“The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their immoral customs to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.” Ezra 6:21 NLT
Even though the Israelites were met with much opposition in their attempt to rebuild the Temple, it still came to completion. There are two takeaways that I have from what we have read so far. The first is our attitude. Scripture does not say that the Israelites complained or grumbled, nor does it indicate that the Israelites protested. What they did do however, was wait upon the Lord. The end result? Others had turned from their immoral customs and came to worship the Lord, God of Israel.
My second takeaway is a reminder of Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
May we be encouraged that what God has started, He will complete, for nothing can stand in His way. And as we pay close attention to the mandates handed down by our government regarding Covid restrictions and faith based gatherings, may we be ever mindful of Christ’s mandate – to draw others to Him and making disciples of all nations.
Lock Your Wings 
This stood out for me: ““Those who violate this decree in any way will have a beam pulled from their house. Then they will be lifted up and impaled on it, and their house will be reduced to a pile of rubble.”
Ezra 6:11 NLT
Often we expect the punishment to fit the crime …this seems a little excessive for standing in the way of a temple being built. However, God promises this would happen and through Darius it was coming to pass. When we try to stand in the way of God’s plan, the punishment will be severe.
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