Ezra 5

Ezra 5 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Let’s get a quick background on the characters involved in the temple rebuild. Haggai and Zechariah are the prophets of the Lord. They are encouraging the people, specifically, the leaders, to get back to building the temple. At this point, there has been a 60-year hiatus from their original project! Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel was basically the political leader of the nation. Joshua son of Jehozadak would have been the high priest, or, religious leader at the time.

In the book of Haggai, the people receive a strong message through these prophets to continue with the work despite the circumstances. Specifically, Zerubbabel and Joshua are spoken to directly by God through Haggai.

‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 2:4 NASB 

Although God granted them the permission and motivation to build, they were scared by the threats. They went into the project worried about how they would respond if they were challenged. They wondered, what will happen to us? The Lord encourages them, and they get back to work.

Why did this all take place? Why did this project get delayed for so long? It was all about trust. The people and leaders of Israel needed time to change their attitude towards God. It’s not some shocking new revelation. It happens in our daily lives all the time. A lot of us get really encouraged to follow Christ in some way, and then a speed bump comes along and we forget who is the ultimate authority.

The people of Israel had two choices. They could believe that their fate was in the hands of enemy nations, or believe that God was with them. When the time came to defend themselves, God gave them the words and the path to follow. The Lord fights for His people.