Reflections on Ezra 4

Ezra 04 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had come back to rebuild the temple of the LORD God of Israel.
   
2. So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, "Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here, we have worshiped your God and offered sacrifices to him."
   
3. But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, "You cannot take part in building a temple for the LORD our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."
   
4. Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building.
   
5. During the time that Cyrus was king and even until Darius became king, they kept bribing government officials to slow down the work.
   
6. In the first year that Xerxes was king, the neighboring people brought written charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
   
7. Later, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their advisors got together and wrote a letter to Artaxerxes when he was king of Persia. It was written in Aramaic and had to be translated.
   
8. A letter was also written to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem by Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors, including the judges, the governors, the officials, and the local leaders. They were joined in writing this letter by people from Erech and Babylonia, the Elamites from Susa, and people from other foreign nations that the great and famous Ashurbanipal had forced to settle in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.
   
9. (SEE 4:8)
   
10. (SEE 4:8)
    
11. This letter said: Your Majesty King Artaxerxes, we are your servants from everywhere in Western Province, and we send you our greetings.
    
12. You should know that the Jews who left your country have moved back to Jerusalem and are now rebuilding that terrible city. In fact, they have almost finished rebuilding the walls and repairing the foundations.
    
13. You should also know that if the walls are completed and the city is rebuilt, the Jews won't pay any kind of taxes, and there will be less money in your treasury.
    
14. We are telling you this, because you have done so much for us, and we want everyone to respect you.
    
15. If you look up the official records of your ancestors, you will find that Jerusalem has constantly rebelled and has led others to rebel against kings and provinces. That's why the city was destroyed in the first place.
    
16. If Jerusalem is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will no longer have control over Western Province.
    
17. King Artaxerxes answered: Greetings to Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and to your advisors in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.
    
18. After your letter was translated and read to me,
    
19. I had the old records checked. It is true that for years Jerusalem has rebelled and caused trouble for other kings and nations.
    
20. And powerful kings have ruled Western Province from Jerusalem and have collected all kinds of taxes.
    
21. I want you to command the people to stop rebuilding the city until I give further notice.
    
22. Do this right now, so that no harm will come to the kingdom.
    
23. As soon as this letter was read, Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisors went to Jerusalem and forced everyone to stop rebuilding the city.
    
24. The Jews were forced to stop work on the temple and were not able to do any more building until the year after Darius became king of Persia.
    

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    The return of Jews to Palestine was agreeable with the people already living there as long as they didn't start trying to change things. But their efforts to rebuild the temple and later the walls of Jerusalem suggested they were attempting to take back their land, upsetting life as these people had known it over the past 70 years. Therefore, those already living in the land, referred to here as "the enemies of Judah and Benjamin," attempted to stop any rebuilding efforts. Their first attempt was to pretend to be helpful, volunteering to help rebuild the temple. In this way they could sabotage the project from within.  But the leaders of the project, "Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel's families" immediately turned down their offer of help: "You may have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." (4:3)
    
    Thwarted in this attempt to stop the project from within, they turned to instilling fear in the Israelites and hiring counselors to lobby against them at the royal court. Such opposition succeeded in stopping the construction for about 16 years, at which time work on the temple resumed, in "the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia." (4:24) Once resumed, work on the temple continued until it was completed, at which time they turned to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This also met opposition. It was this opposition that Ezra addresses in verses 6-23 in this chapter. Therefore, chronologically, verses 6-23 follow verse 24, and verse 24 immediately follows verse 5.
    
    When the Jews completed the temple and turned to rebuilding the walls, their enemies in Palestine sent a letter to King Artaxerxes of Persia who controlled Palestine. They alerted him to the rebuilding efforts of the Jews and suggested that it was an act of rebellion and that once the walls were rebuilt the Jews would no longer pay tribute to the king. The king responded with an edict that the work be stopped thus authorizing the local authorities to use force in halting the work. Later, when Nehemiah took his request to King Artaxerxes, the king reversed his edict and authorized Nehemiah to rebuild the walls.
    
    Returning the Jews to their homeland, rebuilding it and returning it to them as their own land was not an easy or smooth process. The rebuilding process included not only the land but the spiritual condition of the people. They had been taken from their land because they broke the covenant with their God. This covenant relationship would have to be rebuilt if they were to return to any semblance of life as they had once known it. Rebuilding the temple was the beginning of that process.  Contrary to common thought, the strengthening of our relationship with God does not happen simply because He makes things go our way. Rather it is in having to depend on Him through difficulties and oppostion to get to the intended outcome that our relationship with Him is strengthened.  As James points in his letter, "(2)  Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, (3)  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (4)  But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4) It is through difficulties that we come to be mature in our faith.