TREASURES OF THE BIBLE, Week from July 3 to 9, 2023, "Do not hinder the works", Prepared Speech.

TREASURES OF THE BIBLE, July 3-9-2023, "Do not hinder the works", Prepared Speech. 

“Do not hinder the works” (10 min.)

Today, many restrictions have been placed on Kingdom Hall construction, one way or another. And what is the purpose? The purpose is that they do not build any place of worship to Jehovah. The same thing happened at the time that the temple of worship to Jehovah was being rebuilt.

The reconstruction was prohibited but the high priest Joshua and the governor Zerubbabel resumed and directed the work as mentioned in Ezra 5:1,2. I invite you to read please look in the Bible for the word of God the text of Ezra chapter 5 verses from 1 to 2 if you found it please accompany me with the reading it says like this:

WE ARE GOING TO READ EZRA 5:1,2.

Then the prophet Haggaia and the prophet Zechariah,b the grandson of Ido,c began to speak to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was with them. 2 It was then that Zorobabeld son of Sealtiel and Jesúae son of Jehozadac resumed the reconstruction of the house of God, which was in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them supporting them.

This is a great work and Jehovah was giving his blessing to said project and the prophets were supporting the construction with the help of Jehovah. But as in any project that is being done, and if it is very beautiful and impressive, there are always people who are envious of it and try to prevent it from being carried out.

In this case, the envy came from people who did not worship Jehovah, they tried by all means to prohibit the construction of the temple, but who were these people who opposed said construction? Please read the same book of Ezra chapter 5, but this time verses 3 and 17. It says:

LET'S READ EZRA 5:3.

At that time, Tatenai—the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River—and Setar-Bozenai and their companions went to where they were and asked: “Who gave you the order to build this house and finish this structure? ”.

“Therefore, if it is okay with the king, we request that an investigation be made into the royal treasury that is in Babylon and ascertain whether King Cyrus gave the order to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem.a We also request that it be send us the king's decision."

When the enemies of the people of God asked the Jews that they had not authorized the reconstruction, they made reference to the fact that the order had been given by King Cyrus himself.

This shows us that when doing any construction, it must be done on legal grounds, or so to speak, with a construction permit that shows that this work is authorized to be carried out. 

Despite having a building permit, paying taxes and having all day, they will still try to hinder said projects. But what happened with the construction of the temple, did it have the blessing of Jehovah and was it all day to be carried out? To find out, please read Ezra chapter 6 and verses 7 and 8 says:

WE ARE GOING TO READ EZRA 6:7,8.

Do not hinder the works of that house of God. The ruler of the Jews and the elders of the Jews will rebuild that house of God where it was before. 8 Furthermore, in order to help these elders of the Jews to rebuild that house of God, I give you the following order: so that the works are not interrupted, you must immediately pay the expenses with the funds of the royal treasury afrom the taxes of the region west of the Euphrates River.

So, as the text mentions, this work had the full blessing of Jehovah and was legally able to be carried out. So, as we could see, the king affirmed this order and ordered the enemies to stop hindering the works.

In our activity guide for this week, we can notice a very interesting image, in which we can see how a sister is meditating on the reconstruction of Jehovah's temple and how those in charge of the reconstruction of the temple continue to the letter the instructions mentioned in Ezra 6:7,8.

And also, we can notice that our sister has the Bible and is watching a Broadcasting program, in which we receive instructions from Jehovah. Meditating on how we too can follow the guidelines that Jehovah gives us through his Organization will help us to be obedient and willing to take action on everything that Jehovah commands us to do. 

This story helps us to remember that it is important to follow the instructions, just as the Jews benefited from following the instructions of Jesua and Zerubbabel, all of us can follow the guidelines that the faithful and prudent slave gives us. And in this way, nothing and no one will be able to hinder the work that Jehovah is carrying out.