on their side and God’s prophets by their side, the people of God still ran into interference when they were doing what they were supposed to do. A half millennium later, Peter wrote a letter to the Christians who were facing persecution for simply being Christians:
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:12-16).
What does today’s devotional teach you about perseverance?
Poem
Haggai And Zechariah
A hug
Embrace
A festal celebration
A Haggai
Who enters in
With such an irony
In the midst of chaos
Can only mean
God is with us
Emmanuel
Review
Remember
The eternal call from God
Who enters in
With such a key
In the midst of chaos
Unlocks the truth
God is with us
Emmanuel
