Ezra 5:9-11 "Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? (10) We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them. (11) And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up."
Recently, we saw one of the most used tools of Satan is that of
discouragement. The accuser of the brethren is bold enough to stand in
front of us, beside us, behind us, or wherever he has the best approach to our
minds. He sometimes whispers into our ears and other times he screams at us
that we are not worthy to do the work of God. The truth of that matter is
that he has no idea what constitutes being worthy of serving the Lord. In our
scripture for today, we see his second most used tool: intimidation.
The workers were asked, "Who told you to rebuild this temple?"
Now, you would not think that would be an act of intimidation, but we
must remember these people have been in captivity for 70 years with every
movement being commanded by someone else. They knew the consequences of
doing the wrong thing or not doing it correctly. So, these people could
have been intimidated by someone with "worldly" authority questioning
their work or their motives.
Please
make note of the manner in which they answered them. "Who commanded you to
build this house, and to make up these walls?" The thought behind
this question was to try to get them to confess they had rebelled against Cyrus
in coming back to Jerusalem. Their answer was short and to the point.
"We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth." Isn't
that simple? I am sometimes guilty of trying to over explain when I feel
I am doing what the Lord has commanded me. They proceeded to explain the
details of how they arrived at Jerusalem, but the short and simple answer was,
"We are the servants of God."
In the day we live, this answer is not always recognized by others as being a viable answer. Why is that? Could it be that, just as the people of Judah, we have lost the reverence for the name of the Lord? That was the reason they had been allowed to be taken into captivity 70 years before this time. They had had 70 years to think about their regard for the Lord and now they realized this was the only answer they needed. "God told us to do this and we are trying to be in His will."
In the remaining portion of this chapter, they went on to give the details of
how Cyrus, at God's direction, gave them letters to return and rebuild the
temple. They told of the king bringing the vessels of God's temple out of the
temple at Babylon and sending them back to their proper place. "Let there
be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether
it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of
God." Notice they first declared their obedience to the Lord God of
heaven and earth and then gave reference that their actions were not against
King Cyrus.
The only way reverence for the name of the Lord will be restored in our day is
for us, as God's children, to demand it be returned and seek the blessings of
the Lord in bringing it about.