Read Ezra 4
Opposition to the Rebuilding
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”
4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. 5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:
12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Go Deeper
We all know what it’s like to face distractions that pull us off task. Sometimes, the distractions come from things like social media, phone calls, and text messages. We can’t seem to focus on the task in front of us because of the constant barrage of thoughts in our heads. Other times, they come from people who seem to interrupt us at the most inopportune times (all parents immediately think of their children!).
We also know what it’s like to face opposition. There are days when it seems like the universe is conspiring against us as we seek to get through the list of demands we have on any given day. Even the writing of this Bible Reading Plan devotional was delayed multiple times by random distractions and points of opposition!
We’re no different than God’s people. In Ezra 4, we see they have returned home from exile and are on task to rebuild the wall (Nehemiah) and temple (largely Ezra). As promised, God allowed His people to return from captivity to the Promised Land. Now that they’re back home, the people hope to resume the normal day-to-day activities of life in their homeland.
As they begin rebuilding the temple, God’s people face distraction and opposition from both internal and external sources. In Ezra 4:1-5, we see God’s enemies initiate a fake friendship with the exiles. They pretend to want to help rebuild the temple. Israel’s leaders wisely told their enemies they didn’t want or need their help. During their rebuilding efforts, internal opposition seeks to pull them off course. These enemies of God showed their true colors by discouraging the people of Judah, raising fears, and bribing officials to work against them. God’s people also faced opposition from the outside. Letters were written that led to what was probably a 16-18 year delay in the rebuilding of the temple.
Any good and worthy deed faces distractions and oppositions. What can you do today to deal with any distractions and opposition in front of you so that you can do the good works God has prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10)?
Questions
- Why do you think God’s people wanted to rebuild the temple?
- What are some distractions you face today that are working to pull you off task?
- What can you learn from God’s people on how to deal with your distractions and opposition?
Pray This
God, today we know we will face many barriers and challenges. We take comfort in the fact that You are not surprised by anything we will face. Help us to say no to the wrong things and yes to the right ones so that we can do the work you have prepared in advance for us to do. Give us discerning hearts to judge between right and wrong. We confess that on our own, we are hopeless and can do nothing (John 15:5), so help us to rightly work through any distractions and obstacles that will come our way today. Amen.
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7 responses to “Ezra 4”
“Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill…” Ezra 4:24
Oh my gosh did this reveal my impatience – and more than that…my self sufficiency and getting out in front of God.
My life is replete with circumstances where I have not respected the due process of situations and circumstances; the natural timing of things, and just done what I knew was right to get the job done.
However…
Isaiah 40:31 promising renewed strength (eagles’ wings), Psalm 27:14 urging courage (“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage”), and Lamentations 3:25 stating, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him.” Other passages in Psalms (130:5-6, 33:20) and James (5:7) encourage patient expectation, trust in God’s timing, and finding rest in Him amidst trials.
God, may I patiently wait on you when things come to a complete standstill in my life…
4 “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.“
Opposition to God’s guidance for our lives can coalesce quite quickly. It comes from all directions, outside and even inside. We must be vigilant on guard against these distractions.
Speaking of distractions, we are in the midst of a season that entices us to drift away from the true reason of celebration, Christ has come to rescue us. Emmanuel, God has come to live with us to pierce the darkness with his eternal light. Praying that our hearts will turn towards his light and be forever changed.
If you are like our household, you kinda got confused with the whole Cyrus and Darius timeline. I have found several different resources. The easiest is from Living Hope Blog :
The timeline can feel confusing here in Ezra 4. First, we must realize that the storyline of the temple runs from Cyrus to Darius. The enemies (Samaritans) try to join the work, are refused, and then frustrate the builders “all the days of Cyrus” until the reign of Darius. That opposition eventually stalls the temple project. This is the scene in Ezra 4:1-5, and it resumes in Ezra 4:24, then continues with the prophetic restart in Ezra 5:1-2 and the completion in the sixth year of Darius in Ezra 6:15. Within that timeline, we have a brief look into the future.
Ezra 4:6-23 is a deliberate flash forward. The writer inserts later examples of the same kind of opposition in the reigns of Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes to show that resistance to Jerusalem’s restoration persisted for decades. However, those letters focus on the city and its walls, not the temple, and this is what sometimes causes confusion if you don’t know the timeline. The king orders the city work to stop, which explains the tension you feel when you compare Ezra with Nehemiah. Later, when Nehemiah appears, he receives fresh permission to rebuild the walls under Artaxerxes, which shows a change in royal policy rather than a contradiction.
The language change also serves as a key. From Ezra 4:8 to 6:18, the original text switches to Aramaic, the imperial language of administration. You are reading official correspondence in the language in which it was written. The narrative returns to Hebrew after that, with another Aramaic letter in Ezra 7:12-26. Essentially, the author pauses the Cyrus to Darius temple story after verse 5 to explore opposition from Xerxes and Artaxerxes. The purpose is to show how deep and persistent the hostility was. The author then resumes the temple account in verse 24.
As we go through life we are going to find all kinds of resistance with our walk with God. BUT GOD wants us to first remember where He brought His people out of and from. He wants us to listen with hearing that leads to obedience. He wants us to LOVE with His Hesed love, that He believes we ALL, completely ALL deserve. Then He wants us to love each other AGAPE. I believe with His love goggles, so that we see each other, and ALL with HIs LOVE. Learning, showing, teaching, and giving love is the answer to all kinds of questions. Sometimes hard and sometimes easy BUT GOD
God thank You for giving me wisdom and knowledge to navigate this life. Thank You for Your love goggles to see others through. God thank You for right words to help remember what is beneficial and to teach that which is also beneficial for the future with You. God thank You for Your Hesed love and that I can come closer and closer to feeling, believing and showing it to myself and others. God thank You for the minutes of this day, that Your light so shines from me and that Your words are coming out of my mouth today in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Distracted? Or Depleted?
Today’s question about distraction stopped me short — not because it convicted me, but because it didn’t seem to fit somehow.
When I turned to this chapter early this morning, I had woken up so exhausted and unfocused I could barely read God’s Word, let alone interpret and apply it. It finally dawned on me this might have something to do with the way I had spent the day before.
So at first, I chalked it all up to “distraction” — as if I had allowed something else to pull me away from the work God had given me to do.
But when I thought about it more carefully, that explanation didn’t ring quite true.
The day before had been long and demanding — because it required presence. I had just spent considerable time and energy to show up fully for something meaningful — even sacred. And while this was personally costly, it wasn’t especially “productive.” I didn’t do anything I could measure or check off a list.
That kind of participation doesn’t announce itself as “work” while we’re in it. But it does take effort.
Reading Ezra 4 alongside the study questions, I noticed the assumption built into the word “distraction.” Ezra 4 records a season when good and necessary work comes to a halt. Opposition rises. Discouragement settles in. Momentum is lost. And the rebuilding stops for a long time.
What the text does NOT do is accuse God’s people of losing focus or drifting away. It doesn’t frame the pause as moral failure. It simply tells the truth about what happened when resistance and weariness accumulate over time.
So today, instead of naming distractions, I’m sitting with a different question:
What does it really mean to “do the good works God has prepared in advance for us to do” — especially when those works deplete and empty, rather than accomplish and produce?
I don’t have an answer yet. But I’m grateful Scripture gives us room to ask it.
when we are doing the works God called us to do and become “depleted or empty” go to God in prayer and humility and allow Him to fill us back up. We don’t know how our works accomplish or produce fruit in God’s kingdom sometimes, but He does. Jesus Christ depleted and emptied every drop of blood for us so we could even have an opportunity to do God’s good works. Not sure if this helps but I know without a shadow of doubt that God has you in the palm of His hand right where He wants you. Keep on keeping on.
The Israelites began rebuilding the temple and they faced immediate opposition from their adversaries. This reminds us that when we set out to do God’s work, challenges are bound to arise.
It is written, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
This is easier said than done but let us embrace the opposition as a sign that we are on the right path.