The Lord moved the heart of King Cyrus of Persia to have the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem. This was to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah the prophet. However, “When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” [1]
The enemies of God, His work and His people wanted them to open their hearts to hypocritical helpers. The Jews responded, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.” [2]
The stealthy infiltration tactics of the enemies did not succeed so they tried others method to defeat them. “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them.
At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.” [3]
The enemies resorted to five tactics to halt the work of God: 1) Infiltrate their ranks with play actors who would defeat them from within; 2) discouragement; 3) fearmongering; 4) bribes authorities to oppose them; 5) smearing their reputations. The work was temporarily halted due to these enemies.
However, the work was completed because God gave the people men of faith to move forward. “So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.” [4]
The Prophets Haggai and Zechariah had a close relationship with God and His Word. Also, they used the prophetic gift that God gave them to help their people navigate to victory over the roadblocks of their enemies.
God gets His will done, but it is good when we His people also pray for it and want it to happen. The conclusion of the story is that God wins. Hallelujah!
[1] Ezra 4:1-2
[2] Ezra 4:3
[3] Ezra 4:4-6
[4] Ezra 6:14
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