Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant obeyed God, yet this was ultimately God’s work. They chose what God had ordained for them to choose before history began. The Lord presents these details in this passage so that we would praise not the people, but the Lord, the one behind it all. He uses the preaching of his Word to convict, to capture, to convert, to wake up, to transform. The praise and glory go to God.1 This is also caught by the apostle Paul, who commanded the Philippians to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you [stirs up your spirit], both to will and to work for his good pleasure
(Philippians 2:12–13). Being obedient, being teachable is something God commands us to be. And yes, when we are obedient, that obedience is ours—that’s what we confess in Canons of Dort, III/IV.11, 12. God is not the one who believes and obeys; we do. And yet obedience is always from God through his Word by his Spirit.2 The believer has nothing to boast in, except in God who works powerfully and graciously in our lives. The Spirit dwells in the believer, using the Word of God to stir up the desire to fear God and do the work of the Lord to which he calls us.
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,