“The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel. So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, “You may have no part in this work. We alone will build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.””
Ezra 4:1-3 NLT
Building God’s kingdom is not an issue of power. Many will come into the church claiming that they know the way to accomplish God’s plan. There answers all have to do with the exercising of some form of power. Whether it be money, game, networking or skill, these people will deny God’s own power to accomplish his tasks in favor of their own. This can be for many reasons, but it will not be for the important one. What is paramount in God’s tasks is his calling. If he calls, then he will also equip. Cyrus was the equipping for the first exiles. However, Cyrus wasn’t deceptive in this. He never claimed to be one of them. The Jewish leaders had to be discerning of what was from God and wasn’t. Any help which forged a different path than the one made by God was quickly put down. Consider that Cyrus’ help was to rebuild the sacrificial system and Jerusalem. These others offered a help that believed that sacrifices had never stopped. There was a problem here that needed to be addressed. Our goal should be to allow God’s grace to fill in the holes in our calling, and to be discerning about anything claiming to be God’s grace.
JOSH McGARY. COM 