Ezra 4-6: Rough Road Back to Worship

We trace Ezra 4–6 as the returning exiles begin rebuilding the temple, run into fierce opposition, pause under pressure, and then find unexpected favor when Darius confirms Cyrus’s decree. Prophetic courage, historical records, and steady obedience carry the work to joyful completion.

• context for Ezra and the return waves
• local opposition and the politics of delay
• letters to Persia and the stop order
• Haggai and Zechariah reignite courage
• Darius’s archive search and reversal
• funding, protection, and daily provision
• temple completion, dedication, and Passover
• practical takeaways for spiritual comebacks

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Transcript

Setting The Ezra Timeline

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast. This is Mike. We're reading through the book of Ezra. And I mentioned last episode that Ezra and the next book, Nehemiah, were actually written as one book, one longer story. The first half of Ezra follows the story of Zerubabel, a governor of the Jews, who went back with the first wave of exiles to start to repopulate their land and start building the temple. Today we're going to read the second half of that story. And of course, later on we're going to be reading through the second half of Ezra, which talks about Ezra himself and a rejuvenation of an appreciation of the Word of God. And then Nehemiah will follow as they rebuild the wall together. So multiple waves of exiles now slowly starting to come back to their land. Again, this is mostly the Jews, which, and even the name Jew was short for Judah height, those who were from Judah and the neighboring tribe of Benjamin, because they were the southern kingdom. They were the ones who were taken away to Babylon. They were in the land the longest because the northern kingdom got taken away to Assyria, and they never really fully returned. They just kind of stayed out there. A couple of them kind of came back and resettled as Samaritans in Jesus' days as they got to be known. But at this point, we just see the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin start to come back from their exile in Babylon, which is now in the Persian Empire, and the Persian king conquered Babylon and was like, ah, well, you Jews, I don't have anything against you. You can go back home if you want at this point. So it's a slow process, and it's it's not an easy one, it's not a smooth one, but it's one that has God's fingerprints and God's hand all over it, so we get to appreciate the work that he does, sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes a little more obviously here, uh, in this process of rebuilding the temple for starters as his people come back home. So we're going to read Ezra 4 through 6 in the New English translation today. When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zarubbabel and the leaders and said to them, Let's help you build, for like you, we seek your God, and we've been sacrificing to him from the time of King Esaradin of Assyria who brought us here. But Zarubabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, You have no right to help us build the temple of our God. We'll build it ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the King of Persia has commanded us. Then the local people began to discourage the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building. They were hiring advisors to oppose them so as to frustrate their plans throughout the time of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius of Persia. At the beginning of the reign of Ahajuerus, remember that's King Xerxes from Esther's story, they filed an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, and during the reign of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithridath, Tabil, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia. This letter was first written in Aramaic but then translated. What follows is in Aramaic. Rehum the commander and Shimshi the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows From Rehum the commander, Shimshi the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues, the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Arrakites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa, that is, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asherbanopal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and other places in the Transuphrates. This is a copy of the letter they sent to him. To King Artaxerxes from your servants in Trans Euphrates. Now let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They're rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. They're completing its walls and repairing its foundations. Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury will suffer loss. In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, we are sending the king this information so that he may initiate a search of the records of his predecessors and discover in those records that this city is rebellious and injurious to both kings and provinces producing internal revolts from long ago. It's for this very reason that the city was destroyed. We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control of this portion of Trans Euphrates. Well the king sent the following response to Rehum the commander Shimsai the scribe and the rest of the colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Transuphrates. Greetings The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence. So I gave orders, and it was determined that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in rebellion and revolt. Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans Euphrates, and who were the beneficiaries of tribute, custom and toll. Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that the king sustains damage? Then as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum Shimshi the scribe and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem, and stopped them with a threat of armed force. So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Ido prophesied concerning the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of God of Israel who was over them. We'll actually go and read the stories of Haggai and Zechariah in their books in the Minor Prophets, shortly after this. But then Zerubabel, the son of Shaltiel, and Jeshua, the son of Josedak, began to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them. At that time Tatanai, governor of Trans Euphrates, Shethbar Bozani, and their colleagues came to them and asked, Who gave you authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure? They also asked them, What are the names of the men who are building this edifice? But God was watching over the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped until a report could be dispatched to Darius, and a letter could be sent back concerning this. This is a copy of the letter that Tatanai, governor of Trans Euphrates, Sheth Barbozani and his colleagues, who were the officials of Trans Euphrates, sent to King Darius. Pause one moment. You may remember from a read through of Daniel that King Darius is the king who was actually the one who was tricked into throwing Daniel into the lion's den, but he was actually a sympathizer of Daniel and the god of Israel, and so he was very aligned with Israel. And so this report is now coming from Israel, from Jerusalem, back to him. Let's see how it lands there. The report they sent to him was written as follows To King Darius, all greetings. Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It's being built with large stones, and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and it's prospering in their hands. We inquired of those elders, asking them who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure. We also inquired of the names in order to inform you that we might write the names of the men who were their leaders. They responded to us in the following way We're servants of the god of heaven and earth, and we're rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king of Israel built it and completed it. But after our ancestors angered the god of heaven, he delivered them into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed his temple, and exiled the people to Babylon. But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God. Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace of Babylon, even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented to a man by the name of Sheshbazar, whom he had appointed as governor. He said to him, Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location. Then this Sheshbazar went and laid the foundations of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment it has been in the process of being rebuilt, though it's not yet finished. Now, if the king is so inclined, let a search be conducted in the royal archives there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter. So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon, and a scroll was found in the citadel of Ekbatana, which is in the province of Medea, and it was inscribed as follows Memorandum in the first year of his reign King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem. Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered, let its foundations be set in place, its height is to be ninety feet, and its width ninety feet, with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber, the expense is to be subsidized by the royal treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem, be deposited in the temple of God. Now Tatanai, governor of Trans Euphrates, Shethar Bozani, and their colleagues, the officials of Transuphrates, all of you stay far away from there. Leave the work on this temple of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place. I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Transeuphrates, the complete costs are to be given to these men so that there may be no interruption to the work. Whatever's needed, whether oxen or rams or lambs for burnt offerings for the god of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by the priests who are in Jerusalem, must be given to them daily without any neglect, so that they may be offering incense to the god of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family. I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive, a beam is to be pulled out from his house, and he is to be raised up and impaled on it, and his house is to be reduced to a rubbish heap for this indiscretion. May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation who reaches out to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders, let them be carried out with precision. Then Tatani, governor of Trans Euphrates, Shathar Bozani and their colleagues acted accordingly with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions. The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the time Hagai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Ido continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the god of Israel, and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, King of Persia. They finished this temple on the third day of the month of Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of tribes of Israel. They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, in accord with the book of Moses. The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, and they were all ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues, the priests, and for themselves. The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel. They observed the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy, for the king had given them joy, and had changed the opinion of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he assisted them in the work of the temple of God, the God of Israel. The story of the exiles returning and starting to build the temple of God again in their homeland serves as a really good metaphor for when we are trying to return to the Lord with our hearts, when we're trying to return to worship, when we're trying to return to faithfulness after a time of drifting away from him. If you're in a season right now where you're like, I really got to get back to church, I really got to get back into the Bible, I really got to get back into praying more, these sorts of things where it's like, I gotta get back to home base, you know, with God. I I've drifted, I've been away for a while, and I want to come back. That's great. Keep going. Don't expect it to be easy. Don't expect there to be no resistance. You have an enemy who is not happy with the progress that you're making. And he's gonna use even other people around you, your neighbors, your family, those who are who used to be close to you, maybe still are, to spread negativity and discouragement and try to get you to stop doing the work that you're doing. Don't stop. Stay faithful, stay with it. Even if they cause you to slow down or stop for a little while, God is not abandoning this project. He'll always make a way forward if the way you're trying to go is right back to his heart. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.