Daily Encouragement Day 118 – Ezra 4

The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin sought to discourage the work on the new temple, but under the firm leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua they tried to continue.  But their opponents were persistent, and this ongoing problem of attempting to prevent the Jewish people from being well-established in the land continued.  This is evident in the account in the second part of Ezra 4 of later opposition under Artaxerxes king of Persia (464-423 B.C.) when the Jews first attempted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  The opponents of the Jewish people sent an alarming letter to Artaxerxes who responded by instructing them to make the Jews cease their work on the walls.  The chapter ends by bringing us back to the time of Zerubbabel and the discontinuation of the work on the temple.

READING of EZRA 4

Prayer:

Lord, it is not always clear to us why You allow godless agendas and spiritual warfare to delay Your work in this world, but I know that I can always trust You for the outcome, no matter how difficult the journey may seem.

Meditation passage for today: verse 3