Israel has been stopped in their rebuilding of the temple
Enemies of Israel succeed in stopping the work through intimidation and bribery
The people made it as far as the foundation
Then, when the going got tough, they retreated
They returned to their homes and daily pursuits
They even pilfered building materials from the idle temple worksite
Fifteen years have gone by
It cast into doubt the Israelites’ determination and commitment to do the work they returned to perform
We know the Lord didn’t intend for the people to stop, because He sent them two prophets to declare that the building must continue
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah went among the people, warning them to restart the work on the temple
We might ask why the Lord permitted the delay in the first place?
Wouldn’t we expect that if the Lord delivered His people back to the land after 70 years, then He would protect them from this interruption?
Why didn’t He intervene to protect the people?
In reality, we’re asking the wrong question...instead, we should ask what makes the people think that the Lord wasn’t already protecting them?
They stopped at the first sign of resistance – at mere threats
Chapter 4 recounts later times in history, when they were intimidated and force of arms was used to stop the work
But that was not in the chronology of what’s happening here – that’s a reference to a later point, when Nehemiah was building the wall
Here, the only thing they saw was people, making them feel uncomfortable
They never bothered to test the enemy’s threats, or to see if the Lord would protect them if they continued building
We’re studying Ezra, and later Nehemiah, but we’re also studying a pattern of discipline and restoration
And when the Lord begins to restore His children in fellowship, after a period of discipline, the first step is a test of true worship
Are we willing to humble our hearts?
Will we follow Him away from the comfort that temped us?
Will we seek Him in worship, free from the pretense and hypocrisy that marked our period of rebellion?
And will we submit to the difficulties and trials that accompany true discipleship?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, then our forward progress halts
We’ll find ourselves in no man’s land
Neither under discipline, yet neither fully restored
God seems to want to test our hearts early when we seek restoration
By these trials, we learn dependence on the Lord
If we pass these tests, we are strengthened for the work that lies ahead
If we fail the test, the Lord doesn’t give up, for He is faithful even when we’re faithless
Israel’s restoration is in neutral, since they succumb to the pressure of their enemies
When their enemies approached and asked to join the work, Zerubbabel wisely declined
The people passed the first test of their wisdom and discernment
But, when those same enemies retaliated with threats, the people became discouraged
They failed the test of their faith in God’s power to defeat their enemies
So the people appealed to Cyrus’ government, seeking relief from human government, which gained them nothing
They should have appealed to the Lord instead
Despite their stumble, God is still at work turning all things to good for this nation
In fact, the delay made necessary by their weak faith fits perfectly into a timeline the Lord Himself set through Daniel the prophet, earlier
Daniel 9 told the Jews they could time the Messiah’s arrival, according to the declaration of an order to rebuild the temple
Cyrus made the first decree, and it’s repeated by later Persian kings (as we’ll see)
Daniel said the Messiah would be cut off (or killed) 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
That timeline is being created even now, in the events of Ezra and Nehemiah
Daniel’s timeline contained a perfect 490 years
The Lord has accommodated the fifteen years of Jewish hesitation into the timeline provided to Daniel
So that even when God’s children sin, He has the power to anticipate and accommodate that sin
So now, we enter Chapters 4 and 5 to see where Israel goes next
As we learned last week, the prophets have been working to move Israel back to the work of building the temple
Finally, Zerubbabel and Jeshua arose to rebuild
Notice again, no clear leader
Just two men working together to move God’s people back to a point of obedience
In fact, we’re told the prophets were also working to encourage the people back to the work
Also, notice that nothing else has changed to make the resumption of the work possible
There is no new edict from the king
The enemies of Israel haven’t been defeated or given up
Israel merely determined to get back to work
Which leaves us to conclude that they stopped building before the Lord stopped protecting them
At some point after the Jews resume building, word gets out and the governor of the Persian province that included Jerusalem comes calling
Tattenai visits the Jews, asking who gave them permission to conduct this project
Perhaps Israel’s enemies put him up to it, but it’s also likely that they had nothing to do with Tattenai’s visit
In fact, the political climate of Persia was more likely the cause
The empire had just come through a period of upheaval and treachery
Following Cyrus’ death in 530 BC, his son Cambyses assumed the throne
But his rule was immediately challenged, and he spent most of his 8 years in power defending his throne against one rebellion after another
At one point, he even had his brother put to death
Finally, the Persian people lost confidence in Cambyses, leading him to commit suicide
The Persian army threw its support behind a distant cousin of Cambyses, named Darius I
Darius was able to consolidate power and put an end to the rebellions
Still, the new king and his government was very wary of any new source of rebellion that might be emerging within the kingdom
It’s in this climate of suspicion that the Jews decided to begin rebuilding their city and temple and walls
Naturally, the governor is concerned that a walled city from a former enemy is under construction
So he asks the Jews who gave them permission to rebuild Jerusalem
Ezra says the men leading the construction project gave their names to Tattenai and
Notice, Ezra says “we” told Tattenai the names, implying he was present
Actually, Ezra won’t join the Jews in Jerusalem for nearly another 60 years
When he says “we”, he is referring to the Jewish people, of which he is one
So the Jewish people responded to the governor
The point is, the Jews didn’t back down like they did the first time
They boldly proclaimed their names
They weren’t intimated by the governor’s question
This is in stark contrast to their earlier choice
It would seem the Lord has brought them another test similar to the first, and in doing so, given Israel a second chance to prove their faith
When the Lord is working to move His children along a path of spiritual growth, He uses trials and tests to accomplish that work
Depending on how we respond to these tests, we either demonstrate spiritual growth and move forward
Or we demonstrate spiritual immaturity, in which case, the Lord leaves us where we are
Meanwhile, He’ll continue to bring us new trials so we might have opportunity to learn and eventually return to a path of growth
I should also mention that this pattern has limits in God’s patience
The writer of Hebrews warns us that if we do not press on to maturity through this process, we risk being left behind
We must learn the lessons of the tests and trials the Lord sends our way, or restoration is impossible
Israel has been given a second chance to respond to the challenge of God’s enemies, and this time, they persevere
In v.5, we’re told the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews
Ezra means the elders knew the Lord was watching them closely to see how the elders responded to this challenge
Would they retreat as before, or had they learned their lesson?
In the second half of the verse, we find the answer
The elders didn’t stop the people of Israel from working
Instead, they commanded Israel to continue building, even while they waited to hear a response from the king to the governor’s letter
They’ve learned their lesson, so the Lord responds in favor
This letter is remarkable, more for what it tells us about Israel than for what it told Darius
In his letter, the governor does an admirable job of telling the story in an even-handed and objective manner
This feature of the letter argues strongly that the governor was not an enemy of Israel, but merely an official trying to do his job
Curiously, he describes the God of Israel as the great God, suggesting that Persians still understood the power of the Lord from His past work in Israel, and perhaps, Egypt
First, he describes the building project
The temple is being built with great stones, beams and all done in great care
In other words, it’s going to be an impressive structure, and so the city is preparing to be a significant destination in Judah
This part of his letter is alluding to the potential threat of this city
Secondly, he describes his interrogation of the builders
He collected their names and asked their intentions
They answered they were replacing a religious structure that had been previously destroyed by the Babylonians
Even more interesting, the Jews recount how they got to this situation
They acknowledge that the Lord Himself destroyed the earlier temple
The Lord used Nebuchadnezzar’s army to accomplish that task
And He did so as an outpouring of His wrath against Israel for their disobedience to His Word
When you see the people of Israel making these declarations to the Persian governor, you clearly see repentance at work
They are acknowledging that their past misery was a product of God’s wrath
And they acknowledge that God’s wrath itself was a product of their sin
And now, they are determined to please Him, even in the face of opposition and threats
In short, they have come to fear the Lord more than they fear men
This is the turning point God desires and works to produce in our hearts
The place where we no longer have an excuse or defense for our mistakes
The place where we recognize that the Lord moved in our life to bring us into a state of discipline for our own good
And now, we are working to please Him, because we are unwilling to repeat that mistake
When you reach this point, you know that restoration has begun and good things are around the corner
At the end of the letter, the governor asks the new king, Darius, to conduct a search of the archives of Babylon to determine if Cyrus did, in fact, issue this decree
Under Persian custom, decrees of prior kings had a force of law that bound even future kings
So if Cyrus had, in fact, permitted this rebuilding project, then even Darius couldn’t stop it
So the search was necessary, regardless of whether Darius approved
So then we read what Darius did
Darius issues his own decree that a search take place in the archives
Nothing is found in the Babylonian archives, where Cyrus was living at the time the exiles were allowed to leave
But a search was also conducted in the province of Media, present-day Iran
The capital city of that city, Ecbatana (present-day Hamedan), was the summer residence of the Persian kings
The city is a mile high and sits next to green, wooded mountains
It’s cooler in the summer than the surrounding desert region
In this place, a scroll was found with the instructions of King Cyrus
The opening word of the scroll is the word translated “memorandum” or “record”
The word indicates that what follows is an official record of the Persian government
And from what follows, we learn that God gave Cyrus specific instructions for the size of the new temple
Based on the dimensions given in this memo, the second temple would be twice as high and three times as wide as Solomon’s temple
It’s unclear if the Jews actually followed these instructions
We might assume that if the old men wept at the sight of just the foundation, it must not have been even as big as Solomon’s temple
Why would they weep at the sight of a much larger foundation?
Cyrus commissioned and funded an impressive building, yet the Jews didn’t make the most of what God provided
It waited until Herod to build a temple that met the standards Cyrus set
After hearing of Cyrus’ edict, King Darius has no choice but to honor the prior king’s orders and permit the temple construction to continue
So Darius issues his own edict to the governor
Darius echoes Cyrus’ words with his own decree
The Jews are allowed to build their temple and the city
Moreover, Darius becomes a royal protector of the work
He orders that the Persian governor make every effort to ensure the work goes as planned
And then, the king declares that Persia will bear the entire cost of the project
Whatever is needed for the work and for the sacrifices at the temple will be provided
It’s interesting the degree of detail the king includes in his edict
He seems to know a great deal about what kind of sacrifices would be practiced in the temple
There is no indication that he received this knowledge from Cyrus’ edict
Could the Lord be revealing this to Darius, just as He revealed Himself to Cyrus?
Finally, Darius commands that anyone who opposes the Jews would be executed by impalement
Impaling was a common method of execution in the Persian Empire
It’s a forerunner to crucifixion
One end of a beam was sharpened and the other side planted in the ground
The sharp point was inserted under the chest of a person and pushed through his esophagus and lungs
He was then left to hang until he died
Darius liked to use it against his enemies
He had 3,000 rebels killed by impaling them
But in this case, you notice he goes a step further and declares that anyone who tries to stop the work will be defeated by the Lord Himself
Though Darius didn’t know the Lord as Savior, nevertheless, it seems clear the Lord impressed these truths upon his heart
Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and Darius stand as pillars, testifying to the Lord’s capacity to work through the unbelieving world both in His wrath and in His mercy
When God was angry with Israel, He called upon Nebuchadnezzar to chastise them
Nebuchadnezzar attacked because he wanted to destroy and conquer lands to increase his own glory
But he was acting as God intended, to enhance God’s glory
The Lord let him loose on the people of Israel
They experience the power of a man and his army
He was an instrument of God’s wrath
His choice to use Nebuchadnezzar was a measure of grace
The Lord chose a blunt instrument, and dealt with Israel with a light touch
Imagine if God had executed the destruction Himself?
Nothing would have remained to be restored
And then, when the time was right, the Lord used Cyrus to conquer Babylon and eventually free the Jews
Cyrus was the most powerful man on earth, and yet his will bent to the will of God
God directed Cyrus to act just as the Lord promised to do centuries earlier
And Cyrus even provided the wealth to get the project started
If God can do such wondrous things through a Gentile king, imagine what miracles He is prepared to work through The King of all the Earth?
It’s the same argument Paul makes in Romans 11
Finally, the Lord brought a third king to complete the work
Darius declares the work to be completed uninterrupted
He commands that the power of the realm support, defend and fund the work
And he threatens a horrible death to those who oppose the will of God
If the man working on God’s behalf will exact such a terrible penalty for opposing the work of the Lord, how much more will the Lord’s own penalty be for those who oppose Him?
As a result of Darius’ edict, work continues to completion
The Persian governor returns to the land with Darius’ edict, and naturally, he carries out the orders of the king faithfully
The people persevere in rebuilding the temple
Ezra properly credits two works of Lord for causing the temple to be finished
First, the Lord sent His prophets, who stirred the people to begin building again
Secondly, they credit the work of the Lord through the kings to accomplish His purpose
The Lord is always in control of all things in Creation
That control is exercised first and foremost through His Word, which goes out to accomplish His purpose
And secondly, the Lord directs the steps of men
So that nothing in Creation is acting outside the Lord’s purposes and plans
This is how He works all things to the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose
Ezra mentions three kings who contributed to the completion of the work
The king Artaxerxes played no part in the rebuilding of the temple
But he was the king who will protect the work of building the walls
Once again, Ezra is summarizing events over the entire course of rebuilding the city
Finally, the temple is finished and the proper temple services can begin again
To commemorate the opening of the temple, the nation conducts a massive sacrifice of animals at the new temple
Hundreds and hundreds of animals are sacrificed to thank the Lord and sanctify the temple
While this number may sound impressive, it pales in comparison to Solomon’s celebration
For the first temple, He sacrificed 200 times as many animals
The Jews also offered a sin offering for the twelve tribes
Notice that only three of the tribes are represented in the Southern Kingdom
This suggests that though the ten tribes were largely scattered outside the land, the nation still thought of itself as a nation of twelve tribes
This dedication takes place in the month of Adar, which is roughly late February on our calendar
It’s been about 21 years since the foundations were laid
And 70 years since the Jews lost their first temple
That first temple stood for exactly 400 years
This second temple will stand for about 593 years, until it will be destroyed by Titus in AD 70
A third temple will be built during Tribulation and will stand for seven years, until Christ’s return
So the first, second and third temples stand for 1,000 years
And the fourth temple Christ occupies in the Kingdom will also stand for 1,000 years
Then five weeks later, the Jews celebrate their Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
They are joyful for the chance to obey the Law they have been given
But they are also thankful for the Lord’s work through the Assyrian king
Darius was not Assyrian, of course, but his kingdom had inherited the Assyrian remnant
What was once Assyria, and then Babylon, has now become Persia
And the people clearly recognize that the Lord was working to turn these events in Israel’s favor
So they thank the Lord for turning a power that was once their enemy into their protector
This chapter brings to an end the first step of the three steps of restoration
The people have shown repentance, a willingness to obey and persevere and a joy over the Lord’s faithfulness
These steps are a far cry from the disobedient, rebellious people that received God’s discipline
Before, they were far from Him; now, they are working with Him
But there are still many things missing from this relationship
First, the people are largely ignorant of what it means to follow and obey the Lord
They are reading the Word and doing their best to follow the Lord’s instructions
But they still need instruction and guidance to ensure they remain obedient to the Lord
Secondly, they lack the leadership to drive them forward in a proper way
They have men leading in one capacity or another in these various construction projects
But who will lead them and guide them in accomplishing God’s will?
They need leadership
Next week, we begin the second phase of God’s restoration in Israel
In Chapter 7, Ezra enters the picture
And he comes for the purpose of teaching the people
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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