joiced with loud exultation at this happy event. But there were some present who regarded the scene with very different emotions: "Many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice:" the pitiful contrast which it exhibited to the golden Temple of the son of David troubled their pious minds; and they wept with a holy jealousy that the glory had departed from Israel.

Thus far, however, the work had proceeded, and God had prospered them according to their measure; but now new difficulties arose. The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, who were of the number of those whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, had brought in to colonize the country, after the removal of the ten tribes of Israel,—these men, being not accepted in building the Temple with the Jews, endeavoured with all their power to hinder it, and wrote letters to the King maligning the Jews as factious and rebellious. They succeeded so well in

their malicious designs as to procure an order from Artaxerxes to suspend the building until another commandment should be given from him. This order the adversaries executed "with force and power," and "so ceased the work of the house of God which is in Jerusalem "."

It would appear that the Jews acquiesced too readily in this suspension of their operations: they took the decree as a providential intimation that the time was not yet come; and instead of seeking to remove the obstructions and set themselves right with the civil powers, they turned their attention to their own concerns, and neglected the house of the Lord. On this the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, and to Zechariah the son of Iddo: they were commanded to reprove the people for their past neglect, and to exhort and encourage them to prosecute their undertaking with renewed diligence. "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord

a Ezra iv.

by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. . . . Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord." This was the reproof and exhortation; and further encouragement was given. They were reassured of God's presence with them, and of His blessing upon their labours: and because they were disheartened by the meanness of their building, a most gracious promise was vouchsafed them. "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: ... and the Desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with

• Haggai i. 2-5, 8.

glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts"." Were they surrounded by difficulties, and well-nigh overwhelmed by a sea of perplexities? were their enemies many and potent? "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." Did Satan himself oppose the work, and harass those who were engaged in it with desponding thoughts or the conviction of their own deep unworthiness? A vision is vouchsafed in which the Lord pleads their cause against the accuser, and rebukes the adversary to his face and unto Joshua He saith: "Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment"." Was a Zech. iv. 6, 7.

P Haggai ii. 3, 4, 7-9.

the whole undertaking unworthy of the Divine Majesty-unworthy even of the regard of One so high? The Mighty Lord Himself demands: "Who hath despised the day of small things?" The power of the Lord accompanied His word by His prophets, and His Spirit wrought effectually in the hearts of His people, and "stirred up their spirit; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts their Gods."

It was to be expected that this renewed energy on the part of the Jews would be met with more decided opposition: and such was indeed the case; only that the adversaries were no longer the Samaritans, whose religious animosity was ill-disguised under a pretext of zeal for the Persian government and concern for the public peace. The new opponents were the authorized officers of the government, and the tenor of their letters to the court was entirely free from the hostile animus and misrepresentations of the Samaritans. They actually referred to the decree of Cyrus, and merely sought instructions. The result of this direct appeal to

• Haggai i. 14.

t

· Ezra v.

3-17.