Intermediate Level, Block 8—Recovery
Week 74
The Rebuilding of God’s House
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who encourage and strengthen others instead of being those who trouble and discourage others.
Reading Reference: Ezra 3:8, 10-14; 4:1-5, 24; 5:1—6:15
Memory Verse: Therefore comfort one another, and build up each one the other…
(1 Thessalonians 5:11a)
Story Sample
When the Israelites first began to rebuild God’s house, it was a big deal! They were full of praise, and some even shouted for joy. Others were so touched about the rebuilding that they wept. The Bible says that the weeping and shouting were both so loud that you couldn’t tell them apart! It was such an important and special thing to God’s people that they cried out in all these ways.
But there were some people that weren’t so happy about the rebuilding. They were some of the inhabitants of the land, and they wanted to cause trouble for God’s people. So instead of helping with the building, they made trouble. The Israelites did their best to turn these people away, but the ones who trouble them in building did not stop. They really affected the Israelites, too; the Bible says they “weakened the hands of the people of Judah.” That means they discouraged them; they made it harder for them to work well.
Have you ever been in a situation like this? Where you are really excited to do something, but someone comes along and discourages you? Recently a group of children were having a good time singing some songs. They had been enjoying themselves for a while, but then another child came in late. Instead of joining in with the others, this child started making faces and making fun of the songs. This discouraged the other children, and some lost their joy in singing.
That is kind of what happened to God’s people who were rebuilding. The ones who trouble them in building discouraged them and made it harder to build. They would not leave them alone, either. They even wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes accusing God’s people and saying that they would rebel against the king if he let them keep building. The accusations were not true, but the king believed them anyway and he ordered the building work to stop.
The work stopped for quite a while—maybe even as long as sixteen years! The Israelites were weakened and discouraged, so God sent in two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to strengthen His people. Haggai and Zechariah prophesied about the rebuilding of God’s house, and eventually through them the Israelites were strengthened to begin working again.
By the time the building work began again, there was a new king, a king named Darius. King Darius had some questions about the building work, and so he looked into the situation and learned that King Cyrus had given permission for this rebuilding work a long time ago. Once he learned that, King Darius issued his own decree. He would do as King Cyrus had ordered and allow the Israelites to build. He even made sure that the ones who were rebuilding God’s house got all the supplies they needed. This was a big support, and because of this support, the Israelites were able to finish their work—God’s house was finally rebuilt!
I told you the story about the children who were singing the song, and how one boy became a distraction and made everyone a little disheartened, but there is a little more to that story. Even though the boy was troubling everyone, there was another boy who did not let himself get bothered. This boy was still so excited to sing. He did the hand motions happily and sang with a joyful, loud voice. Because he acted that way, the other children were able to enjoy singing again, too. Eventually, even the misbehaving boy joined in the singing.
We all want to be those who are able to do our work and accomplish our goals, even if others are trying to discourage us. But sometimes we need a little help. The Israelites had to stop building for a while, but because there were some who encouraged and strengthened them, they were able to rebuild again—all the way until the work was done!