WWUTT 714 Then the Rebuilding Stopped?

The Jews have returned to their land to rebuild Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, but some antagonists come against them and stop the work that they were doing. Yet God uses even this to show the people that He is with them when we understand the text.

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The Return from Exile and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem

Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. So today we continue our study of the book of Ezra, and I'll be reading in Chapter 4 if you want to open up your Bible and join with me there. So to give you a brief recap of where we are in the story, the Jews had been exiled into captivity because they had sinned against God.

They worshiped false gods instead of worshiping the Lord God. And God got fed up with their rebellion and turned them over to the hands of their enemies. They've been in exile for over 70 years until Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a decree that sent the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, its walls, and most especially the temple.

But before they embark on any of these rebuilding efforts, the first order of business was to offer sacrifices to God and ask for forgiveness. Because they had worshiped false gods and this was the reason for their exile, now being allowed to come back to the land, they needed to seek forgiveness for their sins.

So they found the place where the temple once stood that was now in ruins and even knew the place where an altar had been. At least there may have even been some remnant of an altar there. And they reconstructed the altar.

And what we read about in Chapter 3 last week is there were a couple of different reactions depending on the generation that was observing what was happening. The oldest generation who remembered the temple, they knew what the temple looked like and they remembered seeing what the altar looked like.

They wept and probably because it was like it's a dream come true, we finally come back to the land that once was ours and they were able to feast their eyes again upon the altar of God. But there also was probably some broken heartedness in the sense that it just wasn't like it was before.

It's not quite as good as it used to be. All these young guys, they are extremely happy and that was the reaction from the from the younger generation. They were filled with joy, but the older guys were like, you just you just don't know.

You don't know how great it was. So there was a sense of joy in which I'm glad we're back. We've got our altar back. We're going to be rebuilding this temple, but also some broken heartedness in the sense that it's just not going to be the same.

Had we not sinned against God the way that we did, we would not be in the position that we are in. So the the altar has been rebuilt, the temple is being rebuilt, and then there are efforts to try to rebuild the city and its walls as well.

And that's where we pick up the story next in chapter four. We read here at the start of the chapter now, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.

They approached Zerubbabel and Zerubbabel would be the king or he wasn't the king, but he would be the man who would be the rightful heir to the throne in the line of David. So they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of father's houses and said to them, let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Aserhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.

All right. So those that's the first two verses of chapter four. Let's look at this a little bit more until we see Zerubbabel's response. So going back to the start of the chapter now, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple to the Lord.

Who would these adversaries be? Well, we've already had a little bit of foreshadowing that there was some unrest in the area and the people, the Jews who had come back to the land to rebuild, they came with fear.

We read about that in chapter three, verse three. It says they set the altar in its place for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands. Now, Cyrus, king of Persia, had issued a decree sending the Jews back to Jerusalem that they would be allowed to rebuild their city and especially rebuild the temple of God.

So if this was a decree from Cyrus, why is it that the Jews would be concerned about somebody trying to stop them if they had the backing of the king? Well, Cyrus was kind of a newly minted king at that time.

He had just overthrown Babylon. And so there was still some unrest in the land and not everybody was necessarily obedient to this new empire that was rising up. And so if there were some people in the vicinity of Jerusalem who didn't like what it was that the Jews were doing and decided to come against them, they probably would have been successful, especially considering that the Jews only numbered a little over 50 ,000.

If you'll remember that from chapter two, they wouldn't have been able to do much to defend themselves. And so exactly those people that the Jews were concerned about is who approached them at the start of chapter four, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and Zerubbabel was from the line of David and would have been the rightful heir to the throne of David.

They approached Zerubbabel and the heads of father's houses and said to them, and we read about the heads of father's houses in chapter two, they said, let us build with you for we worship your God as you do.

And we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here. Who are these people? Who are these adversaries who are saying this thing to the Jews? Well, it would have been the occupants of what was formerly the northern kingdom of Israel, which we would come to know as Samaria, which was also the name of the capital city in that area still occupied at this time.

So if you remember back to second Kings chapter 17, God allowed the Assyrians to come against Israel and conquer them. And all of the Israelites from that northern kingdom were exiled out of there. The king of Assyria, who isn't named in second King 17, but we have his name here in Ezra chapter four, and it's Esarhaddon.

He brought in his own transplants to that land, and they were made up of people from Babylon, from Kuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sefer Vayim. And he placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel.

And so they brought in all of their different religions and customs to that land as well. And because of the wickedness that was going on, God sent lions among them. These guys who were idol worshippers, and they were they were sexually idolatrous as well.

God sent lions among them to kill the people. And so when the king of Assyria had heard about this, he sent a prophet of God into the land to tell them about the Lord God of Israel so that they would repent of the wickedness that they were doing and therefore survive this curse that had come upon them.

Well, what ended up happening is is they did listen to the prophet of God, but they still had all their other religious customs, too. And this led to a kind of syncretism. It's just this hodgepodge of customs and religions, and not to mention that the people that now occupy the land weren't even the people of God anymore.

If there were any that were left after the exile, they just intermingled with the new transplants. And there was no particular national identity in that land at all. And they would become known as the Samaritans.

And this is exactly the Samaritans that the Jews hated so much, which we read about in the New Testament during the time of Jesus. This is the start of their antagonism toward one another right here in Chapter four.

When you when you read about how much the Jews did not like the Samaritans and how much the Samaritans did not like the Jews, when you read about that in the Gospels, this is the backstory here in the book of Ezra from Second Kings, Chapter 17, all the way to Ezra, Chapter four.

And here's why there was so much animosity toward one another because of this story right here. Verse three. After they asked, hey, can we help you rebuild the temple of God because we worship this God to Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the father's houses in Israel said to them, you have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.

Now, the reason they responded this way may have been twofold. Number one, it's because they did not have a good track record with people from that particular land, even when it was occupied by Israelites.

If you'll remember back to King Jehoshaphat, he tried to make a treaty with Israel at that time, their kinsmen, so that so that they would be able to get along. But what ended up happening instead was Israel affected Judah.

Well, I should say infected Judah with with all of the evils that they were doing in the sight of God. And Judah started following after the practices of the Israelites who are worshiping false gods. And so because partnerships with the northern kingdom in the past typically led to bad things that may have been one of the reasons why Zerubbabel and the other heads of the father's houses decided to turn down this offer.

But the second reason, of course, might be a little bit more obvious. It's because they were not among the people of God. Yes, they had the Pentateuch. Yes, they believed in the law of Moses, but they were still worshiping false gods.

Exactly the same errors that Israel had made. They likewise believed in the law of Moses, but they also had all these other false gods that they worship. So because this people was they were unpure in their spirituality, the Jews were not going to partner with them, especially when it came to what needed to be done to rebuild the temple of God and how pure the people needed to be.

They asked forgiveness from God for the sins that they committed against him. They've already gone through that process, and now they are ready to continue with these rebuilding efforts and do this in a way that is honoring unto the Lord.

This other people that are that are coming to them, they are unclean. They are not able to build with clean hands. And so and so not to bring a curse upon the Jews again, Zerubbabel wisely decided not to partner with them.

So the people of the northern kingdom retaliated. And that's what we're going to read about next. So verse four, we'll get through the rest of this rather quickly. We will get through chapter four today.

Opposition to the Temple Rebuilding

So then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and 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.

So where we read that that phrase in verse four, the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah. It's literally translated that they weakened their hands. So if you think of the word discouragement, that would be a good definition, weakening of the hands.

By contrast, the word encouragement would mean strengthening the hands. And so when you're encouraged by somebody, you are motivated to continue to do work, work hard in the context of Christianity, that you would work hard for the Lord.

As Paul said in Colossians chapter three, that we would work unto the Lord and not unto men and discouraging would be to weaken a person that they would not feel so emboldened or courageous to work strong for God, but they would feel weak and and inept, not able to do anything worth doing.

And in Colossians chapter three, we are instructed to encourage and admonish one another in the church, that we would strengthen each other's hands to do the work of God, to grow in an understanding of God and grow in love toward one another.

And so here, those people that should have been encouragers instead were discouragers. And we see this this kind of animosity that develops between them that's going to last for hundreds of years, all the way up until the time of Christ.

We still see this feud between the Samaritans and the people of Judah. So going on in verse seven, and we get a little redundant here. So bear with me. But verse seven, in the days of Ataxerxes, Bishlam and Mithridath and Tebeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Ataxerxes king of Persia.

The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. Rehom the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ataxerxes the king as follows. Rehom the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river.

So that's just telling you everybody who is behind the writing of this letter against Jerusalem. So here is the copy of the letter that they sent. Verse 11 to Ataxerxes the king, your servants, the men of the province beyond the river, send greeting.

And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers.

You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That is why this city was laid waste.

We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province beyond the river. So now verse 17, the king sent an answer to Rehim the commander and Shimshi the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river, greeting.

And now the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me and I made a decree and search has been made and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled over the whole province beyond the river to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.

Therefore, make a decree that these men be made to cease and that this city be not rebuilt until a decree is made by me and take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?

Then when the copy of King Adizersi's letter was read before Rehim and Shimshi the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 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.

God's Providence in Delayed Rebuilding

And indeed, we find that the work that was being done in Jerusalem ceased within two years. So like right after they got there and just started rebuilding, suddenly they were made to stop. But Adizersi's, who was the one that responded to this letter, is also going to be the one that is going to resume the work that was being done in Jerusalem.

For Adizersi's is the one whom Nehemiah was working for. And when he finds out that the walls of Jerusalem are laid in ruins, as we read about at the start of Nehemiah, he is filled with grief and he goes to Adizersi's and asks him that he might be able to go back to Jerusalem and help the rebuilding efforts.

Adizersi's asks him, well, how long are you going to be gone? And Nehemiah tells him and he goes with Adizersi's blessing. So Adizersi's stopped the construction, but it's also by his decree that it resumes again.

And all of this just shows the providence and the provision of God. It is through Cyrus that God first decreed the Jews would go back to their land and rebuild the temple and rebuild Jerusalem. Well, well, then that effort was stopped.

And so maybe the Jews were left wondering, well, maybe this isn't from God after all. Maybe Cyrus was just big headed and he decided, you know, this is this is what I'm going to do because I'm king. I'm going to send the Jews back that they would rebuild the temple to their God and it would make me look great.

But then Adizersi's confirms or affirms rather Cyrus original decree. And then the people know this is from the Lord and God is behind it that we would be able to continue this work and all of this being done to bring the people back to the land so that the Messiah would be born.

He who would reconcile all people, Jews and Gentiles to God, everyone who believes upon his name. All of this is by the hand of God that all of these things would be brought together and eventually leading up to our salvation, Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave that would happen in this very city, Jerusalem.

That's that's being rebuilt by the sovereign plan of God. Let us conclude with prayer. Our Lord God, we thank you that you are indeed working in all things. As we read in Romans 828, you're working all things together for good, for those who love you and are called according to your purpose.

Even these things that are happening in Ezra chapter four, which seems like antagonism against the people of God, you are working things together for your good and ultimately for our good as the Lord Christ would come to this land, to this earth in in the flesh of a man would live perfectly as our representative and die as our substitute so that all who believe on the name of Jesus will have their sins forgiven and will have eternal life.

And so may we know that as you have been faithful to keep your promises in the past, we know that you are keeping your promises even now. You have not deserted us. You are you have not forsaken us, but you will finish this work that was started on the day of Christ.

And so we pray for steadfastness in our hearts and that we would hope in you all the more seeing the promises of God fulfilled for your people all throughout the scriptures. May we be encouraged by this, strengthen our hands that we may continue to do the work of God and be found as faithful servants on the day of Christ.

In his name we pray.

Amen. This has been When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.