Ezra

Ezra Chapter 4

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

Ezra 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

Here comes trouble. Satan always sends adversaries to stop anything people try to do for God. They were pretending to be worshippers of God but in they really served idols. They were a mixture of Samaritans formerly Israelites from the northern tribes but mixed in with other nations in the days of bondage to the Assyrian kingdom. When Babylon and then the Medes and Persians conquered the land, they were in bondage along with the northern tribe of Israel and the southern tribes of Judah.

Many times a true work of God will have those that want to come and cause trouble to hinder it. They don't realize who is really behind it but are unknowingly used of Satan. Jealousy, hate, fear and rebellion against God is from Satan. It has caused wars, murder and human suffering for ages.

Ezra 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

Zerubbabel and the others refused this seeing through their deception wanting to continue as Cyrus decreed without being hindered. Compromise with the enemies does not usually bring peace.

Ezra 4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
5 And hired counsellors 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, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Cyrus and Darius were friends of the Jewish people probably from the influence of Queen Esther who was a Jew. Ahasuerus suceeded from Cyrus but was not friendly toward the Jewish people but gave into the accusations by the enemies of the Jews and stopped the work of building the temple. His name was also Cambyses.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

Ezra 4:7 And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
8 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
9 Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
10 And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.
11 This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.
12 Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.
13 Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.

Promoting fear, and pretending to care for the king is used to stop the work of building the city and the temple. This type of thing goes on today. Even in presidential elections fear and lying is used to undermind the candidate for president. For instance, "If so and so wins the election, we are going to suffering great hardships." Promoting fear then causes actual hate toward many times innocent people. Had the emperors of the past known the fact: That those that love and serve the real God of Israel make the best citizens, allowing them the freedom to worship God will in turn cause God to bless that whole nation. If only they could see that, they would never persecute God's people. Fear and hate has caused the suffering of innocent people for centuries. Persecuting and hate causes whole nations to be destroyed.

Look what happened to Egypt: A Pharoah rose up that didn't know Joseph. He feared the Jewish people would become strong and join their enemies against them. That fear caused that Pharoah to demand they cast their newborn boys into the river. Later he caused them to become slaves. After God delivered them out of Egypt, Egypt became a base kingdom, never to rule over other nations again. The first born died of all Egypt, they suffered many plagues and were defeated by the hand of God when Israel finally got free of them.

People pretending to care for the king is what caused Darius to sign a decree that no one could pray to any god except him for a period of time causing Daniel to be placed in a den of lions. Of course he was delivered but it was jealousy and hate for Daniel that deceivers plotted this against Daniel. Of course we know that the deceivers where the ones killed by the lions in the long run. Haman was hanged on the gallows he planned for Mordicai the Jew in the book of Esther. In eternity all sin against God's people will be judged by God. It's better to get on the Lord's side now.

Ezra 4:14 Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
15 That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.
16 We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.

They couldn't care less about the king and his successful reign. They were wanting to stop God's people from rebuilding the city and setting up the worship of God again.

The King Orders the Work to Cease

Ezra 4:17 Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.
18 The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
19 And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.
20 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
21 Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.
22 Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
23 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

So they succeeded for a time to stop the work of building the temple. When Darius became king he was persuaded to search in the house of the rolls where they were kept and saw that Cyrus had made a decree to allow the building of the temple. Darius then restarted the project again which we will read about in the further studies of Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai.

This seems to tell the story of the whole human race. Rise and fall of kings. Evil kings then a good one. We see the battle between good and evil continues to this day. It is getting weird today as we see evil called good and good called evil. I've been around many years and have never seen such craziness as I see today. Starting with prayer and bible reading forbidden by the Supreme Court of the United States back in the early 1960s until now:

God kicked out of public schools
Rebellion among the youth
Teen gangs and violence increases
Teen pregnancies rise
Abortion becomes legal in first trimester
Abortion becomes legal up until the baby is ready to be born
A rise in school shooting and violence
Same sex marriage becomes legal.
Looting and rioting, school shootings worsen
Abortion after the baby is born is legalized in some states
Gender changing surgeries or harmful hormones given to those who want to change their gender.
Medical kidnapping is allowed in some states where parents refuse their child gender altering drugs or surgeries.

What is next? I don't want to think about.

Jesus please come back soon. DC

Ezra Chapter 5