October 30, 2024 | Be God's Light
Amid Opposition, Artaxerxes Halts Rebuilding Temple
Scripture: Ezra 4(NIV)
1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”
4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. 5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes] they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:
12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Devotional
After the death of King Solomon, the nation split in two. The northern kingdom was called Israel. It was conquered by Assyria in 722 BC. They exiled most of the people of Israel, and repopulated the land with others from their vast empire. These people intermarried with the remaining Jews. Their mixed breed offspring became known as the Samaritans. In the New Testament, Jesus stopped at a well and had a spiritual conversation with a Samaritan woman. John lets us know how unusual this was, saying, “Jews do not associate with Samaritans” (John 4:9).
It was some of these folks who volunteered to assist with the temple reconstruction. Most likely they wanted to insert themselves in the process and disrupt the plans. Zerubbabel saw through their offer and denied their help. As a result they did everything they could to halt the reconstruction. Look at these phrases:
“set out to discourage”
“make them afraid”
“work against them”
“frustrate their plans”
“lodged an accusation”
“came to a standstill”
What would you have done if you had been one of the workers who was trying to rebuild the temple? What about if you had been Zerubbabel, who was overseeing the massive project? What do you do when people do things against you? How can you keep from being a naysayer to others who are trying to do God’s work?
Poem
The Reality Of The Faithful
Have you ever felt a call from God
To do
To build
To mend
Only to face roadblocks at each turn
Your way blocked
Your way hindered
Your way opposed?
It is at times like these that you wonder
Did I hear incorrectly
Did I miss the mark
Did I lose a puzzle piece
In in your discouragement and frustration
Were you tempted to give up
Were you tempted to quit
Were you tempted to leave the call unfinished?
Dear Pilgrim, you are not alone
For so it has been by many in the past
For so it is for many now
For so it is for many in the future
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be
The faithful will be challenged
The faithful will be betrayed
The faithful will be opposed
But know, dear Pilgrim, you are not alone
For so they rebelled against God
For so they rejected their Messiah
For so they quenched the Holy Spirit
Yet in the midst of all the chaos and sorrow
God has placed one for such a time as this
God has reserved 7000 as a remnant
God has become incarnate and tabernacled among you
