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Bitter Opposition Fails
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the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose that
they are fulfilling.
Haggai and Zechariah rallied the people to put forth every possi-
ble effort for rebuilding the temple, but the Samaritans and others
devised many roadblocks. On one occasion the provincial officers
of Medo-Persia visited Jerusalem and requested the name of the
person who had authorized restoring the building. If the Jews had
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not been trusting in the Lord for guidance, this inquiry might have
had disastrous results. But the Jews answered so wisely that the
officers decided to write to Darius Hystaspes, directing his attention
to Cyrus’s original decree, which commanded that the house of God
at Jerusalem be rebuilt and the expenses be paid from the king’s
treasury.
Darius searched for this decree and found it, and then he directed
the inquirers to allow the rebuilding of the temple to proceed. “Let
the work of this house of God alone,” he commanded; “let the
governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of
God on its site.
“Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders
of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be
paid at the king’s expense from the taxes on the region beyond the
River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are
not hindered.”
Ezra 6:7, 8
.
The king further decreed severe penalties for any who would
alter the decree, and he closed with the remarkable statement: “May
the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or
people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God
which is in Jerusalem.”
Verse 12
. For months before the king issued
this decree, the Israelites had kept on working by faith, with the
prophets helping them by means of timely messages.
The Encouraging Visions of Zechariah
Two months after Haggai’s last recorded message, Zechariah
had a series of visions regarding the work of God in the earth. These
messages, given in the form of parables and symbols, came at a
time of great anxiety and were particularly significant to the people