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Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Opposition is one of the sad but true realities of the human journey, right? As you reflect on your life, I’m sure there have been many times when you felt great opposition to your ideas or your objectives or your plans and efforts. What did you do in those cases? What have you and I taught our children and grandchildren about dealing with opposition in a God honoring way?
Join me again back in Jerusalem about 2500 years ago as the Jewish exiles, who have returned from Babylon, are re-energized in their work on the Temple mount. They are clearing the rubble remaining from the destruction of that Temple 66 years before and now with the encouragement and help of two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, they are resuming the work which had been idle for several years.
Yesterday I left you celebrating Ezra’s two sentence report: “Then Zerubbabel and Joshua went to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them supporting them.” (Ezra 5:2) Sadly it did not take long, and opposition arose!
The next verse reports that Tattenai, the governor of the region known as the Trans-Euphrates, and other officials, came to Jerusalem to investigate reports they had heard about this work. Their questions were straight forward: “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it? What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” (Ezra 5:3,4) We can presume these officials came in a caravan and flaunted their official titles and authority. It was probably a frightening confrontation.
But Ezra wants us to know that these Jewish exiles had been greatly encouraged by new messages from God through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, so they stood firm and while respectful they were confident. Ezra reports: “But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to King Darius and his written reply was received!” (Ezra 5:5)
Now let’s pause here for a few seconds in reflection. What does that mean? If you know the stories of the Bible fairly well, what other times can you think of that God’s people were being opposed, or persecuted or even traumatized, but God’s watchful eye was fully aware, and God unleashed some of His power to protect His people?
If you are with someone else today in this “Walking with Jesus” journey, pause and talk about this for a few moments, because this is a central pillar of our Christian faith and experience. God is Omniscient. That means God is fully aware of everything that is happening, always, everywhere in the universe! God is Omnipresent, which means God is everywhere present all the time. And God is Omnipotent, which means God is all powerful and can do anything at anytime, anywhere in the universe, to accomplish His purposes. And one of God’s commitments is to protect His people who are fully engaged with Him in accomplishing His plans and purposes in our world. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
The Bible is filled with stories of God watching the events involving His people and responding in ways only God can. Have you experienced God’s direct involvement in your life, my friends, especially when opposition was rising up against you?
What gives you the confidence that God’s watchful eye is upon you today, no matter where you are in the world, no matter what opposition you might be facing? Of course, if you have trusted Jesus to be your Savior the all-powerful Holy Spirit of God lives within you and is FULLY aware of EVERYTHING going on all around you, right? (John 14:16,17)
Ezra reports that Governor Tattenai, and the other officials who were deeply concerned about this Temple reconstruction project, set about to immediately draft a letter of concern, which was officially sealed and sent by courier to King Darius. We presume Darius was in Babylon, since he was King over the former Babylonian kingdom. We also presume Daniel may have still been alive and may have been summoned by Darius when the letter finally arrived.
That letter details what these officials observed and experienced on the Temple mount and is word for word given to us in Ezra 5:6-16. I urge you to read carefully or listen to the Audio Bible link of that letter available to you at the bottom of this page. I especially urge you to take note of how the Jewish exiles are reported to have responded to the opposition questions. Listen to the confidence these workers had in their God and the step-by-step description of their obedience to God’s guidance in this project. As you listen, please give consideration to what you would say if you were called in by some officials for questioning about your values, your behavior, your lifestyle as a Christian.
Finally, Ezra reports that Governor Tattenai concluded his letter to King Darius with these words: “Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.” (Ezra 5:17) Babylon was about 750 miles from Jerusalem by the normal trade routes, thus even with the fastest courier we can imagine it would take several weeks, probably months, for this letter to arrive in the throne room of King Darius in Babylon; then the research accomplished; and then a response written and returned by courier to Jerusalem. In the meantime, because Zerubbabel and the Jewish workers were convinced God was watching over them, they, with confidence, resumed the work on the Temple mount!
So, let’s pause right here, thanking God for how HE watches over you and me. Let’s worship with this song about God watching over us, and I’ll meet you again right back here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Ezra 5:2-17.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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