Paul practiced Christian courage in the face of opposi­tion. He writes: "(W)e were bold in our God" (1 Thess. 2:2). He didn't traverse the world, testify before rulers, and endure Satan's buffeting through sheer strength of personality. His boldness leaned wholly on God's strength. This is what it means to be bold in God. This is what the Jews who were building the temple needed to learn in the face of their adversaries.

The Lord's Word⤒🔗

The adversaries of the Jews had brought the work of the temple to a standstill (Ezra 4:24). They had used a full arsenal of weapons, and succeeded. The work had ceased.

A few words, however, made a dramatic difference. Ezra 5:1 reads:

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.

As a result, Joshua and Zerubbabel rose up to begin to build.

How are we to understand this change? Well, the king of Persia may have ordered a halt to building; but the King of heaven gave another order. His mes­sengers, Haggai and Zechariah, delivered this order. They came in the "name of the God of Israel." They did not speak in their own name. They were ambassadors from the throne room of God. A few words spoken by the prophets of God in the name of God pushed the enemy back and the work of the temple forward.

Man underestimates the power of God's breath. All men could set every ounce of their power against God, but one syllable from His throne will vanquish it all. The Psalmist says: "He uttered his voice, the earth melted" (Ps 46:10).

Many forces are poised against the church today. How easily we, too, despise the Lord's Word. Some look to modern strategies; others simply throw up their hands in resignation. When will we learn the les­son that God's Word, the Bible, is the only and all-suf­ficient weapon in the weaponry of the church?

It is unbelief when we do not trust the power of the Word of God. Faith takes God at His Word. We see such faith in Joshua and Zerubbabel. Upon the words of the prophets, they rose up to begin to build. The cir­cumstances had not changed. The order of the king was still in effect. Still, the workers began to move the stones, the sound of the trowels was heard again, and all the while the prophets "helped" (5:2).

How did the prophets help? This we learn from Haggai 1 and Zechariah 1. They spoke the Word of God and this Word helped the people. It both chal­lenged and comforted the people. This is what the Word of God always does. And this is what we need. We are so slow to believe and obey that we need God's Word to goad us out of our stupor. But we also need the comforts of the Word to nurture faith and fan its flame.

The Lord's Eye←⤒🔗

It was not long before the adversaries came marching on to the building site. This time it was Tatnai, the official governor of the large region of which Judah was only a small part. He came with his whole entourage. How intimidating this must have been! They demanded to know what authorization there was for this construction. Then they wrote down the names of all the elders (Ezra 5:3-4). With this infor­mation they turned the matter into an official case with the king, Darius (see Ezra 5:5).

This looked like a tremendous setback. It was tan­tamount to a lawsuit going to the highest court in the land. It could have been very discouraging to the Jews.

However, we do not read of discouragement this time. While the matter was pending in the bureau­cracy of the empire, the building project was not halted. Tatnai did not issue an injunction to stop with all construction. We are not exactly told why not. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. The elders of the Jews looked beyond Tatnai to the Lord. If you had asked them why they were able to continue building they would have replied: "It's the eye of the Lord." The text reads: "But the eye of their God was upon the eld­ers of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease" (Ezra 5:5).

What is meant by the eye of the Lord resting upon His people? Psalm 33:18-19 explains:

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Whenever people fear the Lord and hope in His mercy, He watches them so that no one harms or destroys them (see also Psalm 34:15). Whenever God's cause goes forward, it is because God's eye rests upon His people. Their eyes look to Him for mercy; His eye looks upon them to guard them. For Christ's sake, nothing can come between the prayerful gaze of God's people upon God and God's protecting gaze upon His people.

The Lord's Service←⤒🔗

The rest of the chapter gives us a view into the dossier of the prosecutor (5:6-17). It is essentially a request for the king to rule on the permit of the Jews to build the temple. However, there are three significant things that we learn about the Jews from this dossier.

First, the Jews readily identified themselves as the servants of God (5:11). Before the great king on earth, his servants, and the whole world, these Jews marked themselves as servants of the Lord. They were content to wait upon Him, do His bidding, follow His dictates, and be known as nothing more than servants of this great King.

Secondly, they do not hide their sin and God's pun­ishment for their sin from the Persian king (5:11-12). The fact that the temple needed to be rebuilt reminded them of the fact that their sin had dismantled the first temple. God was just in all His ways. They had learned the language of Micah 7:9: "I will bear the indignation of the LORD." They readily acknowledged their sin and shame before the world. They knew that they and their fathers had been a rebellious stock. As they were being subjected to the scrutiny and judgment of the king, they told him how they have already been subjected to the just judgment of God because of their sins.

Thirdly, they eagerly undertook the work of the Lord (5:16). They were impatient with the fact that the work had begun a long time ago but was still not complete. They did not use the legal trouble as an excuse to shake off their responsibility. This eagerness reminds us of the perfect eagerness of Christ, who said: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (John 2:17).

The Jews did not have this zeal of themselves. We saw them in the previous chapter with their hands hanging down. No, it was the Lord who furnished them with what they needed. The word of God, the eye of God, and the service of God gave them the boldness in God that overcame their adversaries.

Questions:←⤒🔗

1. Compare Haggai 1 and Zechariah 1 with Ezra 5:1. What was the word of God that these prophets brought to the Jews?
    
2. Ezra 4 and 5 present similar circumstances, but different attitudes to these circumstances. What is the main difference?
    
3. What are some ways you do not rely on the Word of God as you should?
    
4. What difference does it make that God's eye is upon His people?
    
5. These elders seem to have given their names to Tatnai (5:10). This must have been risky and yet in the end proved a great honor. How so?
    
6. What does it mean to bow under the righteous judgment of God (see 5:12)?
    
7. Review the three ways in which the Jews show they are bowing under God. How does submission to God produce boldness in God?