No. 13 of Returning Home
Cyrus the Great reigned over the Persian empire until 530 BCE. His epitaph is believed to have been inscribed,
“O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my bones.”1
When God’s people returned, those who had taken up residence in their absence were not happy to see them. They had no intention of giving over their lands to the children of Judah. It was in their best interest to turn public opinion against these intruders. They couldn’t wage war outright. They had to make the Israelites look bad without making themselves look bad.
“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” – Ezra 4:1-2
Ezra informs his reader right away that this offer to help build God’s temple is a ruse. These people are adversaries, a word that means to oppose or to bring trouble. They aim to bring down and destroy what God’s people are painstakingly trying to build. They approach Zerubbabel and chief tribal leaders with two lies, 1) that they are interested in working beside God’s people for a common cause and 2) that they are worshipers of Jehovah God. They also reveal their position as adversaries when they mention how long they have been living in the land (“ever since the days…”). This reminder is not a useless detail; it’s a subtle threat. In their minds they have territorial rights to the land, regardless of the king’s decree. They will pay lip service to the king of Persia while making every attempt to hamper Zerubbabel, the priests, and the leaders from reestablishing a place of worship on “their” land.
Examples throughout the Bible reveal the truth about God’s enemies: They like to present a face that is the opposite of the evil that truly motivates them. Their approach seems genuine. They seem friendly and generous. They intrude in such a way that puts a godly person on the defensive. It’s constructed to make the good person look bad and the bad person look good. Because these adversaries’ approach Zerubbabel in a way that seems genuine, friendly, and generous, it creates the illusion to onlookers that Zerubbabel and the leaders would be rude, arrogant, and offensive to reject such a “kind offer”!
If you are approached by an adversary offering to serve God with you who lies in order to look innocent and good, how should you respond? Remember they’ve placed you in the position that if you don’t accept their seemingly kind offer, it will put you in a negative light. Doubting Christians capitulate under this sort of manipulation, saying it is a Christian’s duty to be a peacemaker, to give the liar the benefit of the doubt. Is that what God has told His people to do? When someone pretends to be a friend to you and to God, and you know full well they are not God’s friend, is it your job to acquiesce for the sake of peace?
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” – Ezra 4:3
They did not accept the help of their adversaries, nor did they chase them out. They didn’t draw their swords on them. They just told them the truth: “we alone will build to the Lord.” Peace with those outside the assembly of God’s people at the cost of compromise is never a godly response. Onlookers who would only see these adversaries as generous men reaching out the hand of friendship might have condemned the Israelites for their response. But did God? They did the right thing, and they did it bravely.
Not only do God’s leaders courageously refuse the help of their adversaries, they explain why to them. “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God.” This explanation, on the surface, seems elitist or harsh. It is the truth. Moses’ law made it clear that no one served the LORD God of Israel but those men who were appointed by God. Building the temple was a holy service. The Gentiles of the land were not God’s people. Even if their motivations had been honest, they could not have taken part in building God’s house. They knew nothing of the worship God authorized. They were citizens of other nations and worshipers of other gods. I want to clarify that these adversaries were not looking to commit themselves to God by becoming proselytes. They were idolators and liars looking to keep God’s people from doing God’s work.
“Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.” – Ezra 4:4-5
From Cyrus to Ahasuerus God’s people were resisted in building for fifty years. From the moment they stepped foot on their homeland their adversaries worked to trouble them and discourage them. The passage says they “made them afraid to build.” So, when these adversaries’ pretend kindness didn’t work, they threatened them. When that didn’t work, they used their connections and money to bribe and work the system to keep these builders from building.
God’s people are not without adversaries today. They, too, profess to be worshipers of God and pretend to offer help. We cannot compromise. Like the Israelites, we are temple builders. We build up God’s house with holy hands of service and holy lives of sacrifice (I Peter 1:15-16). Adversaries have “nothing to do with us” in building up God’s house (I Corinthians 3:17).
I once heard this advice given to Christian women: “If you find your life as a Christian to be a daily struggle, you’re doing something right. You’re feeling the resistance and the discouragement because you’re going the right way. Satan, the Adversary, wouldn’t discourage you otherwise. So, praise God for that resistance and keep going. God’s making you stronger.”