Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel [did they prophesy] to them.
The building of God's house had stopped, halted by hostile neighbours and a royal ban. Then two men begin to speak, and this verse raises the question of how a stalled work of God ever restarts.
The chapter before ended in defeat. What breaks the deadlock is not a friendlier king.
There is another thing of great interest. God did not set this right by the king's authority opening the door again. He set it right by His own power stepping in — the power of the Spirit of God through the prophets. It is by the prophets, not by the king — not by Darius. "Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem." How bold faith is! And God justifies the faith He gives... Artaxerxes had stopped the building of the house, but Cyrus had authorised it earlier. They were quite right to fall back on the word of Cyrus. Yet the great thing that moved their souls was that this was the word of God — through the prophets.
Chapter 4 makes the builders look like victims of force. The prophets' books tell a different story.
At first sight, the work in chapter 4 stopped because of things beyond the builders' control. What could they do when force and authority stopped them? And yet the prophecies of the two prophets named at the start of chapter 5, especially Haggai, show reasons beneath the surface. The people had lost interest in the house of God and turned to their own houses. Haggai had to deliver a stern message, addressing the consciences. Only after this could he deliver a message of comfort, assuring the people of God's presence and support.
Zerubbabel the governor and Jeshua the high priest were already in charge of the work.
Note that God raised up the prophet as the means of communication with His people when the responsible head or heads of the people had failed. So when the priesthood had failed under Eli, Samuel was God's chosen vessel for His messages to His people. This explains why the greatest of the prophets appeared at the darkest periods in the history of Israel — Elijah and Elisha, for example. In our chapter Zerubbabel the governor and Jeshua the high priest were the responsible heads of the people who had returned from captivity. But the constant attacks of their enemies wore them out. They gave way along with the people, and with them they stopped building the house of the Lord.
Only two names appear here. Two were enough, because of what they carried.
To produce this revival, two prophets are enough here. They were the bearers and the representatives of the word of God for the people. Through them the Word, brought again to light by the power of the Holy Spirit, reaches the conscience. Later, when Ezra comes on the scene, we will see this same Word presented to souls with no signs of prophetic power... A period of revival which is not followed by scriptural teaching will be short-lived and will die out.
The ban was still in force when the builders went back to work.
The people did not wait for the Gentile authorities to renew their commission to build... but God Himself had spoken, and if they were to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, they were also to render to God the things that are God's. When God condescends to speak, His claims are supreme, whatever the consequences. Builders of a later day recognised this principle. Peter and John were forbidden to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. They replied, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."
This is a pattern, not a one-off.
When Haggai delivered his burning message, the LORD revived them again. They rose from their apathy and began to build the house of the LORD, the prophets of God helping them... No sooner had they obeyed and feared the LORD than another message came through the prophet: "I am with you, declares the LORD." They no longer feared their enemies or the king's command, but they feared the LORD... The Word of the LORD was used in their revival. Every true and genuine revival always started and always will start with the Word of God, hearing and believing what God has spoken.
- Word first. The stalled work restarted through prophecy, not a royal permit. God worked by His Spirit through two men.
- Word exposes. The ban hid a quieter failure. The people had turned from God's house to their own, and Haggai's stern message reached the conscience before it brought comfort.
- Word arrives. God raises up prophets when the leaders have given way. That is why the greatest of them appear in Israel's darkest hours.
- Word emboldens. God had spoken, so the builders acted before permission came. Peter and John later stood on the same ground: God's claim outranks any other.
- Word teaches. Two men were enough to reach the conscience. But a revival with no teaching from Scripture dies out.
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, who helped them.
Work on the temple had stopped for years, and now two men start building again without a new permit from the empire. What moved them, what right did they have, and why does the verse add that the prophets were with them?
The dates in the prophets point to a deeper cause, one lying in the returned exiles themselves.
Many years passed before the ban on building came. I have examined the prophecies that throw so much light on this same period, and compared their dates. It seems clear to me that the real hindrance was the remnant's own lack of faith. There were enemies in the land who made them afraid and so stopped their building... They began to build again not because someone brought them the king's decree, but because they feared the Lord and did not fear the king's command, as seeing Him who is invisible... The source of their weakness was that they had forgotten God. This shows the great grace of God in waking them up through Haggai.
Fear was not the whole story.
Fear of the enemy was not the only thing that led them to stop their work. Their own hearts were also settling down on their own ease and comfort. They found time to build their own houses while saying, "The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord."
The verse names only two builders at the start. Nobody waited for the crowd to agree.
When it was a matter of building the house, the leaders do not wait for everyone to agree, nor do they try to stir up some common action. This will always be the case. The only way to stir up the activity of faith in others is to take up that activity yourself. It takes a heart deeply marked by what is due to the Lord and by our responsibility toward Him. We may be only two or three... but we may be sure that our zeal will bear its fruit.
Starting again meant defying a standing order. Commentators answer the question of authority on two levels. First, the principle:
No doubt they were under the powers God has ordained, and a decree forbade them to build. But God Himself had spoken. So if they were to give Caesar the things that are Caesar's, they were also to give God the things that are God's. When God stoops to speak, His claims come first, above every other consideration, whatever the consequences. Peter and John, builders of a later day, recognised this principle. Forbidden to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they replied, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." In truth, faith links itself with God Himself, with His objects and His power, and can then peacefully leave every other question with Him.
Second, the plain legal fact. An older royal decree still stood in their favour.
How bold faith is! And God justifies the faith that He gives. This looked like a lack of respect for royal authority. In fact they had at least as good an authority for going on with the work. Artaxerxes stops the building of the house here, but Cyrus had authorised it earlier. They did what was quite right... They went back to what Cyrus had commanded.
The last clause describes an ongoing partnership.
This last phrase refers to the ongoing work of the prophets while the building went on. Through it the Lord encouraged His people to keep at their labours. He unfolded before them the glory of the future, tied to the coming of the Messiah and the setting up of His kingdom. The people built and the prophets prophesied. Both alike filled their appointed places, and both alike carried out their task in fellowship with the mind of God.
The two prophets did not preach the same thing.
Haggai prophesied about the house of God. Zechariah emphasised the city of Jerusalem... The city was only to surround the house, but the house was God's centre.
Jeshua is also called Joshua. These two men point beyond their own day.
Joshua and Zerubbabel stood at the head of those left of Judah and Benjamin. When they returned to Jerusalem, their condition was one of deep humiliation. They were weak representatives of the priesthood and of royalty. At the same time they were forerunners, pictures, of the Messiah in His future glory.
- Cause — Fear and comfort stopped the work, not the ban. The real hindrance was lack of faith.
- Cure — God's word through two prophets, not a royal permit, put the builders back on their feet.
- Courage — When God has spoken, His claim comes first. Their obedience also rested on Cyrus's earlier decree.
- Company — Two men began without waiting for the rest. The people built, the prophets prophesied, each in their own place.
- Centre — The house, not the city, was God's centre. Its two builders point on to the Messiah.