Let us open our Bible to the Book of Ezra and to the end of chapter 3 where we witness so much rejoicing. The people of Israel had just laid the foundation of the Temple. Sacrifices and worship were restored. In verse 11, we read that they sang praises and gave thanks to the Lord, using the Psalms of David.
The priests likely led the people with a recurring phrase found throughout the Psalms, from Psalm 100 to Psalm 136: “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” At the sound of these words, the people raised their voices in a mighty teruah, a loud, joyful shout of praise, while others wept with joy. It felt as though the Messianic Age had dawned, everything was unfolding beautifully. But there was another group of people who heard the sounds of the celebration and they weren’t happy at all.
Who were they? We will meet them at the start of Ezra 4. Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel… The enemies heard it too. From this point on until the end of Nehemiah, the enemy stirred up resistance and told lies through letters written to the king of Persia, resulting in the work being stopped a few times. Why? Because Israel was doing God’s will. However, it’s at this point when we begin to see the Lord rise up and move in powerful ways.
First, He provided the means to prepare and strengthen His people. Before these events with Zerubbabel, God raised powerful men of faith who surrounded His people and spoke through them with encouraging prophecies and words of empowerment. Before the first return with Zerubbabel, God spoke through Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah and Huldah. And as Zerubbabel traveled to Jerusalem to begin the work as we see here in Ezra, with him were two powerful prophets: Zechariah and Haggai. Along the way, the Lord sent another servant, with uplifting words of prophecies. This man was the prophet Malachi. The Lord never abandons His flock.
Second, besides these men and woman of God, we will see how God acted in such mighty ways as to turn the enemies’ very weapons against themselves. They were so baffled, they did not know what hit them. So, while the enemy was there and disturbed by the sound of rejoicing, we read the words of Ezra 5:5, But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews. He is there, moving through every verse.
But there is a strong third point to come. Besides the constant harassment, the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled exactly as prophesied. We read in Ezra 6:15 that the Temple was completed. And a date is given: It was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. This date corresponds to the year 516 B.C., exactly 70 years after its destruction in 586 B.C. The Temple was completed at the precise date and here we find the power of prophecy unveiled. Whatever the circumstances: the Word of the Lord will always prevail at the end.
And what we learn at the outset is that when there is opposition, it is a confirmation that we are on the right path. If one was doing nothing for God, Satan wouldn’t need to attack. But because they were building for His kingdom, the enemy is alarmed. So let us not be discouraged by opposition when it comes. Let it confirm our calling.
Now let us take a closer look at how the enemy launched his attack. What unfolds before us is not just a moment in history, but a strategic revelation, the anatomy of evil that we see unravelling in our day as well and in the very same place: Jerusalem.
The following text offers us deep insight into the enemy’s methods, exposing the patterns and tactics he consistently uses throughout the Scriptures. By understanding this, we arm ourselves with discernment, ready to recognize his schemes whenever and wherever they arise. From Ezra 4:2 we read, “They [the enemies] – approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” Here is a classic trick of the enemy. They said, let us build with you for we are like you. They wanted to join them, and see the reason they gave, “we worship the same God, so let us be together”. That is not true at all for we will see that the Scriptures tell us that they were idolaters mixing up the God of the Bible with other religions. But this sounds so much like ecumenism, which today refers to efforts aimed at promoting unity and cooperation among different Christian denominations regardless of their doctrinal stance or beliefs. But how can we have unity without the same belief?
Zerubbabel and the High Priest of Israel, Jeshua, understood this and gave this mighty answer in vs.3, You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God. They knew these people and they knew their beliefs and protected the fold of Israel. This then, is the enemy’s first tactic: They found their way in. If you can’t stop them from the outside, join and destroy them from within and Jesus made this subject of infiltration His priority when He first introduced the Body of the Messiah in the Parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13.
He began with what we may call, warning parables or parables of infiltration.
Have you thought of the relationship between the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Leaven: They all have something in common.
Why choose the tares in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares? Not only because the Wheat and the Tares look so much like each other making it very difficult to observe a distinction, but the Tares, which is a weed, can cause significant damage to a garden. Weeds often absorb large amounts of water, leaving less for our plants. They suck up the nutrients from the soil. They grow taller or grow so fast, overshadowing other plants. They can choke young seedlings and low-growing plants. Besides, weeds can serve as homes or hosts for insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses that cause plant diseases, which can spread to healthy plants. But that is what ecumenism will do to a healthy congregation. This is what the introduction of false doctrines will do.
And the Lord gave us the Parable of the Mustard Seed. What we see is that from a very small seed it grows to an invasive size, so big that in the first century, the Jewish law forbade the growing of mustard trees in cities and villages. The Lord also gave the Parable of the Leaven. Here too, much leaven can make the dough rise too quickly and become overinflated so that it may even collapse. Excess yeast can give the bread a strong, unpleasant yeast-like or alcoholic flavor when it is instead supposed to feed and sustain.
These three Parables bid us to keep biblically pure. And later, the Spirit of God inspired the words of 2Corinthians 11:4 by warning us of a different Jesus, different spirit, and a different gospel. This caution reminds us that just because something bears the same name doesn’t mean it is the same. A counterfeit can masquerade as genuine.
We must discern carefully, for false teachings often appear familiar or even appealing, yet they lead us away from the truth of the Messiah and the salvation He offers. The Spirit’s warning calls us to anchor ourselves firmly in the authentic gospel, rooted in the true Yeshua revealed in Scriptures. Zerubbabel was aware of this danger, and refused to associate with these idolaters.
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