By His Spirit

The Book of Zechariah is a seldom-read portion of Scripture for many people, yet it is packed with powerful insights. In one portion, God delivered an assuring message for the prophet Zechariah to give to an Israelite leader, Zerubbabel, who was facing hard challenges.

Zerubbabel was from one of the Israelite families exiled to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and he was among the first to return after being given permission to do so. He had been designated “governor of Judah” (Hag. 1:1) and was put in charge of organizing workers to rebuild the altar and the temple (Ezra 3:2, 8). His crew had completed the foundation of the temple, but then he ran into opposition from a lot of local adversaries trying their best to prevent the rebuilding project. They were appealing to the Persian leadership, and while waiting for a response they had suspended work on the temple and dampened the spirits of the people.

God sent Zechariah to Zerubbabel with this message:

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands shall also finish it.” —Zechariah 4:6–9

It didn’t take long for God’s promise to be fulfilled. Shortly thereafter, an official decree went out from Persian king Darius to authorize the temple rebuilding. Darius even volunteered to pay for the entire project and to return the sacred items that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the original temple. To prevent further delay, Darius imposed a restraining order to keep Zerubbabel’s opponents away from the worksite (Ezra 6:1–12).

Work resumed and the temple was completed while Zechariah and another prophet, Haggai, were there to preach and encourage the builders (vv. 14–15). After the temple was restored, the returned exiles had Passover together and a weeklong celebration of joy (vv. 19–22). Now that’s a revival.

God’s reminder to Zechariah is just as applicable to us: we won’t resolve our problems in our own might and power but through His Spirit.