It is a kingdom principle. It is a principle of opposition that every good work for the Lord will be opposed, that there is an enemy, an archenemy, from Genesis 3:1–24 right through to Matthew 16:1–28 when Jesus at Caesarea Philippi says that he will build his church within sight and in the very precincts of enemy occupied territory, promising that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church…Satan seeks every opportunity to destroy the work of God, rob him of his glory, frustrate the plans of God's people, and bring them down. Satan lives in a grand delusion that he is not the defeated foe that he is. He wants us to believe the same.1
Derek W. H. Thomas
4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build