“When
the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the
captivity were building the temple… They troubled them in building, and hired
counselors against them to frustrate their purpose.” (vv.1, 4-5)
“Then work on the house of God in
Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of
Darius king of Persia.” (v.24)
Whenever
God begins to build, Satan will seek to tear down. One of his favorite tools in
doing so is condemnation. Here in our text we see the effects of condemnation,
the work ceased. Just like these descendants of the captivity, God’s work can
cease in our lives if we listen to Satan’s condemnation of our failures and
flaws.
As
Christians we need to realize it’s never God who condemns, only Satan. Yes the
Holy Spirit convicts us, but as Paul wrote, “there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Condemnation will
cause us to cease God’s work, but conviction of the Spirit will bring about
repentance and motivate us to finish His work.
Israel
spent almost twenty-one years rebuilding the temple. The work began in 537 B.C.
and was finally completed in 516 B.C. Israel's enemies continually stopped the
work; one period lasted as long as seventeen years. People of less conviction
might have given up, but Israel had a deep desire to worship God and motivation
to see the job through.
The
Truth
“There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the
Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
