They needed it then, just like we need it today – ENCOURAGEMENT! Their plans had been stalled. Their progress hindered. From the external opposition to their apathetic disposition, the Jews had become stuck in a rut. For fifteen years after the foundation of the Temple was laid, the Temple Rebuilding Project had been put on hold. After everything they had been through, how could they put God on hold? God, Who had sustained them through the captivity! God, Who had reclaimed and rescued them from captivity! They were facing a risk that things could regress and become worse than before the captivity. Oh, Brown, the same is true for America . . . Need I remind us that God has spared us . . . God has sustained us . . . God has supplied our every need! Since ENCOURAGMENT can sometimes come from unlikely people and places, COOPERATE, don’t always INSTIGATE!