Based on Ezra 4 (New King James Version)
“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, ‘You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.’ Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They 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. In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. In the days of Artaxerxes also, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in Aramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language. Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion: From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions—representatives of the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the people of Persia and Erech and Babylon and Shushan, the Dehavites, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapper took captive and settled in the cities of Samaria and the remainder beyond the River—and so forth. (This is a copy of the letter that they sent him) To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men of the region beyond the River, and so forth: Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the rebellious and evil city, and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations. Let it now be known to the king that, if this city is built and the walls completed, they will not pay tax, tribute, or custom, and the king’s treasury will be diminished. Now because we receive support from the palace, it was not proper for us to see the king’s dishonor; therefore we have sent and informed the king, that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city in former times, for which cause this city was destroyed. We inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will have no dominion beyond the River. The king sent an answer: To Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the River: Peace, and so forth. The letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me. And I gave the command, and a search has been made, and it was found that this city in former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the region beyond the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me. Take heed now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the hurt of the kings? Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”
Joyce Meyer one said: “Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” Doing what is right will always have obstacles in this temporal world. There’s no way to avoid. When you decide to do those things that please God, the world in general will not support it because it is against God. That is why the Lord taught about the narrow path in the Gospels, because it is much easier to follow or give in to evil than to please God. As an example, and as we read in today’s passage, even though King Cyrus had decreed that the temple of God would be rebuilt, not much time had passed by until the enemies of Judah and Benjamin would oppose the work of God. These different people were able to disturb the work of God in such a way that the reconstruction of the temple would be suspended for many years. Why does God allow for things like that to happen? Why is it that it seems that evil always wins or that it has more power than good?
Before answering these questions, we need to understand other things so that we can get to a more complete answer. There are two powers that produce obstacles so that good cannot prevail. One is more known than the other. The first power is the devil and his minions. From a certain moment before the creation of man, when pride was born in the heart of Lucifer where he wanted to be like God, God’s number one enemy was born. And when he fell, a third of the angels followed (these are known today as demons or as spiritual hosts of darkness). This is what constitutes the most important enemy an obstacle to God. This second power is less known, or rather, lest recognized as such. The Bible teaches about the sin that dwells within our members. Each of us is born with this fault; because we were conceived and sin as the Scriptures teach. Rarely is this recognized because of the pride that exists in man. In reality, our lust is probably the greatest obstacle that there is for the work of God; even more than Satan himself. Sometimes we give too much credit to Satan for the evil of this world. He can only tempt us. What makes sin run rampant in the world is when human beings put it into action. For example, Satan did not kill millions and millions of Jews that Adolf Hitler killed, as example. He only gave him the idea, the motivation; and from there, Hitler put his death machine to work with the help of other thousands that liked the idea as well (Hitler did not do it alone). And like this exists uncountable other occasions where the Devil only speaks or whispers in the ear of man; just like he did with Eve, when he tempted her to eat of the forbidden fruit.
But, where does patience come in? Even though it seems like evil wins, if we desire eternity, we must fight with patience for good. Let us keep these principles in our hearts. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7. If we remain and are patient with Christ, triumphing over what we still have inside, despite finding ourselves fighting against the whole world that surrounds us, we will achieve immortality; of which neither Satan, nor his spiritual hosts, nor anything on this planet can give us. We might lose some battles here, but we will have won the eternal war, conquering with the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. The question today is: “On which side are you on? On God’s behalf, or on the side that opposes God? Lord bless! John