Shabbat Shalom. I'd like you please to turn with me to the book of Ezra. Chapter 4 is a ministry meeting today. We are dealing with the restoration of Israel back to the promised land, to the city of Yerushalayim. Shalom. And we have arrived today to the fourth chapter. Very important chapter. Ezra chapter 4, beginning with verse 1. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, Shabbat Shalom. Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you. For we seek your God, as ye do, and we do sacrifice unto him since the day of Esarhadon, the king of Ashur, which brought us up hither.

But Zerubbabel, and Yeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us, to build a house unto our God, but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and 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. And in the reign of Achashverosh, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

And in the day of Artaxerxes, wrote Bishlam, Miterda, Tebil, and the rest of their companions unto Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, and the writing of the letters was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. Rachum, the councilor, and Shemshai, the scribe, wrote letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes, the king in this sort. Then wrote Rachum, the councilor, and Shemshai, the scribe, and the rest of their companions, De Dinnia, and the rest of the nations, whom the great and noble Sanapir brought over and set in the cities of Samaria. And the rest that are of this side of the river, and at such a time.

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even to Artaxerxes, the king. Thy servants, the men on this side of the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and join the foundation. Be it known now unto the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom. Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meant for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore we have sent and certify the king, that such may be made in the book of the record of thy fathers, so shalt thou find in the book of the record, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and heartful unto the kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of all time, for which cause was the city destroyed.

We certify the king, that if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side of the river. Then sent the king an answer unto Rachum, the counselor, and to Shimshai, the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwelt in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, peace, and at such a time. The letter which ye sent unto us have been plainly read before me. And I commended, and such has been made, and it is found that the city of all time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river, and toll, tribute, and custom was paid unto them. Give ye now commandment to cause these men to seize, and that this city be not builded until another commandment shall be given from me. Take heed now, that ye fail not to do this. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king? Now when the copy of the king, Artaxixus' letter, was read before Rachum and Shimshai, the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to seize by force and power.

Then seized the work of the house of God, which is at Jerusalem. So it seized unto the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. You know, when I'm reading this chapter today, it came to my mind a song that we sing in the Feast of Pesach. There's an amazing song that we sing every Passover in our Jewish home. And this song has to do with the thought that in every generation, there's always rising someone who desires to destroy the people of Israel. That song called V'hi Sha'amda. The word V'hi Sha'amda has to do with the truth that the word of the Lord is standing sure.

And the song is being sung in such a way that we express to the Lord, and we express to each other, that in every generation, there always rises against our people Israel, someone who wants to destroy the nation. But then we don't stop there, because the song continues on and says, But the Lord, blessed be His name, He saves us from all our enemies, and He protects us from all those that want to destroy our people Israel. One day we need to sing that song together, and I can show you what a precious song it is. But the thought is V'hi Sha'amda has to do with the word of God.

In other words, the law, God's word, God's promises is standing sure. No matter what men will try to do to the people of God, whether it is Israel, the nation, or whether it is the ecclesia, the body of Messiah, no matter what one will try to do, God's promises will surely come to pass. He will protect His people, He will guard them, He will ultimately bring them into their promises that He had made for them. Now, brothers and sisters, listen. Imagine what's happening here in the fourth chapter of the book of Ezra. Here about 50,000 Jewish people have left Bavell, and have migrated, and come all the way back to the promised land.

And they begin now to restore what God had given to them, specifically to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Do you think it was easy for them to leave Bavell, to take this long journey, arriving to this land of Canaan, to the land of Israel, the promised land to the city of Jerusalem, and to begin to build, and to begin to try to restore that which had been placed under ruins. Here they are, you can see, beginning to build, beginning to establish what God had given unto them, again in the city of Jerusalem, and guess what's happened? The first thing that they experience is opposition to their work.

Now, you and I can see this in our own life. Whenever you and I will try to restore a relationship to the Lord, whenever you and I will try to build something for Yeshua, the Messiah, you will notice that the enemy of God and God's people will immediately begin to oppose the things of the Lord. It was Shaul Paul who said in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in evil day. While Israel, our people of all, were building the physical temple of God, you and I today are called to build the spiritual house of God, the body of the Mashiach, the body of the Messiah. Just like Israel, our people of all, believers in Yeshua the Messiah will experience opposition whenever you seek to build the house of the Lord. And that's why we can, just like the song we sing in Pesach, God's words stand. Just the same like it was for our fathers, also for us today, that not only one rose up to seek to destroy us from generation to generation, there will be those who sought to destroy our people Israel, they still seek to destroy our people Israel today, also to destroy the body of Messiah, but God in His faithfulness is always protecting His own people whom He loved dearly.

God has a plan for His people, whether it is the nation of Israel, or whether it is the body of Messiah today. Look how the enemy is working. He does it in three stages, and you will notice this in this passage. First of all, the enemy come as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Then if he doesn't succeed, he come as a roaring lion, 1 Peter chapter 5. And then thirdly, what did he do? He began to point and to falsely accuse the people of God. This is exactly what we see here in these three stages that we find here in Ezra chapter 4. But just for a moment, remember what happened in Ezra chapter 3.

The Jewish people, our own forefathers, finally were successful in putting the foundation of the temple. Now they look at this foundation, and they see it so small in comparison to the temple that Shlomo, the king of Israel, had built many years before. And they look at the foundation, the older one, we cry because they remember the past history. The younger one, look and they rejoice, and they say, wow, we are going to have a temple now, we are going to restore a worship to the God of our fathers. And while this is going on, and it says in verse 13 of chapter 3, so the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of weeping of the people.

For the people shouted with the loud, a shout and noise was heard far off. There was a rejoicing and weeping at the same time. And then, you notice chapter 4 began. And I want you to notice that these Jewish people had adversaries, had enemies that were waiting to destroy their building of the house of the Lord. And so, in verses 1, 2, and 3, we find out about the adversary of Judah and Benjamin. It says in verse 1, notice that, it says, now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity built at the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, then they came unto Zerubbabel and to the chief of their fathers and said unto them, let us build with you.

For we seek your God as ye do, and we do sacrifice unto him since the day of Esar Haddon, king of Ashur, which brought us up hither. Now notice what they do, beloved brothers and sisters. First of all, in verse 1, they heard. You know, usually people are like this. When they hear that something for God is going on, and God's people are working and serving the Lord God of Israel, in our case today through Yeshua the Messiah, immediately, because they really do not care for the things of God, Satan is using them to try to harm the growth and the building of the things of the Lord.

It usually happens for a new believer when he or she coming to know Yeshua the Messiah, that the enemy of God immediately seeking to take the seed that had been planted and to stop the growth that began. And this is exactly what happened here. Notice the word adversary, the word for adversary comes from the Hebrew word Tzarei Yehudah the Binyamin. The word Tzarei comes from the Hebrew word Tzarot. Tzarot means troublemakers. They are the enemies, the troublemakers of Judah and Benjamin. We already know who they are from verse 1. And we know they're planned because immediately when they come and they approach the people of Israel, the people of Judah and Benjamin, look what they say to them.

In verse 2, they came unto Zerubavel and to the chief of the fathers and they said unto them, let us build with you. Why? We should build with you because we seek your God as ye do and we do sacrifice unto him since the day of Esar Hadon king of Ashur which brought us up to here. You know, so what they begin to do, they begin to say, hey, you know what, Israel, Judah, Benjamin, let's work together because after all, we are worshipping the same God, we sacrifice to the same God, we want to build with you. Now here is, brothers and sisters, where Judah and Benjamin needed to be very carefully discerning who are those that are really coming to try to build with us?

You notice that they say a few things that it sounds very attractive. They say, you see, we seek your God, we do sacrifice to him and for many, many days we have been doing it since the time that the king of Ashur brought us to Samaria. Actually, those people, according to history, are the Samaritans. You remember we read in John chapter 4 that the Jewish people had no dealing with the Samaritan. Often times, people take it to mean in a negative way. Well, the Jewish people were proud and they were not having dealing with the Samaritan, but there was an origin, there was a reason for that that had started long, long time before Yeshua was born into this world.

There was no dealing with the Samaritan because the Samaritan has a mixture of worship. Not only that there were a mixture of some of the Israelis that remained there and some of the nations of the world, but there was a spiritual mixture. A little bit of the God of Israel, but also the God of Baal, the Ashtarot, and all the other gods mixing together. It sounds like very well, well, listen, we seek your God. We do sacrifice unto him since long time ago. It reminds me of what we just had yesterday in the book of Numbers. We were talking about this man Bilam, this false prophet, this soothsayer who was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to come to curse the people of Israel.

And what does he do? He goes to be with Balak, he's taking him to a high mountain, he's offering seven bullocks and seven rams on seven altars, but he was offering those animals not for the God of Israel, but for Baal. And then he's going to speak to God as if he had done some great things for God. Well, that is exactly what happened here with these Samaritans. Now, please bear with me and go back to 2 Kings chapter 17 for a moment. There we find out what happened, how did these Samaritans came to be in that land? Notice what we read there in 2 Kings chapter 17 in verse 6.

It says in the ninth year of Osherah, the king of Assyria took Samaria and he carried Israel away to Assyria. And he placed them in Chala and in Chavor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes. You see what happened? He took the northern tribes of Israel and he took them captive and he placed them in Assyria. Imagine, those are what is sometimes called the ten lost tribes of Israel. But look what he did. It says here that the reason he says for so it was, verse 7, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God. That's why he took them away.

Verse 18, therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and he removed them out of his sight. Then later on in verse 19 it says, Judah kept not also the commandments of the Lord their God, but they walked in the statues of Israel which they had made. In other words, not only the northern tribes, Israel, but also Judah and Benjamin. So now look what happened. It says in verse 23 at the end, so was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day, and the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Kuthah and from Avah and from Hamad and from Tephavaim and he placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel.

So what happened is that the king of Assyria brought from the nations of the world and he placed them there instead of the people of Israel which he carried them to Assyria. But now what happened? Look what it said in verse 25. And so it was in the beginning of their dwelling there that they fear not the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them which slew some of them. Wherefore they spoke unto the king of Assyria saying the nation which thou has removed and placed in these cities of Samaria know not the manner of the God of the land. Therefore he had sent lions among them and behold they slay them because they knew not the manner of the God of the land.

In other words what happened because these people who came from the nations of the world and was placed in Shomron because they didn't know the God of Israel God sent lions among them and the lions beat them and attacked them and so now they said well the reason that God is saying those lions against them is because they do not know the God of the land. So look what the king of Assyria did in verse 27 then the king of Assyria commended and saying carry he the one of the priests whom he brought from then and let them go and dwell there and let him teach the manner of the God of the land.

So they called the priest from one of the people of Israel they brought him into the land and he began to teach these Samaritans or these foreigners some of the things about the God of Israel but I want you to know this beloved brothers and sisters what happened here in verse 29 however or how bit every nation made gods of their own and they put them in their houses of their high places which the Samaritan had made every nation in their cities wherein they dwelled and it says in verse 32 and they feared the Lord this is Jehovah Jehovah and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places which sacrificed

for them in the houses of the high places and they feared Jehovah and served their own gods you notice that it was a mixture they feared Jehovah the God of Israel but they also served everyone his own God verse 41 of 2nd King 17 concludes with this statement so these nations fear the Lord and serve their graven images so here's a mixture these are the very Samaritan that have been in the land when Judah and Benjamin returned to Jerusalem so now they are coming they have come to Zubbabel and they said to him you know what back in Ezra chapter 4 verse 2 let us build with you for we seek your God as you

do we sacrifice unto him since the day of Esar Hadon the king of Ashur which brought us up to here now what would you do if somebody come to you and he said to you hey listen let's serve the Lord together let's preach the gospel together oh yeah you only believe that salvation is through Yeshua the Messiah alone we believe that salvation is not only through Yeshua through all other ways to be saved but let's work together you see beloved brothers and sisters why sometimes separation is essential because you cannot serve the Lord in such a condition if one do not believe only that salvation is through Yeshua the Messiah how can you serve the

Lord together you cannot do that and one might call you and you say oh you are so sectarian you think that you know the only one way and you think that your way is the only way well the answer here is truly yes the only way is through the person of Yeshua the Messiah Abraham Isaac and Jacob and that's why it was a warning you might say sign to Zerubbabel and to Yeshua those who led the people of Israel at that time now just to make some replication here the enemies came right away at the beginning it didn't take too long for enemies to come and to seek to stop the work of the Lord

those of us that have been believers for many years can honestly say that we have experienced this in a practical way just like our Jewish people experienced this over the years whenever you try to walk with the Lord whenever you try to build something spiritual growth it can be also our own sin nature it is the world and its influence it is Satan with his craftiness he uses men he uses individuals to seek to stop the things of the Lord to grow let me read you a verse from 1st Corinthians chapter 16 what Shaul Paul said to the Corinthians some years ago when he was writing unto them from Ephesus he said to 1st Corinthians

chapter 16 and verses 8 and 9 but I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost for a great door and effectual is open unto me and there are many adversaries Paul said to the Corinthians beloved brothers and sisters I'm going to stay at Ephesus a little bit longer until the feast of Pentecost the feast of Shavuot a door was opening to me I have an opportunity to preach the message of the gospel but I want you to know brothers and sisters he's saying to them there are those who oppose that message there are many adversaries who oppose the work of the Lord and I am understanding it notice he didn't even say but there are many

adversaries he says and there are many adversaries there will always be enemies to the things of the Lord wherever you are wherever we are whether it is Israel historically or whether it is the believers in the present day time in which we live in and that's why he wrote in Ephesians chapter 6 be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put upon yourself the whole army of God that ye may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil Satan is attacking the people of God and so now he is coming to Israel he's coming to the Jewish people as an angel of light let's build together let's work together after

all we believe in the same God we sacrifice unto him for many many many years even from the time that we came to the place that is called Samaria now if the people of Israel of Judah and Benjamin had not a spiritual minded leaders they would have allowed them so fine let's build together you remember what happened in the time of Joshua the nation that not from a too far area came and they said to Joshua we are not near we are coming from far away we're going to work with you just help us to remain with you and you know unfortunately when they were not really wise there that Joshua allowed them to come

in and in chapter 9 of the book of Joshua it was the give on night side of Israel throughout their generation and so back to Ezra chapter 4 so the adversaries heard the adversaries offered and now look at the response of Zerub and Yeshua to their adversaries look what they say to them in verse 3 but Zerub and Yeshua and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them ye have nothing to do with us to build the house of our God but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus the king of Persia hath commended us they took a stand beloved brothers and sisters

it must have been very difficult for them there is a lot of pressure only the foundation is being built well what are going to do right now here are people that are coming and offering to help us to build maybe they offer them money maybe they offer them a lot of tools you might say maybe they offer all sort of material to build the temple it must have been very tempting for them to say hey come on why don't you join us let's build together you know after all we believe in the same God but Zubavel and Yeshua and the leaders of Judah and Benjamin they had discernment they discern and say oh wait a

minute wait a minute we are not ready now to make others participate in the building of the house of the Lord well can you imagine what it means if they will be participating with us in building the house of the Lord who knows what they will introduce in no time they will begin to introduce some other idols and maybe Baal a little bit and Ashtarot a little bit and God warned Israel thou shall have no other gods before me he told our forefathers to be a separated nation you remember what God said about Israel through Bilam that false prophet who wanted to curse Israel he said a nation shall dwell alone and shall not be

counted among the nations of the world Israel is to be a separated nation Israel is to be distinguished why because Israel have the true and living God while the rest of the nations had idols and so not because Israel is better but Israel has been chosen by God to be separated unto him just the same like beloved brothers and sisters we are not better than anybody else in the face of this world sinners like everyone else but we are saved on the basis of the work of Yeshua Jesus our Messiah our Messiah so Zerubavell took a stand it must have cost him to take a stand and whenever you and I will take a stand

for the Lord it will cost us there will be a price that we will have to pay but the Lord that promises his blessing the promises of God standing sure we cannot change the word of God God's word must change us we cannot change the word of God and in every generation someone will rise to seek to destroy the body of Messiah but God is faithful you remember what Yeshua said in Matthew chapter 16 I will build my assembly and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it and sure we can stand upon these promises we don't keep the church the assembly the body of Messiah he keeps it he protects he provides for

that not us but if we are faithful to him he will maintain his promises to come to pass so here we see these men are standing for the truth of the word of God and they said to them you have nothing to do with us in building the house of our God turn to Psalm 106 for a moment there we read from verse 33 we read here about the danger of mingling with that which is not sound it says because they provoked his spirit so he specked unadvisedly with his lips they did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them but they were mingling among the heathen and learned their works and they

served their idols which were a snare unto them yet they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons imagine these are the people of Israel when they did not submit to the word of God look it says in verse 38 and they shed innocent blood even the blood of their sons and their daughters whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan and the land was polluted with blood verse 39 thus were there defiled with their own works and went a whoring with their own inventions therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people inasmuch that he abhorred his own inheritance now imagine brothers and sisters God had to discipline his own people who

instead of listening to him they listen to the voice of the enemies and they end up to practice things just the same like the people of the land and so God had to discipline his people and now you see Zubavell and Yeshua and the elders here know that and that's why the response of Zubavell and Yeshua to the adversaries ye have nothing to do with us to build the house of our God we are going to do it on our own we are not going to have you participate with us well if Satan does not succeed in tricking the people of God well what you think he is going to do he is going to

what you call stage number two and here we find out that they began to oppose now the people of God the building of the house no longer by tricking them to try to enter in secondly now what they are doing they are seeking to stop the people of God by force Satan uses man to come as an angel of light and when this is not successful he is coming as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8 so notice what we find out in verses 4 and 5 what the adversaries do in verses 4 and 5 and listen to this then the people of the land weakened the

hands of the people of Judah and they troubled them in building and they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia even until the reign of the king of Persia so the next thing to do is now to oppose them and to harm them if you can't hurt them by tricking them and sowing all sort of seed of false teaching and false practices among the people of God where we'll start to oppose them by force so notice the thing that they have done three things the first thing they weakened their hands the second thing they caused them trouble both found in verse 4 and the third thing

them now this is very serious because what they have been doing here they have done things in order to weaken their hand in other words the Hebrew word to weaken their hand come from the word to marpim yadehem it's like you know you cause the people of God just no longer any strength to build you know they were ready with their hands up you might say I'm going to build we are going to build the house of the lawn but now the hands are down and they are not continuing to build because as they were trying to build these people of the land the Samaritans continue to build I'm trying to build they're coming and

they're forcing it down I'm trying to do something and they're pushing me backward they're harming the people of God then it says that they made trouble for them as they were building in the second expression in verse 4 it says and they troubled them in building can you imagine perhaps you are bringing a block of stone to try to build you know how we have this existing throughout the history of the body of Messiah those if they didn't succeed to sneak in somehow from the back door they began to trouble and oppose the building of the body of Messiah of the house of the Lord and they weakening the hand don't you feel sometime when

you try to build when you seek to minister among the people of God you try to unite the believers you want to lead others to the Messiah you are trying to build a company of believers and then someone come or something happened and then all of a sudden it weakened you well you start to say what's the use what's the use to build and you see this actually leading them to stop in building the house of the Lord and no wonder you know I've heard from one of a leading brother he says there are thousands of spiritual leaders that now gave up on building the things of the Lord because they are tired from the

constant opposition that they experience in their lives and maybe sometime you and I get discouraged because you get disappointed and you look around and you get criticism all the time and instead of somebody coming edifying you you leave a conversation with a person more discouraged than encouraged and your hands are weakened and you say what's the use you know sometime and I'm thankful for my dear wife Irene when I'm kind of discouraged a time that my wife had been such a support to me to encourage Mrs.

Gideon you know it's not your work it is the Lord's work it's the Lord's work it's not your work but just to be faithful to continue on in spite of disappointments and discouragement and you see brothers and sisters listen we are to be in our father's business we are to build the house of the Lord not now structure such as this or such as our people Israel of old have done but the body of Messiah the people of God need encouragement today almost every too there are so many discouragements among the people of God and we need to be a builder not a destroyer sometimes we have to ask ourselves am I a help or

a hindrance am I a builder or destroyer am I one that is going under someone to lift him or lift her up so we can continue on a little bit more in the things of the Lord but these people who claim to be believers in the God of Israel who said oh yes we seek your God actually weaken them later on when it didn't work one way they have done that in another way and so now these 50,000 Jewish people who were so much in energy for the Lord we just came from Bavell after so many years that we sat by the rivers of Babylon and we wept when we remember Zion now we are

in Zion in Zion in Jerusalem we are ready to build and then all of a sudden the enemy come and try to trick them and when you don't let them come in then they try to force to harm the things of the Lord and so they weakened the hands of the people of Judah they troubled them in the what was the business the job of those advisors the counselors against the people of Judah in order to frustrate their purpose in other words they receive some advice how can we get this to be stopped how can we stop to see God's house being built how can we do that give us some counsel give us some

advice and notice that it continue on in verse 5 they counsel against them to trouble their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia even until the reign of Darius the king of Persia in other words what we learn from this verse that it began at the time already when Israel came with Cyrus but it didn't stop there it went all the way until the time of Darius the king of Persia himself now you and I might say well how does this apply to us don't you feel that you and I it seems to be that from the day that we became believers in Yeshua immediately the enemy came to attack us he challenges

our faith he challenges us whether we really need Jesus the Messiah as our Savior he challenges whether it is worthwhile to go to a meeting or to read our Bible or to pray he challenges us in our work he challenges us in our homes we challenge us with our friendship he challenges us in our local assemblies and fellowship he challenges all the let's forget about the whole thing and let's just carry on to deal with the things that are for ourselves what's the use you know to build the house of the Lord and you will notice that this is exactly how they have felt these Jewish men and women who came from Bavell after so

many years being away from their homeland and if you are here someone here if you feel discouraged today you ask yourself the question not so much whether you have enemies and problems in your life but ask yourself and I need to ask myself look what the Lord Yeshua have done for us the suffering that he suffered for us when he died for us on the tree the price that he paid in order to give us a hope life at best is very short very brief like a get up in age and then we have to stand before this one and he going to ask us what have you done for me in your life as

a believer and we need to be stirred and not to be discouraged we need to look unto Yeshua the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross and he despised the shame and he suffered for us and sometimes when we go through trials and tribulation and difficulties in our life we should take a look at the lovely face of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and get encouragement from him friends might leave us people our families might misunderstand us the best ones that we knew we walked with might not always agree with us but there is one that is a lover of our soul

beyond all others his name is Yeshua he never changes he remains the same even though we at time fail him and so this is an encouragement to our heart but look at these Jewish people you know that all these things that we are reading about in the first five verses actually happened at about 536 BC when they were restored to the land and already then and there they experienced animosity and opposition from those that sought to harm them remember that Satan is the accuser of the brethren Satan is always going to oppose us to seek to harm us but the Lord is greater than him he is able to assist us in a time of

difficulties and discouragement now in the next verses from verse 6 on to verse 23 we receive somebody call it what you call a flash forward information what does it mean flash forward you know sometimes if you play DVD and you begin to hear the story but now you want to see the end of the story so you quickly move it all the way towards the end and you can see what happened later on this is what the Holy Spirit of God is doing from verse 6 to verse 23 the Holy Spirit somehow now give us information about things that happen even later not only in 536 BC but things that happen in another period of

time of the history of these Jewish people who returned to to the land and it's so interesting because if you don't know that you get kind of mixed up a little bit here with what happened notice after we read in verse 5 that it's happened all the days of Cyrus king of Persia even until notice that it takes us even until the king of Persia many years later and so notice what happened in verse 6 we get a flash forward information about a future king notice a king that is not Cyrus notice it says in verse 6 and in the reign of Achashverosh in the beginning of his reign wrote they unto him an accusation

against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem in other words what now happened that the king Achashverosh he reigned at about 486 to 465 BC quite a few years later and what we really learn from this that while the opposition and the trouble that these Jewish people have experienced in 536 BC it didn't stop there now later on those who opposed Judah wrote a letter to Achashverosh in the beginning of his reign they wrote unto him and accused the inhabitants of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in other words they wrote to another king later on now again this person by the name of Achashverosh we know him from the book of Esther he was the

king Achashverosh who reigned at a time when the Jewish people that remained in Bavell were living then and there and they are writing now later on to the king of Achashverosh an accusation again against Judah and Jerusalem and then look at this even next verse verse 7 we get an additional as it had been called flash forward information opposing the Jewish people even later on to another king look at this what it says in verse 7 and in the days of Artaxixus wrote Bishlam Mithredat Tebil and the rest of their companions unto Artaxixus the king of Persia and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue and interpreted in the Syrian tongue

now this man by the name of Artaxixus he ruled from 465 to 423 BC you see beloved brothers and sisters what we learn here that the Holy Spirit of God gave us information that is much later on did not happen when the first five verses occurred about 536 BC but now he gave them a flash forward information that you and I receive today that the Jewish people receive sometime later about other enemies that wrote against the Jewish people and opposed them in a building of the things of the Lord now how do we know that it is a flash forward information simply because of this look what it says in verse 12 be it known

unto the king that the Jews which came up from thee to us come unto Jerusalem and building the rebellious and bad city and have set up the walls thereof now remember brothers and sisters these people in the time of Zubabel did not build the wall of Jerusalem they didn't build the city itself they only began to build the temple they only had the foundation of the temple the walls around Jerusalem came to be rebuilt later on by Nehemiah Nehemiah later on so we see that we get some information about what happened later you know there is a great lesson in this for us to understand here with those verses those verses teaches us that in

every generation there will be those who will rise up against us in Hebrew we say in every generation there will come someone who will rise in order to seize us from existence God's enemy and God's people enemy doesn't stop for a moment to plan the destruction of the people of God whether it is for Israel as a nation or whether it is for the body of Messiah there is always going to be an opposition to the things of the Lord no wonder you and I sometimes experience this and even if we experienced this 20 years ago 30 years ago 40 years ago we are going to experience this today and tomorrow there will always be

those who seek to oppose the work of the Lord so in verse 6 we have future information about a letter that was written to King Achashverosh 486 to 465 BC and in verse 7 an additional future information or flash forward information of the opposition of a letter by the accusers was written to King Artaxixus who who reigned from 465 to 423 BC so when we read our Bibles and we read about Peter's persecution of Shimon Petos or the persecution of Shaul Paul or the persecution of James Yaakov or the persecution of all these early believers some 2000 years ago you and I should not wonder when you experience sometimes persecution and those that oppose for

us to build the house of the Lord so what do we do we can only look to the Lord for grace and for help because he is the one that is the encouragement of the people of God and so now back with me to Ezra chapter 4 and now notice those that actually wrote this letter you know some believe that there was more than one letter some believe that there are actually two letters there is a letter that was written in verse 6 and there is a letter that was written in verse 7 but it doesn't matter how many letters have been written the point is the ones that opposed the building of the temple

in Yerushalayim were those enemies of Israel those who we know from the Bible as the Shomronim the Samaritum the mixture those who had not only mixed marriage but mixed in a religious views a little bit of God and a little bit of idols a little bit of Jehovah and a little bit of Baal a little bit of the true and living God but a little bit of the rest that is around and so look at them look who are they in in verse eight nine and ten we find out first of all in verse eight that the ones that really wrote this letter was Rachum the counselor and Shimshai the scribe they wrote against Jerusalem

to Arthur Zixus the king and then we have in verse nine the rest of their companion those that were there is a coalition of those who oppose the things of God it gives us a list here in verse nine you notice this list is a long name Dinaie and Aper Sachtea and then Tripalia and then Aparsia and Arkavai and Biblia and Shushancheia and then Dehava and Almea you can see the list of those who were part of the coalition who opposed the building of the house first of all but later on also the building of the wall of Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem and then in verse 10 here is the rest of the

Samaritans it says here in verse 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great noble Asna Pair brought over to set in the city of Samaria and the rest that are in this side of the river and at such a time so we find out that there is a coalition against the people of God you know today we read and we listen to the news we watch television and we see how many believers are being persecuted today because they believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and we know also in connection with our nation Israel the anti-Semitism rises and rises in every generation there will be someone who would rise to seek to destroy the

people of God and I think that song that is being sung in Passover is a song that takes us back to what happened when Israel left Egypt you remember how Pharaoh wanted to destroy the people of Israel and he pursuing after the Hebrews as they have left and ultimately God in a miraculous way opened the Red Sea and the Jewish people the Hebrews passed through the Red Sea but when Pharaoh and his army sought to pursue them when they have gone through the Red Sea then ultimately the sea cave in and they have died in that Red Sea and you can see the protection of God whether Pharaohs or whether Hamans or whether Hitler or

whether any other in any generation when one rises God is protecting the people of Israel now I want you to notice now in the remaining of the chapter here is the adversary's letter itself look what they write I just quickly going to highlight that in verse 11 they claim to be the king's servants in verse 12 they call the Jewish people rebellious nation in verse 13 they accuse the Jewish people to not pay their dues their taxes in verse 14 they claimed that they really care for the king's honor in verse 15 they suggested to search for a book about the history of Jerusalem and in verse 16 they warn the king of the loss

of revenue look at this you see what they do now so they tried to come as an angel of light it didn't work they tried to come as a roaring lion it didn't work so what do they do now they go to stage number three and they give false accusation all these Jewish people I can tell you king really we want to serve you you see we are doing something for you as it says here in verse 11 it says you know we are your servants the men of this side on the river you know we are really your servant we want to help you well let us tell you how we are going to

help you you see these Jewish people they came to us they came to Jerusalem and they are going to build this rebellious city they are really going to rebel against you this bad bad city of Jerusalem then verse 13 you know they claim to be like they wanted the honor of the king they said let's bid none to the king you notice that verse 14 we have maintenance from the king's palace and it was not meant for us to see the king dishonor we want your honor king and then verse 15 they suggested to search in a book and to find out about the city and finally in verse 16 we inform the king that

if this city is going to be built and if the wall is going to be built the king will lose revenue money will not come in and again I want you to notice they are talking about the city and the walls they are not so much talking about the building of the temple because you can see we get the flash forward information that this opposition went on and on and on if somebody is going to come to you as a king and tell you wow listen these people are pretty bad for you you you're not going to get money from the taxes well boy these people really care for me they really want my prosperity

they don't want me to lose anything you know sometimes people accuse the people of God wrongfully give a false information about the people of God now the people of God are not perfect we all fail the Lord one way or another but it is amazing how sometimes people make it their business to speak against the people of God as if they really care for someone else oh this believer is so bad and this believer is so bad I am going to be good for you take me I'm going to help you and sometimes we are so gullible instead of trusting the Lord and being sensitive and wise and discerning who say what why where when

against whom we take right away somebody's opinion and we listening to him and we end up harming somebody else and harming the work of the Lord well look what the king does in verse 17 to verse 22 the king is now responding to this letter first of all verse 17 the introduction of the king's response in verse 18 the letter was read before me he's saying to them in verse 19 he says a search had been made and really we find out about the rebellious of this city in verse 20 the king did receive a tribute from this city in the past and in verse 21 the commandment was to stop to build that city

notice I'm reading verse 21 give ye now commandment to cause these men to seize and that this city be not build it until another commandment shall be given from me you see what the king did he doesn't know even what's going on there he doesn't know in the beginning of course that it was not even the city that they were building they were only building the temple but what did he do he listened you know when somebody talked great about you we like to hear some good things about ourselves and we are feeling you know pretty good that we began to think negative about someone else because another have given us some false accusation you

know it is terrible when false accusation and sowing discord among God's people is being done by men it says in Proverbs 6 and verse 16 these six things does the Lord hate yes seven are an abomination unto him a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood heart the devices wicked imagination feet that be sweet to run for mischief a false witness that speak as lie and listen to the last one he that soweth discord among brethren now imagine what we read here in the Proverbs chapter 6 verses 16 17 18 and 19 what King Shlomo HaMelech the king of Israel said God is despising this type of attitude and yet the king

is adapting it to himself he says wow we have to stop the building that is going on and so he is giving this command in verse 21 notice verse 22 the king is warning to stop the work that no loss of gain will be for him verse 22 take heed now that he failed not to do this why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings oh we better make sure to stop the work and we make sure that they would pay taxes because I don't want to get harm for myself we must stop the building that is going on in Jerusalem and so verse 23 look at this beloved brothers and sisters what

we read here so quickly and by force they forced the Jewish people to stop the building of the temple in Jerusalem now when a copy of Arta 6 letter was read before Rachum and Shimshai the scribe and their companion listen to this verse 23 b they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jewish people unto the Jews and they made them to seize by force and power look what they have succeeded to do they have succeeded to force the Jewish people from building the house of God and seemingly it seems like that the enemies of Israel the enemies of the Jewish people were successful they stopped to build the house of the Lord and

notice they have done this by force I don't remember the name of this man that years ago sought to stop Bibles to be printed and it didn't take long that he have done anything to try to stop from the Word of God to be printed that people will read the word of God and God removed him from this world that his very house was used to be a place of printing press where the Bibles the Word of God was printed in order that the Word will be spread throughout the history of Israel again and throughout the history of the church many have sought to destroy the work of the Lord and in some small way

it seems to be as if they were successful but God in his grace have continued on and raised men and women brothers and sisters to continue on to build the house of the Lord and I pray that you and I will be those that will be used by the Lord to build the spiritual house of the Lord the body of Messiah and that we will be wise not to allow Satan to use others in order to cause to sow in the midst of the work of the Lord all kind of thing that we will not grow spiritually that we will not build the house of the Lord that we will discern and be like Zubavell

and Yeshua and not allow the enemy to stop us from building the house of the Lord and salute brothers and sisters in conclusion of this chapter I want you to notice that actually verse 24 chronologically follow immediately after verse 5 and verses 6 to 23 is a parenthesis you see it says now notice we are back now not to the wall of Jerusalem not to the city of Jerusalem but to the temple itself because it says in verse 24 then sees the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem you see verse 24 actually chronologically follow after verse 5 and you remember what it says in verse 5 and they hired counselors against

them to frustrate the purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of the king of Persia they have hired counselors and people to frustrate the building of the house in verses 6 to verse 23 is a flash forward information that we find out there was constantly opposition ongoing opposition and the house was stopped now can you imagine what's going to happen if you and I will not serve the Lord and lead others to the Messiah and build the believers can you imagine if the body of Christ the body of Messiah the church of the living God will stop from being built can you imagine if you and I will say what's

the use I'm not going to go to a meeting anymore I'm not going to read my Bible anymore I'm not going to get up in the morning and pray anymore what's the use things doesn't work in my life things there are problems all around me so why do I need God in my life why do I need Yeshua Jesus the Messiah in my life let's stop it because so many enemies are against us and against us what do we do you see these Jewish people for a season stop to build a house and you know what it does happen in many places that the building of the house of the Lord is stopped many buildings

you see them closed people don't come to a congregational meeting anymore and the door shut and now you come and hardly anybody is there where is everyone what happened to the people of God well you see these people were so discouraged that it says here it's clearly said then sees the work of the house of God which is a Jerusalem and then he says look at it says the second half of verse 24 so it sees unto the second year of the reign of the reign as the king of Persia you know how many years passed by from 536 BC to the time of the second year of the king of Persia about 15 16

years that the house was not built you know what all these Jewish people have gone to do now instead of building the house the temple everyone went to his own home and everybody began to build his very own home I want to close with the prophet Haggai just couple of verses there in the prophet Haggai when those Jewish people stopped to build the house of the Lord 15 years have passed by until God raised two prophets one of them was Haggai and one of them was Zechariah these two prophets rose up after these days of ceasing of the building of the house of the Lord and look what Haggai chapter one and I am going

to close with these remarks Haggai chapter one verse one said in the second year of the rise you remember we just finished to say that the house stopped until the second year of the reign of the king of Persia 15 years passed by now God raises a prophet by the name of Haggai my feasts and in the second years of Darai is the king in the six months of the first day of that month came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubabel the son of Shaltiel the governor of Judah and to Yeshua the son of Yotzadak the high priest and he said unto them thus speak as the Lord of hosts

saying these people say the time has not come the time that the Lord's house should be built we don't need now it's not the time yet to build the house of the Lord they stopped to build it and they went to build their own houses and they say it's not the time to build the house of the Lord sometimes you and I might say ah I don't have time for the assembly for the meeting for the things of the Lord I gotta deal with my business my work my family my thing everything that has to do with me later on I will worry about the building of the house of the Lord so look this

Haggai chapter 1 verse 3 then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying is it a verse 5 now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways is that what you want to do he's saying to them to just take care of yourself take care of your family take care of your own house but neglect to build the house of the Lord that is sitting wasted here consider your ways he said put it into your heart recognize the importance of doing something for the God who loved us and gave his son for us you and I would have it today in the language of the New Testament think about the

Lord Yeshua the Messiah and not only about ourselves consider your ways and so they rose up and they continue to build we're going to learn about it in the next chapters in the book of Ezra but beloved brothers and sisters not without opposition they always have experienced opposition but the grace of God was sufficient he aided them he helps them he encouraged them and you and I too when we get discouraged let us remember what Yeshua said in John chapter 16 he says in this world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world he promised that he will aid us he will help us as we will be stirred

up to continue to build the house of the Lord and may the Lord help us in these brothers forefathers years ago when he encouraged them to rebuild the house of the Lord so you and I need to ask ourselves the question consider your ways may the Lord help us to consider our ways so we will be used to build the house of the Lord