Ezra 5: Haggi and Zechariah

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Introduction

Thank you Pastor Davidson for teaching last week and being willing to continue on in Ezra.
Today we are going to look at the last verse of chapter 4 and the first couple of verses in chapter 5. Which is going to lead us to the books of Haggi and Zechariah.
Open up your Bibles to those verse in Ezra and let’s jump in tonight.
Ezra 4:23–5:2 KJV 1900
Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
Ezra 4:24–5:2 KJV 1900
Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
Let’s pray.
Notice first that the work on the temple had stopped

I. The Work Stopped

Verse 29 in Chapter four reads “Then ceased the work of the house of God...”
That came from the decree that was given by Ataxerxes’, the king of Persia. However, it was ultimately God that had commissioned them to rebuild the temple.
Ezra 1:1 KJV 1900
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 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,
Now what was it that Jeremiah said about this?
Jeremiah 29:10–14 KJV 1900
For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29:10-14
So the king of a gentile nation declares the work should be stopped and the people obeyed him.
They were afraid of what would happen if they continued. They allowed an outside source to cripple them from proceeding by faith with what God had called them to do.
When God speaks, it is always in our best interest to listen, no matter the circumstances that we could face. When God puts a call on your life to do something for Him, I don’t believe that call ever leaves you.
Now the Israelites are taking a break from the work of the Lord. They are building their houses and establishing their own community centered around their best interests and not the Lord’s interest.
In my study I found conflicting reports as to how long this was and to be honest never found one I was ok being dogmatic about. I’m sure with further study it could be more accurately determined but the one I’m closer to believing based upon scripture and a couple outside sources is 10 years, a decade.
For 10 years the people God had sent to accomplish a mission, turned their back on him.
Then God got their attention…how?
Ezra 5:1 KJV 1900
Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.
Ezra 5:1
He used prophets to prophecy His word to the Jews.
We see here that the work stopped and to get it restarted The Word was preached.

II. The Word was preached

Haggai and Zechariah were both prophets during this time period that God used to deliver His message to Israel.
When we look at the writings of Haggai and Zechariah we find that Haggai prophesied first and then Zechariah.
Let’s look at the Prophecies of Haggai

A. The Prophecies of Haggai

Turn over to .
The first verse there we see this is the second year of King Darius in the 6th month.
The second prophecy was give a month later, then Zechariah’s first was in the 8th month, and then Haggai’s last two are in the 9th month.
The audience of the 4 prophecies of Haggai are split between the people of Israel and the leaders of Israel.
This first prophecy is most of chapter 1 although we do see a response from the people in there too.
Let’s read this first prophecy. Someone want to volunteer to start us off, read a few verses, and then someone else jump in? Verses 2-11
Haggai 1:2–11 KJV 1900
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, And this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; Ye eat, but ye have not enough; Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, And ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, And the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, And upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, And upon that which the ground bringeth forth, And upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Look at
What’s God saying to them? You live in your houses yet mine isn’t complete?
You are working at doing many things and yet it’s not fruitful. Why? You don’t have my blessing on it.
Go into the mountain, build my house, and I will take pleasure in it.
When we are going about our lives without a thought for the things of God or a focus on Christ, we will find it to be fruitless, empty…vain
This theme is repeated throughout scripture as we saw on Sunday and now here. Living a life for the Lord and according to what He has called us to do doesn’t always make sense. That’s what living by faith is.
Imagine being alive in this time....the people are back and began working on the temple. A foreign ruler from the land that let them come back tells them to stop so they do. Then they make their homes and farms and things of that nature yet it’s barely producing. They are working it the way they should, they doing what they’ve always done yet there is little to show for their labor…what’s missing?
The blessing of God.
Why? I believe it was because they stopped living by faith. Remember what the Bible said about faith
Romans 14:23 KJV 1900
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Romans 14:23 KJV 1900
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
This prophecy and the Haggai’s third prophecy are to the people. His third one, in a nutshell, tells the people they are defiled and need to think carefully before they do things and live for Him and He will bless them.
Haggai’s 2nd and 4th prophecies were to the Leadership of the Jews at this time, Zerubbabel and Joshua
If they are living in sin then they can’t be blessed
Zerubbabel served as the governor of Judah and Joshua as the high priest.
The 2nd prophecy tells them that things will not be the same. It starts by asking “who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now?”
Remember in I think it was. They finished the foundation of the temple and some people were wailing and crying because it seemed so small in comparison to Solomon’s temple?
Now, even after the time has passed and you would think the people would accept that it isn’t going to look like it once did, they must still have this attitude and perception. How do we know?
Because God is encouraging the leaders by telling them this again. In v 4 God says “Yet now be Strong O Zerubbabel…Be strong Joshua…Be strong all ye people....I am with you”
Just because it doesn’t look like Solomon’s temple doesn’t mean I’m not with you.
And the 4th propphecy of Haggai that is to leadership basically says I will make you a symbol to the gentile Kingdoms. Specifically God calls them a “signat ring.” It’s what the Israelite nation was to be the entire time and what Christians are to be today…a symbol of Him and His Son to the rest of the World.
Those are the prophecies of Haggai. 1st: Get back to Work, 2nd: Not the same, be strong, I am with you, 3rd: Think carefully about what you do going forward, I will bless you, and 4th: I’ll make you a symbol.
Now let’s see how God used Zechariah.
Haggai gave the Word of the Lord as I believe it was given to Him from God. God spoke to Zechariah this way as well however the bulk of the book of Zechariah is not words of the Lord if you will but visions from God to communicate His message to the people.
Notice the Visions of Zechariah

B. The Visions of Zechariah

Turn over to Zechariah. It’s right after Haggai.
Zechariah’s first prophecy, that was given by word to the prophet, was in between Haggai’s 2nd and third.
This means the Lord spoke through Haggai to say; Get back to work, not going to look the same, be strong.
Then gave the following prophecy to them.
Let’s round robin read this prophecy from
Zechariah 1:1–6 KJV 1900
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, And I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: But they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, Did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
What was God saying to the people here? Literally?
I’m angry with your ancestors. Where are they now? Where are the prophets they cried to? Gone…but what remains?
My Word, My Statutes. According to how you live for me determines how I deal with you.
The same thing God had been telling Israel the entire time.
This was the only prophecy Zecharaih was given by Word and not by vision.
In total Zechariah had 8 visions plus this prophecy. Now I can’t go through them all in great detail because we are really looking at Ezra and what’s happening around there but they are a great little study to do…I say little, it actually takes some study to extrapolate the truth and principles from the visions to determine what they mean.
I’m going to summarize the first 3 visions and then I’d like us to talk about the 4th because that will lead us to application from the text.
The first four are as follows
I’ll bring peace and destroy the foreigners that attack my people.
Jerusalem is the Lords city and is ultimately the property of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has cleansed the people of Israel and makes them new. Great picture of God’s grace and our transformation as believers when we allow the Lord to work in us.
Ok, this is the one I want to highlight. Turn to
Let’s read this again round robin style
Zech 4:2-
But to hit the highlights look to Zech 4:2-
Zechariah 4:2–14 KJV 1900
2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, Saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; His hands shall also finish it; And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10 For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
lots of symbolism.
The candlestick can remind us of the golden candlestick in the holy place in the tabernacle yet this one is different. And it represents something different.
This candlestick had a bowl at the top which olive oil dripped from two olive trees.
The Olive trees represented Joshua and Zerubbabel.
It had a total of 49 pipes and unlike the candlestick in the holy place, we find that this one did not have to have a priest refill it daily. It was recieiving a constant flow of oil from the olive trees.
The one thing that this candlestick and the one in the tabernacle have in common are how they provided light. Israel was to be the light of God to the world just as Christians are to be the light of Christ and represent Him.
Look back at verses 6 and 7
Zechariah 4:6–7 KJV 1900
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, Saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Not by might of your army, not by power of your political leaders, byt by my spirit will things be accomplished.
What great mountain did Zerubbabel face? It’s believed this is a reference to the discouragement among the people because of the differences in the temple, the opposition from the enemies around them, poor crops, unstable economy, and people not obeying God’s law. It’s really stuff we face even today..it just looks a little different.
notice the end of verse 7 though and then I have to close.
“And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.”
That speaks of the Lord finishing His work in building the temple and the same people that were giving Zerubbabel problems as the work was being done to restore the temple are going to be the ones rejoicing when it is finished.
They wanted to be critical of the work being done for God while it was happening but when it was finished they were grateful it was done and rejoiced in it.
Once all this is done…the world notices

III. The World Notices

Turn back to for a moment and we will be done.
Look at
Ezra 5:7 KJV 1900
7 They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.
They wrote a letter to the persian king that, in modern vernacular said “we are rebuilding the temple. Look back in your records and see this is what we were commissioned to do.”
His reply was “your right. I’ll help pay for the completion of it.”
King Darius, the people who wanted to stop the temple being built, the people complaining about how it was happening, all took notice now of what was happening.
Why?
Because God’s people decided to live by faith and accomplish something great for Him. Because they decided to come together of one mind and one accord and put the Lord and His desires before their own.
Which is exactly why I believe the church took off in the 1st century. The Apostle’s and early Christians did this same thing and God blessed it. What would happen if we all would take that same attitude today? Living by faith in our lives following the commands of God and being a light to others. What great works could be done through you?
Let’s pray.
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