Sermon Tone Analysis

Refusing to Compromise

Is it always wrong to compromise?

What are some ways you are tempted to compromise your principles?

How have you been able to refuse to compromise?

Consider the situation in Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other returned exile:

Ezra 4:1

How were the people of the land (the “enemies”) asking Zerubabbel to compromise his principles?

Why was that a problem?

Now consider the response:

Ezra 4:

How did Zerubbabel resist the temptation to compromise?

He did not face the temptation alone, but pulled together Jeshua and others to help him resist.

He was clear on what God’s desire was for who should be involved in building the temple.

He did not prioritize finishing the Temple above obedience to God’s plan for how to build it.

He went over the heads of the opposition to a higher authority (King Cyrus to be exact).

The Enemy is Persistent

How have the enemies of the church tried to prevent its success over the years?

How long have the enemies of the church persisted in trying to prevent its success?

Consider the text:

Ezra 4:4-7

What is the first method the enemies of the Jews use to frustrate their work of building the Temple?

(Bribery)

How long did they actively oppose the building of the Temple and then the building of the city and its walls?

Note that the documented succession of Persian rulers is: Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes (aka Ahasuerus), and Artaxerxes.

The majority of Ezra chapter 4 is the letter to King Artaxerxes telling him that if he lets the Jews rebuild Jerusalem, he will effectively lose control of the territory south of Samaria because the Jews will rebel and refuse to pay the tribute to Persia.

Artaxerxes agrees that a fortified Jerusalem is a potential threat to his rule in the region, so he writes a letter back directing the Jews to stop rebuilding the city until further notice.

Here bribery is augmented with force and power as methods of stymieing the building of the Temple.

Verse 23 is the result of the letter in the time of Nehemiah, preventing him from rebuilding the wall.

Verse 24 is the timing of how long the work on the Temple itself was halted.

The Right Words Help a Lot

When has someone come along at a frustrating time in your life and said just the right thing to get you through the day and keep you going?

In we noted two groups of people that are essential for the success of the project: those who take an active role in the execution of the project and those who take a supporting role in the project.

The former group were those who actually returned to Judah from exile, and the latter were those who supplied material assistance to those who returned.

We usually think of “material assistance” as money, goods, services, and such.

But sometimes a good word is as valuable as money, even more so.

The building had come to a halt in the face of the intimidation and hostility of the people of the land.

Haggai and Zechariah challenged Zerubbabel and Jeshua to get off of high center and start making progress again.

Notice that the prophets of God were helping out just as much as those who were doing the construction itself.

Keep Ego Out of It

When can our egos get in the way of a successful project?

What are ways we can keep our ego in check and keep the focus where it needs to be?

Ezra 5:

Interestingly, the answer given by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the elders is not given directly in the text after Tattenai asks the question.

Instead, it is recorded as part of the letter Tattenai sends to Darius the king:

Ezra 5:9-