Facing Opposition

This passage is interesting in that if you’re not up on your history timelines, you think you’re reading a linear account. It’s not. Don’t ask me how I know...

So, here’s how the text lays out (and again, it’s one of those reminders that Jews don’t always think and write like westerners):

There is a recollection of an offer to help with the rebuilding process, and we find that in the first three verses.

Then, we see the frustration and opposition that the people of God face.

It happens first with the immediate opposition from the people of the land in verses four and five, starting during Cyrus’ reign, but lasting another 15 years or so until Darius becomes king.

But, Ezra also notes that it continues on. He next includes frustrations that happen under the rule of Ahasuerus and then Artaxerxes, who didn’t begin his rule until 465 BC. So, this runs well beyond the experience of many of the people listed in the previous chapter. You’re talking 71 years after the foundation of the temple was laid…and still 45 or 50 years after the temple was completed and dedicated.

Finally, the passage returns to present experience, noting that the people did not work on the temple until the second year of Darius’ reign. This is something Haggai is going to address, and Mike’s going to pick up that ball and address it next week.

So, in summary — this is not linear history. It deals with a current frustration/opposition, shows how the opposition continued into the future, and then returns and notes the Jews did not work on the temple for another 16 years or so.

God’s Work will be Opposed.

An offer to help rebuild

Who are these adversaries, and why are they called such?

We find out that they were brought to the area by Esarhaddon king of Assyria.

This happened when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom…ninth year of Hoshea’s reign when Samaria was conquered. We find the account in 2 Kings 17.

When they came, common practice of the day was to adopt in some form or fashion the worship of the land. Cultures were polytheistic — they believed in multiple gods (which is one of the major theological issues that set Israel apart) — and they viewed gods as “territorial.”

Esarhaddon resettled the area, but he sent a priest of YHWH to teach the new transplants how to worship the God of Israel. Hence, the fact that they worship the God of Israel as the Jews do. Is there a problem? Yes, 2 Kgs.17:29 “But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.” Their practice was not sincere worship of YHWH alone, but a mixed worship mingled with their foreign “gods” as well. (We call this syncretism, and if you’ve been to Guatemala, you’ve seen this practiced).

But, why are they called adversaries?

They’re introduced as adversaries from the beginning, but the part that is “muddy” is whether or not they were truly enemies of the Jews from the beginning, or if they took up that role after their rejection.

If the former, then their intention the whole time was to frustrate the work of the remnant. But if the latter, it’s not until their earnest offer to help rebuild the temple of a God they worship is rejected that they turn against the Jews.

Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the Jewish leaders respond, essentially saying, “We don’t have anything in common, so we’re not going to let you help.” Some scholars note that the people did not want any stain or taint in the building of the temple, so the foreigners would not be allowed to help. The thought is that the temple couldn’t be compromised in any way, including in its construction (however, see Haggai 2:10-19 for the condition of the remnant when they start the building process!). With all that said, Ezra says nothing of their syncretistic worship…nothing of staining or profaning the temple…the leaders just say, “…we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

There is a tension in the text that persists even until today. Here, the rebuilding of the temple and its purity must be protected. However, God’s final temple will draw to Zion people from every nation, tribe, language, and tongue. As the church, how do we exist in the world, yet not be of the world, yet be engaged enough with the world to shine the light of Christ into even the darkest places?

The frustration of God’s people

Immediate frustration by the people of the land

What seems clear is that once the denial was made, whether the people were adversaries from the word go or not, is that certainly now they are operating in opposition to the Jews’ purpose, and by extension, God’s.

Also, notice what is taking place here — the people of the land are making the Jews afraid to press on. While we want to see the remnant rise up as this faithful bunch of believers, there’s still plenty of their ancestors’ ways in them…complacency, a lack of certainty about what God can/will do, a luke-warm commitment to full surrender, etc.

Further, while the people of the land clearly had a hand in all of this, Haggai (again, not to steal too much of Mike’s thunder) describes the people’s failure to work in terms of “spiritual abandonment and self-absorption.”

Historical and continued oppression of God’s people

Vv.6-23 all deal with future opposition to God’s people. And, these appear to be two separate events, first a letter sent to Ahasuerus, and then a letter sent to Artaxerxes. So, who are these guys?

Ahasuerus you may recognize from the book of Esther. He actually wasn’t even born yet (518 BC) when the remnant actually begins to rebuild the temple (520 BC). Now historically, he went by another name: Xerxes. If you’re thinking to yourself, that seems familiar, where do I know that name? Xerxes was the king of Persia during the Persian Wars when Persia tried to conquer Greece. If you’re thinking, “Why would I know the Persian Wars?”, it’s because the Battle of Thermopylae took place during the Persian Wars. Still not ringing a bell? This is the battle that was stylistically reimagined in the early 2000’s movie 300 where Gerard Butler played King Leonidas leading 300 (actually probably around 7,000) Spartans against the Persian army numbering anywhere between 70-300,000. And it all starts to come together. You mean that guy…the Persian King…was in the Bible? Yep, here he is. And the people of the land write a letter to him in order to frustrate the purposes of God’s people. So what happened? It doesn’t seem like much. Only vs.6 is dedicated to it. Perhaps Ahasuerus was too busy in the Persian Wars to pay much attention to what was going on here…or maybe his Hebrew wife stood up during such a time as this.

Artaxerxes is the next king to receive a letter. He was the son of Xerxes/Ahasuerus, and actually assumed the Persian throne because he murdered his brother. This may hint to us something of his character — someone interested in advancing his own purposes and causes. Artaxerxes began his rule in 465 BC and would lead Persian for 41 years. He’s actually the ruling king when the walls of Jerusalem are dedicate in Nehemiah, around 444 BC. He’s also ruling Persia when the last of God’s prophets, Malachi, takes up pen and paper to speak for God.

There’s quite a bit of real estate devoted to the letter to Artaxerxes and his response. They point to Israel’s past, where God’s people were sovereign. There may be an eye to David’s rule, when Judah was rule by a good and mighty king. And, the appeal to the pride of Persia’s king — Ezra 4:16 “We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

So, Artaxerxes issues a decree and by force, the work of the Jews at Jerusalem is halted. Again, this is a flash forward in Israelite history. I think it’s intended to show us both an immediate struggle against the people of the land, and an ongoing struggle that God’s people will always face.

A world that is naturally set in opposition TO God will always oppose the ways OF God. We can grow through opposition when we remember that God uses opposition to accomplish His purposes (Israel’s judgment by foreign nations, the remnant’s experience of frustration is a reminder of a still-future hope, persecution spreads the gospel in the book of Acts, etc.)

The rebuilding is stopped for nearly fifteen years

Verse 24 is the culmination of the passage: work on the house of God…stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius. This is the place where Haggai picks up, which again, Mike is going to wax eloquent on next week. But, it brings a good point for our consideration:

What is our response when we face opposition to God’s work? Are we content with where we are, or do we push on?

God’s Work was not yet Finished.

The Jews’ experience of opposition invites us to keep reading

Jesus IS THE POINT!!! If you walk away from Ezra-Nehemiah with nothing else, at least remember this!

The church’s opposition should create a longing for our returning King

The opposition we face should remind us of that wonderful truth from 1 Peter: we are aliens here, and this world is not our home. As Paul states, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.”