The Israelites had been cancelled. They had been given a decree to rebuild the temple by King Cyrus, but as soon as a new king of Persia came along, the people of the land complained. And the new king ordered them to stop. The people of the land were delighted.
But that king was deposed and now King Darius was in charge. After a year of his rule, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah spoke up (Haggai 1:1-3; 12-15).
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”…
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people.
They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Of course the people of the land were right there to complain. They took names and went to Darius with the response of the Israelites. The Israelites basically told them that they had every right to rebuild as it was a decree from King Cyrus. They challenged Darius to look in the record books and waited for his response.
The Israelites kept on building.
Sometimes it is remembering about who is the highest authority that we listen to.
