After about 70 years in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to go home. King Cyrus of Persia told them to rebuild the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, in Ezra 1. When the foundation was laid, many shouted for joy. The old men who remembered Solomon’s temple wept out loud. That’s Ezra 3:10–13. Then enemies stirred up trouble, and the work stopped for about 15 years, in Ezra 4:24. The people told themselves, “The time is not come.” That’s Haggai 1:2. They spent their energy on their own “cieled houses,” homes paneled with fine wood, in 1:4. Around 520 B.C., the Lord sent Haggai and Zechariah to get the work moving again. See Ezra 5:1–2.
Haggai’s message was short and sharp: “Consider your ways.” The people worked hard but never had enough. They were like a worker who puts his wages “into a bag with holes.” That’s Haggai 1:5–7. The Lord told them to go up to the mountain, bring wood and build His house, in 1:8. They listened! Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest led them. They were back at work in a little over three weeks. See 1:1 and 1:14–15. The Lord promised, “Be strong… and work: for I am with you.” That’s 2:4. The temple was finished a few years later and dedicated with joy, in Ezra 6:15–16. Nine- to eleven-year-olds get this right away. Haggai’s people weren’t doing anything evil. They had simply put good things ahead of the most important thing. The early Saints heard a similar message about the Kirtland Temple, in Doctrine and Covenants 95. That’s the temple where Elijah would come, in next week’s lesson.
Zechariah encouraged the builders with visions. Joshua the high priest stood before an angel in “filthy garments.” The Lord had them replaced with clean ones: “I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee.” That’s Zechariah 3:3–5. It’s a picture of what Jesus Christ does for us through baptism, the sacrament and repentance. Zerubbabel faced a mountain of problems. It would be leveled “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,” in 4:6–7. And Zechariah saw a day when even horses’ bells and cooking pots would carry the words “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” That’s 14:20–21. Today “Holiness to the Lord” is written on every temple. Your 11-year-olds can receive a limited-use temple recommend in January of the year they turn 12. They can do baptisms for the dead. This is the perfect week to help them start getting ready.
Zechariah also prophesied of Jesus Christ more than 500 years before His birth. He saw a humble King riding a donkey into Jerusalem, in Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew 21:1–11. He saw thirty pieces of silver, in 11:12 and Matthew 26:14–16. He saw a shepherd struck and sheep scattered, in 13:7 and Matthew 26:31. He saw people looking on the One who was pierced, in 12:10 and John 19:37. He also saw the Savior’s Second Coming, when He’ll show the wounds in His hands. See Zechariah 13:6 and 14:4, and Doctrine and Covenants 45:48–53. The Prophecy Race lets your class find these fulfillments themselves. Keep the details of the Crucifixion gentle. Focus on what they teach: Jesus is the promised Messiah, and He knew exactly what He came to do.
