Leave Them Alone
Today’s Passage – Ezra 3 – 7
Second Milers also read – Romans 13 – 16; Psalms 131 – 135; Proverbs 28
“Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.” (Ezra 6:7)
This verse jumped out at me when I read it. Darius the King of Persia ordered the governors that were over the land of Judah to let the people of God alone; and stop trying to hinder them in their work of re-building the Temple. If you recall from chapter 4, the devil had used some people to complain to the king about the Jews and the work they were trying to do. The king (Atexerxes at the time) ordered the work stopped, because he believed the lies of these men. Later, however, the people of God went back to work, apparently without authorization. Again the children of the devil began to complain and worked to stop the people of God from their work. This time, King Darius (whose heart was in the Lord’s hand) not only approved their work; but also financed it. And best of all, he commanded that the enemies of God were to “leave them alone” in their work.
Today, there are many people inside and outside of the church that are working against the cause of Christ. We can’t really do too much about the government, or anybody else outside of the local church; but let me offer some advice to those of you within the local body. You need to find a way to support and serve your church as it strives to fulfill the Great Commission. Keep your hands of hindrance off those who are trying to bring the ministry forward. Lead, follow, but by all means get out of the way of the folks who are trying to do what God has called them to do. Leave them be.
Posted in Thoughts from Ezra by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.