Ezra 6:7-8

New International Version

Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God… Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop.

For Meditation

They were three prominent witnesses for the defense in the government against the six men who terrorized a church in Dakar for over one year. They included an elder of the church, the Vice President, and the Secretary-General of the Baptist Association. One after the other, the judge disallowed their testimonies because they were not in the church the day the police charged the six men for their offenses.

The church of God triumphed against the assault of the enemy. The six men received suspended sentences and banned from coming anywhere around the church premises for some time. 

Tatennai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, raised his hand against the re-construction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile (Ezra 5:3-6). He sent a letter to King Darius, hoping he would order the Jews to stop rebuilding the temple of God. King Darius found King Cyrus’s order to the Jews to rebuild the temple and resume the worship of their God (6:1-5). Darius, therefore, decreed that the construction continue. He stopped Tatennai from further interfering with the project. And this is so sweet: The king ordered Tatennai to fund the project from the royal treasury (8). Isn’t God good?

No one stands against the church of God and prevails when the church is doing what God has called her to do.

 “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it,” Jesus said (Matthew 16:18). He told Saul of Tarsus that it is hard to kick against the goads (Acts 26:14). 

So, have your peace, church. Our Lord will protect His church amid all the spiritual aggression against her from every angle. The Tatennais and their associates, like the Dakar six, will not prevail against Christ and His Church. 

For personal application, position yourself where God wants you and adorn yourself in His full armor, which is Christ Jesus Himself (Ephesians 6:10-18). Keep yourself from the delicacies of this world and live Christ out in every way, laboring as His servant in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). And when they come against you, Christ will glorify Himself in the case.

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chron 16:9).

Give glory to Him, always!