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Matthew Henry: They flattered themselves with a fancy that the work would soon stand still ofitself; but, when they hear that it went on and prospered, they were angry at the Jews for being sohasty to push the work forward, and angry at themselves for being so slow in opposing it.3. Passionate Anger“they were very angry.”Redpath: The world will always be angry at any message which exposes sin. If a preacher daresto emphasize the truth that the New Testament demands repentance, that behind all saving faiththere must be a deliberate turning from sin before there can be any blessing, that the gospelruthlessly exposes our tragic condition and our utter bankruptcy before it applies the balm ofGilead – I’m telling you, the world will always be angry at a message like that.B. (:8) God’s Enemies Conspire to Fight Against God’s Faithful Workers and God’s KingdomProgram1. Unity is no problem for God’s Enemies“All of them conspired together”Might make for strange bedfellows …“You can’t beat collusion” . . . but we can with God’s helpSecret conspiracy involved because of the blessing of ArtaxerxesWiersbe: God’s people sometimes have difficulty working together, but the people of the worldhave no problem uniting in opposition to the work of the Lord.2. Persecution Should be Expected – directed against God’s vital interests“to come and fight against Jerusalem”3. Goal is to Demoralize God’s Faithful Workers“and to cause a disturbance in it.”Kidner: How much of this was mere sabre-rattling it is hard to be sure. The failure of thisimpressive group to strike a single blow suggests that “the king’s letters” (2:9) gave them pause.But their plotting, however half-hearted, clearly included potential raids and harassments (8), andhad to be taken seriously.(:14) CONCLUSION:“Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight foryour brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”Theodore Roosevelt: It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strongman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to theman who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strivesvaliantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error andshortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, thegreat devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end thetriumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.