Effective leaders know that encouragement precedes mobilization. Read Ezra 6:13-15.

Cyrus, the king of Assyria who had given the Jewish exiles free reign to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple was no longer king. When Artaxerxes became king the local opposition living near Jerusalem pulled a political end game and convinced the new king the Jews would be a threat to Assyria if the temple construction continued. “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill (some 14 years) until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (4:24).

The people living in Jerusalem were afraid to restart construction even though Artaxerxes was no longer king. God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage the people to finish construction of the temple. Despite continued opposition, Haggai and Zechariah inspired and encouraged the people to resume work and the temple was completed and dedicated to the Lord in 516 BC. Encouraging leaders are able to help their team follow through on what they have begun.

Effective leaders must exercise discernment when building and evaluating a team. Read Ezra 4:1-5.

The contingent of Jews who accepted the offer of Cyrus to leave exile in Babylon and return to Judah and Jerusalem to re-populate the land and rebuild the temple were now in the land and construction on the temple was well underway. During the 70-year exile absence of the Jews from the land others had moved into the area and for a generation established presence and ownership of the land. You can imagine the tension between the two groups as Jews struggled to establish control and those currently living there struggled to keep control.