Preaching Is Miraculous Help from God! (Ezra 5-6)

"Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them." Ezra 4:24–5:2

"So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." Ezra 6:14

For years, the Jews made no progress. Then, when the Lord determined to strengthen them, He sent... preachers!

And in between these two passages above, the Lord worked in several different ways to establish the faithfulness of His people, their favor in the eyes of superiors, etc... including the glorious reversal of Tattenai's letter onto his own head--causing him to stumble into the trap of asking about Cyrus's decree, and ending with him having to give up his own local resources to fund the work that he opposed!

But then, 6:14 says that it was through the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah that the Jews prospered in building.

Often, we seek from God the kind of providence that occurs in between. But let us learn from this passage to value properly when God sends us His men with His Word. That, by itself, is already a display that He is with us, helping us. Let us love the preaching of His Word!