The Samaritan opposition to the rebuilding of the temple was effective at first. For sixteen years the temple building site lay neglected, overgrown with weeds and forgotten. In the meantime, the Jews went ahead and built their own houses and businesses. It seems, however, they gave up on the work far too easily. These are not ungodly people remember, but faithful Jews who had already made sacrifices to return to Judea. But they faced the pressures of re-establishing themselves in the land and there was a lot of work to be done. As much as they valued the rebuilding project it seems that the opposition gave them the excuse to stop. Perhaps they thought they would wait until God gave them a more peaceful moment to return to this project. You may be surprised how often this scenario is played out in our lives; how often we excuse ourselves from making the necessary sacrifices for the mission of God in the light of pressing circumstances. Like the Jews at this time we often give up too easily. As we see here it only took one extra push against the opposition to disarm the case of their accusers, and that could have happened sixteen years before! You have to be prepared to fight and sacrifice to make your way ahead in God’s mission. Don’t give yourself excuses to turn back to lesser priorities. Have you turned to other priorities and neglected your faith? Has your faith become like the temple during those sixteen years of neglect? Did some opposition or circumstance give you an excuse to redirect your energy away from building the Kingdom?
Reflect and pray over these things.
Read Ezra 5:1-6:12
