And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
The temple is finished, and Scripture fixes the day. Two questions follow. What finished a work that enemies had stopped for years? And why does the record credit both God's commandment and the decrees of foreign kings?
The verse before names two prophets as the reason the elders prospered. One writer points out that the builders had started again before the king's new decree reached them.
The adversaries were completely refuted and stopped in their evil work. The house of God received — I will not say an impulse, but — its completion. The beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they got this fresh decree. "And the elders of the Jews built and prospered [not through the commandment of the king, but] through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo." Now that God had given them power, He also controlled all the ruling powers in their favour.
Haggai and Zechariah served at the same time, yet their messages differed. Another writer separates what each one gave.
Haggai's ministry stirred up the conscience of the people. He urged them to consider their ways, which must have led them to seek His face. Zechariah is the prophet of glory. His vision showed the final victory of God's people, the coming of the King and the setting up of His kingdom, and the future overthrow of all their enemies. That vision of coming glory became an inspiration for them. God's people need this twofold ministry, which is so richly supplied in the Word of God.
Only four years passed between the restart and this date. One commentator names the conditions of that revival, and the cause of the long delay before it.
This revival came in the middle of humiliation, while the people were under Gentile rule. That is its special character. Work on the temple had stopped for fifteen years, from the second year of Cyrus to the second year of Darius the Persian (Ezra 4:24; Hag. 1:1). Four years later the house of God stood complete (v. 15). How disastrous are the delays caused by fear of man and by lack of confidence in the Lord! That lack of confidence is the sure outcome of fearing man.
Chapters 4 to 6 tell one story: work stopped, prophets sent, work finished. One writer draws the order out of it.
Where hearts are not stirred, God may allow circumstances to make the work impossible. On the surface it will look as though the work stopped because of forces beyond anyone's control. The deeper reason is that there was little or no stirring in the hearts of God's people. On the other hand, God intervenes, for instance by sending prophets who speak to the heart of the people. Then, when hearts turn to God, He will also take care of the circumstances. And then nobody will be able to stop the work, until it is finished, "according to the commandment of the God of Israel."
Verse 14 lays God's command alongside the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. One writer reads the pairing as deliberate, and draws a rule from it.
So they did everything in obedience to God, and with the permission of the earthly power God had placed over them. What a privilege for these workmen to have laboured this way! And no small honour, we may add, for these Gentile kings to be linked with God's purposes and used to carry them out! No doubt the record names the kings partly to show the value God attaches to obedience to the authorities He has set over us. We should not pass over that lesson.
The verse gives a day and a year. The same writer counts back from it to the laying of the foundation.
Four years were taken up from the restart of the building until its completion (Ezra 4:24). No one can tell exactly how many years had passed since the foundation was laid, because Scripture does not give the length of the reigns between Cyrus and Darius. The years could scarcely have been less, and were probably more, than twenty. With what long-suffering and patience God had borne with the failures of His people! His purpose now stands accomplished and the house stands built. With what delight He calls our attention to the labours of His people! Although all had been done by His grace, in that same grace He credits to His people what He Himself had done.
- Stopped by fear. The fifteen silent years came from fear of man and lost confidence in the Lord, not from the enemy's strength.
- Restarted by the Word. Haggai reached the conscience, Zechariah showed the coming glory; God's people need both.
- Prospered, not permitted. They built before the new decree arrived. The prophets' word made them prosper, and God turned the ruling powers in their favour.
- Finished under two commands. God's commandment held first place, and obedience to the kings He had set over them held its own.
- Dated and credited. God bore with more than twenty years of failure. Then He fixed the day in the record, and credited to His people the work His own grace produced.
And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy;
The second temple stood finished at last, and the people who had come back from exile held its dedication with joy. The building was far smaller than Solomon's and most of the nation was still scattered, so what did they have to be glad about?
The completion came only after a long stoppage, and commentators trace that delay to the builders' own timidity rather than to the strength of their enemies.
The elders among the Jews build and prosper through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. They complete the temple by the commandment of the God of Israel — and also by the commandment of the ruling kings of Persia (v. 14). This is the special mark of this revival: God brought it about while they were humbled and under the rule of the Gentile powers. The work on the temple had stopped for fifteen years... How disastrous are the delays caused by the fear of man, and by the lack of confidence in the Lord that always follows it!
The joy was real, but the house was not what it had been. What God gave back was His presence at the acknowledged centre, not the visible glory of former days.
Compared with the dedication of Solomon, a glorious memory, this dedication is a very feeble thing. Even so, joy fills the hearts of the people. Once again God causes "His name to dwell" (v. 12) in this restored house, and with public approval. His glory does not return to it, nor His throne between the cherubim. But His spiritual presence cannot be missing where His people acknowledge the centre at which He gathers them.
One thing was missing at this dedication, and it says a lot. Fire had once come down from heaven on the sacrifices; here none came.
The LORD had given them cause for joy. But fire no longer came down from heaven to show that God accepted the sacrifice offered at the dedication of the house. It was a difference of absence, yet a deeply significant one. Even the thing they rejoiced in showed their true state: "The LORD had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." That was great kindness and touching grace on His part. But what a change!
When the foundation was laid, the contrast with the older house had brought tears. The same contrast was here, yet this time the joy held.
If they had dwelt on this side of things, their joy might well have come mixed with weeping and tears, as it did when they laid the foundation. But faith has to do with unseen things. So faith could remind this weak, small company that the Lord was no less mighty and no less merciful for them than He was for Solomon.
The verse calls this gathering "the people of Israel," though they were only a fragment of the nation. How would they treat those who stayed behind in Babylon?
In fact, these "children of Israel" were only a small, weak part of the two tribes Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites. At such a moment they might have been tempted to forget their brothers who had not answered the proclamation of Cyrus — or even to shut them out... Those brothers chose an easy life in Babylon, captives though they were, instead of suffering hardship with those "whose spirit God had raised"... So had they not forfeited their place and title among the people of God? A harsh spirit might have argued that way. But this poor, weak company, whatever their condition, held the thoughts of God.
This dedication is one of a series of glad gatherings in Israel's history, all of them tied to God's house, and one writer draws a direct encouragement from the fact that this one came so late and in such poverty.
These feasts, with one exception, express pure joy alone. They were spontaneous, and the law never commanded them. The joy in them always had to do with the house of God. From this we may draw a comforting conclusion. Feeling the decline around us must not weaken our joy in any way, for the blessings the Lord pours on His Assembly today are worth as much as in the more prosperous times of the Church's history. "Rejoice in the Lord always", we are told — and that in days when the ruin was growing more marked.
- Finished — the house was completed under the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. The work had stopped for fifteen years first, and commentators blame the fear of man.
- Feeble — the dedication was small beside Solomon's. No fire fell from heaven, and the glory did not return.
- Filled — God made His name dwell there again. His presence at their centre of gathering was reason enough for joy.
- Faith — their joy held because faith looks at unseen things. God was no less mighty and no less merciful for this weak few than for Solomon.
- Far-reaching — this small group did not write off the brothers who stayed away. They held the thoughts of God about the whole people.