Weakening the Hands - Ezra 4:4

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel, then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as you do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us”, and in chapter four and verse four of Ezra, Ezra shared how, “the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah” where we read,

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

The verse reads, “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, ...” Ezra began with the words, “then the people of the land” which means “at that time the human beings both male and female belonging to the region, district and country” “weakened the hands of the people” which means “sunk, withdrew, relaxed and disheartened the physical hands belonging to the human beings both male and female” “of Judah” or “belonging to Judah whose name means praised and was the kingdom comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin which occupied the southern part of Canaan after the nation split upon the death of Solomon”. Ezra shared how the “people” from the country who were adversaries disheartened the physical hands of the “people” of Israel who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild Jehovah God's temple. 

The verse continues, “... and troubled them in building,” Ezra added the words, “and troubled them” or “and disturbed, terrified, made anxious and afraid the people of Israel” “in building” which means “in establishing and setting in place the temple”. Ezra shared how the adversaries within the land of Judah disturbed and made anxious the people of Israel in rebuilding the temple. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how the adversaries and foes of Israel responded after Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the heads of households refused their help to assist with building the temple. These enemies, like our own adversary the devil, brought discouragement and fear into their rebuilding process. (See 1 Peter 5:8) Let us be assured, Jehovah God knew their tactics, and He will come to the people of Israel's defense in our future chapters. When we receive God's Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and come to our defense when opposition in the form of discouragement and fear come into our lives. 

Next time Ezra shares how the adversaries, “hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".