the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness” (Zech. 8:2–8). Thus, the story of God’s people after the Exile is the account of their struggle, like Abraham before them, to trust God’s promises in the midst of adversity (Hag. 1:1–2:9; Zech. 1:16; 4:6–10; 6:15). On the one side stood the word of God. On the other stood the circumstances that called these promises into question. Yet God had already begun to keep his promises. The people