The final Old Testament books, written during a hundred year period, show the people of Israel dealing with serious problems. They returned to Jerusalem excited, ready to rebuild the temple, crying and laughing with joy simultaneously (Ezra 3:12-13). Then reality hit. Crisis on crisis plagued them. Add to that a mountain of personal issues holding them back, and it’s a wonder the temple was ever rebuilt.
Historians Ezra and Nehemiah, along with prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, worked alongside these troubled restorers. It’s an ancient account that serves as a reminder: God works wonders under the toughest circumstances. But He did not snap His fingers and — voila! — give them a shiny, new temple. Instead He worked the wonders through them. He supplied messengers, chosen for the time, each with their own style and perspective. They stirred up His believing children to pick up the hammer in one hand and the spear in the other (Nehemiah 4:17). They were building the temple and fighting off God’s enemies at the same time, and they became discouraged. They grew weary and decided it was better to wait to build God’s temple until the bullies quit harassing them. So, they gave up on the house of God and focused on their own matters. “We’ll get back to that when there’s a more convenient time,” they said (Haggai 1:2).
They promised allegiance to the Most High and went home to their Gentile wives (Ezra 10:44). They were an idol-worship-raised generation who certainly wanted to return to God, but didn’t really think it was all that important to serve Him the way He’d commanded (Malachi 3:14). They offered polluted bread and sacrificed lame animals (Malachi 1:7-8). These wandering Jews had returned home, but home wasn’t inside of them. They had waited so long to enter God’s temple, but there were too many obstacles to keep them from getting through the door — not the least of which was raising up the door!
These five books of the Old Testament fit together to tell the story of the souls who returned to that city on the hill. They needed God to guide them, but they weren’t always willing to listen. Despite their misgivings and difficulties, they succeeded. God patiently led them because it was time to return home.