Ezra 3:3
They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.
Ezra 4:4
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build
Tag: Fear of the Unknown can Paralyze the Known
The people were sent back, from captivity, to re-build the Temple. God has moved a Gentile King, Cyrus, to send them back. In God’s providence we see a great work to be done. Yet, when the people came back, those who lived in the land, made it their business to discourage the people. The “fear” of these people caused the work on the Temple to slow, and, as seen in the next chapters, even stop. The story reminds of the nation of Israel when they were fleeing Egypt. Despite all the miracles God did for them in Egypt, they still focused on the Egyptian army chasing them and not the God of creation in front of them. God had to move the Cloud (the presence of God) between them and the Egyptian army so they would still see God. Their fear took their eyes of God. Or, consider the story of Peter walking on water. When he focused upon Jesus, he was literally walking on water. But, when he looked at the wind and waves, he began to sink. The same holds true for this passage in Ezra. The fear of the unknown was preventing the fear of the known ... God doing a marvelous work in their lives to restore His Temple. King Solomon, who was the original builder of the Temple, had actually warned them about this:
Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
We can either fear the Lord (respect, awe and obedience) or fear the unknown (become trapped in what others think about us and give them power over us). God prefers we give Him Fear!!!
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