Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, 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.
Tearing down is always easier than building up. If you were to give me a hammer and say, “Build a house,” I couldn’t do that. If you were to give me a hammer and say, “You see that old house over there? Tear it down,” boy, would that be fun! Wouldn’t it be fun to break glass, tear apart boards, and destroy? The fact is, there are times to tear things down, and there are times to build things up. One is easier than the other, but let me ask you, “Are you tearing down or are you building up?”
Even more difficult than building up is rebuilding. That is exactly what we find in the book of Zechariah, God’s prophet for that day. God’s people had been in captivity. Now many of them had been returned to the land to rebuild the temple, and they were discouraged from doing that. They were to rebuild, and you find God giving Zechariah visions to encourage God’s people about the building of the new temple.
In the first few verses of chapter 3 you have this vision of Israel on trial and besmirched, yet the Bible says that the Lord had chosen Jerusalem. And, God rebuked the devil who resisted them in rebuilding God’s temple. God says, “I will clothe thee with the change of raiment.” So, we find here that Israel’s value was not found in how good they were, but in how gracious God is. They belonged to God. You may be Jew or Gentile, but if you trusted the Lord Jesus, you belong to God, too.
Zechariah 4:6 says, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, 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.” So, God’s word to Zerubbabel, who was being used by God to lead the people in rebuilding this torn down temple, was to take heart. It wasn’t by might or power, but by God’s grace that this would be done.
Destroying is easy when all is said and done. When Babylon destroyed much of Jerusalem, all they had to do is light a match and toss it. That’s all there is to it. But to build is hard, and to rebuild is even harder. But it is not a matter of your ability. The Bible says in verse 7, “Grace, grace unto it.” In other words, it was God’s grace and not the ability of His people that made the difference.
God says to Zerubbabel in verse 9, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.” God says, “What you have begun you will finish because of My grace and enabling.”
Verse 10 says, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” Sometimes we feel as if our work of building is too small for notice or too big for our strength. Both ideas are a mistake. Our building and our service is by God’s grace not by our merit. When we realize that, it helps prevent both pride and discouragement. What matters is the source of our building, not the size of our building.
Some people wept when they saw the new temple because, in their view, it was so inferior to the temple that Solomon had built. But, if God is for it, if God commissions what you are doing, then take heart. It is neither too small nor too big. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Today, your building and your service is by God’s grace, not by your merit. That is something that should buoy your heart without making you proud.