According to the books of the recovery, the history is like this: First, the return of the captivity was begun. In the return, there were two leaders: the governor, Zerubbabel, representing the kingship, and the high priest, Joshua, representing the priesthood. Zerubbabel and Joshua returned with people to recover the temple. Ezra arrived more than fifty years later with a group of returned captives to enrich the recovery. Ten or eleven years after Ezra came, Nehemiah came to build up the city and protect the temple. Between Zerubbabel and Ezra’s time, the recovery of the temple ceased for about fifteen years, and Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to encourage the people to continue the work.
Throughout this history of the recovery, six names stand out: Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Zerubbabel was the governor of the province of Judah, representing the kingship, and Joshua was the high priest, representing the priesthood. It was under these two ministries that the recovery of God was begun. But the ministry of the prophethood was also required, and this came through Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai was used to stir up the spirit of the people to continue the work on the building of the temple. He told them that if they would finish the building, they would bring in the Desire of nations, who is Christ. Zechariah followed Haggai to tell the recovered ones more about Christ. This is really the proper prophecy. It must start with stirring up the spirit of the people, and it must end with Christ. The stirring up of the spirit of the people only requires two chapters, while all the things of Christ require fourteen chapters. The book of Zechariah is really wonderful; he mentions so much about Christ in God’s recovery. He is the branch to produce, and He is the foundation stone with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, so prevailing for the recovery of God’s building, and He is the topstone with the full grace of God. He is the King with the kingship, the Priest with the priesthood, and eventually the Builder. This is Christ in God’s recovery as found in the book of Zechariah. Even today in God’s recovery, we need such a prophecy to recover all the aspects of Christ.
But Ezra was still needed to enrich and strengthen the recovery. By the time Ezra returned, everything was recovered, but there was the need of strengthening and enrichment. The remnant of the people who returned was still small; the number needed to be increased, so Ezra brought back a good number. Today, we really need more Ezras. The number we have today in the Lord’s recovery is still too small; we need some Ezras to come back from Babylon to strengthen the recovery in number. So many priests, princes, Levites, singers, and porters are still there in Babylon. They must be for the Lord’s recovery. They may have been born in Babylon, but they were not born for Babylon. They were saved in the denominations, but they were not saved for the denominations; they were saved for the Lord and His recovery. We must pray that the Lord will raise up some Ezras. We need more Ezras today. Ezra strengthened the recovery by bringing with him a good number of returned captives.
Today in Los Angeles, many things have been recovered, yet still the number is too small. How many thousands of the Lord’s people there must be in this city, and we have less than 1,000. If we compare it with all the Lord’s children in this city, we are still a small number. Yes, we have returned, but the returned number is still too small. We need to pray that the Lord will raise up some Ezras to bring back a larger number. On one hand we are satisfied, but on the other hand we are not. We need more Ezras to come back.
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