Here’s a beautiful combination. The people heeded the prophets and the prophets helped the people.
With local interference and faraway palace intrigue, the temple restoration in Jerusalem had ground to a halt. Sixteen years after the process had begun, the people had yet to finish. Now the site lies silent. But God is not idle. He’s been stirring up two men to get the project back on track. “Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah…prophesied” (Ezra 5:1). According to Haggai, the people, instead of working on the temple, were paneling their own houses, saying it just wasn’t the right time to be building the Lord’s house (see Hag 1:2-4). But with Haggai’s fiery message ringing in their ears, back to work they went. And here’s a nice touch: “So Zerubbabel…and Jeshua…rose up and began to build the house of God…and the prophets of God were with them, helping them” (Ezra 5:2). Isn’t it nice when the preachers are also practitioners? How unlike the Pharisees. The Lord instructed the people: Do what they say, but don’t do what they do! Well, as soon as building sounds were heard again, the critics also made their appearance. This time it was “Tattenai the governor of the region beyond the River and Shethar-Boznai and their companions,” who asked, “Who has commanded you to build this temple and finish this wall?” (v 3). They could have answered superciliously, “God did,” or even “King Cyrus did,” but they simply pointed out the project foremen. Realizing “the eye of their God” was watching (v 5), they weren’t prepared to give up just because someone complained. Not this time. They would keep working till an official letter arrived from the king. This is a good reminder. The freedoms we don’t use we lose. Freedom from the world’s bondage means little if we don’t invest what we now have in service for the Lord.