עזרא, פרק ה׳, פסוק א׳

With the completion of the seventy years of Jerusalem's destruction, the time finally arrived to renew the construction of the Temple [מלבי״ם]. During the second year of King Darius's reign, a spiritual leadership emerged to awaken the people, as Haggai and Zechariah began to prophesy in the name of God. While Zechariah is identified through his familial connection to Iddo, he was actually Iddo's grandson, rather than his direct son [מלבי״ם].

Although the specific words of their prophecy are not detailed, the primary approach among commentators is that the central message was a clear, uncompromising command: the people had to rise and resume building the Temple immediately. Strikingly, they were instructed to do this even without obtaining official permission from King Darius [רש״י, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

To encourage the nation, the prophets promised that the construction work would never be halted again [רס״ג]. The builders were assured that they had no reason to fear for their personal safety. Furthermore, the prophetic message included a Divine guarantee that the leadership of Zerubbabel and the priesthood of Joshua would be firmly established. Empowered by these words and the promises of God, the Jews immediately took action and began the work of rebuilding the Temple [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].