Yes, through a wicked letter (filled with malice and half-truth) the enemy (mostly Samarians) was able to bring about a halt to the work of reconstructing the Jewish Temple, back in the days of Zerubbabel.

Here’s the Text: “Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in SAMARIA, and unto the rest beyond the river (the Euphrates), Peace, and at such a time.  The LETTER which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city (Jerusalem) of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them. Give ye now commandment to CAUSE THESE MEN TO CEASE, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings? Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ LETTER was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, THEY WENT UP IN HASTE to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and MADE THEM CEASE BY FORCE AND POWER. Then CEASED THE WORK OF THE HOUSE OF GOD which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” Ezra 4:17-24

I hope you’ve read this sad story, completely.

God’s work … stopped!

But the heart of the Lesson this Monday morning is that last verse … “So the work ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

It ceased, clearly … but only … “unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Temporary cessation!

The Jews will be back, hammers in hand!

I’ve tried to do the math here. Darius began his reign in Persia in 522 BC. That means the work resumed in 520 BC, sixteen years after it was stopped! (It was forcefully suspended in 536 BC, best I can tell.)

Sixteen years of delay!

Looks like … wasted time!

BUT STILL … THE DEVIL HERE ONLY WON A TEMPORARY VICTORY!

The Temple was ultimately built!

The Jews, under the encouragement of some godly Prophets (Haggai, for example) returned to the task at hand! To building God’s House!

Oh, what solace we might find herein!

Defeats do NOT have to be permanent!

They (in Christ) can be reversed!

In fact, our great God can … “restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm.” Joel 2:25, restoring “lost” time! This must be the God of all the ages!

Wow!

Isaiah tell us also that God can … “give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:3

Take our “ashes” and give us beauty?

Take our “sadness” (mourning) and give us joy?

Take our “pressures” (heaviness) and give us praise?

YES!

YES!

YES!

And such is called … reversing former loses!

Making defeat into merely something temporary!

Folks, indeed there is victory in Jesus!

And what Jesus did for them … He can still do for you and me!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Listen to our Lord talk to His Disciples in John 16:33 … “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The “defeated” become “conquerors” through Christ our Lord!

Actually Paul says God can make us “more than conquerors!” Romans 8:37

Hallelujah!

 

We’re only in the 4th chapter of Ezra (4 of 10 chapters) and an enemy has already appeared on the horizon. (I had no idea we would be studying the “tactics” of the evil one in this little Book of Scripture!)

In fact, this is the third day of studying these dangerous “ways of the devil.”

First the adversaries of Judah (actually people of the Tribes of both Judah and Benjamin) had tried “to join” them in their work of building the Temple, rebuilding it really. (“To join” them to do them harm, to sabotage the work, no doubt.) The Jewish leaders (Zerubbabel, for example) wisely rejected this dangerous offer!

Then the enemies tried “to weaken” the resolve of the workers (yesterday’s Lesson). The devil delights in robbing us of the strength we need to serve God.

Now today, these “devils” write a letter criticizing the Jews … a letter to the King of Persia, seeking to bring a legal “halt” to the work!

Here’s our Text: “This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.” Ezra 4:11-16

Lies!

Really, lie after lie!

Or at best, the truth s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d beyond one’s wildest imagination! A perversion of history! (It is called “revisionism” and is being practiced in modern America every day! For example our “heroes” of the past being recast into “villains!”)

But so fights the enemy!

They (in the letter) called Jerusalem a “bad city!”

Further calling them “tax evaders!”

Insinuating they are “enemies” of the government, of Persian rule!

Lies, again I affirm!

But they were HEARD by the ears of those in authority!

What a practical point today … BE CAREFUL LITTLE TONGUE WHAT YOU SAY! Or better yet in this case: BE CAREFUL LITTLE FINGERS WHAT YOU WRITE!

Proverbs 18:21 still says (truthfully) … “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

Satan and his crowd have always been pretty good with their tongues!

Jesus labeled them and their ilk correctly: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is NO TRUTH in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for HE IS A LIAR, and the father of it.” John 8:44

I close (with a bit of self-reflection and trepidation) with these words from Paul: “Speak the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:15

Someone once even defined slander (for the Christian anyway) as … “Sometimes even telling the truth WITH THE DESIGN OF HURTING ANOTHER PERSON!”

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

The wicked, Psalm 64:3 says … “Whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.”

I want to live a godly life, giving my whole body to God … including my tongue!

 

A handful of Jews (relatively speaking) were trying to rebuild the Jewish Temple, after seventy years of grueling captivity. Living in a “strange land” (Babylon), certainly not the Holy Land!

But opposition had risen!

From the mixed-up (ethnically and religiously and morally) people who lived in and around Jerusalem. Non-worshippers of Almighty God!

Ezra calls them “the people of the land,” as opposed to “the people of God.”

“Then the people of the land WEAKENED THE HANDS of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” Ezra 4:4-5

And this “weakening” business is still a tactic of Satan, folks!

Now, let’s look at our Verses a little more closely …

Our Text’s parallel verb (to “weakened”) is “troubled,” in Hebrew simply spelled “bahal,” meaning “to affright,” to make afraid. Literally here then are some “terrorists” at work! (I guess the Jews have faced them far longer than I ever knew!)

Then the verb “frustrate” is “parar,” meaning “to defeat,” or “to dissolve” the work teams who were building so fervently! “To break” their will to work!

In today’s language they hired (wicked) lawyers (advisers, consultants) to “sue” the builders, trying to get a “stay of construction!”

They did this for years, “all the days of Cyrus.”

Now … back to the verb “weakened.” It is “raphah” and means “to make idle.” Also “to make feeble.” Twice in the King James Version, “to faint!”

In a word, “to discourage” the working Jews … to the point of stopping the project!

The Devil hates God’s House!

Period.

Wow, what a thought this morning!

Every Christian you know is either a strengthener or a weakener of his or her brethren.

And we all know God’s Will in this area.

“Wherefore LIFT UP the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Hebrews 12:12-13

Wow!

Jesus to Peter. “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, STRENGTHEN thy brethren.” Luke 22:32

In fact, Jesus’ favorite Name for the Holy Spirit is “COMFORTER!” In English (from the Latin) it means “one who imparts strength, fortitude, bravery!”

Dear readers,  in your Church or family or job environments … do not be a hinderer, rather, be a helper!

Do not pull down … lift up!

Back when Jesus was on earth, His Father woke Him and taught Him “every morning” … to encourage the “weary.” Here’s Isaiah 50: 4 telling us, via Bible prophecy … “The Lord GOD hath given me (Jesus) the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a WORD IN SEASON to him that is WEARY: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned.”

Wow!

Jesus, not a “troubler” of His own followers!

But a Helper!

Go to Church Sunday and try to uplift, encourage, strengthen 2 or 3 of fellow Believers!

I close with Hebrews 3:13. Paul there succinctly says (commands really) … “But exhort one another daily.” And here “exhort” (in Greek “parakaleo”) means “to comfort, to strengthen,” definitions clearly opposite to “weakening!”

May the good Holy Spirit remind us all today (several times optimally) about these truths from Ezra 4 … about being a “helper” in the work of God.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

By the way, Daniel 7:25 gives us (in slightly different words) this tactic of the Devil, of the anti-Christ. “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and SHALL WEAR OUT the saints of the most High.”

That about says it all!

 

Oh, how shrewd the Devil is!

How “wily,” meaning “skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.” A word that reached its peak use about a hundred years ago, and now must be defined.

And today’s Text, Ezra 4:1-3, illustrates what I mean. How the devil himself is “transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14.

Here’s our Lesson today …

“Now when the adversaries (enemies, trouble makers) of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; 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. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.” Ezra 4:1-3

Ever heard this maxim? “If you can’t ‘lick’ them … ‘join’ them!”

That’s precisely what these enemies (“adversaries”) did in regard to the Jews who were building the Temple!

Now go back and read the Text carefully. Get the gist of the story.

These people literally “hated” the Jews … yet now they are offering to become “confederate” with them in their construction project! “Can we help you?” But they were lying in their hearts!

Listen: “Let us build with you.”

Then they prevaricate even more, say untrue things. ““For we seek your God, as ye do.” Not so. They had worshipped heathen gods for many years. (Or at least worshipped heathen gods along with Jehovah God. “Syncretism” it’s called.)

But Zerubbabel and his “cabinet” refused this (false) offer!

Wisely so!

Listen again: “They said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God.” The House of OUR God, see it?

Today the spirit of ecumenicity would have overruled this big NO!

“Lets lay aside our differences,” we’re being now told! Let’s not emphasize our “distinctives!” Let’s “cut corners” on any doctrine that might be offensive!

These bold men of old would have said, “NOTHING DOING!”

“NAY!”

Why?

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14

And Proverbs 22:25 tells us one of the main reasons to avoid the wicked … “Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” Wow!

Do not let the devil attack you “from within!”

Here (today’s Lesson) is an Old Testament principle that still is critically important today.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6 again, but verse 17 this time.

I think enough has been said.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Nearly anytime God’s people inch forward, make progress … there will be opposition!

And the Book of Ezra has carefully recorded for us how a handful of Jews, returning from Babylon, built an altar to Almighty God. And how they immediately thereafter started to (re)build the Temple (so far just the foundation, but still advancing toward the goal). Progress indeed!

THEN … came the trouble!

“Now when the ADVERSARIES of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel ….” Ezra 4:1

The noun used here for “adversary” is “tzsar” in Hebrew. It is also translated “enemy” 37 different times in the King James Version of Scripture, to give you a synonym.

The root of “tzsar” is a verb meaning “to tighten one’s grip” on a person. “To bind, to make narrow,” thus “to cause pain!” In other words, “to besiege.” Maybe even including the idea of “applying pressure!”

So clearly the devil has begun to0 fight the work!

Yes, because of evil … good will be opposed.

Listen to Jesus on this subject.

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18

Let me stop right here this morning and try to encourage some saint who is facing such difficulty (or difficulties)!

If the devil is fighting … that might be a sign the work you are doing is significant!

Such manifold trials might mean that you have “hurt” him and his nefarious cause … in your recent advances for the Lord!

Jesus again in John 16:33 … “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation (pressure): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Wow!

I either read or heard a Preacher say this once:

“You can often tell a man’s character not only by the friends he keeps, but by the enemies who fight him!”

Amen.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell