06.13.2014 Old Testament: Ezra 4.1–5

To read the Bible in a year, read Ezra 3–5 on June 13, In the year of our Lord 2014

By Don Ruhl

The Jews returned from Babylon to their land and began to rebuild the temple of God, but their enemies were not happy about it, but notice the approach they took,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” 

Since the Jews had the backing of the Persian Empire, the enemies of the Jews knew it would be better to side with the Jews, hiding behind the mask of worshiping God. However, the leaders of the Jews saw through it,

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia (Ezra 4.1–5). 

Ezra informed us right away that these people were enemies of the Jews, and that proved to be the case by seeing how they responded. If they had been sincere, they would have respected the fact that only certain people could work on the temple, but discouraging the Jews, troubling them, and hiring counselors against them, showed the true nature of these people.