[Chapter 5]

1. Leaders make a difference

Ezra 5:1-2
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

In Ezra 4:24, the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill. People got discouraged because of persecution from outside people and they stopped working or doing anything. It was during that time that Haggai and Zechariah the prophets started preaching powerfully in the name of God to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. The people started getting back their faith and started rebuilding the house of God. God hates anything that is incomplete or unfinished. When God created the world, he rested only after it was complete. When He promised that he would free the Israelites from slavery and lead them to promised land, he lead them to promised. When Jesus hung on the cross, he died only after he finished his purpose to save mankind.

When we look back on our life, our life has lot of unfinished work. Half written letter lying on the table, education left in the middle, hopping from one job to another every other month, half Bible study, few minutes of prayer as a quiet time while walking on the road to the office, even thinking of leaving God and falling away. If we don't change this pattern of our life now, then this will become our character that God will never appreciate and he wants us to change immediately.

Haggai & Zechariah's preaching not only started the work but also got the job done. (Ezra 6:14,15) Powerful preaching changes people's lives and motivates them to do great things for God and others. How has been your preaching lately? Have you been reaching out to people and inviting them to church? Have we been preparing our messages, Bible Talks, Devotionals, Communions, leaders lesson in advance or do we do a mediocre job in our preaching. Our preaching is the ceiling of the growth of our Ministries.

Not only did Haggai & Zechariah preach, but they were also with the people working with them and helping them to finish the job. So often we tell people what to do, but we are not there with them, helping them to succeed. We must help our brothers and sisters to succeed by helping them to find jobs, bring visitors, becoming fruitful, becoming leaders, to fight their sins, to face persecutions, etc.

2. The Eye of our God is Watching

Ezra 5:3-17
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?"
4 They also asked, "What are the names of the men constructing this building?"
5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius.
7 The report they sent him read as follows: To King Darius: Cordial greetings.
8 The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.
9 We questioned the elders and asked them, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?"
10 We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
11 This is the answer they gave us: "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished.
12 But because our fathers angered the God of heaven, he handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
13 "However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
14 He even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. "Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor,
15 and he told him, 'Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.'
16 So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished."
17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

When the work began, persecution began. The Governor started questioning the people, asking who gave permission to rebuild the temple. But the work kept on progressing in spite of the disturbance because the eye of their God was watching over the leaders of the Jews. (5:5)

That is great News! God is watching over us and our leaders. He will not allow his work to stop, no matter what distraction we have. Even the top most Government authorities will never be able to stop God's kingdom, the Church from growing.

The enemies sent a report to king Darius telling him what was happening. Even the enemies report to the king regarding the work was so positive. They reported that the work was being carried with diligence and was making rapid progress under their direction. (5:8) Will our persecutors say that about us? That we are diligent workers at our workplace, at home, at the ministry place. Are we great examples to others or a bad example to people around us?

Many of us as disciples, we live a double life. We are different when we are around disciples and when we are alone or with our worldly friends. We have secret sins in our lives that we have not confessed. We forget that "the eye of our God is watching us". Let us make a decision to change and make God proud by our lives.