GOD will TURN every BLOCKADE to our BENEFIT
May 15
Bible Reading: Ezra Chapters 4-6
GOD will TURN every BLOCKADE to our BENEFIT
"So Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose
up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets
of God were with them, helping them." (Ezra 5:2) "Now the temple was
finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year
of the reign of King Darius. Then the children of Israel, the priests and the
Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy."
(Ezra 6:15-16)
When the
Jews under the leadership Zerubbabel and Jeshua started building the Temple,
the Gentiles in the area of Judah and Jerusalem tried to block the efforts.
These were the Samaritans who had been planted in the land of Israel (2 Kings
17) who did not mean to unite in the worship of the Lord according to His word.
At first they attempted to join forces and requested that they wanted to be a
part of the Temple reconstruction (Ezra 4:1-2). However, Zerubbabel and Jeshua
did not allow them to participate as they were wise and discerning. Then these
adversaries tried to discourage the people of Judah (v. 4a), troubled the
people who were building (v. 4b), and hired counselors to frustrate the
building efforts (v. 5). When these attempts still did not succeed, they wrote
a letter of accusation against the building efforts (v. 6-16), to which the
king responded by promptly halting the construction (v. 17-24).
However, God
used prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the leaders (Ezra 5:12) as well
as the elders of the Jews to secure permission to resume building the Temple
(v. 3-17). In response to this request, King Darius issued a decree for
rebuilding the Temple immediately (Ezra 6:1-7). Not only that, the entire cost
of rebuilding will be borne by King Darius through the money taken from the
taxes of the people (v. 8). All the sacrificial animals and other materials
would be provided by the king as well (v. 9-10). If anyone resists the building
efforts any more, they would be hanged to death (v. 11-12). "So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and
Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they
built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel,
and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of
Persia." (Ezra 6:14)
This teaches us a very important principle – when we are doing God’s work according to God’s plan in God’s timetable, God will turn every blockade that comes against our efforts to our benefit. If we are steadfast in our work of God, we will definitely succeed when we put our trust in God. Today, we are involved in the work of God in building the church of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has issued this wonderful promise to us: "...I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18). Let us not become intimidated or discouraged by the attacks of Satan, who is our enemy. Through God’s help, let us rise up and do our part without fear in building the church of God as Zerubbabel and Jeshua did in their time (Ezra 5:2).
