Introduction:
A. Life is full of obstacles.
1. So the most important question is not: “Will we face obstacles?”
2. Rather, the most important question is: “How will we overcome the obstacles we face?”
B. I like the story told of three men who were hiking in the wilderness when they came upon a large raging river.
1. They needed to get to the other side, but they didn’t know how to do it.
2. The first man prayed, “God, give me the STRENGTH to cross this river.”
a. Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he swam across the raging river.
b. It took him an hour, but he made it.
3. Seeing this, the second man prayed, “God, give me the strength...and the TOOLS...to cross this river.”
a. Poof! God gave him a rowboat, and he rowed across the raging river.
b. It took him 45 minutes, but he made it.
4. Seeing this, the third man prayed, “God, give me the strength and the tools and the INTELLIGENCE...to cross this river.”
a. And poof! God turned him into a woman.
b. The woman took out a map, examined it, hiked upstream for 1000 yards, and walked across the bridge!
c. It only took her 15 minutes.
C. It would be nice if everything in life was easy, wouldn’t it?
1. It would be nice if there were only down-hills, with no up-hills.
a. It would be nice if there were only mountain tops and no valleys.
b. It would be nice if there were only roses and no thorns.
2. But that’s not the way things work in this world where we live.
a. Life is filled with its’ challenges and obstacles.
3. And when we make it our goal to serve the Lord and to accomplish His purposes, we can expect that we will face obstacles and opposition.
a. We can expect that Satan, our enemy, and all those who work on his side, will do all they can to derail our progress and bring it to a halt.
4. In Scripture, God prepares us over and over again for the challenges we will face.
a. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
b. Paul wrote, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).
c. Peter wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12).
d. So Go has made it clear in His Word that the Christian life is full of obstacles and opposition.
D. So as we return to our sermon series on Ezra and Nehemiah, it should not surprise us that those Jewish pilgrims who returned from captivity and began rebuilding the temple of God in Jerusalem, were going to face opposition.
1. And from this point in the story where we are going to pick up today, and right through to the end of the book of Nehemiah, we will see that there are ongoing obstacles and opposition.
2. But before we begin the story for today, let’s review:
a. So far in our series we have seen that they were off to a good start. After 70 years in captivity, the exiles were allowed to return and rebuild.
b. They safely made the trip and settled into their own towns in Judah.
c. Then the first thing they rebuilt was the altar of God, which allowed them to offer sacrifices and to celebrate the feasts that God had commanded them to keep.
d. After the altar was built, they turned their attention to rebuilding the foundation of the temple.
e. And when they had completed the foundation of the temple they worshiped God, but you will remember that while some rejoiced, others who had seen the former temple wept.
f. Nevertheless, the sound of their joy and weeping created so much noise that the sound was heard far away.
g. One wonders what the inhabitants of that region thought about these developments.
3. That’s where we ended our story last week and where we want to resume it this week.
I. The Story
A. The story begins in chapter 4, verse 1: 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.”
1. It is easy to overlook or downplay the description of this encounter and to form an impression that Zerubbabel and the leaders were making a rude rebuff to a sincere and friendly gesture.
a. After all, it was a big job ahead of them, and couldn’t they use all the help they could get?
2. The key words are: “like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since…the king of Assyria brought us here.”
a. Who exactly are these people? They are a mixture of Assyrians and Jews.
b. They are the Samarians whom the Jews were in conflict with during the time of Jesus.
c. When the Assyrians took over the northern kingdom of Israel, they took some Jews away, and they brought some Assyrians into the land north of Jerusalem.
d. Those remaining Jews intermarried with the Assyrians and lost their pure Jewish heredity.
e. But even worse than the racial intermixing, was the spiritual intermixing that took place.
f. So, yes, those people who wanted to help had been sacrificing to the God of the returning Jews, but they also made sacrifices to all the other gods as well.
3. Had Zerubbabel allowed those people to join in the rebuilding project it would have compromised the identity and spiritual integrity of God’s people on this important mission.
4. So Zerubbabel gave them a clear and uncomfortable, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
5. How did the group offering their services respond to the rejection?
B. The story continues: 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.
1. The opponents immediately showed their true colors – they truly were enemies, not friends.
2. The resulting campaign of harassment by the local people had the double force of persistence and variety.
a. Their efforts toward discouragement relied on the subtle weapons of suggestion and sneers; intimidation and threats.
b. In addition, they worked to get their victims discredited and on the wrong side of the authorities, and they did so by hiring professional lobbyists to help achieve this.
C. The next part of the story of Ezra is about to get a little confusing.
1. When Ezra wrote this book, he put verses 6 – 23 of chapter 4 in a parenthesis.
2. All the way up until now, Ezra has been telling the story in historical order, but now in verses 6-23, Ezra inserts a part of the story that happened almost a century later.
3. In verses 5, 6, and 7, Ezra mentions 4 different kings of Persia and describes how the Jewish remnant faced opposition during all of their reigns.
a. Let’s read those verses: 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. 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.
4. Let’s spend a minute laying out the chronology of the kings of Persia and what happened during their reign:
a. Cyrus was king of Persia from 539 BC to 530 BC – Cyrus was the Persian king who allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the temple. All of the events we have looked at so far have happened under the reign of Cyrus.
b. The next king of Persia is Cyrus’ son, Cambysses, who reigned from 530 BC to 521 BC – no progress on the temple is going to be made during his reign.
c. Then comes Darius who was king of Persia from 521 BC to 486 BC – Darius will play an important roll in allowing the temple to be rebuilt. He also was the king mentioned in the book of Daniel.
d. Next comes king Xerxes, or Ahasurerus who reigned from 486 BC to 465 BC – He will become Esther’s husband.
e. Finally, there is king Artaxerxes who reigned from 464 BC to 423 BC – He is the king who is reigning at the end of Ezra and through the book of Nehemiah.
f. This is the king that the letter in this parenthesis is written to.
5. So here’s the confusing part: In verses 7-23, we will see that Ezra used an event in the reign of the last king in the list as an example of the opposition that had been facing all along.
a. Opposition against God’s people doing the rebuilding would last well over 100 years.
D. Let’s look quickly at this parentheses of events that took place after the temple was completed.
1. Evidently, after the temple was built, there was some attempt by the Jewish remnant to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem many years before Nehemiah successfully completed the walls.
2. Here is the story of the opposition they faced: 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 and officials over the men from Tripolis, Persia, Erech 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, the men of Trans-Euphrates: 12 The king should know that the Jews 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 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 of rebellion from ancient times. 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.
3. When we look closely at this letter, we see that it lays out the opposition’s case in four accusations and each of those accusations is a lie.
a. Verse 12 falsely states the remnant’s record – it accuses them of being rebellious and wicked by attempting to rebuild a rebellious and wicked city.
b. Verse 13 falsely states the remnant’s intent – it accuses them of intending not to pay taxes when they are finished with the project – money always gets the attention of politicians.
c. Verses 14-15 falsely state the remnant’s authority – it had been many years since Cyrus’ decree and the letter accuses the remnant of never having permission to build in the first place.
d. Verse 16 falsely states the remnant’s political impact – it accused the remnant of taking over everything in that region.
4. What a conspiracy theory was all of this! It may have been ridiculous, but it was persuasive.
a. Sadly, lies often are persuasive – that’s why people tell them.
b. Satan never plays fair. He is the father of lies. He won’t hesitate to use any weapon against us.
E. Verses 17-23 contain the king’s reply.
1. 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.
2. As we can see, the king fell for the lies of the opposition.
a. It is true that Israel had once been a great nation, and had revolted against kings, like Nebuchadnezzar, who had tried to rule over them.
b. But that was a long time ago, and there wasn’t much left of the nation.
c. I don’t think Artaxerxes had much to worry about them at this point, but he nevertheless commanded that the work in Jerusalem be stopped.
3. So these complaints to Artaxerxes, and their outcome, show not only the dogged persistence of Israel’s enemies, but also the uncertainty of a great king’s patronage.
a. Artaxerxes was the king who had taken the trouble to send Ezra the reformer to Jerusalem (we will learn about this in our next sermons on Ezra 7-10).
b. But this also sheds some light on the delicacy of Nehemiah’s later task when he wants to go to Jerusalem and help rebuild the walls – he will have to obtain permission to do so from king Artaxerxes, which will include a reversal of the king’s present policy.
c. But notice the providential loophole in verse 21 which left room for such a change – “so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.”
E. That parentheses allowed Ezra to make the immediate point that he was trying to make about the stoppage of the temple reconstruction, not the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem.
1. Verse 24 says: 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.
2. And so the work on the temple of God came to a screeching halt for about 16 years – from 536 BC to 520 BC.
3. I wonder what it was like to walk by that unfinished temple for 16 years – a monument to discouragement and unfulfilled dreams.
II. The Application
A. So what can we learn or wrestle with from today’s section of the story?
1. Let’s give some thought to several things.
B. First, let’s wrestle with the challenge of doubt.
1. Doubt is often one of the first things that hits us when we face obstacles and opposition.
a. We begin to wonder “where is God?...why is God allowing this?...why isn’t God doing something about this?”
2. Surely these Jewish returnees began to wonder these things – especially after it was so clear that God was at work through Cyrus to send them back to rebuild the temple.
a. So when opposition to God’s work settled in, they had to be wondering and doubting.
b. Had they offended God? Had God abandoned them? Was God no longer in control?
c. Aren’t these the kinds of doubts we wrestle with when we are going through tough times as individuals or as a church?
3. What we have to keep in mind during tough times is that God has numerous goals in His plan.
a. Was it God’s will and plan that the Jewish exiles return and rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem? Absolutely.
b. Was it God’s will and plan that the Jewish exiles return and rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem without facing resistance? Absolutely not.
4. God’s goal was not only to build up the temple and the walls, but more importantly God’s goal was to build up and mature His people.
5. By means of the struggles and opposition that would continue to beset God’s people, the much-needed spiritual development would blossom and grow.
a. The tentative nature of their existence would highlight their need to depend on God.
b. And having come out of a long period of discipline, they would need to focus on uncompromising obedience.
6. So our times of struggle and doubt provide the opportunity to grow like at no other times.
7. James writes: 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Jms 1:2-4)
8. After almost losing her husband to a brain tumor in 2006, Laura Story wrote this song called “Blessings” as a reminder that God remains faithful even when things don’t turn out the way we expect. The chorus of the song goes like this:
What if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights is what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disquise?
9. So when we face obstacles, we must wrestle against doubt.
C. Second, let’s wrestle with the challenge of fear.
1. When we face obstacles and opposition, what is it that we fear?
2. Most of us fear pain – pain that comes in all kinds of forms.
a. There is the pain of rejection and the pain of retribution – we like things to be peaceful and prosperous – we don’t want to be ostracized or forced into poverty.
b. There is the pain of discouragement and failure – we fear becoming the loser and being unable to get out of a pit of depression as the obstacles seem to grow by the day.
3. The pain of obstacles and opposition may be very real – evil people can inflict great harm – and God doesn’t promise us that we will not have to endure suffering.
4. So what should we do with these very real fears? We need to keep them in perspective.
a. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).
b. In other words, if we have a reverent fear of God, then that will cause us to be less afraid of others and less afraid of anything this world can throw at us.
5. The message God gave numerous times to Joshua was: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).
6. When we are afraid because of the obstacles we face, we must remember that God is with us and the only One we should reverently fear is God.
D. Third, let’s wrestle with the challenge of uncompromising obedience.
1. When we face obstacles and opposition, one of the things that we will be tempted to do is to modify our marching orders – to compromise God’s commands.
2. See, we reason with ourselves, “If we don’t do what God has told us to do, or if we modify what God has told us to teach, then maybe we won’t have as much opposition.”
3. This, of course, is a tempting, but a dangerous trap.
a. This is a trap the devil has been using since the Garden of Eden…Satan said, “surely God didn’t mean…surely God doesn’t want you to…”
4. God does mean what He says and we must be uncompromisingly obedient even if it brings obstacles, opposition, and suffering?
5. That’s where the rubber meets the road! That’s when the proof is in the putting.
6. Solomon concluded Ecclesiastes with these words: Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person (Eccl. 12:13, NLT).
E. So like God’s people in every generation, are we willing to wrestle with and overcome the challenges of doubt, fear and uncompromising obedience?
1. Next week, Lord willing, we will return to this story and see how God’s people overcame the obstacles and opposition and completed the building of the temple.
F. But for now, let’s ask the question: What is God calling you to do today?
1. In what ways do you need to be more a person of faith in the face of doubt and fear?
2. In what ways do you need to be more uncompromisingly obedient?
Resources:
Ezra-Nehemiah, by Mark Throntveit, Interpretation Commentary Series, 1992
Ezra & Nehemiah, by Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1979
Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther, by J. Vernon McGee
Almost Right, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
Swimming Upstream, Sermon by Jim Drake, SermonCentral.com
Don’t Let Opposition Surprise You, Sermon by Dr. Phil Newton, southwoodsbc.org
