4/4 Quiet Time (Ezra 4:1-10 ESV)

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River.

I don't understand why the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin would bother the Israelites building a temple for God. One certain thing is that they don't worship God as the Israelites do because they put stumbling blocks to the Israelites' work. Why would they pretend to help? 

The Israelites were wise in refusing these people's offer because they worshipped other gods. Accepting their offer would have meant finishing the work quickly and efficiently, but the Israelites would be influenced by these idol-worshippers. If I were the heads, I think I would regret rejecting the offer because of the coming hardship from the adversaries. They "discouraged the people of Judah... all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius" (v.4-5). Think of what the Israelites would say, complaining about the situation. They may even blame me for everything. 

Help me to not look at my situation, but think of how You see things. It's so hard to make the right decisions, Lord. It's so difficult to have discernment, even in my personal life. Help me not to be swayed by emotions.