Spiritual Warfare Rises
Anytime God wants to do a great work in His people there will arise opposition to that work. Spiritual Warfare during the rebuilding of God’s temple is a given during this day and age. The adversary fears one thing above all else; a Church walking in its identity and authority in Christ Jesus! When God’s people are of one mind in Jesus and know who they are and what they are called to do, nothing can stop them.
Ezra 4:1-2, “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.”
From Ezra 4 right on through to the end of the Book of Nehemiah, spiritual warfare is all that the Israelites experience while they forge ahead rebuilding the temple and the holy city. Remember, Jerusalem means ‘teaching of peace’. The last thing the adversaries want is man and God restored to a position of peace with each other.
As we see in verse 2 of Ezra 4, the people of the land came to the leaders and asked to help rebuild with them. They claimed a common heritage with God’s people and that they worshipped the same God. Your enemies will never come to you out right and let you know their true intentions. They first come to you disguised as an angel of light to bring you aid.
2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
Mixture Corrupts the Whole
Ezra 4:3, “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 [b] 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.”
The people that came to Zerubbabel were not Israelites. They were descendants of the 10 tribes who intermarried with the heathen people of the lands they were exiled to. These people were then transplanted to Samaria by the king of Assyria. They did not know the true and living God. Nor did they know their lineage or their Father’s House (seeKnow Your Divine Authority and Identity). They were mixture coming to corrupt the pure religion.
The same is happening today to God’s new temple – His Church. Satan is infiltrating the true and pure religion with mixture to corrupt it and reduce its power and effectiveness. Remember, the Church is called to be holy and separate from the world.
2 Corinthians 6:17, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
Unfortunately, the Church today is rife with new age and occultist practices. They diminish the power and glory of God while encouraging the worship of the natural and self. Such practices are Not preaching the Gospel, Crystal Idolatry, Praying to angels, manifesting/law of attraction/name it and claim it, Reiki and energy healing, Astrology and Horoscopes, and the Enneagram to name a few.
Anything that does not rely purely on the power of God is rebellion to God, and as we know…
1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
Resistance Intensifies
Ezra 4:4-5, “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.”
When the Church resists the advances of infiltration and joining with mixture, the adversary will intensify their spiritual warfare against the work of rebuilding God’s holy temple. If they can’t tear you apart from the inside, they’re going to bring every force they can against you from the outside.
In verse 4 the word for ‘discourage’ is Strong’s H7503raw-faw’ – it means to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened. A more apt translation is their hands will drop from the work (in fear); elsewhere absolute figurative = lose heart, energy.
Have you been feeling tired, worn out, exhausted from life and everything being thrown at you? Continuous spiritual warfare day and night. Lack of sleep because of it. Being called foolish, stupid, and ignorant for worshipping your “sky daddy”? It’s all part of the plan.
Daniel 7:25 (AMP), “And he shall speak words against the Most High [God] and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change the time [of sacred feasts and holy days] and the law; and the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time [three and one-half years] .”
What is the end result of this? Most believers approach spiritual warfare like they are playing checkers or dodge ball. Satan plays chess, or even worse, Go! He strategically weaves things into the church and society over decades and even generations. If you’re playing checkers and Satan is playing Go, you don’t stand a chance.
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