Ezra Pt 9: When Hurtful Words Come
Notes
Transcript
Ezra 4:6-23.
Introduction
I’m sure we have been there at somepoint in our lives, where we have tried to get something done, something achieved that is proving difficult because of the Bureaucracy, and it seems like every turn taken is a dead end, or at the very least another obstacle to climb over.
For those of you that have dealt with visa applications, you will know what i’m talking about. Maybe some of you have had legal battles, or disputes with the local council, and have been beaten down by the constant delays and difficulties.
Remember how last sunday we looked at the weapons of the enemies warfare, and how frustration and irritation was one of those tactics. wearing you down to get you to give up fighting
Ezra 4 from verses 6-23 is a parenthetical section detailing the many years of battles fought by the remenant around the rebuidling work of the temple and the city city, the battles they fought werent just physical ones, but politcal ones as their opponents played every trick in the book to slow down or stop the work, appealing to the rulers of the land and essentialy trying to bog down the work in red tape and bureaucracy.
So in these verses we step out of the chronolgy of the narative
5 And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
verses 5 ends with he detail of the temple oopsition from Cyrus to darius
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
Verse 6 begins with the reign of Ahasuerus
23 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
verse 23 takes us up to Artaxerxes
24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
and we are back to darius.
Let me show you an estimated timline of the Kings of Persia in relation to all this, help clear things up a little
Immediaitley you will see the problem?
The problem being that Aratxerxes came to the throne 20 years after the death of Darius.
So, we conclude that verses 6-23 are a paraenthisis section, for the reason of the histroical timline, which Ezra was well aware off, and also in these verses we find that its the city walls that are mentioned than the temple itself, which of course did come later in the timeline.
That said this section is added under inspiration of the Holy Ghost and is profirtable for us
what then can we see in this protion of scripture?
Well we will see four letters mentioned as we close out chapter 4, and of course Ezra “the scribe” draws on offical documents in his writing, giving credibililty to it., the period covered is around 16 years from verse 6 - verse 23. 16 years bogged down in Bureaucracy.
Lets examine those letters briefly this morning and then draw some application for us today in the battles we face.
The first letter is found in verse 6 of ezra 4
The First Letter vs 6
6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The first letter is written to Ahasuerus (as in Book of Esther) also known as xerxes - movie 300
at thos point thge return remnant had been in the land for approx 50 years
the contents of the letter are not supplied, but we can note something from the text which is very revealing
“they wrote onto him and accusation”
accustaion by an enenmy
a connected word would be Satan
a name of the devil
meaing adverary, or accuser
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We get the idea then of this letter, nothiong good
The second letter is found in verse 7 or Ezra 4
The Second Letter vs 7
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
this letter is addressed to Artaxerxes and is sent about 10 years later
no details given
but we can assume given the context, it was the same vein and intention as the last
We are told that the letter was written in Aramaic the comkmon language of the time
The third letter is found in verses 8-16 and we have much more detail given
The Third Letter vss 8-16
8 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
written by Rehum, Shimshai, and others to Artaxerxes
verses 9 & 10 gives the details of those who put their name or agreement to the letter
there was an unholy alliance against the people of God
The purpose of the letter suprise suprise was the same as the others
notice in verse 8 it was an attack against Jeruslamem
any attack against Jeruslame was an attack against the Lord
5 But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
This letter was littered with false and unproven accustaions
look at verses 12-13
look in verse 15
many tools of the devil found here
lies
exageration
false assumptions
predictions
the enemny continued to work his work against the people of God and the God of the people.
The fourth and final letter is found in verses 17-23
The Fourth Letter vss 17-23
Ezra 4:17-23
This letter is a little different, as it is the reply of Artaxerxes
the search of the records has been made and it has been concluded that the Jews have in the past been trouble
20 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
this was not the case, The Jews didnt takes lands beyond that which God have given them
no Kings of Israel took lands on the other side of the euphrates, which is the river in question
21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
The response from Artaxerxes was to then command the building of the city
21 Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.
the enemy had suceeded for a time.
Conclusion
The letters where desinged to bring in all the politcal pressure that was possible upon the remanant as they pursued the Lords work. They where applying preassure to the workers to stop them working
These letters where false they were libellous, they were intend witgh the sole purpose of casuing trouble, of breaking spirits, of discouraging, so that the workers gave up.
4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Illustration: Sticks and stones video
Words hurt, especialy those that untrue. And especial when they are written words, as in a letter.
You see wriiten words are often more thought out and premediated
Illustration - Heat of the moment argument
But a letter takes thought and intent, there can be no hiding it.
Maybe you have been on the recieving end of one of these letters?
Examples of Pastors recieinb anoumous letters, or discuraging emails. I know people who have this in their workplace
Not nice - and it does affect you
Maybe this Church will be on the receiving end of one of these letters in the days that lie ahead?
Govermental letters
Example China
In late October, last year the pastor of one of China’s best-known underground churches asked this of his congregation: had they successfully spread the gospel throughout their city? “If tomorrow morning this Church suddenly disappeared from the city of Chengdu would this city be any different? said Wang Yi, leaning over his pulpit and pausing to let the question weigh on his audience. “I don’t know.”
Almost three months later, Wang’s scenario was being put to the test. The church in south-west China has been shuttered and Wang and his wife, Jiang Rong, remain in detention after police arrested more than 100 church members in December 2019. Many of those who haven’t been detained are in hiding. Others have been sent away from Chengdu and barred from returning. Some, including Wang’s mother and his young son, are under close surveillance. Wang and his wife are being charged for “inciting subversion”, a crime that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Now the hall Wang preached from sits empty, the pulpit and cross that once hung behind him both gone. Prayer cushions have been replaced by a ping-pong table and a film of dust. New tenants, a construction company and a business association, occupy the three floors the church once rented. Plainclothes police stand outside, turning away those looking for the church.
The attack upon the Church in Chian from the goverment is in full flow, with many slanderopus accustaion and words being through about by th eopposition.
So, what are we to do when this type of attack comes? Either as a Church or as Indviduals, what are we to do when the hurtful words come?
Lets turn to the example of the greatest King of the southern kingdom of Judah, hezekiah
compare hezekiah, when he recieves a blasphemous letter from sennacherib
14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
What did hie do? he immediatly made it a matter of prayer and spread it before the Lord.
When hurtfull Words Come, we take it to the lord, the one who is our strength and our refuge, our high towers,
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, Which made heaven and earth.
When Hurtful words come, we go to our Hearing God who will help us.
Let’s Pray