When opposition, discouragement, and apathy stand like a mountain before you, declare by faith that it is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord, and rise up to rebuild in His grace.

VFS

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Rebuilding Among the Ruins

In A Message for the Mountain, we stand in the tension between ruin and restoration. The people of Israel returned from captivity to rebuild a city they did not destroy. Like many today, they were tasked with repairing what someone else tore down. Rebuilding is harder than new construction because you must clear rubble before you can raise walls. Yet the call remains: build again.

When the Enemy Shows Up

According to Ezra 4, opposition began the moment construction started. The adversaries offered compromise first, then discouragement, then intimidation. The lesson is clear: the enemy is content while nothing is happening—but resistance rises when progress begins. Mountains of discouragement and fear attempt to weaken the hands of the builder. However, opposition is evidence that purpose is alive.

The Danger of Apathy

When resistance succeeded, the work ceased (Ezra 4:24). For sixteen years, the foundation sat untouched. Apathy replaced urgency. The mountain was no longer opposition but indifference. The enemy does not have to destroy what he can distract. Yet God, in mercy, stirred the prophet. Zechariah’s vision of the golden lampstand revealed a constant flow of oil — a supernatural supply not dependent on human strength.

Not by Might, But by the Spirit

The Word of the Lord came clearly: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.” Political influence would not rebuild the temple. Military strength would not level the mountain. Only the Spirit of the Lord could empower Zerubbabel to finish the work. Then comes the divine declaration: “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, a plain!”

The mountain was real — but it was not final.

The same Spirit that empowered Israel empowers believers today. The rebuilding of families, churches, and personal faith will not happen by human effort alone. It happens through the continual flow of the Holy Spirit. And when the headstone is set in place, the cry will not be “strategy” or “strength,” but “Grace, grace!”

There is a message for the mountain: you will not stand forever. The Spirit of the Lord will see this work finished.

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Key Points

• Rebuilding is harder than starting fresh because you must work through ruin and resistance.
• The enemy shows up when you decide to build for God (Ezra 4:1–4).
• Compromise delays the promise — holiness protects the rebuilding.
• Discouragement, fear, and frustration are stubborn mountains.
• Apathy can stop the work longer than opposition ever could (Ezra 4:24).
• God awakens sleeping rebuilders (Zechariah 4:1).
• There is a continual supply of oil — more oil than mountain.
• The mountain meets its match when Spirit-filled believers stand in faith.
• The headstone will be set with shouts of “Grace, grace!”

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Zechariah 4:6-7

^4:6 So he answered and said to me:

Ezra 4:1-4

4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, ² they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” ⁴ Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,

Ezra 4:24

^4:24 Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Zechariah 4:1-4

4:1 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. ² And he said to me, “What do you see?”

So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. ³ Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” ⁴ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”