Ezra Chapter 4
Were you surprised to read about the turn of events in Chapter 4?
Everything seems to be going so well. The gentile king had miracously allowed them to retun to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. There as a large & diverse group that wanted to return to do the work. Resources to build were offered and after a time of offerings, the foundation to the temple was laid.
What could go wrong? God seems to be working mightily with the people of God after all those years in exile.
When God works, so will the devil. The question is what would our response be?
When we choose to do God’s work, the enemy will attack in many different ways.
They will come like a friend, offering to work with us (veses 1-2) but we know that if our beliefs and faith are different, how can they ever be of the same mind as we and Christ?
When that does not work, they will try and discourage us, hinder us and even sought to bribe others to frustrate us in our work (vs 4-5). So much so we are afraid to go out and do the work.
They then began an elaborate plan of writing a letter to the kind, falsely accusing the Jews of planning a rebellion. And because of this, “… the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (vs 24). The work was stopped for 16 years.
What lessons did I get from today’s passage?
We should not be surprised when we try and do exactly what God wants us to do that opposition will come against us. Just as in the life of Job (our weekend bible reading) – God uses obstacles, troubles, and difficulties to form our characters, and show us our true faith and what we need to work on.
The question comes on whether we recognize this and continue to work on, by trusting and relying on God. Or do we stop the work because we are afraid, like the Jews.