Adversity, opposition, and conflict are central to the Christian faith. From the moment we become a Christian, until the moment we stand in front of our Father in Heaven, we are immersed in a centuries-old war between the Adversary (Satan) and God, as our Heavenly Father labors to build his kingdom amidst enemy-occupied territory (Matt. 16:18).2

The text in front of us describes the opposition and the discouragement that Israel faced as they labored to build the temple amidst their enemies. In fact, the opening words of our text refer to Israel’s enemies as their “adversaries” (4:1)which reminds me that Peter says “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Pet. 5:8 – 9).

This is why I say that adversity, opposition, and conflict are central to the Christian faith; the kingdom we belong to is being advanced into enemy territory and our enemy is an ancient adversary of our King who has been playing games with God’s people since the beginning (Gen. 3). Satan is a crafty adversary; if he cannot infiltrate the kingdom with subtle manipulation and friendship then he will start blasting away with a full-frontal assault.

This is exactly what the enemy does in our text today: the enemy tries the subtle manipulation tactic by offering friendly help (vv. 1 – 3), and when that does not work, the enemy shifts into full-frontal assault by sowing discouragement, fear and frustration (vv. 4 – 5).

EZRA 4:1 – 5

1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” 4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

#1: THE ENEMY OFFERS FRIENDLY HELP (VV. 1 – 3)

In the first four verses of our text, Israel’s enemies (adversaries) hear that Israel has returned and is rebuilding the temple of God. So, they try the subtle approach of offering friendly help.

Thankfully, Israel’s leaders see right through their enemies’ subtle manipulation, and they refuse the help when they say, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God… we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel” (4. 3). In this instance, God’s people did a great job of standing firm; they resisted the temptation to receive help from their enemies.

The subtle, friendly, helpful approach is a tactic that I am sure we are all familiar with. We face little instances of this everyday as we decide whether or not to receive the help from a so-called-friend. The hard part is understanding that whatever benefits are promised by such a friendship (in this case, building the temple faster) will always result in adverse effects.

Think about it… the stress of building a healthy marriage, parenting your children (especially through seasons of rebellion), finishing high school or college, starting a new vocation, or rebounding after a severe loss can be physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually exhausting.

So, in these moments, downing a twelve-pack or vegging out on some inappropriate media or binge spending on a bunch of stuff, might seem like a great way of relieving some stress or coping with the emotions, but the reality is that behind those subtle temptations is an enemy who is seeking to steal, kill and destroy the work that God is wanting to do inside of you.

It is in these moments that we need the spiritual insight and courage to say, “You have nothing to do with what God is building inside me… I think I will just stay the course without your help.”

When I think about this kind of resolve and courage, I think about Jesus facing down our old adversary, the Devil in the dessert of temptation in Matthew 4. Jesus was the most perfectly resolute and courageous man who ever lived. Even though he was weak from forty days and nights of fasting, he still resisted the subtle friendly help of his enemy who offered physical nourishment (Matt. 4:1 – 4), protection (Matt. 4:5 – 7), and power (Matt. 4:8 – 11).

Jesus resisted the subtle and manipulative advances of his enemy by continuously standing on what God’s Word says. Similarly, Israel, stood against the subtle advances of their enemy by standing on God’s Word that came through the mouth of the pagan king, Cyrus (Ezra 4:3). But the enemy never stops; if subtle manipulation does not work then he will shift into full-frontal assault.

#2: THE ENEMY SOWS DISCOURAGEMENT, FEAR AND FRUSTRATION (VV. 4 – 5) 

In the last two verses of our text, Israel’s enemies try the full-frontal assault tactic as they bribe some of the city officials to put pressure on the Israelites causing them to become discouraged, afraid and frustrated; sadly, this tactic worked, and it brought the building of the temple to a screeching halt for the next seventeen years or more (Ezra 4:4 – 5).

It is one thing to resist the subtle advances of our enemy as he tries to pollute the work of God in and through us, but it is an entirely different thing to withstand the full-frontal assault that brings on intense discouragement, fear, and frustration.

Discouragement feels hopeless, fear can be crippling, and frustration can be exhausting. I can imagine just how hopelessly discouraged, crippled with fear, and frustratingly exhausted the Israelites felt.

I am sure that many of you have experienced seasons of discouragement, fear, and frustration. At some point you feel like you are on top of the mountain. Things are going great in your vocation, marriage, family, friendships, and finances. You may have even experienced those moments where your old sin patterns and addictions are in the rearview mirror.

But then something catastrophic happens, the friend betrays you, the job falls through, one of your kids rebels, you are one decision away from bankruptcy, the marriage goes cold, or someone close to you dies unexpectedly and you are left in the aftermath feeling hopeless with discouragement, crippled by fear, and exhausted from the frustration.

These kinds of moments can leave their marks on your life for years to come as it did for Israel. As I said earlier, Israel did not begin rebuilding again for another seventeen years or more.

For seventeen years, Israel coped with their discouragement, fear, and frustration by going about their daily lives and seemingly forgetting the work that God wanted to do in and through them.

Have you ever found yourself there? Ever looked back and wondered where the years went and what happened to stall out the work of God in and through your life?

CONCLUSION…

So, how do we withstand the enemy? First of all, I want to encourage you with the truth of the gospel that reminds us that even when we epically fail in the face of the seemingly subtle attacks or the full-frontal assaults from our old adversary the devil, we have a Savior who empathizes with us because he not only experienced the subtle attack and won in the dessert but he also faced the full-frontal devastation of the assault at the cross of Calvary and was completely victorious.

And the crazy thing is that when you and I trust in Christ’s work at the cross and the empty tomb we receive not only the Father forgiveness but also the Son’s perfection and not only that, but we also receive the infilling, powerful presence of the Holy Spirit to withstand the advances of our enemy.

When we recognize that the physical temple in Ezra was a foreshadow of the spiritual temple called the church (of which we each are living stones held together by the mortar of the crucified, risen and returning Christ) we can get knocked down by the vices of Satan, Sin, and Death but we can always get right back up in the dusty arena of this life of adversity, opposition, and conflict by the power of the gospel.

Our armor (Eph. 6) is quite literally the presence of Christ. Whether it has been seventeen seconds or seventeen years, Christ is ready and waiting for us to cling to him and to clothe ourselves in him as we face down the enemies that he has been victorious over.

Practically speaking, we need a renewed sense of love for God’s Word and prayer. One thing that seems conspicuously absent from our text is the presence of prayer. It seems like Israel relied on God’s Word in the first few verses but then in the last few verses it conspicuously absent, along with any shred of prayer.

I know from painfully personal experience that when my love for God’s Word fades and when my communion with God through prayer becomes a distant thing, then in those seasons I know the enemy gets a foothold in my life and before you know it, I have veered off into old sinful habits and thought patterns and I am being controlled by sinful desires.

The only remedy for this is a renewed vision for the cross of Christ, a renewed love for God’s Word and a fresh commitment to regular rhythms of meeting with God in prayer. The cross of Christ, the Word of God, meeting with God in prayer. Seems pretty basic huh? Without the presence of these, I think the enemy gets a foothold in our lives.

Is this you today? If this is you then I want to encourage you to spend some time with the Lord in the next few moments. Confess your sin to the Lord and ask him to renew your strength at the foot of a bloody cross. Ask our good and faithful and patient Father to give you a fresh desire for his Word. Ask the Lord to come and make his presence tangibly known to you as you spend time in prayer.

Adversity, opposition and conflict are central to the Christian life, but the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons, they are spiritual weapons, and they are mighty for destroying the presence of the enemy.

The best weapon we have is the crucified, risen and returning Christ and the way we arm ourselves with him is by spending time with him in the Word and prayer. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Derek W. H. Thomas, Ezra and Nehemiah: Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2016), 47.