Ezra 4

I was recently discussing the topic of The Judgment with some friends. I think this is a widely misunderstood concept. I believe that when most people think of The Judgment, they envision some sort of heavenly court where we are each going to stand before God and hear Him pronounce a verdict about us. Are we wicked? Are we righteous? He will make His decision and bang His gavel, and that will be that.

I don’t think that’s how The Judgment works at all! That’s because, in God’s universe, judgment is never something that’s pronounced. It is always something that is revealed. So, when we all stand before God on Judgment Day, what we are (whether righteous or wicked) will be revealed, not declared.

That’s exactly how judgment worked in this chapter. Did you pick up on it? "When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, 'Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.'" (vs 1-2)

This seems like a nice gesture, doesn’t it? Except the author has clued us in to the fact that these people are actually enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Why, then, would they want to help build the temple? Would they try to sabotage it? Would they try to introduce pagan worship? It wouldn’t seem that their motives would be good ones.

However, the people who are building the temple don’t know that they are enemies. In fact, those offering assistance have presented themselves as seekers of the same God. It would have been very easy for the Israelites to accept their assistance. After all, more hands make for lighter work, right? But they didn’t accept it. Instead, they said they would carry out the building plans God had given King Cyrus.

Upon hearing this, what did these "seekers of the same God" do? They "set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia." (vs 4-5)

Wow. When they didn’t get what they wanted, they sure turned nasty! You see, they weren’t enemies of Judah and Benjamin because God said they were. Their own actions revealed that that’s what they were. And I believe that’s ultimately how The Judgment works as well. Jesus alluded to this in Luke, chapter 6: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (vs 43-45)

So, if you’ve been one of those folks who tremble at the thought of standing before God’s judgment seat, I urge you not to be afraid. During those final events, no one will pronounce a verdict or impose a label upon you. You will simply be revealed for the kind of person you are. (Now if that’s something that makes you tremble, why not have a little talk with God about it? If you want to be a different kind of person, He can help.)