Bible Reading: Genesis 4; Ezra 4; Matthew 4; Acts 4
Ezra 4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building…
Be sure of this, when you set out to follow Jesus and live for him, you will encounter opposition. The people of Judah had returned to rebuild the temple. They had laid the foundation and some of them were getting excited about what God was doing. No sooner had they done this than they received a strange request.
Ezra 4:1-2 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; 2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
Their adversaries wanted to join in the building of the temple. They worshipped the same God, they said. When the chief fathers met together, they thought better of this and they said no. What would you do? Would you join with your adversary because he says he worships God like you do? Better be careful.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Satan, The Adversary, wanted to infiltrate the ranks of Judah with his ministers. Be sure, Satan was behind this. The wise leadership of Judah recognized this and said, no. These men began a campaign to stop the building. They hired counselors to draft a letter telling of all the rebellion of the Jews and sent it to Artaxerxes. The rebuilding of the temple was shut down for a time because of this.
This is the way that Satan works. He tries to infiltrate the ranks of the faithful by sending in fakes and phonies. In order to partner with someone, we do not have to agree on everything, but we do have to agree on Jesus.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Are you walking in the light? Are those you might partner with walking in the light? If you say yes, then you can have fellowship together with God. The leaders of Judah realized who these men were and knew they could not yoke themselves together with them. Be warned, Satan will send you opposition.
In Christ,
Rody
