MAY 2 EZRA 4-6

Ezra 4-6

God never said it was going to be easy. Again and again he calls people to specific tasks, and then allows them to face daunting obstacles. 

What obstacles faced Zerubbabel in the rebuilding of the temple? Chief among them are the enemies of Judah living in and about the largely vacated Judah. At first, they deceitfully offer to help with the temple. When Zerubbabel refuses their help, they begin a campaign of 6th Century B.C. red tape, that frustrates and eventually stalls the efforts of the returning exiles. 

Reading this passage is like reading through email correspondence, the difference being that these “memoranda” (See Ezra’s use of the word in Ezra 6:2) took weeks or months to travel from Judah to Mesopotamia and back again. Here’s a summary of their correspondence: 

Email #1: With Cyrus gone, the enemies of Judah emailed Artaxerxes warning the new king about the upstart Judeans, who were rebuilding Jerusalem. If allowed to finish their work, these Jews will rebel and your tax revenue will dry up! 

Email #2: Artaxerxes emails his military leaders tersely: Stop these rebellious Jews. And they are stopped; no work is done on the temple for at least two years!

Finally, the prophets Zechariah and Haggai exhort the people of God to get back to work on the temple. And back to work they go.

Email #3: Representatives of the new king, Darius, email (or texted) the busy Jews: Who authorized you to rebuild this temple?

Email #4: The people respond, (Ezra 5:11-17) describing the whole series of events that led to their exile, at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and the instructions to return and rebuild, at the decree of Cyrus.

Email #5: The king’s local representatives send email #4 as an attachment to their own email, asking King Darius to check out their claims.

Email #6: After doing his homework, Darius sends his own detailed email to his representatives near Judah: Everything they claim is true. Let the temple be rebuilt. If anyone gets in their way, they will be skewered! And they finished the work of rebuilding the temple and re-establishing both temple worship and the feasts!

How did God’s people overcome the obstacles: emeries, naysayers, bureaucratic red tape and discouragement? They listened to the prophets God has raised up to light a fire beneath them. Now would be an appropriate time to read Zechariah and Haggai.

This is called the book of Ezra; where is he?

Tomorrow, we find out. 
Pastor Gary