Ezra 4
The beginning of the reconstruction of the Temple, signaled by loud shouts “heard far away” (3:13), garners the attention of “the peoples of the lands” (3:3). Some of these neighbouring peoples, who are “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin” (4:1) come forward with a disingenuous offer to help. Approaching Zerubbabel and the other Jewish leaders, they say, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do” (4:2). Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the other Jewish leaders see through this attempt to degrade and derail the Temple project. “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God”, they reply. “But we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us” (4:3). The Jewish leaders resist the agenda of the local peoples whose “sacrifices” (4:2) were a syncretistic blend of true and false worship (see 2 Kings 17:33).
As expected, this refusal doesn’t sit well with the neighbouring peoples: “Then the people of the land discouraged (literally, to weakened the hands of) the people of Judah and made them afraid to build” (4:4). Their fear tactics against the Jews involved a relentless lobbying campaign to get the Persian king to stop the work; the people of the land “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” (4:5).
Cyrus reigned for about twenty years (539 – 521 BC), followed by Cambyses II, Bardiya, and Darius I. So, the attempts to influence the Persian rulers against the Jews persisted for years.
But the opposition didn’t stop there. Ezra breaks the flow of the narrative to highlight how the enemies of Judah continued in their lobbying efforts for decades longer. Verse 6 mentions that during the “reign of Ahasuerus” letters were written by Israel’s opponents. Ahasuerus, who is identified by biblical scholars as another name for Xerxes, ruled Persia from 486 – 465 BC. He was the monarch who plays a key role in the biblical account of Esther.
And the opposition still didn’t stop there. In Ezra 4:7-23, Ezra recounts a letter of complaint made to Artaxerxes, the king who followed Ahasuerus and ruled from 465 – 424 BC, almost a century after Cyrus began to reign. Artaxerxes is the ruler we meet later when Ezra leads another group of Exiles back to Jerusalem (7:1); he is also the king who Nehemiah serves as cupbearer (Neh 2:1). So the official lobbying campaign against the rebuilding of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem spanned decades!
The letter to Artaxerxes, written by “Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe” (4:8), is recorded in verses 11-16. In alarming detail, the letter describes Jerusalem as a “rebellious and wicked city” (4:12), a city with a history of “sedition” (4:15). Claiming to be motivated by a concern for the empire’s honour and financial well-being (4:14), Rehum and Shimshai warn Artaxerxes that the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its walls will bring great harm to the Persian king’s revenue and rule in the “province Beyond the River” (4:16). Because the Persians under Artaxerxes had been in a costly battle with the Greeks, the fear of losing tax revenue from “Beyond the River” would have gotten the king’s attention.
Artaxerxes’ response, recorded in verses 17-22, indicates that the Persian king did consult the history books and discovered that Jerusalem “from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it” (4:19). Due to this verified record of revolt, Artaxerxes decrees that those rebuilding the city and its walls “be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt until a decree is made by me” (4:21). Empowered by the king’s decree, Rehum and Shimshai, along with their “associates” go “in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease” (4:23).
The final verse in the chapter, Ezra 4:24, snaps back into the timeframe of Zerubbabel and Jeshua. The effect of the ongoing opposition brings about a cessation of the rebuilding of the Temple: “Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (4:24). Since Cyrus reigned for twenty years, this work stoppage is no short-term interruption; the rebuilding effort atrophies for years. We learn from the book of Haggai, a prophet who lived in Jerusalem at this time, the workers shift their building energy to constructing their own homes (Haggai 1:2-4). The Jews don’t stop building houses; they just stop building God’s house.
Knowing God: understanding His person and ways
God sovereignly allows civic leaders to help and hinder His servants. Ezra’s account begins with a statement that God stirred in Cyrus’ heart to support the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Chapter 4 highlights the opposite truth: God allows other kings and other civic leaders to oppose the rebuilding of the Temple. In fact, in chapter 4, Ezra breaks from the immediate account of the rebuilding of the Temple to highlight the ongoing opposition the Jews faced over the coming decades, under successive Persian kings. The timespan of the reigns of Cyrus, Darius, Ahasuerus, and Artaxerxes covers almost a century, encompassing the ministries of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. None of these key Jewish leaders was exempt from ongoing hostility and organized opposition. Those who lead God’s work today should take note: God sovereignly allows civic leaders to help and hinder our efforts to build for Him. In helping us, they accelerate our work; in hindering us, they deepen our faith.
God’s actions in history are not evident to outsiders. The local leaders who wrote to Artaxerxes assert the reason Jerusalem was “laid waste” (4:15) was due to its “rebellion” against the rule Babylonian king. On one level, they are correct. On a deeper level, they miss the underlying cause for Jerusalem’s demise: rebellion against the King of kings. This was the reason given by the returned exiles: “But because our fathers angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people into Babylonia” (5:12). Without a view of history that sees God as the primary mover, people only see secondary causes.
Joining God: moving with God on mission
God’s servants are right to reject the ecumenism that involves syncretism. The people of the land, who are correctly labeled as “adversaries” (4:1), seek partnership before resorting to persecution. They ask to be included in God’s work, claiming to worship the same God as the Jews. Zerubbabel and the other Jewish leaders rightly reject this invitation to ministry cooperation because it would lead to spiritual contamination. As Jesus would later tell the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship we what know for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). God’s servants must not be inclusive of those holding false beliefs, even when they are eager to take part in our efforts.
God’s servants should expect opposition from religious and political leaders. The Jewish exiles who returned to rebuild the Temple face stiff opposition from religious and civic leaders. Their opponents relentlessly seek to discourage them and derail the building project. The same holds true today. Those who seek to build for God should anticipate pushback from religious and political heavyweights. Recalibrating our expectations to include opposition helps fortify our determination to persevere.
Rick and Linda Reed 