Overview
When building the Temple, the first thing to do is to set the Base. Setting the base will definitely attract opposition, but God will always equip us to overcome such opposition.
1 Corinthians 10:13 — No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. NKJV
The altar properly set on its base is the key to power. If we are not seeing the power of God, it therefore means that we are no longer committed. Once the Altar Principle is factored back into our lives, the forgotten pathway would be opened. The church is yet to experience opposition from the enemy. God is sensitizing us to build an altar. What we currently see is a call to set our hearts right. We can’t effectively conquer kingdoms of the world until our own kingdom is conquered by God. Our kingdom must go for His kingdom to come. The altar is a call to set our hearts right. Our call is to build (become) temples.
The Opposition to the Temple
After the foundation of the Temple was laid, there was celebrations but this feeling was short-lived. Obedience, and right hearts attracts persecution. The enemy can’t do anything about our personal decision to consecrate our lives to God but the trouble starts when we want to express the consecrated lives to affect things in our environment — The Temple. In Ezra 4:1-3, there was stiff opposition to the building of the temple. This tells us that for any one chosen to be God’s medium, there is always an appointed adversary but the chosen always wins. There is a shift from the old strategy of intense persecution of painful torture to the new one of collaboration. The enemy no longer fights the church, he is partnering with it.
Critical Reminder: The days of Apostasy will not be by general abandonment of church but that people will settle for a mediocre version of the faith. The enemy won’t stop the temple being built but he will attack our quest by working with us. His intention is to cause the medium to mess up the message.
Danger of Subversion
- The ultimate intention is the complete devastation of the church through critical identification with worldly culture.
- To bring the church to a point where God Himself will be left with no choice but to judge it.
- To subvert the transcendence of God.
The adversaries quest can be seen in the phrase in Ezra 4:2 “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do;” Also in 2 Kings 17:37-33, we see a mixture of the Jews with Assyrians which led to a mixture of true and false religion. Today, the Church is full because we allow a large dose of compromise – Serving God and other things. The challenge of today’s church is to rid herself of mixture as against the Old Testament Prophets whose primary assignment was to rid the land of false prophets and prophecies. We must therefore, be wary of false prophets and prophecies. Zerubbabel’s response in Ezra 4:3 should be our pattern “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel.” We Alone – not with imposters, bystanders and the second guessers. If we want to be mediums, the world will rise against us but we will surely overcome.
Next Week: Open Hostility
Contemplations and Prayers
What will be your contribution to building the temple? Temples are built by hearts. That heart must be influenced and overwhelmed by God.
Lord, we submit to your Lordship and Grace. Let your desires be our desires. Let us be salt in this world of impurity. Help us to be joints that supply, to fulfill our parts. Amen.