A temple was torn down by God, and its construction ceased for many years. Without receiving orders from King Darius, a group claiming to be servants of God began to rebuild it. Storms arose, and dangers abounded! Let's study the content of this chapter together.

Questions for Reflection

• After reading this chapter, do you know who permitted them to rebuild the temple?

• What was the outcome for those who built the temple at the risk of their lives?

• What prompted King Darius to issue a decree to build the temple?

• What would you do if you faced persecution from your family because of your faith?

Building the Temple Without Orders

In this fifth chapter, there is a very interesting matter. That is, no one ordered the Israelites, yet they themselves returned to build the temple. What would happen if this matter were serious? It should be a crime punishable by the loss of one’s head, because no one had given the order. Moreover, after King Cyrus ordered them to build, the construction was halted during the reign of Artaxerxes. It stopped for many years, and thereafter no one issued an order.

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2)

This was a great risk. The spirit of adventure is part of being strong. To be strong in heart and fully trust in God. What was the result? Nothing happened. The wonderful thing is that when these people became strong, what happened?

God Works Through Those Who Are Strong and Courageous

At that time Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their companions came to them and spoke thus to them: “Who has commanded you to build this temple and finish this wall?” Then we told them the names of the men who were doing this work. But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius and then an answer be returned by decree concerning this matter. (Ezra 5:3-5)

In our church, we often encounter such things. As long as you are strong in your heart, you will find that wonderful things happen. The sister who shared her testimony yesterday spoke with tears in her eyes, and I was also very moved. On August 9th, I also held my breath for her. At that time, her job had not been confirmed, and she could have been asked to leave at any moment. But she began to learn to be strong and courageous, not caring at all. After the baptism, she rushed back to work, and she was still late. What was the result? She was scolded, but nothing else happened, and she was confirmed in September. What I saw was, do you have this kind of courage? I think this is the result of being strong and courageous. God can manifest His power through those who are strong and courageous.

In the sixth chapter, King Darius issued a decree to continue the construction. What moved the hand of God? It is faith. The outward reflection of faith is being strong and courageous, being fearless, only fearing the One who created the universe. God can only work through those who are strong and courageous. Today, one sister asked me, Pastor, I hope my husband believes in the Lord. Should I just pray in the background? I said, No. What does it mean to only pray in the background? Praying in the background is one part of it. Start learning to be strong and courageous, and start putting pressure on these people. Aren't they your relatives? If you can be strong and courageous in front of them, they will surely turn to Jesus Christ. Yesterday, the pastor's wife said that she had heard how I reprimanded my family members. That is being strong and courageous.

In fact, being strong and courageous does not need to care about how others see you. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah spoke in the name of the God of Israel, and they never said, Come, let's analyze the situation. What kind of people are Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai? These people are not easy to mess with. So we must all learn that as long as we know that God is the God who created all things in the universe, we don't need to care about who others are at all. We don't need to care who Tattenai is; we don't need to care who Shethar-bozenai is, or what kind of people their companions are. The more you care, the more they will order you to stop work, and you must stop work. On the contrary, when we are strong and courageous, we are upright and honest, and we are not doing anything underhanded. So among us, you will see that those who are strong and courageous can turn their families around.

The Spiritual World Determines the Secular World

If this battle is a battle that takes place in the spiritual realm in the air, what is the key to determining victory or defeat? It is the faith in our hearts and the strength within us. Our inner faith and strength determine the victory or defeat of the battle in the heavens. Why did Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai and others not order them to stop work? That is the work of God, that is the victory in the battle in the spiritual realm. So there is a very interesting phenomenon: the kind of strength in our hearts that does not flinch can determine the victory or defeat of the battle in the heavens.

The evil spirits operating in the hearts of Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai and others were not so rampant. As a result, these people's hearts will be afraid. You are not afraid of him, he is afraid of you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must understand such things. I think the reason why Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai and others did not order them to stop work is that the faith shown by these elders was very strong. This God is the God who controls the heavens and the earth. You are not afraid? Everyone is afraid. If I offend this God, I will not be able to be an official. This God is terrible. So you begin to reveal in your words, This is a God who created all things in the universe; nothing is impossible for Him. Then when you stand strong and courageously respond, it is definitely not with a weak, timid expression of your faith.

Be a Person of Strength and Courage

When you reveal such strength and courage in front of your family, directly impart your faith to them, instead of them imparting their unbelief to you. What they release is a heart of unbelief, and what you release is a heart of trusting in God. When you impart such faith to them, they say, Perhaps I can try this God. One brother said to me, If you are weak, he is strong; if you are strong, he is weak. It is really like this. Brothers and sisters, you must know that God can only work through those who are strong and courageous. So Haggai and these Zerubbabels and Joshuas all said, Be strong and courageous. If you read the Book of Joshua, God said to Joshua, Be strong and courageous, didn't He? Throughout the entire Bible, we see that God wants to work through those who are strong and courageous.

God Controls Everything

I later discovered that if the persecution occurs between husband and wife, then what is the biggest threat? Divorce. If you act like you don’t care about divorce. I tell you won’t even get it. If you hold on to the thought “I must hang on”, you can’t hang on. When you get along with your supervisor face him with strength and in an upright way, to fear this God, God will definitely change him. When you get along with your parents, even if they threaten to break off relations with you, they will not be able to eventually, because God can control everything.

Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, the Persians who were in the region beyond the River, sent a letter to King Darius. (A copy of the letter that they sent to him.) To Darius the king: All peace. Let it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God, which is being built with heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. (Ezra 5:6-8)

This is what they saw, isn't it? Their hearts will be infected by the hearts of the Israelites. What is the specific content of the infection? You can tell by looking at the memorial he wrote.

Then we asked those elders, and spoke thus to them: Who commanded you to build this temple and to finish these walls? We also asked them their names to inform you, that we might write the names of the men who were chief among them. And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed. But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and carried the people away to Babylon. However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this house of God. Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem and carried into the temple of Babylon—these King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to one named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. And he said to him, ‘Take these articles; go, carry them to the temple site that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its former place.’ Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.” Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, whether it is so that King Cyrus issued a decree to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send us his pleasure concerning this matter. (Ezra 5:9-17)

What did we see, and what kind of contrast did we see with the previous chapter? I tell you that the Persian king in the fourth chapter ordered the construction to stop, and the memorial written by those people was completely different in tone from this memorial. The previous memorial had a very strong tone, and had already made a choice for the king. This time, the memorial did not make any choice for the king, and did not influence the king's decision. It just said to check the treasury to see if there was such a thing, and then decide to listen to the king's will.

Walking God's Path with Faith

So why were the governor Rehum and the scribe Shimshai able to do such things in the previous chapter? What was the problem? The problem lies in the weakness in the hearts of the Israelites, these Jews. When people are weak in heart, the enemy is strong. The memorial written is a clear accusation to hinder you from worshiping God. Later, in the whole process, who suffers the most? A weak person will definitely suffer losses. You measure for yourself whether you suffer losses or not. After you carefully observe the phenomenon, what can you conclude? That is, if you are strong and courageous, leading the Israelites, the Jews, to build there, and impart such faith, even if the governor Rehum and the scribe Shimshai want to accuse the people of Jerusalem, they will be afraid in their hearts. This one is the King of heaven and earth, the living God. It is no joke to oppose Him. So you will find that people's attitudes affect the development of many things. If you and I are taking a strong attitude on this matter of turning the family around today, what is so great, we don't care about anything, put aside all worries, steel ourselves, and define turning our families around, there is nothing that cannot be turned around.

Spreading God's Gospel with Faith

The reasoning is very simple, because all the chips are in your hands. This chip is that we have the eternal God, our God is the true and living God. It is our personal experience and we have seen with our own eyes that these promises of God have been fulfilled in us. We do not want to harm them, we want to save them from all the power of darkness, we want to bless them. If we tremble as we bless, what kind of way is it? We must recognise what exactly are we doing. We have an unbreakable blood relationships with our respective families. Even if he wants to cut it off, he can’t, because you cannot return to your mothers’ wombs and be born from another person's womb, this fact can never changed. So let’s boldly push it through, there’s no such thing as not being successful.

God Will Use Our Faith to Dissolve the Hearts of the Enemies

So in the Bible, you will see that the author of Ezra made a clear contrast between the fourth and fifth chapters. When we are weak, we are forced to stop working. When we are weak, our enemies show themselves to be extremely strong, and then in their words they make a decision for the king: they cannot be allowed to build anymore. In the fifth chapter, we see that the Israelites began to become strong, strengthened their faith, that is, they trusted in God. No matter what situation occurred, they continued to build, not even caring if they lost their heads. The enemies would retreat, the adversaries would be weakened, and they would be afraid, because God would work. Moreover one's head was not lost even when one was strong. People work by relying on faith in God, and then God uses your faith to cause the hearts of the enemies to melt away.

When the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, the people of the other side, those in the city of Jericho, their hearts melted away. The Bible says so. Why did their hearts melt away? Because the God who protected them had caused their hearts to melt away. You think about how afraid these demonic enemies are when they see the true God. Everyone should start to have such a concept. When Jesus came into this world, you will find that the little demons on the earth were terribly afraid. Son of God, did you come here to torture us? They had already begun to tremble. So today we really need to begin to learn the lesson of being strong and courageous.

Be strong and courageous, turn the family around

In 2015, we must all begin to accumulate the kind of strength within us. I will often use such words in the messages I deliver, begin to learn to be strong; even if it means death, I will not care. Divorce, should I care? Severing relationships, should I care? If I do not even care about death, in the end you will preserve your life, and you will not suffer any loss. With someone like you, there is nothing that cannot be turned around. Seeing this chapter, I am deeply moved. So in the days to come, to turn our families around, we must allow God's temple to be built in our families, that is to be strong and courageous, without retreating in the slightest, with words revealing such a mentality and faith. When such faith is pushed out, the result is turnaround. I encourage everyone, good news is not far from you, your families will all be completely turned around, the dark powers controlling your families, their hearts will be consumed. Amen! Those who create trouble and difficulties in our lives will be completely defeated and retreat. Amen!