Ezra 5:1–6:15 (ESV)

1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

So what is happening in these first few verses of Ezra 5:1–17? God is actually orchestrating, like he does. We call this providence, concurrence, and convergence. We call it all different kinds of things, but really what it is, is God governing the affairs of his people in a way, so that he orchestrates all of the details: he raises up prophets, he raises up leaders, he raises up the community, and he even uses pagan leaders to accomplish his purposes.1

Brian Borgman