Serving God is difficult Ezra 4 shows us. Israel faced opposition as they were building the temple of God. Those who opposed her “disguised” their opposition as an offer of help. When they were rejected, they showed their intentions clearly by writing to King Artaxerxes to accuse the Jews of rebellion. They told the king that if he did not stop Israel, she would rebel against him. They also bribed the authorities to withhold the provisions and materials King Cyrus had decreed the governors to give to the Jews for the project.

This is how Satan uses people to hinder the work of God. Such people will preface their sabotage of a matter or ministry as a concern. Thus, causing disunity and hindrance to the work of God. God never intends for us to “fight” in our service to Him or in our worship of Him. Therefore, we find we are always fighting over the styles of worship and the preaching or interpreting of the word of God. Do you think God will be glorified by our “fights” that divide the church?

In verse 6, the opposers addressed their concerns to King Ahasuerus. The name “Ahasuerus” is the Persian name for King Xerxes. In verse 7, from Ahasuerus, it jumps to King Artaxerxes because it was during his reign that the work was stopped. The opposers accused the Jews in a second letter written in Aramaic, the official language of Persia to King Artaxerxes. They said the Jews had a history of rebelliousness and if the king did not stop them, they would stop paying taxes and rebel against him.

This worked. The king ordered it to stop after he heard the fearmongers who pretended to be concerned about the king’s authority (power) and treasury (money). These two things are important to many people. Like the opposers, people will disguise their opposition as concerns for the church. The intent is to stop us because they do not agree with what we are doing. In such instances, we need to pray to God for discernment as to what the opposers are doing and how to deal with them.

The opposers suggested Artaxerxes search the historical records as he would find that Israel is a rebellious nation. Israel had a history from the time of Egypt to the time they entered the Promised Land of challenging and conquering the other nations. So, the king found this to be true. But if they had not misled him, he could have found Cyrus’ decree instead. His decision would have been different. Thus, he became alarmed and ordered the work to stop immediately. So, the opposers did not waste any time to stop the Jews upon Artaxerxes’ order.

Serving God is difficult because one is often plagued with problems internally and externally. A simple idea or suggestion can result in disagreement among us and lead to the stopping of God’s work. Yet, we must not let them stop us from doing God’s work. Instead, we must be careful not to be used by Satan to stop the work of God.

Prayer : Father, help me to encourage those who serve the Lord and not discourage them with our “reasons and concerns.” Help us to be aware of what we are doing so that we may not sin against You or one another.