Zechariah 4:1 Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep. 2 “What do you see now?” he asked.
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks. 3 And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.” 4 Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”
5 “Don’t you know?” the angel asked.
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”
8 Then another message came to me from the Lord: 9 “Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me. 10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
(The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world.)
In the beginning, it was simply a disaster zone! When the Babylonians overran Jerusalem, they looted, pillaged, burned, and destroyed anything they could. Any gold, silver, brass, or other precious items left in the temple went straight to Babylon while the wooden parts of the temple were burned and many of its stones pulled apart. Then seventy years later, in 539 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the temple should be rebuilt. The first group of exiles returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel, a descendant of King David, and Jeshua the high priest. This return is detailed in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7, which provide a list of the families and individuals who made the journey. According to Ezra 2:64-65 , “The whole assembly numbered 42,360, besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.” This group laid the foundation for the Second Temple and reinstituted the sacrificial system.
Ezra 3 tells us: In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak[b] joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. 3 Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.
4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival. 5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. 6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.
The People Begin to Rebuild the Temple
7 Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.
8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the Lord’s Temple. 9 The workers at the Temple of God were supervised by Jeshua with his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons, all descendants of Hodaviah. They were helped in this task by the Levites of the family of Henadad.
10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. 11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:
“He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”
Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.
12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.
For the older people who had known Solomon’s temple, nothing they could create would compare to that glorious structure. Read the descriptions in 2 Chronicles 3-4, and you realize the amount of wealth concentrated in that single building was staggering. It’s likely that all the time Zerubbabel and his colleagues were working on the second temple, older community members were grumbling. “Why can’t Zerubbabel do more? Why can’t he do it better?” But when Solomon was building his temple, he had all the wealth his father David had accumulated to help him and he took advantage of thousands of workers to complete the edifice. Now Zerubbabel was in a totally different situation, facing shortages, political threats, and his own fears that he would not be up to the job.
God knew the challenges Zerubbabel was facing, so He sent an angel to the prophet Zechariah to transmit messages to Zerubbabel. “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”
Wow! What a magnificent encouragement. God told Zerubbabel that nothing was going to stand in his way because God’s Spirit would accomplish everything. God promised that Zerubbabel would lay the final stone on the temple. But God also had a second message for Zerubbabel: Zechariah 4:10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
When we first came to Ghana in the late 1980’s, most boarding school kids had wooden trunks with padlocks in which they kept their things. But there were problems. Generally, the wood was infested with tiny beetles that would gradually reduce those trunks to sawdust. We had furniture in our home with the same problem, and we learned we must inject kerosene into the tiny holes of the furniture if we wanted to stop our living room set from being reduced to a pile of sawdust. If you want to attract nay-sayers, just start some project, and these people will crawl out of the woodwork. Instead of creating piles of sawdust, such people will create confusion and despair, discouraging all those around them.
It’s likely that Zerubbabel was surrounded by such people. Viewing the ruins of Solomon’s temple must have been a daunting task, for not only had the Babylonians burned whatever they could, but they had also pulled stones apart. Looking at the enormous stones remaining in the Wailing Wall today, we should consider the size of the stones Zerubbabel and his workers must have had to move to recreate the foundation of the temple. The stones were there, but how to move them into position? But God commanded Zerubbabel to start, assuring him that even if mountains stood in his way, God could flatten mountains.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 tells us, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” C. H. Spurgeon once said, “Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.” If God has called you to do a work, begin as you mean to go on. Go on as you began, and LET THE LORD BE ALL IN ALL TO YOU! Our biggest problem is that we look at our insufficiency rather than God’s sufficiency. Viewing our inadequacies, we allow ourselves to slump into despair, refusing to even begin. But as Zerubbabel’s story illustrates, if we will begin, God can bless us and help us. What God cannot do and will not do is use dynamite to blast us off our couches where we sit soaking in self-pity and self-accusation.
As I write these words, I have two computer challenges I must sort out that are key to handling our business properly. Were I in America, I could easily get someone to help me; however, I am in our small town in northern Ghana. We are struggling to plan a trip that involves preparations both in Ghana and in the U.S. Succumbing to self-pity seems quite appealing. But God has not despised the day of small beginnings, and I am starting today.
Perhaps you can relate. Perhaps you have been facing challenges and wish you could just go back to bed, allowing someone else to handle the problems. Ask God for help and then make a start, even if it’s a very small one. Remember that God does not despise small beginnings; neither will He despise you, but instead, He will help you. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Step out in faith! Claim that help! And get off that couch!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to start those things You want us to, knowing that You will help us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment