Bend Rather Than Break

BEND RATHER THAN BREAK (EZRA 4)

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island? He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, the lone islander arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried.

Early the next day, however, the man was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

Ezra 4 is the most persecution the Jews had to suffer in the book. The chapter is unique in that the names of four Persian kings are mentioned, so the opposition and obstruction to building the temple had reached a fever pitch for many years. The people of the land sought to frustrate rebuilding the plans of the Jews in the reign of Cyrus king of Persia (v 5), Xerxes (v 6), Artaxerxes (v 7) and Darius (v 24). Darius king of Persia. The nations protested the Jews’ return to rebuild their homeland as soon as the Cyrus king of Persia permitted the move. The letters came fast and furious, freely and formally. It was swift, strategic and steady.

What do you do in work stoppage? How do you understand God’s will and way when there’s little to no progress? Why is patience applauded easier postulated than patience applied?

Be Discerning, Not Be Deceived

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, Jeshua 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 hired counselors 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.

A knight and his men return to their castle after a long hard day of fighting.

“How are we faring?” asks the king.

“Sire,” replies the knight, “I have been robbing and pillaging on your behalf all day, burning the towns of your enemies in the west.”

“What?!?” shrieks the king. “I don’t have any enemies to the west!”

“Oh,” says the knight. “Well, you do now.”

The Jews were active in building the altar (Ezra 3:2) and the foundation (Ezra 3:10) of the temple in the last chapter, but their progress was noticed by their enemies. The noun “enemies” are elsewhere translated as tribulation (Deut 4:30), adversaries (Deut 32:27), trouble (Job 38:23) and affliction (Hos 5:15). The enemies were not unexiled Jews, but transplanted Assyrians (v 2). They were not there to help but to hassle, harass, hinder, harm and halt them.

The enemies’ offer, as stated in the cohortative or first person imperative, was “Let us build with you…” It was direct and determined, but dangerous and deceptive because the enemies could have offered to help seven months earlier before the rebuilding started or another seven months earlier when the remnant arrived, but they were not there to roll out the welcome mat, reach out to their neighbors or rally support for the returnees.

The Jewish leaders were quick to reject the enemies’ offer because the enemies invoked the generic name for God (v 2, Elohim) rather than the Lord (v 1, Yahweh) God of Israel. Again, the Lord (Yahweh) God of Israel is repeated in verse 3. Further, the locals specified “your God” rather than “our God.” Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel were not fooled, fazed or frightened. Zerubbabel replied to the point that he was following the orders of King Cyrus. The participles “discourage” (v 4 discourage the people of Judah) refer to the people, “afraid” refer to the project (v 4 make them afraid to go on building) and “hire” (v 5 hired counselors) to their payment. The enemies’ purpose was to frustrate their plans – to disappoint, divide and deny them.