Ezra - Chapter 5

RESTORATION RESUMED

We see the Lord's prophet Haggai shedding some light on the stopping of the restoration of the Temple in Haggai 1:2:

“The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.”

The people were procrastinating and dithering about the completion of the work assigned. Chapters 5 & 6 allow us a view into the need for a restart on the Temple work and a revival of spirit and strength to begin again. 

So help was found from the Lord's prophets as verses 1 & 2 teach us. Haggai and Zechariah stirred up the Jews toward resuming the work and Zerubbabel and Jeshua resumed their leadership positions and arranged the work to restart. These two prophets urged the people to take courage and not be apprehensive and they told the people God had warned them that such delays would occur.

At the same time we see in verses 3-5 that questions arose from some officials asking who had given permission to construct the building. The territorial Governor wrote a letter to King Darius asking if it was true that this work had been blessed by Persia (King Cyrus) bringing perhaps a shadow upon the whole project. Verses 6-7 give us the story of the letter sent.

Chapter 5 allows us the strong lesson that once God assigns work for His kingdom, we should place that work at the highest priority level in our lives and are to trust that God will provide a way and the means to complete it. Such effort is the basis of obedience to the Lord and in verse 5:5 we see that the “eye of God” was on the Jews. So our teaching is that we are to trust God and know that His work and will shall be done and that He has the strength and ability to overcome any who would stand in the way to block his commanded work.