Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Ezra 4: 1-3, NKJV.
Merciful Savior and God, we are glad to be called by Your name. As we study Your Word, please show us the difference between witnessing to the world, and being in partnership with the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
In our day, the church has felt a need to depend on public funds to aid them, in many of their outreach programs. The truth being told, all these funds belong to our God (Psalm 24: 1; 50: 10-12; Haggai 2: 8), and by right, to His church. Sad to say, that is not the way things are done, in the world. However, it would seem, that in accepting these funds, the church is expected to render undisputed loyalty to the source or sources, of these funds. I believe, that the only One, Christians are to be unconditionally faithful to – is God! Christians are to call sin by its name, not with an intent to offend – but, regardless, of who is offended. If we fail to do this, God can raise up the “stones” to do His bidding (Luke 19: 40)!
Our scripture for today begins by describing those who were offering their help to Judah and Benjamin, as adversaries. Let us look at a verse in Scripture that I find particularly helpful in developing this thought: “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17: 15). This was a part of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane; one of His last expressed desire for His people. He knew that the world was the “stomping ground,” of, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (John 17: 15). He knew that living on enemy territory was not going to be easy, so He prayed for us (20)!
The Word of God reminds us: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4: 4). Let us add another thought to the mix, and then we can begin to draw our conclusions, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed” (Amos 3: 3)? The actions of these men, who were offering their “help” to “Zerrubabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses” eventually, revealed their true intentions: “Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 4: 4-6).
Since the world has one agenda, and the church another, it is somewhat difficult, for them to “walk together.” Somebody has to surrender their agenda, or, at the very least, modify it, in order to arrive at a consensus. The Word of God makes an offer that we do well to accept: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1: 5). We need the wisdom of God, in order to live, and work, in the world. God, who, alone, sees the heart, will give His church the wisdom we need. The people of God were not fooled by the apparent, “good will” of these false ambassadors, and refused their help.
The work was put on hold for quite a while, but it was eventually resumed, and finally finished, ” ‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4: 6). Neither the church, nor the Christian, has anything to fear once we are occupied doing the will of God, in the way He has asked us to do it. All that we will ever need, He has promised to supply, “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 19). Let us learn to wait on Him.
We will continue.