Ezra 4:23, 24 – “Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. 24 Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”
I have had the privilege of building several buildings ranging from $100,000 to millions of dollars. No matter the scope and size there is a probability that something challenging will happen between concept and occupancy.
Anything worth doing for God will have setbacks. Our text is a prime example of that. The temple rebuild project hits a roadblock. Adversaries don’t want the rebuild to take place and the work on the temple stops.
Three things happen that restart the project:
1. The prophets prophesied. Haggai and Zechariah were used by God to encourage the Jews to rebuild. They were instrumental in the building process from that point forward (5:1,2)
2. The eye of God was on them which caused them to press on diligently and prosper in their work (5:5,8)
3. Favor. God gave the Jews favor in the eyes of Darius the king who issued a decree in favor of the Jews, which enabled them to finish rebuilding the temple.
If you have hit a brick wall and it seems you’re at a standstill, pray for these three elements to be brought into your situation. You may find your setback will turn into a breakthrough!