I am continuing to read through the book of Ezra with my children on Sunday mornings. It’s a fairly short book of the Bible, but it covers many years of starts and stops as the remnant of Israel works to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
Today’s reading came from chapter 4, where “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin” demanded to be included in the rebuilding project. These men were descendants of foreigners who had been forcibly settled in the region of Jerusalem by the Assyrian Empire, who had a policy of scattering conquered peoples so as to make them less likely to revolt.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the leaders of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem, denied their request. Why? They seemed to believe that it was important that God’s chosen people, the descendants of those who left Egypt in the Exodus to establish a nation in the Promised Land, be the ones who rebuilt the Temple to that same God.
Perhaps they were worried about the influence of outside cultures. After all, the consistent theme of the monarchy period was that of foreign cultures and religious beliefs polluting the divinely ordained system of worship in Israel. Coming on the heels of the exile, Zerubbabel and Jeshua probably wanted to make sure not to start down that same path again.
It reminds me of those who suggested rebuilding Notre Dame after the fire nearly five years ago in a modern secular or ecumenical fashion. Perhaps Zerubbabel and Jeshua worried that their neighbors would incorporate Canaanite or Assyrian iconography into the Temple.
In any case, the “adversaries” were angry that their request was denied. If they couldn’t have a hand in rebuilding, then Jerusalem shouldn’t be rebuilt at all. They wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes of Persia, warning him that Jerusalem had been a rebellious city in the past, and if its walls were rebuilt then it would be so again in the future:
To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 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.
Ezra 4:11b-16 ESV
This letter caused construction to cease for at least a decade.
We all have people in our lives who want to see us fail. It’s dumb, it’s petty, but it’s real, and we have to deal with it. Zerubbabel and Jeshua were surely frustrated, but they were patient, and waited for God to move. When they felt the time was right, they resumed construction, trusting God to handle the haters and the losers around them. The result was a new Temple that would stand for six hundred years.
We face the same sort of people in our political system, unfortunately. I’ve watched several debates this year in which lawmakers opposed a bill not on its merits but merely because they disliked the sponsor. Our republican system of government more often resembles Mean Girls than Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Yet we must continue fighting the good fight.
Don’t let the haters and the losers get you down. Like I said yesterday, allow yourself to be energized by attacks, not demoralized. Being attacked means you’re doing something right. The adversaries of Judah went after Zerubbabel and Jeshua because they were doing something, and that’s a reminder to us not to take the easy way out by avoiding confrontation.
Be calm, be patient, but be resolute. Don’t let anyone scare you away from doing what you know is right, and don’t allow them to steal your joy either. We are happy warriors who believe in what we’re fighting for — never forget it!
