FAITH CAPSULE: Delay is not denial

Ezra 4, 5

The word of God is consistently true to perform and perfect that which concerns every one that walks in line with His word. Also, when God opens a door of breakthrough, no demon can shut or deny it. Apostle Paul testifies, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9) Yes, adversaries, the agents of the evil one will always attempt to shut the great and effective door but failure belongs to the adversaries. Once, King Cyrus, a pagan king woke up and issued a decree allowing the Israelites to return to their home from the captivity of Babylon. The move of King Cyrus was a great and effective open door for the children of Israel. The king was moving in line with prophecy from 140 years before his reign. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). The children of Israel left to rebuild as it was decreed. The adversaries moved against the children of Israel’s rebuilding process in their home land. The adversaries attempted an indirect way of resisting the building process. The Bible recorded, “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” (Ezra 4:1-3) This deceptive effort that could allow the adversaries failed, but the adversaries found another means to cause the rebuilding process to cease for two years. During the two years of disruption, “Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. (Ezra 5:1) The children of Israel listened to the prophets of God and they were able to succeed in completing and dedicating the temple. It is written, “So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished…” (Ezra 6:14) When God opens the door, the adversaries can only delay but can never succeed in denying the purpose of the open door. Live by the word of God as stated, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to locate you and establish you for God’s glory.